IIEA Talks

According to Denis Staunton, a troubled economy at home and rising trade tensions abroad has seen China drop its aggressive Wolf Warrior diplomacy in favour of dialogue with the United States and a charm offensive towards the European Union. But can Beijing rescue the domestic economy from deflationary pressures without provoking a trade war over the export of goods such as electric vehicles and other green energy products? And how will the latest tightening of control in Hong Kong and continuing tensions over Taiwan and in the South China Sea affect China’s relations with the rest of the world? Irish Times journalist Denis Staunton, the only correspondent for an Irish news organisation in China, joins the IIEA from Beijing with an update. About the Speaker: Denis Staunton has been China Correspondent for The Irish Times based in Beijing since October 2022. He was London Editor from 2015 to 2022 and has previously been the newspaper’s correspondent in Washington, Brussels and Berlin and served as Foreign Editor and Deputy Editor.

This discussion at the IIEA touches on issues such as the ongoing update of the national energy and climate plans (NECPs), the Commission’s analysis and recommendation for the EU’s 2040 emissions reduction target, published on 6 February, and the first-ever European Climate Risk Assessment published on 11 March. The event takes place as part of the European Commission’s ‘roadshow’ about the future of EU climate and energy policy, which aims to discuss the actions needed to reinforce competitiveness while staying the course on the net-zero transition and to strengthen societal preparedness for, and resilience to, the unavoidable impacts of climate change.  Matthew Baldwin is Deputy Director-General at DG ENER, the European Commission’s energy department, where he leads the Energy Platform Task Force focused on ending EU dependence on Russian gas; and Jacob Werksman is Principal Adviser to the European Commission for Climate Action, specialising in international climate policy and environmental law, with extensive experience in multilateral negotiations and legal advisory roles.

In this address to the IIEA, Nicolai von Ondarza, Head of the EU/Europe Research Division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), and Pervenche Berès, Board Member of Fondation Jean Jaurès, and former Member of the European Parliament for France (1994-2019), discusses the recently published Report of the Franco-German Working Group on EU Institutional Reform. The Report’s recommendations centre on three goals: strengthening the rule of law and the EU’s democratic legitimacy, increasing the EU’s capacity to act, and getting the EU ready for enlargement. About the Speakers: Pervenche Berѐs is a Board Member of Fondation Jean Jaurès, President of Association Europe-Finances-Régulation, a Member of the Ethic and Audit Committees of the ECB, and a Member of the AMF (Autorité des marchés financiers) Committee on Climate and Sustainable Finance. She was previously a Member of the European Parliament from 1994 to 2019, chairing the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, and the Employment and Social Affairs Committee. Ms Berѐs also acted as Rapporteur of the Temporary Committee on the Financial, Economic, and Social Crisis, Vice-President of the European Parliament delegation to the Convention in charge of the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights and Member of the European Convention in charge of drafting a Constitution for Europe. Dr Nicolai von Ondarza is Head of the EU/Europe Research Division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), a position he has held since 2020. From 2016 to 2020, he served as Deputy Head of the EU/Europe Research Division, and has worked in various positions at the SWP since 2010. Since 2013, Dr von Ondarza has been Organiser of the British-German Outlook Group, a yearly exchange between the SWP, Chatham House, the German Federal Foreign Office and the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). From 2012 to 2015, he was a Lecturer at Europa-Universität Viadrina.

Professor Larry M. Bartels discusses his new book Democracy Erodes from the Top: Leaders, Citizens and the Challenge of Populism in Europe. Professor Bartels challenges the narrative of a populist “wave” in contemporary European public opinion. He argues that electoral support for right-wing populist parties has increased only modestly, driven by populist entrepreneurs, the failures of mainstream parties, and media hype. He argues that Europe’s democratic backsliding reflects the ambitions of political leaders rather than public opinion. Professor Bartels concludes that the bottom-up interpretation of Europe’s political crisis needs to be turned upside down. About the speaker: Larry M. Bartels is May Werthan Shayne Chair of Public Policy and Social Science and University Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Law at Vanderbilt University. His books include Democracy Erodes from the Top: Leaders, Citizens, and the Challenge of Populism in Europe; Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age (2nd ed); and Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government (with Christopher Achen). He is an elected member of the American National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society.

