Upcoming workshop to focus on influences of European Union

International scholars to discuss political, economic, global security concerns

The political, security, and economic concerns of the European Union in 2011, and their connection to the world at large, will be under discussion at an upcoming Skidmore College workshop. 

The Workshop on the State of the European Union is scheduled Thursday and Friday, Oct. 27-28.  The opening talk, a discussion titled "The State of the EU: Political and Economic Perspectives," is scheduled at 8 p.m. Thursday in Gannett Auditorium, Palamountain Hall. All conference scholars will participate. Several of the visiting scholars will lead Friday discussions on such topics at the Eurozone debt crisis, the EU and the UN, the EU in global security before and after the Arab Spring. These talks will be in the Payne Presentation Room of the Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery. 

Government Professor Roy H. Ginsberg, Skidmore's Jean Monnet Chair in European Integration Studies, coordinated the event and will introduce and moderate Thursday's panel discussion, which is free and open to the public.

An EU expert, Ginsberg says, "Whatever happens there affects all of us. American banks are heavily exposed to European debt and the economies are so intertwined. From an American perspective, the more we know, the better." Of particular concern is the economic situation in Greece, which has been the subject of international headlines for weeks. But the current economic crisis is just one of many issues underscoring the importance of the EU, according to Ginsberg. 

"The EU consists of many of theworld's richest countries - it is a major player.   The Europeans' influence on global security and international diplomacy can be crucial, especially to nations entering the Arab fall after the dramatic developments during the Arab spring," he added.

Discussion leaders during the workshop include Georgetown University Professor , an expert on the politics of international economic relations, whose specialities include the European Union, the Euro, and the European Central Bank. Her session, "The Eurozone Debt Crisis," begins at 9 a.m. Friday, Oct. 28.

Karsten Geier, a veteran of the German Foreign Ministry and the European Union delegation, and Richard Gowan of New York University and the European Council on Foreign Relations, will lead a conversation on "The EU and the UN" at 10:45 p.m. Friday.  Geier is a senior advisor on international security to the U.N. in New York. Gowan is associate director at NYU's Center on International Cooperation and a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign relations, where he specializes in UN and multilateral issues. 

At 1:30 p.m. Friday, Geier, Gowan, and Ginsberg will discuss "The EU in Global Security Before and after the Arab Spring." A closing roundtable featuring guest experts and student participants begins at 3:15 p.m. Friday. 

Skidmore's departments of Management and Business, Foreign Languages and Literatures, and Government; International Affairs Program; the Jean Monnet Chair; and the European Commission are sponsors of the workshop.