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“The Europe is …? – Long Live the New Europe!”
Conferences “The Europe is …? – Long Live the New Europe!”

“The Europe is …? – Long Live the New Europe!”

Event Date(s)
Location
The University of Georgia

Following the UGSPN-conference tradition, which aims at elevating key events and topics that drive national, regional and global dynamics, the 2025 conference titled “THE EUROPE IS…? – LONG LIVE THE NEW EUROPE!” attempts to address the question of the European Idea and its future and challenges associated with it.

We are witnessing the worrying tendencies of growing transnationalization and coordination efforts of autocratic regimes that lead to direct and brutal attacks against democratic societies and nations. Therefore, the conference seeks to identify potent strategies to counter such attacks, as well as to identify key weaknesses (whether strategic, conceptual or operational) of liberal democracies to resist and prove themselves resilient against authoritarian advances. Furthermore, while the prospects of a new American isolationism trigger the old/new idea of the European autonomy in security and defence, the reality and practical challenges along with the existing systemic policy deficits, make the EU’s attempts to navigate to “safe waters” quite questionable.

Key panels will analyze Europe’s pursuit of security and defense autonomy amid shifting transatlantic relations, the dilemmas surrounding EU-enlargement with a focus on Eastern Europe, and the prospects for cooperation and integration in the South Caucasus. Further, the discussions will address the entrenchment of autocratic regimes, exploring societal resistance and institutional resilience. The discussion will engage critically with the role of political leaders and party structures in addressing contemporary challenges, including democratic backsliding and the war in Ukraine.

Towards Security/Defence Autonomy

Europe is forced to become more self-aware and self-sufficient in terms of security provision and defense. The rhetoric and actions initiated by the new Trump-administration leave no doubt about the intentions of the White House to radically reduce its military presence in Europe and even “sanction” those European NATO-members who refuse to increase their military spending above the agreed 2% of GDP. The transatlantic security cooperation, which rests not only on the fair share of military burden, but on extensive intelligence and defence industry collaboration, if left unchanged risks to generate significant challenges and threats for the European continent and therefore radically alter its political, as well as the socio-economic landscape. The panel speakers are invited to discuss the currents policies and tendencies and illuminate the prospects of potential security developments, policies and new conceptual frameworks.

New Eastern Europe: Enlargement Dilemma

As the European Union struggles to redefine its Enlargement perspectives, and the sense of strategic uncertainty is descending upon the continent, the European policies of enlargement and the logic of enlargement itself must be redefined, re-formulated and well understood. Not only from the perspective of the Brussels bureaucracy, but from the capitals of candidate countries, as well as of those

who do not exclude the possibility of a far stronger rapprochement with the EU, the mechanisms of Europeanisation, approximation and credible conditionality must be offered. Thus, the panel speakers will focus on the variety of options available in the context of strategic political and economic development. Not least the models of security arrangements necessary for securing the membership path offer a promising thematic field for discussion.

South Caucasus – Security through Cooperation and Integration

Two key events have dramatically changed the dynamics of processes in the South Caucasus (SC). The restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan as a result of the lightning wars in 2022 and 2024, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine that propelled Georgia to gaining the EU-Candidate status, once again illustrated the fragility of the regional status-quo and re- ignited the “ancient” ideas of a stronger regional cooperation between the SC-countries. These ideas go even beyond the standard proposals of a more intensified cooperation and offer a full- fledged concept of South Caucasus integration centered around the core pillars of shared economy, transport and security. Whether lasting security can be achieved by mimicking the European experience of integrative efforts of past decades is an issue worth uncovering and analyzing in this panel.

Future of Autocracies: Societies in Change

Once heralded as the lighthouse of democracy in the post-soviet area, Georgia rapidly plunged into the club of authoritarian regimes and continues abolishing the remaining liberties the Georgian political system and society were so much proud of in the past. It appears that authoritarian tendencies have an impact on a global scale and increasingly display the quality of a well-coordinated effort. In fact, we are witnessing an unprecedented example of autocratic cooperation not only to survive but to prevail and collectively suppress democratic “challenges” globally.

In the first session of the panel an emphasis will be made on Georgia with some other relevant cases in which strategies and movements of resistance will be discussed that challenge autocracies, ranging from grassroots activism to institutional reforms. The second session will draw attention to the mechanisms of authoritarian entrenchment that turns into a sustainable phenomenon largely due to the mentioned practice of global autocratic collaboration. Participants are as invited to provide insights into the practices of democratic resilience and resistance (whether institutional or societal ones) while addressing the dynamics of digital disinformation, geopolitical pressures, and the evolving role of civil society

Leaders, Parties and Politics – the Organizational Causes of Failure?

As the united European response to Kremlins invasion in Ukraine demonstrates obvious cracks in speed, scale and credibility needed, pundits increasingly look for the contemporary Churchills capable of uniting Europe and standing up to the biggest threat in the continent since the fall of Soviet Union. Many question the ability of current political leaders to think and act strategically. Others claim that the political parties evolved to the strange structures that no longer have any bond to the regular citizens, and in fact turned into a profit-making like enterprises that no longer create politics but use politics for personal or organizational benefits. Some argue that the advance of populist leaders and parties is the global response to that failure. Whether there are structural causes of the failure of conventional party politics, or the global dynamics of socio-cultural change can serve as the plausible explanation, panel speakers are invited to reflect on these factors as well as on the future prospects of the relationship between parties, leaders and party politics.