Entitled „The World in Turmoil: Where’s the Next Front?“ the Tartu session will focus on the turbulent security situation around us.
International affairs today might be best characterised as tense. Technological change and geopolitics meet on every level creating new power centres in state and non-state actors. The stability of the EU and NATO depends more than ever on the cohesion of the member states, but this is constantly challenged militarily and digitally. The situation in South East Asia is becoming more complicated, with North- Korea testing the patience of the global community, China continuing its rise, and new players like Iran and Russia entering the scene. The use of chemical weapons in the UK and in Syria has pushed the relationship between Russia and the West to new lows. Some even compare the present moment to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Cold War threatened to turn hot.

There is much to do and much at stake. National governments and international organisations fight fires on a daily basis, but seem to lack the ability and time to devise long-term strategies. How can we deal with the current conflicts and produce enduring positive effects? How can we fix the world order so as to be more ready to detect and deal with future challenges?

The speakers of the session are:

Alexander Vershbow, US Ambassador (retired), Distinguished Fellow, The Atlantic Council of the United States

Harinder Sekhon, Senior Fellow, Vivekananda International Foundation. India

Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, Vice President and Executive Director, The German Marshall Fund of the United States, Berlin Office

Peter Brookes, Senior Fellow, National Security Affairs,

Douglas and Sarah Allison, Center for Foreign Policy, the Heritage Foundation

Moderator:  Steven Erlanger, Journalist, New York Times
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