The UK, Ireland and the European Union in a time of crisis
Security and Defence in the EU, Ireland and the UK
UACES and IACES are delighted to announce the creation of a Joint Seminar Series ‘The UK, Ireland and the European Union in a time of crisis’. This important and timely initiative will bring together scholars from across these islands and beyond to consider and reflect on common crises, shared challenges and emerging opportunities for cooperation and collaboration.
Relationships within and between Ireland, the UK and the EU have been fundamentally reshaped in recent years by a series of era-defining political upheavals. Brexit has catalysed economic, cultural-political and constitutional conflict, recast British-Irish relations and recalibrated Europe’s political geography. The aftershocks of the financial and Eurozone crises, populism and the undermining of the rule of law have contributed to continuing processes of political change and unrest across the EU. And since 2020, Europe has been both newly united and profoundly divided by a global pandemic. This seminar series seeks to examine and address these overlapping challenges that have confronted Europe, in general, and ‘these islands’, in particular, since 2016. By bringing together the leading European Studies Associations in Ireland and the UK, we seek to do so in a spirit of renewed solidarity and collaboration. The seminar series takes a deliberately inter-disciplinary approach, seeking to expand what is meant by ‘European Studies’, and inviting contributions from right across academia and beyond, on both sides of the Irish Sea and from across the EU.
The UK and Ireland in a Time of Crisis: Security and Defence in the EU, UK and Ireland
The rise of new complex, multifaceted and global insecurities has posed important questions for defence and security policy across Europe and beyond. This seminar will probe the shared defence challenges currently confronting Ireland, the UK and the EU. It will interrogate the re-emerging debate about neutrality in Ireland, explore post-Brexit UK defence strategy and positioning, and critically examine the EU's approach to defence and security in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.
UACES
UACES (University Association for Contemporary European Studies) is the global membership organisation for academics, students and practitioners who are interested in all aspects of Europe and the European Union.
IACES
The Irish Association for Contemporary European Studies (IACES) brings together European Studies scholars and practitioners from across the island of Ireland to foster collaboration, source funding, and disseminate scholarly research on European integration and membership of the EU. The association contributes to public and political discussion on the question of Ireland’s EU membership.
With guest speakers:
Dr Maxine David (Leiden University), Dr Jocelyn Mawdsley (Newcastle University), Prof John O'Brennan (Maynooth University), Prof Ben Tonra (University College Dublin)
Chair: Prof Richard Whitman (University of Kent)