IIEA Talks

'EU policy outlook: what, how and when?' Professor Desmond Dinan, Jean Monnet Professor at the George Mason School of Public Policy in Arlington Virginia, in conversation with Dan O’Brien, IIEA Chief Economist

In his remarks, Dr Bassuener focuses on the EU’s relationship with the Western Balkans in advance of the country reports which will be published in October 2023. Dr Bassuener’s contention is that, writ broadly, the political elites of the region have demonstrated that they do not want to do the heavy lifting regarding EU accession. Yet, according to Dr Bassuener, the EU’s interest in the region remains its desire to demonstrate its transformative power and geopolitical potency. Overall, in his discussion, Dr Bassuener argues that enlargement should not be abandoned, but rather there should be a reassessment of who the primary EU partners need to be – the citizens of the region. About the Speaker: Kurt Bassuener is a Co-Founder and Senior Associate of the Democratization Policy Council, a Berlin-based think-tank established in 2005. He received his PhD in 2021 from the University of St. Andrews’ Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence. Dr Bassuener is co-author and research director for the Diplomat’s Handbook for Democracy Development Support. Prior to studying at St. Andrews, he lived for 11 years in Sarajevo, starting in 2005 as a strategist for then-High Representative, Paddy Ashdown. He was a political and campaign analyst for the OSCE-ODIHR election observation mission in Ukraine in 2004–2005, and previously conducted analysis-based advocacy in Washington D.C. for the Balkan Institute, the Balkan Action Council, the U.S. Institute of Peace, and the International Rescue Committee.

What are the pros and cons of Putin’s regime maintaining its grip on power after the Prigozhin mutiny? Does the Kremlin have a war strategy in Ukraine and if so, what is it? How are Western sanctions impacting Russia? Will China distance itself from Russia? And is there a chance of negotiations beginning between Moscow and Kyiv in 2024? DW’s Russian affairs analyst Konstantin Eggert, who recently travelled to Ukraine, addresses these issues in a webinar hosted by IIEA. About the Speaker: Konstantin Eggert (also known as Konstantin von Eggert) is an independent journalist, political analyst and communications consultant. He is a Baltic States correspondent and commentator on Russian affairs for DW (Deutsche Welle), Germany’s international broadcaster. From 1998 until 2009, Eggert was Senior Correspondent, then Editor-in-Chief of the BBC Russian Service Moscow bureau. In 2008, Mr Eggert was honoured with an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II and was also awarded with the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Lithuania by President Valdas Adamkus.

Panel 2 The question of how to ensure the Russian Federation, and its political and military leadership, are held to account for serious breaches of international law in and Ukraine, including its war of aggression, has been an important aspect of the international response since the onset of Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Ireland has taken a strong position on the topic of ensuring accountability, having had it as one of the priorities for its latest term on the UN Security Council in 2021-2022. This symposium will hear the views of senior diplomats from Ukraine and Ireland, academics, and practitioners including from the field of international criminal law and accountability regarding this vital subject. Speakers at this session include: Ms Oleksandra Matviychuk, Ukrainian human rights lawyer and civil society leader, Head of Center for Civil Liberties, 2022 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and renowned human rights defender;  Ms Iryna Mudra, Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine; Günter Schirmer, Head Of Department of Legal Affairs and Human Rights, Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly · Council of Europe Dr Anton Moiseienko, Lecturer, Australian National University College of Law.

Panel 1 The question of how to ensure the Russian Federation, and its political and military leadership, are held to account for serious breaches of international law in and Ukraine, including its war of aggression, has been an important aspect of the international response since the onset of Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Ireland has taken a strong position on the topic of ensuring accountability, having had it as one of the priorities for its latest term on the UN Security Council in 2021-2022. This symposium will hear the views of senior diplomats from Ukraine and Ireland, academics, and practitioners including from the field of international criminal law and accountability regarding this vital subject. Following opening remarks from Michael Clausen (Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Mission Ireland), Ms Larysa Gerasko (Ambassador of Ukraine to Ireland), Ms Sonja Hyland (Deputy Secretary General & Political Director, Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland) and Mr Alex White (Director General, Institute for International and European Affairs/IIEA), Speakers at this session include: Dr Anton Korynevych, Ambassador-at-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine; Prof Claus Kreß, Director of the Institute of International Peace and Security Law, University of Cologne; Dr Carrie Mc Dougall, Senior Lecturer, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne; Margarita Šniutytė-Daugėlienė, Vice-President of Eurojust.

