Event Recap: The European Crises, Andrew Moravcsik (Princeton University)

The Europe Center kicked off its winter quarter talks by continuing its series on the European Union. Andrew Moravcsik, Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and Director of the European Union Program at Princeton, spoke on the topic of "The European Crises."

In his talk, Moravcsik spoke about the four major crises currently facing the European Union and argued that these crises present less cause for concern than current discourse would suggest. The first crisis is Europe's purported decline in geopolitical power, particularly vis-à-vis China. Contrary to these claims, however, Moravcsik presented evidence indicating that the European Union outstrips China on various measures, including military spending, the number of combat and non-combat forces deployed abroad, number of aircraft carriers, number of allies, relative economic power, civilian foreign economic assistance, and its effective use of non-military intervention. The second crisis is one of Euroscepticism, as exemplified by Brexit. Moravcsik noted that the current British negotiating position largely reflects the status quo. Moreover, he is skeptical that the there will be a domino effect. Specifically, mainstream political parties are unlikely to call for a referendum on the EU, particularly given the results of the British vote, and that the anti-EU parties, even at their most successful, gain too little national political power to successfully hold a referendum. Migration constitutes the third crisis, and Moravcsik argues that this crisis is as serious as it is being portrayed. However, this crisis is unlikely to undermine the entire European project, as there is a clear and effective political solution - closing the border using fences, criminal law, and repatriation agreements. The final crisis is the lack of economic growth. Again, this crisis is exaggerated as both the EU-28 and the Eurozone have had higher per capita growth over the past decade than has the U.S. or Japan. However, that growth has been uneven across the EU member states and has been either stagnant or negative in countries such as Portugal and Greece. Moravcsik's ultimate take away was that in order to undo the European Union, a crisis must be serious and lacking a clear policy solution, and none of the four crises currently facing the EU meet both of these criteria.

Featured Faculty Research: Vincent Barletta

We would like to introduce you to some of The Europe Center’s faculty affiliates and the projects on which they are working. Our featured faculty member this month is Vincent Barletta. Vincent is an Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and of Iberian and Latin American Cultures. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1998 and joined the faculty at Stanford in 2007.

Vincent's research and teaching focus on medieval and early modern Iberian literatures; Portuguese literature, empire and humanism; Islam and Aljamiado literature; comparative literature; literature and linguistic anthropology; and literature and philosophy. In a recent article, Vincent examines the translation practices of sixteenth-century Ibero-Muslims. As Christian kingdoms expanded into the Muslim territories of the Iberian Peninsula throughout the first half of the second millennium, so the dominant jurisprudence shifted from Islamic law to Christian law. This process culminated in the early sixteenth century, when non-Christians were forced to convert to Christianity. Vincent examines the ways in which clandestine Muslim communities during this period translated and adapted juridical Islamic texts. He argues that the translations themselves and the structure of the texts reflect an interest in "closeness." In order to explicate his arguments, he presents analysis of Abū al-Ḥassan cAli ibn cIsa al-Ṭulayṭulī’s Mukhtaṣar (Compendium), which is a tenth-century guidebook to obligatory religious devotions.

Barletta, Vincent. 2016. "Closeness Before the Law: Purity, Prayer, and al-Tulaytilī's Mukhtasa." Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies 17(3):271-284.

Featured Graduate Student Research: Justin Tackett

We would like to introduce you to some of the graduate students that we support and the projects on which they are working. Our featured graduate student this month is Justin Tackett (English). Justin is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of English at Stanford University.

In his research, Justin is interested in 19th and 20th century British and American literature, with a focus on sound studies, poetics, Victorianism, transatlantic modernism, periodicals, technology, and urbanization. In his dissertation Justin examines sound technology and poetry in Britain and America from 1816 to 1914. In one of his dissertation chapters, Justin focuses on the work of the little-known Irish poet, James Henry. Supported by The Europe Center, Justin traveled to Dublin in October 2016 in order to examine the only known repository of Henry's manuscripts, which is housed in the Trinity College archives. In addition to his work in the archives, Justin was able to meet with Emeritus Professor John Richmond, now in his nineties and housebound, who wrote the first Henry biography in 1976. His book is now extremely rare and prohibitively expensive, but he generously gave Justin a copy, which will be of great value for his continuing research. In addition to his work towards the chapter on Henry, Justin was able to advance the research for various other chapters of his dissertation by meeting with other scholars and visiting sites of historical importance. Justin plans to return to Trinity in order to finish cataloging Henry's papers.

Call for Applications: The Europe Center's Undergraduate Internship Program

Application Deadline: February 7, 2017

A key priority of The Europe Center is to provide Stanford’s undergraduate student community with opportunities to develop a deep understanding of contemporary European society and affairs. By promoting knowledge about the opportunities and challenges facing one of the world’s most economically and politically integrated regions, the Center strives to equip our future leaders with the tools necessary to tackle complex problems related to governance, geopolitics, and economic interdependence both in Europe and in the world more broadly.

