The world changed significantly when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Both the NAT0 alliance and the European Union found new purpose and strength. Consequently, the talk on the European Union will have a new focus. The EU is a sprawling organization that faces the challenge of helping 27 disparate nations with different aims and challenges find common ground and agreement in policy.
In particular, the historical stop-and-go nature of consensus politics will be explored in the context of world events as they impact the EU and its members. Why does the EU surge ahead in cooperation in response to some events and crises, while at other times politics and national self-interest slow or even reverse EU integration? Dr. Diana Morlang, a member of the Santa Clara University political science department will help us understand how and why the EU responded so differently to recent events such as the Eurocrisis, the 2015 immigration crisis and Brexit and the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The first set of events undermined the cooperation essential to EU government while the invasion has galvanized EU consensus. If the EU can maintain its current cooperation, new areas of policy and politics are likely to result that may reshape the EU as a political and world actor.
Diana Morlang began her study of European politics as a Rotary exchange student to Denmark. She continued to study Europe throughout her BS in International Relations at UC Davis, including studying abroad again in Hungary. She holds a Ph.D from Duke University in Political Science and has enjoyed studying and teaching European politics at Santa Clara University for 21 years.