Senator Lisa Chambers, Leader of Seanad Éireann and Fianna Fáil Spokesperson, discusses Europe's resilience, the relationship between the economy and migration, responsible AI development, and the impact of AI on political campaigns and elections.

Join Eliot Higgins, the founder of Bellingcat, as he delves into the significant role of open-source investigation in comprehending the Ukrainian conflict. This lecture covers the role open-source intelligence played in the tracking of the conflict's build-up, the swift debunking of misinformation, an analysis of open-source evidence to comprehend the war's impact on civilians, and an exploration of the online communities that formed in response to the conflict. About the Speaker: Eliot Higgins is a renowned British journalist and founder of Bellingcat, an investigative journalism platform that uses open-source intelligence to solve critical international cases. Born in 1979, Higgins' contributions, including MH17 investigation and exposure of Syrian Civil War atrocities, have revolutionised journalism. His work on the Salisbury poisonings won the prestigious 2019 European Press Prize Investigation Award. In 2020, he was also awarded the Machiavelli Prize for his role in enhancing digital investigative journalism. Recognized as a trailblazer, Higgins continues to catalyse transformative changes in how the world understands news, truth, and fact-checking in the digital age.

Northern Ireland’s governing institutions have been at a political impasse since the DUP collapsed Stormont in February 2022, and the Windsor Framework has, thus far, failed to bring about the restoration of the Assembly and Executive as both London and Brussels had hoped. Since the most recent collapse of Stormont, the Alliance Party has made electoral gains at both Assembly and local government level, and is now firmly established as the third largest party in Northern Irish politics. In her keynote address to the IIEA, Naomi Long, leader of the Alliance Party, discusses her party’s perspective on the Windsor Framework, the political stalemate at Stormont, and the need for reform of the structures set up in the Good Friday Agreement to allow parties designated “other” (neither unionist nor nationalist) to play a more equal role in Northern Irish politics. About the Speaker: Naomi Long MLA first joined Belfast City Council as an Alliance Party councillor in 2001 and was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2003. After serving as Lord Mayor of Belfast, she became the first Alliance MP elected to Westminster, as the MP for East Belfast in 2010. In 2016, Ms Long returned to the Northern Ireland Assembly as MLA for East Belfast and shortly afterwards she became Leader of Alliance. She has presided over Alliance’s most successful elections, with the 2022 Assembly election seeing the party’s representation more than double, and the 2019 European poll seeing her elected as Alliance’s first MEP. Following Brexit and the collapse of devolution, Ms Long returned to the Assembly in January 2020, serving as Justice Minister.

In this third installment of the 2023 REthink Energy series, co-organised by the IIEA and ESB, Laura Sandys, CBE, describes the architecture of the new, decarbonised energy system: distributed in nature, disruptive in character, and requiring a new way of delivering stability, resilience and cost reductions for consumers. She speaks about the digitalisation that lies at the heart of the new energy system, and what this means for system operators, generators, networks, and retailers. She also focuses on a new player in the modern energy system, which she says is its most important component: the customer. About the Speaker: Laura Sandys, CBE, is the former Chair of the UK Government’s Energy Digitalisation Taskforce, and the current Chair of both the Green Alliance and the British Standards Institute Advisory Board on Net Zero. She is also on the board of the Energy Systems Catapult, Ohme Global and Highview Power. She was Chair of the Northern Ireland Expert Panel on Energy Transition and was a member of the Advisory Panel for the Government’s Cost of Energy Review, and is on the Ministerial Council for Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage. She is the founder of the Food Foundation, co-founder of POWERful Women, and former Deputy Chair of the Food Standards Agency. She was previously a Member of Parliament for South Thanet, and was described by The Times as ‘one of the sanest of all MPs’ and as ‘lateral-minded, original and free-thinking’.

'Woke: historical origins and political implication' Susan Neiman, American Philosopher, in conversation with Dan O’Brien, IIEA Chief Economist