Dr Hans Kribbe: What is the Art of the Deal and Can Europe Master it?

In his address to the IIEA, Hans Kribbe discusses both the need for making deals with strongmen like Xi, Putin and Erdoğan and the type of diplomacy that such deal making requires. In 2019, in a much-debated strategy paper on China, the European Commission for the first time introduced the notion of China as a “systemic rival”. However, it went on to explain that it continued to see China as a partner it could do deals with, for example on climate politics and trade. In his discussion, Dr Kribbe explores the question of how this apparent contradiction can be combined in a single, coherent policy. He argues that, in order to engage in the sort of power diplomacy this requires, Europe cannot escape making some tough choices. About the Speaker: Hans Kribbe is the author of The Strongmen: European Encounters with Sovereign Power (Agenda Publishing 2020). He has a PhD from the London School of Economics and has worked as a speechwriter and adviser to European Commissioners responsible for the single market and competition policy. From 2006 to 2014 he advised Vladimir Putin’s press and communications team at the Kremlin. More recently he founded political advisory firm Shearwater and advises the Dutch Foreign Ministry on EU industrial policy.