EU-QATAR POLICY DIALOGUE
Event Description
This workshop aims to bring together distinguished scholars, experts and academic- practitioners from Qatar and the European Union member states to provide a platform to develop innovative ideas with a view to comprehend the defining traits of the emerging order in global affairs. The ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Afghanistan will be discussed in depth as case studies of geopolitical fault-lines, which may help us understand the dynamics of new conflicts and challenges of post-conflict management. This policy dialogue will enable intellectual exchange between the expert community and scholars and will foster deeper discussion and interaction among them on the issues that are relevant for the foreign policy agendas of the parties involved, as well as international political agenda at large. Considering the centrality of Europe in global strategic conversation and the depth of Qatar’s relations with leading European actors and Qatar’s experience as mediator/facilitator in international crisis spots, it is high time to initiate a more proactive dialogue among the expert communities in Europe and Qatar. This dialogue will help develop ideas and perspectives for cooperative action and put together policy recommendations before the policy-makers both in European capitals and Doha, which may eventually help them streamline their approaches.
Event details
There will be 5-7 experts from Brussels other European capitals, and 7-10 participants from Qatar. The event will consist of 1 days of panels and one day free time for the participants to socialize and interact with the intellectual community in Doha. The participants will be hosted by Center for International Policy Research (CIPR). Chatham house rules will apply to reinforce openness and frankness of discussions. The workshop will take place on 27 September 2022 in Doha. CIPR will take care of travel and accommodation of the participants.
Program
09:30 - 09:40
Welcome Speech
Dr. Majed Al Ansari Director of Center for International Policy Research
Director of Center for International Policy Research
Panel 1: The United States-China Rivalry: Implications for the EU and the GCC
The heightened tone of United States-China rivalry more and more pressures the European Union to reposition itself against the contours of this definitive relationship, which is still defined by occasional confrontation and cooperation. The emerging geopolitical situation has resulted in further erosion of trust between China and the U.S., while the EU faces ever increasing pressure to choose its side. Against the background of declining US commitment to internationalism due to domestic pressures, there are calls for the EU to uphold multilateralism, which were further weakened by Russian aggression in Ukraine. A renewed transatlantic route is still feasible particularly heartened by Western unity in Ukraine. Yet it is also apparent that NATO's credibility in conflict resolution has been tarnished in the last decade both in Syria and Crimea, while the hasty U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and uncoordinated announcement of the AUKUS security agreement further demonstrated the geostrategic priority gap between the US and European allies. When the United States has introduced coercive diplomacy, it has apparently coordinated with Australia, Canada, and the UK more than with the EU. If coordination with the US agenda on China fails, some claim, the EU might be needed to pursue a semi-pivot to China, which would initially amount to opting for neutrality and prioritizing EU interests in the US-China rivalry and seeking further economic cooperation with China. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic ramifications, epitomized by global supply chain problems, already triggered a rethinking of EU policies towards China, not least the economic dependence on the latter. One thing is for sure that the EU needs to approach the challenges more strategically than before.
10:00--11:15
Chair: Bulent Aras
Henrik Larsen, The United States-China Rivalry: Implications for Europe's Strategic Responsibility
Nathalie Tocci, EU Foreign and Security Policy after Ukraine Crisis
Philip Dientsbier, Rethinking European Strategic Autonomy within a new Transatlantic Context
Coffee Break: 11:15--11:45
Panel 2: Ukraine Crisis
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has posed an unprecedented challenge to European security in recent history. There have been concrete changes in the EU’s policy response, which has been reflected in major decisions on security, defense, finance, trade, energy, and EU enlargement following the Ukraine crisis. This situation is likely to shape the EU’s external action bringing new issues to the agenda of EU governance and member states’ policy priorities. The EU resolve and unity in the crisis also re-generated hope for future action in foreign and security policy. The EU member states have provided military aid to Ukraine to halt Russia's possible march westwards and introduced ever growing international sanctions against Russia, even breaking barriers at the expense of inflicting self-harm on national economies. Meanwhile EU member states have also actively supported NATO’s robust response to the crisis in Ukraine. This is indeed a show of an unseen ability to adapt to a new geopolitical situation, which will necessitate a thorough examination.
11:45—13:00
Chair: Marwan Kabalan
Yevgeniya Gaber,How the EU and Gulf states can play a positive role: A Perspective from Ukraine
Tinatin Akhvlediani,EU-Ukraine Relations: From Association to Candidacy
Bulent Aras, Turkey-Russia-EU relations vis-à-vis Ukraine Crisis
13:00—14:00 Lunch
Panel 3: Afghanistan, Neighbors and Beyond
The EU has been an active player in Afghanistan since the foundational Bonn Agreement in 2001, and supported a new constitutional order based on secular- centralized state and powerful presidency. The EU has provided more than €4 billion in development aid to Afghanistan in the last two decades, which makes Afghanistan the largest beneficiary of EU development assistance globally. EU states has made significant contributions to state building efforts in Afghanistan such as German-led police reform, UK efforts to combat drug trafficking, and Italian-supported judicial reform on top of ISAF led security building efforts, in which various EU members were actively involved. In the wake of US withdrawal, the EU has not recognized the Taliban government but opted for maintaining transactional engagement, on humanitarian grounds, among others. A renewed tide of refugee flows and revival of ISIS threat (ISIS- K) are seen as major security threats, which might be further aggravated if the humanitarian conditions further deteriorate. As such, Afghanistan is not only a bilateral issue for the EU but it also entails regional and global engagement to achieve policy goals. Therefore, EU needs to rethink cooperation with Afghanistan’s neighbors, in particular Pakistan and Iran to gain a necessary foothold on the field. Qatar is in a favorable position to facilitate EU-Afghanistan and EU-regional actors’ consultations, which might also be integrated into this policy dialogue’s subsequent agendas. So far, the U.S. has mismanaged withdrawal from Afghanistan, which resulted in serious rifts in transatlantic diplomacy. Brussels also has a new geopolitical agenda with regenerated Russian, Chinese and ongoing Indian attention to Afghanistan.