Public Panel: “EU Foreign Policy in Times of Populism”

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We are proud to announce our next Public Panel – “EU Foreign Policy in Times of Populism”.

It will take place on 27 February, 18:00-19:30, Diplomatic Academy Vienna.

Speakers:

  • Gerda Falkner (Professor at University of Vienna): Right Wing Populist Parties in the EU and their positions on Foreign Policy
  • Richard Whitman (Professor at Kent University): Brexit, Populism and EU Foreign Policy
  • Ivan Krastev (Permanent Fellow, Institute for Human Sciences, Vienna): After Europe (tbc)

“De-Europeanization and the EU’s International Relations”

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COST Action ENTER is proud to announce another workshop. On 27 and 28 February 2020 experts will convene at the University of Vienna to discuss the topic of “De-Europeanization and the EU’s International Relations”.

This workshop engages with the emerging debate on de-Europeanization of EU foreign policy, both at the conceptual and empirical level. De-Europeanization of foreign policy may relate to the dimensions of (identity), polity, policy, and politics and it is particularly concerned with dynamics that unfold through interactions between the EU and its member states.

Check here for more details on the workshop. The workshop organised by Patrick Müller and Karolina Pomorska.

Another COST Action ENTER Short Term Scientific Mission completed: Maria Diacon at the University of Latvia

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In my Short-Term Scientific Mission in the framework of the COST Action ENTER I had the main purpose to analyze the perception and the implication of philo-Russian representatives in the process of European integration in Latvia.

During my Short-Term Scientific Mission the activities carried out were linked directly with the purpose of Working Group 2: Perception, which focuses on the European Union’s external and internal image.

In a row, I can mention here the activities realized accomplished best results. First of all I tried to find out the most relevant scientific publications in Latvia and the Republic of Moldova on the subject, in order to obtain a historiographical analysis on the subject.

At the very beginning I had the big opportunity to visit the Embassy of the Republic of Moldova in Latvia, obtaining an interview with the ambassador Eugen Revenco. He confirmed that Latvian society could serve as a very positive example on the importance and support of Russian speaking in defining of the euro integration process.

Another interesting activity was the participation in the workshop on Societal Security, organized under the Baltic Sea Security Initiative. I had the opportunity to interview the organizers who are very involved in security in the Baltic region. This offered a different perspective, but a very useful one.

During all my presence at the University of Latvia I disseminated the questionnaire to students from bachelor level and for master level. The answers are to be analyzed.

Also, I had the possibility to visit the house of the European Parliament in Latvia and realized a very interesting interview with the head of the institution Marta Ribele. She provided very valuable information regarding the participation of Latvians in parliamentary elections and the main topics that may be on the agenda of the European Parliament and which she considers necessary to improve for the quality of their life.

On the two last days I had the possibility to participate and to teach students from bachelor level and from master level, subjects were linked with European integration of the Republic of Moldova process and Security on the Black Sea Region. https://www.szf.lu.lv/par-mums/zinas/zina/t/52567/

CfP “Contemporary Challenges in the field of Non-Proliferation/Arms Control Policy and EU Responses”

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We are pleased to announce a Working Group 1 (New Realities)-workshop in Vienna on 26 and 27 February 2020.

This workshop aims to thorough discussions of the contemporary challenges in the field of non-proliferation and arms control diplomacy. The workshop will thus have sessions on the upcoming NPT review conference and its likely outcome as well as sessions on the state of contemporary arms control, focusing on what’s up and down after the fate of the ABM and INF treaties, the Iran deal in tatters, the North Korea no-deal and the MTCR seriously challenged. How do participants read the situation and how do they see likely developments?

The workshop will also have an EU perspective, not least in terms of analysing the EU’s performance in the field on international non-proliferation policy, a field in which the EU during the last few decades has engaged ever more and, at the same time, continuously experienced the constraints that characterize highly state-centric diplomatic practices.

Finally, the workshop will focus on characterizing the strategic environment in which non-proliferation diplomacy is situated. While such diplomacy emerged during the Cold War and developed further in long shadows of Cold War, perhaps we are now in a completely non-Cold War era, characterized by a difficult to read US, a more assertive Russia and an emerging superpower China.

The call for papers is now open.

Please refer to the link below.

CALL FOR PAPERS VIENNA FEB

CfP “Contestation and politicization of EU foreign policy: New realities or same old?”

