To delve deeper into the concepts covered in REMIT’s first conference, to provide a comprehensive overview of each session’s topics, and to offer participants a glimpse of what awaits them (or why you should register if you haven’t already!), we’ll be rolling out a Session Series in the weeks leading up to the event.
First up is Parallel Session 1, of course!
| May 16, 11.00-12.30 | Session 1 The Dynamics of the Multilateral Approaches in the Context of the Two Wars in the EU’s Geopolitical Neighbourhoods Moderator: Prof. Valentin Naumescu, Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania Speakers: Mihnea Motoc, Principal Adviser, IDEA, European Commission; Prof. Valentin Naumescu, Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania; Lt. Col. Curtis Cordon, Air, Space and Nuclear Policy Advisor to USA NATO Delegation; Assoc.Prof. Raluca Moldovan, Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania; Andrei Enghis, Policy Officer, European Commission; Florina Caloianu, Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania |
Parallel session 1 is run by REMIT partner Babes-Bolyai University in Romania.
The session will include six presentations on several perspectives linked to the issue of multilateralist dynamics in the EU’s Eastern and Southern neighbourhoods and whether it might help mitigate the consequences of the two wars currently affecting these regions: the Russia-Ukraine war and the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The presentations will focus on issues of military technology, international relations, geopolitics and the role of international organizations and institutions from a variety of perspectives, given the speakers’ diverse backgrounds and expertise.
We also had a short interview with Assoc. Professor Raluca Moldovan to talk a bit more about what the team has in store.
1. What is the importance of holding conversations on multilateral approaches in today’s world?
Given the current climate of global instability and war, and the looming threat of revisionist powers like Russia and China, we believe that analysing the role and importance of multilateralism is particularly salient, since multilateral formats such as NATO will certainly be called upon to play a crucial role in matters of defence and security. Therefore, understanding how multilateralism works and the interests of the different actors involved in multilateral formats will lead to a better understanding of contemporary world affairs.
2. What can participants expect from attending this session?
The session will include six presentations on several perspectives linked to the issue of multilateralist dynamics in the EU’s Eastern and Southern neighbourhoods and whether it might help mitigate the consequences of the two wars currently affecting these regions: the Russia-Ukraine war and the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The presentations will focus on issues of military technology, international relations, geopolitics and the role of international organizations and institutions from a variety of perspectives, given the speakers’ diverse backgrounds and expertise.
3. What aspect are you most looking forward to being explored in the session, considering the speakers and their specialties?
Perhaps the most intriguing and challenging aspect to be explored in this session concerns the potential end of the two conflicts now affecting the EU’s Eastern and Southern neighbourhoods and what the post-war regional (and global) order will look like. What do victory and defeat mean for the actors involved directly and indirectly in these wars? Can such conflicts ever be resolved in a meaningful way, or will they endure as frozen tension points for the medium and long-term future? These are some of the questions that we hope to answer in this session.
4. Which other session are you most looking forward to attending in the 1st REMIT conference?
The conference programme is packed with interesting and thought-provoking presentations from well-known experts, academics, policymakers, so it is very difficult to choose which sessions to attend, as one is certainly tempted to attend them all and revel in all the discussions. But if we were to choose, we would probably pick session 3, because its focus on the special issues on geopolitics and technologies reflects exactly what makes REMIT such an extraordinary project. The plenary sessions will of course also attract a lot of attention and we are very excited to attend them.
Session speakers
Valentin Naumescu is Professor of International Relations at Babeș-Bolyai University, Faculty of European Studies. He is the Director of the EUXGLOB Centre at BBU, and the President of the think tank the Initiative for European Democratic Culture (ICDE). Professor Naumescu was Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2005-2007) and served as Consul General of Romania in Toronto (2008-2012). Among his most recent books: Great Powers’ Foreign Policy: Approaching the Global Competition and the Russian War Against the West (Brill, 2023), The US-China War for Supremacy and the Five Forces Changing the World (Polirom, 2022), and The War: Consequences of the Russian Invasion (co-edited with Raluca Moldovan, Cluj University Press, 2023).
A lawyer by training, Mihnea Motoc had a 26-year career in the Romanian diplomatic service, from which he is presently on leave. During his active diplomatic service, he has overseen, as State Secretary for Multilateral Affairs, Romania’s preparations for joining NATO and the political and foreign and security policy aspects of the early stages of its EU accession talks. He served as Romania’s ambassador to the Netherlands and the UK, and permanent representative to the United Nations – where he also got to sit for 2 years on the Security Council, which he twice had presided over -, and to the EU. Subsequently, he has been Minister of National Defence in the technocratic government of Dacian Cioloș, prior to joining the European Commission, where he worked in various capacities on the geopolitical, defence, foreign and security policy dimension of its in-house think tank, currently known as IDEA (Inspire, Debate, Engage and Accelerate Action).
Lt. Col. Curtis D. Cordon is a US Air Force officer and stealth bomber pilot. He currently serves as the Air, Space, Missile Defence and Nuclear Policy Advisor to the US Military Delegation to the NATO Military Committee. Prior to his current assignment, he spent 2 years as an Olmsted scholar pursuing a doctoral degree at UBB, Cluj Napoca, Romania. He is a graduate of King’s College London with a master’s degree in Air Power in the Modern World.
Raluca Moldovan is Associate Professor in the Department of International Relations and German Studies of Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj Napoca, where she has been teaching since 2004 at graduate and undergraduate levels. She is a PhD in history with a thesis on the representation of the Holocaust on film. Her more recent research interests include immigration studies, mass media and the contemporary Middle East. She has published numerous scholarly articles on topics ranging from history to mass culture in many Romanian and international journals and collective volumes. She is a member of the European and Romanian Associations of American Studies and the Association for the Study of Nationalities (Columbia University, New York). Among her latest publications is the edited volume The European Union. Policies, Perspectives and Politics (New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2020), and The War: Consequences of the Russian Invasion (co-edited with Valentin Naumescu, Cluj University Press, 2023).
Andrei-Ştefan Enghiş is a European Commission official, currently working in the Directorate-General for Digital Services as Stakeholder Management Coordinator in the Corporate Digital Transformation unit. During his fifteen years of professional experience in the public and private sector, he held various positions within the European Commission and an American multinational. A master graduate of Maastricht University in European Studies and International Politics, he has been enrolled, since 2019, as a PhD candidate in International Relations at Babes-Bolyai University. His PhD thesis assesses the perspective of the development of the European strategic autonomy and its impact on the transatlantic security cooperation.
Anamaria Florina Caloianu is currently pursuing her Ph.D. at the European Paradigm Doctoral School in Cluj-Napoca. In 2022, she completed her Master’s Thesis, which examined the use of lawfare in the Aegean Sea conflict between Turkey and Greece, drawing on the 1976 ICJ case. Her doctoral research centers on Turkey’s foreign policy and its relations with major regional actors following the significant events of 2016. Specifically, she explores the impact of these events on Turkey’s diplomatic strategies and regional dynamics, aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of Turkey’s evolving role in the geopolitical landscape of the region.