In order to facilitate this goal, The Europe Center is sponsoring undergraduate internships to be completed in summer 2017. Sponsored internships are available with the following entities:

• The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Brussels, Belgium
  ALDE is a transnational political party comprised of national political parties represented in the European Parliament.
  Positions Available: 2
  Program Dates: June 12, 2017 to July 21, 2017
• Bruegel Brussels, Belgium
  Bruegel is a think-tank devoted to policy research on international economic issues.
  Positions Available: 3
  Program Dates: July 31, 2017 to September 8, 2017
• Carnegie Europe Brussels, Belgium
  Carnegie Europe is an independent policy research center providing foreign policy analysis and policy recommendations on the strategic issues facing Europe and its role in the world.
  Positions Available: 1
  Program Dates: 9 consecutive weeks, with some flexibility to adjust this to work with the intern's summer schedule, between June 19, 2017 and September 15, 2017 (start and end dates to be determined by the host and the student)
• The Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) Brussels, Belgium
  CEPS is a policy think-tank providing research and activities on economic and international policy matters.
  Positions Available: 1
  Program Dates: 6 consecutive weeks between June 19, 2017 and September 15, 2017 (start and end dates to be determined by the host and the student)

We invite applications from Stanford University undergraduate students interested in these exciting opportunities. For more information on The Europe Center's Undergraduate Internship Program, please visit our website.

Visiting Scholar: Dirk Rupnow

The Europe Center is pleased to welcome Dirk Rupnow to Stanford as the 2016-2017 Distinguished Visiting Austrian Chair Professor. Dirk is a Professor of Contemporary History, Head of the Institute for Contemporary History, and Founding Coordinator of the Center for Migration and Globalization at the University of Innsbruck.

Dirk is a historian who is interested in 20th century European history, Holocaust and Jewish studies, cultures and politics of memory, and intellectual and migration history. His current research focuses on developing an inclusive narrative of post-war Austrian history, one that reflects the current plurality and diversity of Austrian society. In order to do so, Dirk will be working primarily on two projects during his time at The Europe Center. In the first project, he is examining the so-called "guest worker“ migration to Austria during the 1960s and 1970s. Because labor migration was viewed as temporary, it somehow remained a blank spot in narratives of post-war Austrian history. But in fact, it has had a lasting effect on Austrian society. The migrants remain nonetheless invisible and have no voice in the discourse on the national history. Dirk seeks to uncover greater information and new sources in order to provide a more complete and multiperspective portrayal of contemporary Austrian history as both a European and global transnational history. In the second project, Dirk seeks to understand how museums can be used to present an inclusive historical narrative to the public. He will lead a group of Austrian museum curators and museologists on a tour of the historical museums in Washington, D.C. - including the National Museum of the American Indian and the National Museum of African American History and Culture - in order to observe how the U.S. presents the history of both minority and marginalized groups. As a member of the Advisory Board for the planned House of Austrian History in Vienna, Dirk intends for this work to facilitate a compelling and inclusive presentation of Austrian history. Please join us in welcoming Dirk to Stanford.

The Europe Center Sponsored Events

January 31, 2017 
12:00PM - 1:30PM 
Lukas Schmid, University of Lucerne 
Human Barriers to International Trade
CISAC Central Conference Room, Encina Hall, 2nd Floor
RSVP by 5:00PM January 27, 2017.

February 2, 2017 
12:00PM - 1:30PM 
Amie Kreppel, University of Florida 
The Political and Institutional Effects of Brexit 
CISAC Central Conference Room, Encina Hall, 2nd Floor
RSVP by 5:00PM January 30, 2017.

February 9, 2017 
12:00PM - 1:30PM 
Walter Scheidel, Stanford University 
Book Talk: The Great Leveler
CISAC Central Conference Room, Encina Hall, 2nd Floor 
RSVP by 5:00PM February 6, 2017.

February 16, 2017 
12:00PM - 1:30PM 
Norman Naimark, Stanford University 
Book Talk: Genocide: A World History
Oksenberg Conference Room, Encina Hall, 3rd Floor 
RSVP by 5:00PM February 13, 2017.

Save the Date: March 3, 2017 
4:00PM - 5:30PM 
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, Former President of the French Republic (1974 - 1981)
This event is sponsored by the France-Stanford Center and co-sponsored by The Europe Center.

Save the Date: April 3, 2017 
11:30AM - 1:00PM 
Guido Tabellini, Bocconi University
Room 400 (Graham Stuart Lounge), Encina Hall West 
No RSVP required. 
This seminar is part of the Comparative Politics Workshop in the Department of Political Science and is co-sponsored by The Europe Center.

April 11, 2017 
12:00PM - 1:30PM 
Philippe Van Parijs, University of Louvain
Europe's Destiny: A View from Brussels 
CISAC Central Conference Room, Encina Hall, 2nd Floor 
RSVP by 5:00PM April 7, 2017.

Save the Date: April 24, 2017 
11:30AM - 1:00PM 
Torun Dewan, London School of Economics
Room 400 (Graham Stuart Lounge), Encina Hall West 
No RSVP required. 
This seminar is part of the Comparative Politics Workshop in the Department of Political Science and is co-sponsored by The Europe Center.

Save the Date: June 5, 2017 
11:30AM - 1:00PM 
Daniel Stegmuller, University of Mannheim
Room 400 (Graham Stuart Lounge), Encina Hall West 
No RSVP required. 
This seminar is part of the Comparative Politics Workshop in the Department of Political Science and is co-sponsored by The Europe Center.

European Security Initiative Events

January 26, 2017 
12:00PM - 1:15PM 
Andrei Kozyrev, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Russian Federation
The Future of U.S.-Russian Relations
Bechtel Conference Center, Encina Hall
RSVP by 5:00PM January 20, 2017.

Save the Date: January 30, 2017 
12:00PM - 1:15PM 
Marie Mendras, Sciences Po and National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS)
Reuben Hills Conference Room, Encina Hall, 2nd Floor 
RSVP by 5:00PM January 25, 2017.

Save the Date: April 10, 2017 
Time TBA 
Ivan Krastev, Center for Liberal Strategies, Sofia, Bulgaria

We welcome you to visit our website for additional details.