On the 22nd April 2020, the CCCB hosted a discussion with Ivan Krastev and Jordi Vaquer on the consequences of the coronavirus for Europe.
About the debate:
The economic and political turbulence unleashed by COVID-19 foreshadows the latest, and probably the most far-reaching, in a series of crises that have undermined the process of European integration. Beyond the immediate management of the health crisis and the economic calamity that seems likely to follow, what consequences might this pandemic have for Europe, its unity and its political, economic and social models? Can we start to predict who the long-term winners and losers might be and what changes we might be able to expect?
The political scientist Ivan Krastev, Chairman of the Centre of Liberal Strategies in Sofia and Permanent Fellow at Vienna’s Institute for Human Sciences (IWM), discusses the future of Europe after the COVID-19 crisis with the political analyst and co-director of the Open Society Initiative for Europe, Jordi Vaquer.
Speakers:
Ivan Krastev - Chairman, Centre of Liberal Strategies, Sofia
Dr Ivan Krastev is the chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies, Sofia, and a permanent fellow at the IWM Institute of Human Sciences in Vienna. He is a founding board member of the European Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the advisory board of the ERSTE Foundation and a member of the global advisory board of the Open Society Institute. He is also an associate editor of Europe’s World and a member of the editorial boards of the journals, Journal of Democracy and Transit – Europäische Revue.
From 2004 to 2006, Ivan was the executive director of the International Commission on the Balkans, chaired by the former Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato. He also previously worked as the editor-in-chief of the Bulgarian edition of Foreign Policy and was a member of the Council of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London from 2005-2011.
His latest books in English translation are In Mistrust We Trust: Can Democracy Survive When We Don’t Trust Our Leaders? (2013), Democracy Disrupted: The Politics of Global Protest (2014) and After Europe (2017).
Jordi Vaquer - Regional Director, Open Society Initiative for Europe
Dr Jordi Vaquer is a political analyst and the regional director of the Open Society Initiative for Europe.
Jordi Vaquer specialises in international affairs and, on top of his work for the Open Society Foundation, he is a regular columnist for El País and often called upon as a commentator in other branches of the media. His previous jobs include directing the Centre d’Estudis i Documentació Internacionals of Barcelona (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, CIDOB) from 2008 to 2012 and coordinating EU4Seas; a research programme financed by the European Commission, in which institutions from eight European countries came together to study the effects of European multilateral policies in the Mediterranean, Baltic, Caspian and Black seas.
Jordi Vaquer is also a member of the editorial board of the CIDOB Review of International Affairs and teaches at the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (Barcelona Institute of International Studies, IBEI).
Debate media:
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Organisers & supporters:
This session was initiated by:
With the support of:
