The Future of Europe
In the past few years, Europe has appeared unsettled. From the 2014 Crimean Crisis, to Brexit, to a rise in far right politics across the continent, it is never short of news. Today, we’ll discuss a few of the stories that are affecting Europe now, and defining its future. Starting in Western Europe, we’ll speak with Mr Robert Hage about the past, present, and future of the relationship between France and Germany. Also, with Angela Merkel stepping down later this year, we’ll look ahead and discuss what the future holds for Germany in the face of an upcoming election, and external threats. Later in the episode, Connor Fraser is joined by Keir Giles from Chatham House for a conversation about Russia. They discuss how the Russian state and society are portrayed by mainstream Western sources, and how this representation often differs from reality. Russia’s support for the Belorussian government in the wake of last year’s mass protests, and the recent poisoning and arrest of Alexi Navalny are also unpacked.
Robert Hage is a Fellow of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and an Executive Fellow at the University of Calgary School of Public Policy. He obtained law degrees from the University of Toronto and the University College London and is called to the Alberta Bar. He also attended the École Nationale d’Administration in Paris. He was a foreign service officer for 38 years with the Department of Global Affairs and served as Canada’s Ambassador to Hungary and Slovenia as Director General for Europe and Director General for Legal Affairs.
Keir Giles is a senior consulting fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs. Keir spent the early 1990s in the former USSR. With the BBC Monitoring Service, he reported on political and economic affairs in the former Soviet Union for UK government customers. He also wrote for several years as a Russia correspondent for UK aviation journals. Other professional experience in Russia includes a period with Ernst & Young working on intricate and constantly shifting Russian business law. While attached to the UK Defence Academy's Research and Assessment Branch (R&AB), he wrote and briefed for UK and overseas government and academic customers on Russian military, defence and security issues; Russia's relations with NATO and with its neighbours in Northern Europe; and human factors affecting decision-making in Russia. In addition to Keir's work with Chatham House, he leads the Conflict Studies Research Centre, a group of subject matter experts in Eurasian security. Keir recently published a book summarizing his research on Russia’s behaviour, called Moscow Rules: What Drives Russia to Confront the West. He proposes that “accepting that Russia will never think and act as a Western nation is essential for managing the challenge from Moscow.”
Produced by:
Elliot Simpson - Junior Producer
Connor Fraser - Junior Producer
Thea Koper - Executive Producer
Music:
“The Partisan” by Leonard Cohen
“Ginette” by Beau Dommage
