Major issues in EU-US relations to be workshop topic

Two experts on international relations will be among the scholars participating in a Skidmore College workshop titled "After the Lisbon Treaty:   Major Issues in European Union-United States Relations." The event is scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5, at Murray-Aikins Dining Hall, second floor.

Admission is open to the public and to all interested students.

Guest scholars are Alan Weston Cafruny, the Henry Platt Bristol professor of international affairs at Hamilton College, and John. D. Occhipinti, professor of political science and director of European studies at Canisius College. Other participants will be Joerg Bibow, associate professor of economics at Skidmore, and Roy H. Ginsberg, Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration Studies and Joseph C. Palamountain Jr. Professor of Government at Skidmore. Ginsberg is coordinating the event.

The program features a 9:45 a.m. presentation by Cafruny, who will speak on "Europe, the Euro, and the Global Financial Crisis."   Bibow will respond to his talk. Bibow, who has worked in the financial services industry, is a specialist on central banking and financial systems and the effects of monetary policy on economic performance, especially the monetary policies of the Bundesbank and the European Central Bank.

At Hamilton, Cafruny teaches in the area of International Relations and European Politics.  He is the author of numerous books and scholarly articles, including most recently  Europe at Bay: In the Shadow of US Hegemony (co-authored with Magnus Ryner, Lynne Rienner, 2007). His articles have appeared in a variety of journals in the United States and Europe, including  International Organization, Review of International Political Economy, New Political Economy, and the International Spectator.  He is a former member of the Executive Committee of the European Studies Association (EUSA). He was visiting professor (1993-4) and external professor (1994-2000) in the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the European University Institute (Florence, Italy). He was a member of the board of the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees from 1997-2005 and served as board president from 2001-2003.  He is coeditor (with Herman Schwartz) of the  Yearbook of International Political Economy, 2010-2014 . 

At 1 p.m., Occhipinti will present "Partner or Push-Over?   EU Relations with the U.S. on Crime Fighting and Counter-Terrorism." Occhipinti has published extensively on internal security policy in the EU, including  The Politics of EU Police Cooperation: Toward a European FBI?  (Lynne Rienner, 2003). His recent publications include "Justice and Home Affairs: immigration and policing" in Smith, Weber, and Baun,  Governing Europe's Neighbourhood (2007); "A secure Europe?" in Bomberg, Peterson, and Stubb,  The European Union: How Does it Work? (2008); "Parallel Paths and Productive Partners: the E.U. and U.S. on Counter-Terrorism," in Frederic Lemieux (ed.),  Emerging Initiatives and Contemporary Obstacles in Police Cooperation (2010); and "Partner or Push-Over - EU Relations with the US on Internal Security" in Dan Hamilton (ed.)  Shoulder to Shoulder: Forging a Strategic US-EU Partnership (2010). 

At Canisius College, he teaches course on comparative government, international crime, and the European Union. He has presented his research at the U.S. State Department. In 2005 and 2009, Occhipinti briefed newly appointed U.S. Ambassadors to the European Union regarding transatlantic relations on internal security.

At 2:30 p.m. Ginsberg will present "Evaluating EU Deployments of Civilian and Military Crisis Management Operations." Ginsberg, a leading scholar on the European Union, teaches courses on international politics, international law, comparative European government, and international political economy.  His most recent book is titled Demystifying the European Union: The Enduring Logic of Regional Integration (Rowman & Littlefield), the second edition of which was released in March 2010.

Earlier this year Ginsberg was one of four U.S. scholars - and 34 throughout the world - named a Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration Studies.Jean Monnet professors are senior scholars/teachers specializing in European integration studies at colleges and universities around the globe. Under the auspices of the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, the program provides support for the development of new projects that enhance European studies, and resources to strengthen existing curricular initiatives in this area. Jean Monnet professors are part of a broader program designed to increase knowledge and awareness of European integration through teaching, research, public outreach, and debate.