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Recently Held Fellows Events

July 9, 2025 - A Special Event for Mackinder Forum Fellows with Patrick Lamb

Patrick Lamb
United Kingdom Foreign Office, Retired

Wednesday, July 9
12:00pm Eastern US Time

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Abstract
"Is Europe Worth Saving?"

From what and by whom? Can it even be saved?
 
Until comparatively recently it would have been presumptuous not to say absurd to pose such a seemingly existential question. Indeed when I was in the US in the early 2000's there were several scholarly books about European excellence and pre-eminence. One was even entitled "Why the EU will Run the 21st Century". How times change, and it certainly does not look that way now. What has brought about such a change both in perception and in the fortunes of Europe? Let's first begin by disentangling a failure to define terms - a failure common on both sides of the Atlantic. The EU is not Europe -  much though it often likes to present itself as such. This question is much bigger and broader than just the EU.
 
With an urgency stemming from the war in Ukraine - and the current occupant of the White House -  the democracies of Europe are facing external threats for which they are woefully unprepared. Even now they appear unwilling to recognise the scale of the challenge that lies ahead if they are ever to regain the military might to deter and counter those threats, something which which was once an integral part of their global pre-eminence. Neither in the UK nor elsewhere have Governments explained to their populations the cost and sacrifices that may be required over an extended period. Is European re-armament at scale even feasible given a declining industrial base? Almost as importantly, is it desirable given earlier European proclivities for blood-letting on a scale unequalled in human history?
 
But there is another and arguably more pernicious problem confronting Europe. It has less to do with challenges from without and is a problem less amenable to the rebuilding of Europe’s military strength. The threat is posed rather by the initially slow, but now sudden, undermining of the very identity and societal fabric of the countries of which Europe is composed by the phenomenon of mass migration. It is especially dangerous because it is unprecedented in modern times and is in itself a measure of Europe’s decline – and increasingly seen as such by its indigenous populations. The Governments of Europe moreover appear impotent, unable to either confront or remedy a phenomenon which is proving to be such an active recruiting sergeant for populist parties across the Continent.
 
Indeed so prominent and divisive is the issue of mass migration in previously  homogenous societies that some academics and commentators have begun to argue that the conditions in fact exist for civil war in the developed economies of the West with the US, the UK and France as the prime contenders in a race no one wants to win. Professor David Betz of King's College London has gone so far as to posit that civil conflict is now inevitable and that the primary strategic threat is in fact internal rather than external.
 
Assailed on all sides from without and within. Little wonder then that the question about whether Europe is worth saving is both so pertinent, so difficult and so vitally important - and throws up so many more questions in its wake.

Advanced Reading

Biography

After an initial career in teaching as Head of Modern Languages at Dulwich College. I joined the Ministry of Defence (MOD) in 1991 where I had responsibility inter alia for all US bases in the UK. I was selected to go to the Ecole Nationale d'Administration in Paris in 1994 and worked in the French Ministry of Defence on Anglo/French naval cooperation. On return to London, and oversight of NATO and European Defence issues in the MOD, I joined the Foreign Office (FCDO) in 1997 where I worked in the Counter-Proliferation Department dealing with WMD and regional proliferation - Iran, the DPRK, Libya and Iraq. Following a year at the United Nations in New York in 2004 as Political Adviser to the Under Secretary-General for Disarmament I returned to the UK and went on  secondment as Deputy Chief Executive of a  Financial Services Firm in the City of London - just in time for the financial crash of 2008-09. My final posting in the FCDO was as Head of the Inquiry Unit into the Iraq War. After retiring in 2017 I worked in the Cabinet Office reviewing the Prime Ministerial Files before their dispatch to the National Archives.
 
My earlier academic career involved research at the Sorbonne on the Essays of Michel de Montaigne  and later at Oxford into the theme of Justice in French poetry of the 16th Century. Contrary to popular prejudice, this prepared me remarkably well for my subsequent working life spent wrestling with very different issues.

 

June 19, 2025 - A Special Event for Mackinder Forum Fellows with Andrew Lambert

Andrew Lambert
King's College London

Thursday, June 19
12:00pm Eastern US Time

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Abstract

Andrew Lambert will discuss content from his book "The British Way of War". Specifically, we'll be discussing chapter 11 which discussed the Quebec Tercentenary of 1908. Which takes Mackinder and Corbett to Canada on Government business, and tested the new strategy for global sea control, battlecruisers, long range radio and turbine power plants. The two men were sent to check Canadian resources, including manpower, willingness to mobilize a Navy, and support the new Imperial project. This event is open to Mackinder Fellows and special guests only and will not be recorded.  We look forward to a vigorous discussion and hope that you can join us.

ALambert headshot

 

April 28, 2025 - A Special Event for Mackinder Forum Fellows with John Hillen

Monday, April 28

12:00pm Eastern US Time - Meet and Greet
12:10pm - 1:45pm Eastern US Time - Talk / Q&A

Moderated by John Hillen
Duke University

This special event for Mackinder Forum Fellows is part 2 of a 2-Part discussion of The Eurasian Century: Hot Wars, Cold Wars, and the Making of the Modern World, a new book by Hal Brands.  Your moderator, the Honorable John Hillen, will lead a discussion of Brand's latest work.

From the book summary, “The Eurasian Century explains how revolutions in technology and warfare, and the rise of toxic ideologies of conquest, made Eurasia the center of twentieth-century geopolitics--with pressing implications for the struggles that will define the twenty-first.”

April 23, 2025 - A Special Event for Mackinder Forum Fellows with Geoffrey Sloan, Ph.D.

Wednesday, April 23

12:00pm Eastern US Time - Meet and Greet
12:10pm - 1:45pm Eastern US Time - Talk / Q&A

Moderated by Geoffrey Sloan, Ph.D.
University of Reading

This special event for Mackinder Forum Fellows is part 1 of a 2-Part discussion of The Eurasian Century: Hot Wars, Cold Wars, and the Making of the Modern World, a new book by Hal Brands.  Your moderator Geoffrey Sloan, Ph.D. will lead a discussion of Brand's latest work.

From the book summary, “The Eurasian Century explains how revolutions in technology and warfare, and the rise of toxic ideologies of conquest, made Eurasia the center of twentieth-century geopolitics--with pressing implications for the struggles that will define the twenty-first.”

March 12, 2025 - A Special Event for Mackinder Forum Fellows with Athanasios Platias, Ph.D.

Wednesday, March 12

12:00pm Eastern US Time - Meet and Greet
12:10pm - 1:45pm Eastern US Time - Talk / Q&A

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A Conversation on Realism, Geopolitics and Idealism in the Formulation of Foreign Policy

Moderated by Athanasios Platias, Ph.D.
Professor of Strategy, University of Piraeus

Moderator, Athanasios Platias will lead a conversation on Realism framed through the lens of the publications below.  In lieu of presentations, please come ready to discuss the articles and your thoughts on how geopolitics should shape foreign policy. 

This event is open to Mackinder Fellows and special guests only and will not be recorded.  We look forward to a vigorous discussion and hope that you can join us.

Advanced Readings
Drawn from Law & Liberty, Liberty Fund