DATE / TIME:

2015•05•27    16:00 - 18:00

Location:

Barcelona

UNU-GCM 

is pleased to invite you to a research seminar by Dr. John D. Occhipinti (Professor of Political Science, Canisius College, Buffalo, New York USA), to be held on Wednesday, May 27th at 16:00.

An American Perspective on European Identity Politics:

Security implications for the EU and US

Identity politics in Europe matter for the security interests of both the European Union (EU) and the United States (US). This presentation will explore three dimensions of identity politics and their relationship to internal security: nationalism, migration, and radicalization. Nationalism in the form of sub-state identities presents a variety of security challenges for Europe and the US. However, these issues are mainly potential in nature and pertain to the possible break-up of states in or near the EU. In contrast, at the level of nation states, nationalism poses an actual challenge in the way that it inhibits the development of a pan-European identity. This, in turn, makes it more difficult for the EU to develop common approaches to internal security and to strike the right balance between effectiveness and the protection of fundamental rights. Second, the presentation will consider how migration challenges traditional notions of national identity, particularly how identity politics at both the national- and EU-levels shape political and governmental responses to existing immigrant communities and new flows of migrants. Lastly, this presentation will conceptualize radicalization and the related phenomenon of foreign fighters as searches for identity. The presentation will illustrate how the emergence of these challenges can be at least partially explained by identity politics. For each of the three dimensions of identity politics, their significance to the security interests of the EU and US will also be examined.

To register, please email Anna Franzil (franzil@unu.edu) by 18:00 on Monday, May 25^th. Kindly provide your full name and ID details so that we can prepare your visitor pass.