The U.S. midterm elections — with their consequences for the survival of democracy and continued American commitment to Ukraine — are being closely followed by our European allies. The German Marshall Fund and the Foundation for European Progressive Studies are co-hosting a conference in Brussels Nov. 16 to discuss the ramifications of whatever the results turn out to be today. I’m pleased to be taking part.
The fifth annual State of the Unions conference opens at 1400 GMT in the European capital and registration information can be found here.
Speakers include László Andor, Secretary General of FEPS; Laurence Nardon, head of the North America Program at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI); Steven Erlanger, Chief Diplomatic Correspondent in Europe for the New York Times; Benedetta Berti, Head, Policy Planning for the Office of NATO’s Secretary-General, European Parliament MP Miapetra Kumpula-Natri of Finland; and Slovakia’s former ambassador to Washington, Peter Kmec.
I’ll be on an introductory panel with Mr. Nardon discussing the divides within the U.S. moderated by GMF Vice President Ian Lesser.
I look forward to seeing any colleagues in Brussels next week.
My last trip to Belgium was after the 2016 primaries and ahead of that all too consequential election. I wrote this piece at the time on European fears of what a potential Trump presidency might mean for Transatlantic relations and the world.
COLIN WOODARD is a New York Times bestselling author and award-winning journalist. He is the author of six books that have been translated into a dozen foreign languages and inspired an NBC television drama. He is currently Director of Nationhood Lab at the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Affairs at Salve Regina University. As State and National Affairs Writer at the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram he won a 2012 George Polk Award and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2016. He is a contributing editor at POLITICO and his work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, Smithsonian and dozens of other major publications.