Berlin launch “Connectivity Wars”

In today’s world, people are bound together as never before. Whether it is world trade or the internet – hyper-independence has become a global reality. But rather than preventing conflict and presaging an era of global governance, this interdependence has become a source of tension. If states conclude that interdependence carries more risks than it brings advantages, they could withdraw from the regional and global systems of cooperation or fragment them by trying to protect themselves against it.

As part of the Rethink: Europe project ECFR launched the essay collection “Connectivity Wars: Why migration, finance and trade are the geo-economic battlegrounds of the future”. In cooperation with Daimler AG the project hosted a public discussion on the world of geo-economics and what it means for Europe.

The panelists on the podium included ECFR’s Director Mark Leonard, Andreas Nick, MdB, Member of the Bundestag committees for Foreign Affairs and Digital Policy, Gregor Peter Schmitz, Bureau Chief Berlin for WirtschaftsWoche, and ECFR Senior Policy Fellow Sebastian Dullien. Sylke Tempel, Editor-in-chief of Internationale Politik, moderated the discussion.

You can find the introduction to the essay collection here.

To see photos of the discussion please see the online gallery below.