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We are pleased to announce a Working Group 3 (Contestation)-workshop in Vienna on 26 and 27 February 2020.

Contestation and politicization are ubiquitous in the fields of International Relations and European Studies. The distinct strands of literature that analyze how international norms and institutions, globalization, and European integration are contested have soared. Slower but steadily, interest has also grown on how this affects EU foreign policy, since it is situated at the intersection of many of these concerns. Interest in contestation and politicization has increased substantially among EU foreign policy scholars. From TTIP to the Global Compact for Migration, from the relationship with Russia to climate change, many issues appear now more open to contention than they used to be. Some of the mechanisms that facilitated agreement among EU Member States seem to be on the verge of collapse, some previously consensual issues have now become controversial, and in some specific cases the level of mass engagement and public debate is (nearly) unprecedented.

Nonetheless, reasonable doubts can be raised as regards the novelty and conceptual clarity of this line of research. The terms contestation and politicization sometimes are used interchangeably, which in itself should be a source of concern. They can also be used in ways that make them difficult to distinguish from intra-EU disagreement and politics more generally, which leads to the question of whether this most recent wave of interest in political conflict on EU foreign policy is really onto something new, or whether this is just old wine in new wineskins.

The workshop will address this need for conceptualization and at the same time look at the changing politics of EU foreign policy, with the aim of making a contribution that helps shape up existing literature. In order to foster a greater degree of consistency in our discussions, the co-convenors will circulate a concept paper well ahead of the workshop and will invite all participants to speak to (some of) its proposals and questions. We aim to make progress towards a publication project that will further be discussed during the workshop.

The call for papers is now open.

Please refer to the link below.

Call for papers WG3 Vienna

COST Action ENTER Workshop: Academic Practices for Early Career Researchers

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The coordinator of the Early Career Investigator Network (ECIN) of COST Action ENTER, Dr Anna-Sophie Maass organised a workshop titled ‘Academic Practices for Early Career Researchers’ at the University of Aarhus on 12 November 2019.

The purpose of this one-day workshop was two-fold. On the one hand, it introduced early career investigators to guidelines helping to facilitate their teaching, research and publication as well as administrative tasks. The participants and the workshop organiser thank Professor Knud Erik Jørgensen for having taken his time to provide helpful advice on generating publications.

On the other hand, the interactive nature of this workshop allowed for an exchange of experience of different challenges ECIs are facing throughout and after the PhD. In this way, the workshop addressed some strategies to be used in seeking to address these challenges.

One of the conclusions reached during this workshop was that the main challenge for academics, regardless whether they are still during their PhD candidature, doing a post-doc or currently holding an academic post is to strike an appropriate balance between teaching commitment, research, administrative tasks and training as well as maintaining a social life. A more detailed report on the workshop will be published in due course.

Photo by Antenna on Unsplash

Apply for an ITC Conference Grant! Deadline: 15 December

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Apply now for an ITC Conference Grant!

ITC Conference Grants are aimed at supporting Early Career Investigator and PhD students from Participating ITC to attend related conferences, events or conduct activities on the topic of the Action that are not organised by the COST Action.

COST Action ENTER has published a call for applications. Deadline is 15 December 2019. More information here.

STSM to Riga, Latvia – some first impressions by Dr. Maria Diacon

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Currently Dr. Maria Diacon from Tiraspol State University, Chișinău, Moldova, is on a short term scientific mission to the University of Latvia, Rīga, Latvia.

Here’s first impressions from her:

“My first Short Term Scientific Mission is in Riga, Latvia. It is my huge honor to be here on these days when the Latvian people celebrate their national day, on 18 of November. Wish them prosperity, stability and a great destiny in European family. ”

COST Action ENTER wishes her full success during her scientific stay in Latvia.

WG 2 Perceptions: Scientific article “What’s next for the European coal heartland? Exploring the future of coal as presented in German, Polish and Czech press” published

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Working Group 2 members published an article in Energy Research & Social Science: “What’s next for the European coal heartland? Exploring the future of coal as presented in German, Polish and Czech press“. Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.101316

COST Action ENTER winter training school in Aarhus

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COST Action ENTER winter training school in Aarhus – led by Prof. Dr. Natalia Chaban and Ass. Prof. Dr. Jan Osicka – is still going on in Aarhus. We are proud to have brought together 23 trainees from 17 countries. Our very intense four-day-training school will end today. Here are some impressions of our work.