Events

Organized by the German Marshall Fund of the United States

In the context of the strategic partnership between OCP Policy Center and the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the Policy Center is a key partner for the Brussels Forum organized by GMF.

Taking place at the Steigenberger Grand Hotel between March 20^th and 22^nd, 2015, the Brussels Forum is an annual high-level meeting of the most influential North American and European political, corporate, and intellectual leaders to address pressing challenges currently facing both sides of the Atlantic. Participants include heads of state, senior officials from the European Union institutions and the member states, U.S. Cabinet officials, Congressional representatives, Parliamentarians, academics, and media.

Leaders on both sides of the Atlantic continue to deepen transatlantic cooperation on a vast array of distinctly new and global challenges from the international financial crisis to climate change and energy security to the retention of high-skilled workers, yet there is no single transatlantic forum focused on this broad and increasingly complex global agenda. Brussels Forum provides a venue for the transatlantic community to address these pressing issues. By bringing together leading politicians, thinkers, journalists, and business representatives, Brussels Forum helps shape a new transatlantic agenda that can adapt to changing global realities and new threats.

The convening is mix of main public sessions and smaller breakout session in which participants explore in depth subjects of common interests under Chatham House rules.

Participants this year include heads of states such as the president of Estonia, senior US policy makers such as Congressmen and Senators, senior EU policy makers such as the Greek finance minister, private sector participants such as executives from Deloitte and leading policy thinkers.

The Theme

The main theme for this year’s edition is (R)evolution. The last decade has seen striking changes on both sides of the Atlantic, and at the global level. Basic assumptions about economic and political stability, energy, security, social models, and the pace of innovation have been challenged, and in some cases overturned. Old competitions have returned, and new partnerships have emerged. Fundamental changes in the nature of power — and its distribution — are part of this equation. The 10th annual Brussels Forum will explore how the world has changed, and how it is likely to change further over the next decade. How much of this change is evolution? How much is revolution? What does it tell us about future trends — and shocks — and the meaning for transatlantic and global strategy?

The main sessions for 2015 Brussels Forum include:

• - Global Competition-Can Transatlantic Economies Compete?
• - The Future of Trade and Investment
• - Zero-Sum? Russia, Power Politics, and the Post-Cold War Era
• - Great Powers in Asia: Is Strategic Competition the New Normal?
• - Countering the New Wave of Terrorism at Home and Abroad
• - New Visions for Energy Transition-Balancing Energy Security, Climate Change and Costs
• - Thought Experiment: The Brussels Forum Agenda in 2025
• - The Future of Conflict