International Workshop

The Brussels event of June 20-22 (the Transatlantic Strategic Dialogue) was the crucial step to consolidate the link between the US Strategy Group and its European counterpart. The Dialogue will continue as a regular feature, gathering the two Strategy Groups at least once a year. The next such meeting has been scheduled for the end of January, 2019, in the US.

The Eastern Mediterranean region is undergoing a profound transformation as regards the energy sector, in the context of a changing energy landscape in terms of demand, supply and available technologies. The MENA region as a whole is fast becoming a major energy importer, just as the US has already become a major exporter – and possibly a “swing producer” directly affecting world energy prices.  Inevitably, various geopolitical considerations come into play along the path to a new equilibrium.

The Paris Agreement has received mixed assessments, but it is widely recognized that it is indeed a step in the right direction. The framework allows for improvements and adjustments with respect to the key goal: Paris aims for peaking of global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions as soon as possible and undertaking rapid reductions thereafter.

However, the 2°C target is unlikely to be achieved without the adoption of new policies and technologies.

The starting point of discussions at this international workshop was an examination of the extent to which the result of the US election in November 2016 has engendered widespread concerns for the entire framework of transatlantic relations. The fears that have arisen relate to the future of agreed rules and dialogue vehicles, as well as the core values that underpin liberal democracy, in light of the strong nationalist bent (especially on economic matters) as well as the slant on alliances demonstrated by Donald Trump during the election campaign.

The UN Rome-Based Agencies—the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)—develop and implement critical food security and humanitarian interventions at the global level. Each agency’s impact is magnified through effective collaboration and partnerships with corporations, NGOs, and national governments, play a growing role in scaling pilot projects and marshaling funds for urgently needed food system development.

The participants at this international workshop noted that the political situation in the UK has been confused and in many respects unpredictable in the immediate wake of the recent EU membership referendum. This is especially because the outcome of the vote caught many of the key players unawares in both the “leave” and “remain” camps.

One of the main objectives of the German White Paper is to build consensus on security and defense policies. This objective is an especially difficult one in this period of tight budgets, and with public opinion in nearly every European country concerned on a variety of fronts and often inclined to criticize governments regardless of the merits of their specific choices.

Though each European country has its own political cycles, as well as its own specific economic characteristics, there are objectively a number of common political trends, worrying because of their impact on policy decisions.  The main danger is of a vicious cycle of political and economic instability, against the backdrop of widespread mistrust of both national and international institutions.  Of course, Donald Trump’s election confirms the great dissatisfaction felt by voters in all the advanced economies, whose overall effects are still difficult to assess.  The familiar u