Can Europe lead in a post-western world?

10 years have passed since the last European Security Strategy. Back In 2003, Western hegemony seemed unassailable. But, especially with the euro crisis prevailing, Europe has lost both hard and soft power as it has been forced to make cuts in defence and development budgets, and it has become less attractive as a model of regional integration. Should Europe simply retire from global governance? Or are there assets on which it can draw in order to play an influential role as a new world order emerges?

High Commissioner Dr Jaimini Bhagwati is the High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom. Prior to this assignment, he was Ambassador of India to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union. He has served in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi in various capacities and his responsibilities have included India's relations with Russia and other CIS countries as well as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and BRIC countries. He has also worked as lead specialist (Derivatives) and Chief for Corporate Finance at the World Bank.  

Professor Mary Kaldor is Professor of Global Governance and Director of the Civil Society and Human Security Research Unit at the London School of Economics. She is the author of many books and has just co-edited with Professor Joseph Stiglitz  The quest for security: protection without protectionism and the challenge for global governance (2013). Mary is also a founding member of ECFR.

Mark Leonard is the Director of ECFR. Previously he worked as Director of Foreign Policy at the Centre for European Reform and he founded and headed the Foreign Policy Centre. As well as writing and commenting frequently on global affairs in the media, Mark is the author of two best-selling books including Why Europe will run the 21st Century published in 2005 and translated into 19 languages.

Robin Lustig is a journalist. He has presented the World Tonight on BBC Radio 4 and Newshour on the BBC World Service for 23 years. He began his career as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Madrid, Paris and Rome. He then spent 12 years at The Observer, where he was Home Affairs Editor, News Editor, Middle East Correspondent and Assistant Editor. He has won a number of awards, including the 1998 Sony Silver Award for Talk/News Broadcaster of the Year.

This event is part of the Europe at the Crossroads initiative, a project looking at the state of the debate in the UK on the Euro crisis and the future of Europe. For more information, visit https://ecfr.eu/crossroads/home

This debate is free and open to all.

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