AD Talks 2020: What the US Election Means for the Wider Atlantic?

December 9, 2020

The 2020 US elections have taken place amidst a highly polarized context, compounded by a devastating global health crisis, a far-reaching economic recession, and the mounting threat of populism worldwide, calling into question the limits of multilateral cooperation. The Presidential Election has represented a critical juncture not only to American citizens anxious about the future of their nation, but also to US partners around the world. Affecting the nation’s foreign policy on topics of global common interest, ranging from climate change and global health to international security, the election has raised extensive questions about the future of the international system and of the wider trans-Atlantic relationship. Indeed, the multiple alliances and partnerships the United States has nurtured over the years throughout Europe, Africa, and South America, have come under great duress following the outbreak of COVID-19 and the rise of instability, threatening to crystalize a gradual shift toward isolationism. The extent to which the next administration will succeed in overcoming structural and domestic constraints in order to reconcile domestic interests with the foreign policy agenda, will be decisive in ushering a new era of strengthened trans-Atlantic relations. Is isolationism a temporary political orientation the current administration has embraced or will a gradual retreat from multilateralism irreversibly come to characterize American foreign policy in the following decades? What are the key pressing issues and security challenges requiring multilateral mobilization in the Wider Atlantic? What impact would a divided government have on the next administration’s foreign policy in the region? How can countries throughout the Wider Atlantic renegotiate an inclusive framework of cooperation reengaging the South Atlantic to build long-lasting partnerships aimed at tackling common challenges? Moderator : Kidane Kiros, Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South Speakers : - Reta Jo Lewis, Senior Fellow & Director of Congessional Affairs, German Marshall Fund of the United States - Len Ishmael, Senior Fellow, German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Policy Center for the New South

Speakers
Len Ishmael
Senior Fellow
Ambassador Dr. Len Ishmael is an affiliate Professor at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University teaching the MSc course New South Dynamics, as well as Geopolitics and Geo-economics in the Joint HEC Paris/Public Policy School Executive Program. She is a Senior Fellow of the Policy Center for the New South, Distinguished Visiting Scholar of the German Marshall Fund of the United States of America and a Senior Fellow of the European Centre for Development Policy Management. Dr. Ishmael is the Global Affairs Advisor and Head of the Expert Groups of the Brussels Diplomatic Academy of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). She is the former Ambassador of the Eastern Caribbean States to the Kingdom of Belgium and European Union, past President of the 79-member African, Caribbean & ...
Reta Jo Lewis
Senior Fellow & Director of Congessional Affairs, German Marshall Fund of the United States
...
Kidane Kiros
Senior Fellow
Dr. Kidane Kiros Bitsue is currently Professor-Researcher at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University’s Faculty of Humanities, Economics and Social Sciences and Senior Fellow at Policy Centre for the New South. He holds a PhD degree in Development Studies. Prior to joining Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Dr Kidane served as the Director of the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) of Addis Ababa University (AAU) from March 2014 – June 2019. In his capacity as the Director of IPSS, he had directed the successful conduct of six (6) annual conferences of Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa that took place from 2014 – 2019. As a result of efforts done under his directorship in the areas of academic, research and outreach activities; IPSS had been rated among the t ...

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