The race to build the Southern Energy Corridor to bring Caspian natural gas to Europe is in its final stages. The Shah Deniz consortium in Azerbaijan is set to once and for all decide the long-pending "Nabucco question". How will this improve European energy security? Experts from Baku's Center for Strategic Studies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan gather to discuss this, as well as other pertinent questions at a roundtable discussion co-hosted by the Global Europe Program and the Kennan Institute. read more
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EU accession holds the best hope for overcoming stagnation on democracy-building and state consolidation in the Western Balkan region, which was ravaged by war in the 1990s. The United States and the European Union have reinforced their cooperation in order to reinvigorate this process, but the integration of the Western Balkans into European institutions is complex and will require innovative thinking.
This website serves as a clearinghouse for information on the EU enlargement process and the unique contexts of the countries of the Western Balkans.
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The Latest from the European Studies
Rediscovering the Umma
Article //
May 10, 2013
Ina Merdjanova, former Southeast Europe policy scholar, releases her latest monograph Rediscovering the Umma. Merdjanova adopts a historical perspective in exploring the transforming Muslim identities on the Balkans in a political environment influenced by domestic, as well as international factors. Merdjanova examines the changing and evolving role of women both in the public and private spheres in Muslim communities throughout Southeast Europe,and challenges preconceived notions of Islam. more
Serbia's Challenges on Its Path to EU Accession
Event //
May 29, 2013 // 1:00pm — 2:00pm
Assistant Foreign Minister of Serbia Ljubica Vasic will discuss the challenges and opportunities that the Republic of Serbia faces on its path to European integration. Vasic will address key reforms that the country has introduced so far to advance its EU accession bid, and will explain why the European integration process is important for the overall development of the country. She will outline the steps that Serbia has taken to achieve one of its main foreign policy goals – EU membership. more
Russia's Energy Bully Takes a Fall
Article //
May 07, 2013
"After years as Eurasia's energy bully, Russia's state-controlled natural gas monopoly, Gazprom, is getting a taste of its own medicine," stated Alexandros Petersen in a recent article published by Foreign Policy earlier this week. more
Remembering Margaret Thatcher
Dialogue Program //
Michael Geary looks back at the legacy of Britain’s former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Cynthia Arnson provides context on the surprisingly close Venezuelan presidential election. more
Crisis in the Eurozone: Challenges and Opportunities for the European South
Event //
May 16, 2013 // 9:00am — 10:00am
European integration is the result of a series of policy initiatives with strong voluntaristic features. By far the most important of those initiatives was the adoption of the euro as a common currency for the 17 countries-members of the euro zone. The European edifice was designed for normal conditions and not for crisis situations. The budgetary and financial crisis of the recent years led necessarily to the adoption of an extraordinary system of economic governance of the euro area with entirely intergovernmental- and not community- features. While the countries in crisis are predominantly in the European South, Evangelos Venizelos, President of PASOK, argues that the notion of the European South is a political and not a geographic concept. more