America: Still a European Power?
An international conference and linked graduate seminar organised by the School of Political Science, University of Bologna in collaboration with the Bologna Center of SAIS, Johns Hopkins University and the Europaeum consortium
In 1989, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, US Secretary of State James Baker stated that the US “was and would remain a European power”. He guaranteed American commitment to the Atlantic institutions and not to seek refuge in isolationism. He stressed the care and attention that the US would give to transitional countries in Central and Eastern Europe, and restated his nation’s long support for European economic integration.
The seminar will bring a historical perspective to the present phase of European-American relations. Questions will include, should Europe continue to depend on its main ally on the other side of the Atlantic ? What is the state of US-Europe relations today ? Have Europeans been naive in projecting idealistic dreams on Obama ? Can the wounds of Iraq be healed ? What is the impact on the relationship from new challenges from the East ? Has Obama switched attention away from Europe ? What are the challenges for the future ?
Key note speakers will include Alex Smolar, President of the Stefan Batory Foundation, Warsaw and Philip Stephens, Chief Political Commentator at the Financial Times. This seminar will coincide with the publication of The Shock of America. Europe and the Challenge of the Century (OUP) by Professor David Ellwood of Bologna University, the conference convener.
Please disseminate the event Poster to interested students and colleagues.
Programme
Thursday 6th December - University of Bologna
14:00 Introduction + Welcome
Dr Paul Flather, Mansfield College, Oxford and Europaeum
Dr Sonia Lucarelli, University of Bologna
15.00 The Shock of America
Chair: Dr Paul Flather, Mansfield College, Oxford and Europaeum
Speaker: Professor David Ellwood, University of Bologna
Discussants: Giulia Goletti (Helsinki), Tommaso Zaccaro (Bologna), Laura Kitts (Leiden)
17.30 Working Groups A, B, C: Session I
A: What kind of principles guide the new world order?
B: How should US-Europe relations be structured in the 21st century?
C: Has Europe let America down, or has America let Europe down?
18.30 Graduate Presentations:
Chair: Dr Sonia Lucarelli, University of Bologna
- Giulia Goletti (Helsinki)
Discussant: Stefania Bonacini (Bologna) - Miles Taylor (Oxford) - Leading from Behind: Has a Weaker Transatlantic Alliance Benefitted Despots?
Discussant: Andrea Chiampan (Geneva) - TBA
Discussant: Miles Taylor (Oxford)
Friday, December 7, 2012
Sala dei Poeti
Dipartimento di Scienze Sociali, Università degli Studi di Bologna
Strada Maggiore 45, Bologna
9:30 Welcome and Introduction
9:45 SESSION I
- From Atlanticism to Globalisation, Philip Stephens, Senior Editorialist, Financial Times
- Ideas of Growth and Welfare after the Second Great Crash, Paolo Manasse, University of Bologna, Italy
- Rejection, Reception, “selective appropriation”, Resistances, Molly Nolan, New York University, U.S.
14:30 SESSION II
- The Role of America in the Identity Debates of Balkans, Luisa Chiodi, Osservatorio dei Balcani , Rovereto, Italy
- The Role of America in the Identity Crises of Germany, Matthias Politicyki, Commentator and Novelist, Hamburg, Germany
- America and the Public Use of History in Italy, Maurizio Vaudagna, Università del Piemonte Orientale, Italy
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Johns Hopkins University SAIS Bologna
via Belmeloro 11, Bologna
9:30 SESSION III
- The Atlantic Alliance: Relic or Resource ?, John Harper, Johns Hopkins University SAIS, Bologna, Italy
- Atlantic Trade and Finance in a World Context, Mike Plummer, Johns Hopkins University SAIS, Bologna, Italy
- Google and Europe, TBA
14:30 CONCLUDING ROUNDTABLE
Chair: Paul Flather , Europaeum Consortium, U.K.
Discussants: Giampiero Giacomello, Univesity of Bologna, Italy
Marilyn Young, New York University, U.S.
Federico Romero, European University Institute, Fiesole, Italy
Philip Stephens, The Financial Times, London, U.K.
15.45 Working groups (Final Session)
A: What kind of principles guide the new world order?
B: How should US-Europe relations be structured in the 21st century?
C: Has Europe let America down, or has America let Europe down?
16.30 Plenary reports from Working Groups and follow-up discussion
17.15 Debate: This house believes that Europe and America now have divergent interests. (to be altered)
18.15 Conclusions
