Part of the 2018 Austrian Lecture Series
The Austrian Lecture Series is a speaker and discussion series jointly organized by the Embassy of Austria, the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins University's SAIS and other partners on the occasion of the 180th anniversary of Austrian-American diplomatic relations, the Commemorative Year 2018 (including the centenary of the founding of the Republic of Austria), and the Austrian presidency of the European Union 2018.
Panel Discussion: The Concept of Neutrality and East-Central Europe
When: Monday, February 26th, 2018 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Where: Rome 806
Johns Hopkins University
School of Advanced International Studies
1619 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
In his new Brookings Marshall Paper, Michael E. O'Hanlon argues that it is time for Western nations to negotiate a new security architecture for neutral countries in Eastern Europe, in order to stabilize the region and reduce the risks of war with Russia.
Can neutrality be a sustainable conceptual option for the future?
This seminar will discuss neutrality and that the Austrian model could be an alternative for East-Central Europe. In its neutrality law of 1955, Austria agreed on not joining a military alliance and not to allowing any foreign military bases on its territory. In addition to neutrality, a State Treaty guaranteed that Austria would not join a new union with Germany, as in 1938 (Anschluss). A prohibition for Ukraine, or parts of it, to join a union together with neutrality could guarantee the unity of Ukraine.
Panelists:
P. Terrence Hopmann (Conflict Management at Johns Hopkins University SAIS)
Michael E. O'Hanlon (Foreign Policy at Brookings Institution)
Heinz Gaertner (Fellow at CTR, Johns Hopkins University SAIS, University of Vienna)
Mykola Vorobiov (Fellow at CTR, Johns Hopkins University SAIS, Ukraine)
Moderator:
Daniel Hamilton (Director of the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins University SAIS)
Event Video:
