Agenda

Following European elections, the political landscape has become even more fragmented than before. Will the recently elected European Parliament and new European Commission use the opportunity to reform and reinvigorate the European Union after BREXIT? In the past, the EU proved effective in overcoming destructive unilateralism in international affairs. Today European institutions are sound, but nationalistic tendencies seem to be growing among Europeans. Unilateralism poses a risk to European integrity, including its international standing as a unified political actor. How can the EU overcome risks posed by unilateralism both internally and externally?

H.E. Mr Edgars Rinkēvičs, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia

H.E. Mr Linas Linkevičius, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, former British Foreign Minister and former Minister of Defence

Ms Martina Larkin, Head of Regional Strategies, Europe and Eurasia, Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum

Moderator: Dr Žaneta Ozoliņa, Vice Chairman of Latvian Transatlantic Organisation, Professor of the Department of Political Science, University of Latvia

For 70 years, NATO has successfully adapted to changing political landscapes to maintain peace for its members. As the number of vulnerable domains increases, the Alliance’s collective defence must adapt once more. For decades comprehensive defence has been seen as a strategy for non-aligned countries. Soon this will no longer be the case. How will the comprehensive defence efforts of several allies strengthen the Alliance? How can a comprehensive strategy best complement the collective approach?

Ms Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Federal Minister of Defence of the Federal Republic of Germany

Dr Artis Pabriks, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the Republic of Latvia,

Mr Peter Hultqvist, Minister for Defence of the Kingdom of the Sweden

Moderator: Dr Christian Mölling, Deputy Director, DGAP’s Research Institute

The economic strength of population giants like China and India is steadily increasing. Other countries like Brazil, Russia, or the Gulf states also have growing regional economic and political interests. Some, but not all, of these counties have accepted democratic norms. Some of these nations have never been as powerful as they are today. The Russians and Chinese are successfully utilizing economic resources by buying up economic assets in target regions or neighbouring countries. Is it still appropriate to speak of these rising powers as shaping their regions of influence? Or are these new powers shaping history on a much larger scale now?

Dr Simon Serfaty, The Zbigniew Brzezinski chair (emeritus) in Global Security and Geopolitics at the Center for Strategic & International Studies and Professor and Eminent Scholar at the Old Dominion University

Ms Anna Wieslander, Director for Northern Europe, Atlantic Council

Mr Brian Whitmore, Senior Fellow and Director of the Russia Program, Center for European Policy Analysis

Session is held under the "Chatham House Rule"

For a long time, the Arctic had been perceived as a distant corner of the world, isolated by forces of nature. Extreme climate, permanent ice cover, large distances, and limited infrastructure were the primary reasons for a lack of human imagination and endeavour to make the region more beneficial for the common good. But with the transformation of the region due to climate change these days have gone. Today the Arctic is not only important to the members of the Arctic Council. The region attracts more and more close and distant non-Arctic players. Do they see a potential for new transportation and infrastructure routes? What risks, but perhaps even more importantly, what opportunities for neighbouring regions, can we expect due to the growing interest and competition among different stakeholders? Is the Arctic a new geopolitical playground for natural resources? What are the opportunities and security implications for countries in the Baltic Sea region?

H.E. Kevin Rex, Ambassador of Canada to Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania

Amb. Jānis Eichmanis, former Latvian Ambassador to NATO

Dr Benedetta Berti, Head, Policy Planning Office of the Secretary General NATO

Mr Niklas Granholm, Deputy Director of Studies, Swedish Defence Research Agency

Moderator: Dr Mika Aaltola, Programme Director of the Global Security Research Programme, Finnish Institute of Foreign Affairs

Session is held under the "Chatham House Rule"

“Strategic autonomy: yes! But to do what exactly? To protect ourselves, or to protect others, outside Europe, as well? To protect ourselves by defeating the enemy on his own ground, in Europe’s neighbourhood or further afield? Or only by making sure he doesn’t breach the walls of Europe? To protect us from all enemies, or only from some? Who is the “enemy” anyway?”¹

Indeed, can we, at least in Europe, define what EU strategic autonomy means?  Is there are common understanding of the concept? Between piles of documents or the development of serious capabilities; what do defence budget increases mean? How and what are we going to implement? This panel discusses how changes to European defence policy will impact defence and security both in individual member states and the CSDP more generally.

Mr Jānis Karlsbergs, Undersecretary of State, Policy Director, Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia

LtGen (ret.) Heinrich Brauss, Senior Associate Fellow, German Council on Foreign Relations

Moderator: Prof Dr Julian Lindley-French, Senior Fellow, Institute for Statecraft, London; Director, Europa Analytica, Netherlands; Distinguished Visiting Research Fellow, National Defense University, Washington DC; Fellow, Canadian Global Affairs Institute; Chair & Founder of The Alphen Group

¹ Quote from the Egmont Paper 103, Fighting for Europe, European Strategic Autonomy and Use of Force, author Prof Dr Sven Biscop

Session is held under the "Chatham House Rule"

China’s current leadership has designed a governmental model directed toward establishing the country as a powerful and influential global player. China is neither copying the Soviet nor Western model of development in order to exercise its growing power. The goal of “becoming a modern socialist country” ranks high on the agenda of its Two Centenary Goals, with trans-continental, financial, people-to-people, and digital connectivity as some of the main means to achieve international outreach. What can we expect?

Dr Li Xing, Professor and Director, Research Center on Development and International Relations 

Dr Tosh Minohara, Professor of Japanese Diplomacy, Graduate School of Law and Politics, Kobe University

Dr Kerry Brown, Director of the Lau China Institute, King's College London 

Moderator: Ms Tara Varma, Head of the Paris Office and Policy Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations

In our relations with Russia it appears we are sliding from one crisis into another. It seems the Kremlin will maintain its current foreign policy objectives for the foreseeable future. How can we manage relations between the West and Russia in a way that avoids passing a point of no return, and leaves a door open for possible reconciliation?

Dr Lilia Shevtsova, Associate Fellow of Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House

Amb. Alexander Vershbow, Distinguished Fellow, Atlantic Council

Mr Keir Giles,  Director, Conflict Studies Research Centre

National elections in Western and Eastern Europe show growing support for FN, AfD and similar new populist parties. Political elites who for a long time led the European integration project, the EU accession process, and immigration policy are losing their grassroots supporters. Increasingly elite parties are distrusted in countries like Germany, Italy, Sweden, Ukraine among others. How will this development influence European policy in general? How will EU institutions like the European Parliament, European Council or Commission be affected? Will Europe become inward looking and mercantilist to appease the dissatisfaction amplified by new populist parties?

Dr Vaira Vīķe - Freiberga, President of the Club de Madrid, former President of the Republic of Latvia

Dr Andreas Norlén, Speaker of the Riksdag 

Mr Arseniy Yatsenyuk, former Prime Minister of Ukraine

Dr Constanze Stelzenmüller, Robert Bosch Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution

Moderator: Dr Vita Matiss, Visiting Professor at the Riga Graduate School of Law, Latvia 

The power of technology in the digital age is increasing day by day. Algorithms decide what information we are exposed to, what we should buy, or who we should follow. We can observe the political process increasingly playing out in the digital arena. The democratic need to find a careful balance between censorship and free speech increasingly clashes with the business models and policies of powerful, private social media platforms used by millions of users. What risks do technologies of the digital age pose to the traditional policy making process and political power?

Mr André Loesekrug-Pietri, Director of Joint European Disruptive Initiative (J.E.D.I.), former Special Advisor to the French Minister of Defence, Nominated Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum

Ms Dagnija Lejiņa, CEO of Digital Freedom Festival, Board Member of Latvian Transatlantic Organisation

Mr John Frank, Vice President of EU Governmental Affairs, Microsoft

Mr Tuan Nguyen, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Boston Global Forum

H.E. Mr Egils Levits, President of the Republic of Latvia