In her address, Renate Schroeder, Director of the European Federation of Journalists, discusses developments in media freedom and pluralism over Europe in recent years, including some examples of unprecedented attacks against media freedom and pluralism that threaten democracy. She assesses the lessons that can be learnt by the media sector, civil society, policymakers, and other stakeholders in this regard. Ms Schroeder focuses part of her discussion on the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) as well as other regulatory opportunities and challenges for the media sector. Renate Schroeder is the Director of the European Federation of Journalists. In 1993 she joined the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and she has worked at the United Nations, New York, and the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation in Brussels. She joined the EFJ in 2003. Renate studied International Relations and Political Science at Boston University (Bachelor’s Degree in 1988) and in Berlin at the Free University (Masters in 1992).

According to Dr Dunkelberg, the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has long been premised from the perspective of Israel as the established state and Palestine as the non-state entity. In this keynote, he discusses a different possible reading of international legal history. A reading which revisits the traditional histories of Mandatory Palestine and the creation of a Palestinian State in full awareness of their coloniality in order to offer new understandings that challenge the hegemonic consensus. About the Speaker: Dr. Alonso Gurmendi Dunkelberg is a Lecturer in International Relations at King's College London's Department of War Studies. He specialises in history of international law, from a postcolonial and Global-South-centred approach. He is a contributing editor at the international law blog Opinio Juris.

According to Casey Michel, for years, Western foreign lobbyists have worked as foot-soldiers for the most authoritarian regimes around the planet. In the U.S. alone, the foreign lobbying industry is now worth billions of dollars. And it's no longer just PR shops or traditional lobbying shops. Instead, the industry now encompasses former officials, consultancies, law firms, think tanks, and even universities - all working on behalf of foreign dictatorships. In his address to the IIEA, Casey Michel discusses how this industry grew so quickly, and with so few paying attention? What kinds of threats does it present to democracy and what can be done? About the Speaker: Casey Michel is the Director of the Combating Kleptocracy Program at the Human Rights Foundation. He is the author of American Kleptocracy: How the U.S. Created the World's Greatest Money Laundering Scheme in History, and the forthcoming Foreign Agents: How American Lobbyists and Lawmakers Threaten Democracy Around the World, both published by St. Martin's Press. His writing has appeared in Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy, among many more outlets. He currently lives in New York.

'The multiple implications of population decline and aging' Claus Vistesen, Chief Eurozone Economist for Pantheon Macroeconomics, in conversation with Dan O’Brien, IIEA Chief Economist.

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) aims to make digital markets fairer and more contestable, and to provide new opportunities for startups and investors in the EU. Eoghan O’Neill, Senior Policy Officer in the Platforms Policy and Enforcement Directorate of the European Commission presents the new DMA obligations for the world’s largest digital platforms. He outlines how these obligations may translate into opportunities for startups and investors. Amongst other features of the DMA, he examines the DMA’s implications for the interoperability of messaging apps, third party app stores, and how it empowers users to take advantage of data portability.

Ireland has over recent years become an increasingly important international financial centre. Trillions of euros of assets from overseas are either administered or domiciled in Ireland, often using complex financial structures involving multiple jurisdictions. Yet while successive Irish governments have been keen to reap the benefits of this ever more prominent role in the global financial system, far less attention has been paid to the multifaceted risks that accompany such significant flows of international capital. This keynote address to the IIEA considers the security threat from illicit finance, the extent to which existing responses are able to counter that threat, and what measures are required to make Ireland a genuinely hostile environment for money linked to criminal, corrupt and malign actors overseas. About the Speaker: Dr Alexander Chance is Head of Policy and Research at Transparency International (TI) Ireland, where he runs its programmes on anti-corruption and anti-money laundering. He is also a Senior Fellow with the Azure Forum for Contemporary Security Strategy and an Associate Fellow with RUSI’s Organised Crime and Policing Group. Alexander previously served in the UK National Crime Agency in operational, strategy and management roles focused on transnational organised crime, including five years working in South America, and has consulted for the UN and various other organisations. He obtained his PhD from Trinity College Dublin, where his research examined the relationship between organised crime, high-level corruption and peacebuilding in post-war Mozambique.