On 21 March 2019 I was invited to contribute to a debate at the European Parliament on Multinational Rapid Response Mechanisms in the context of a book launch of a new edited volume by Yf Reykers and John Karlsrud. 

In the talk, I presented some of the key findings of the chapter contribution "UN Multinational Rapid Reaction Mechanisms: From SHIRBRIG to a UN Vanguard Force", co-written with my colleague Alexandra Novosseloff. 

In the chapter we outlined the main challenges of over dozen attempts of creating a UN Rapid reaction capacity during the last six decades. The closest UN member states have come to realising this aim so far has been the creation of SHIRBRIG in 1999, which unfortunately was disbanded ten years later.

I am honoured to have been invited by the European University Institute to join the Stakeholder and Expert Group of the Peace and Security Cluster for the EUI's new School of Transnational Governance. An excellent and vibrant group of distinguished colleagues, reflecting on an exciting new educational venture.

On 5 June 2018, I was invited to present my research on 'Europe's Return to UN Peacekeeping' at the Expert Seminar "European Contributions to United Nations Peacekeeping: Lessons Learned and Ways Forward", co-organized by the International Peace Institute (IPI) and the Austrian Ministry of Defence.

On 1st November 2017, I had the honour to address the 28 Ambassadors of the Political and Security Committee of the European Union during a lunch-time discussion on the role of the EU's policy of 'Effective Multilateralism'. Organised by the Austrian EU Presidency Team (in preparation for 2018) I was asked to reflect on the successes and challenges of the European Union's relationship with major international organisations in the field of global security governance.

On 1st September 2017, I was invited by the Head of the Division of Multilateralism and Global Issues of the European Union External Action Service (EEAS) to give a talk to EU Ambassadors and Heads of Delegations on the future of Global Governance.

Chaired by Lotte Knudsen (Managing Director for Global and Multilateral Affairs), I spoke alongside Barbara Pesce-Monteiro (Head of the UN Representation Office in Brussels) and focused in my talk on the EU’s evolving role in promoting multilateralism and sketched out three scenarios in which the Europeans could reshape and strengthen global cooperation and collective solutions to the pressing issues of peace and security, global economic inequality, the rise of populism and the weakening of human rights regimes.
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Barbara Pesce-Monteiro provided the UN view and outlined the challenges and potential benefits of stronger EU-UN Cooperation. The presentations were followed by an intensive exchange of views with the EU Heads of Delegations (see attached PDF for a list of their bios). My presentation at the EEAS is part of a growing relationship between Vesalius College, the Global Governance Institute and the European Union External Action Service’s division dealing with global issues. Previous instances of cooperation included lectures and workshop interventions by the Head of Division Jonas Jonsson at Vesalius College as well as various talks and trainings provided by VeCo faculty members and myself at EU headquarters during the last years. 

On 8 December 2016 I was invited to deliver a speech at a policy-maker meeting of policy planners of the 28 EU Member states. The meeting, co-organized by the European External Action Service and the European Union Institute for Security Studies focused on "Global Governance of the 21st Century: which way forward". 

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On 21 April 2016, I had the honour to be invited by the Chairman of the European Council's preparatory committee dealing with United Nations matters (CONUN - the United Nations Working Party) to chair two out of the four sessions dealing with the EU's potential role in contributing to the United Nations' efforts in building and sustaining peace. The informal meeting brought together representatives from all 28 member states ahead of the UN General Assembly meeting in May 2016. My input also drew on the results of our policy research on UN peacebuilding and peacekeeping as well as UN-EU Cooperation and synthesised some of the insights from our co-organized regional European consultations of the UN High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO) in February 2015.

On 4th March 2016, I had the pleasure and honour of chairing a training session on the 'Peace and Security Architecture: The EU-UN Dimension' in the context of the EU-UN Partnership Training Course for policy-makers and officials, organised by the European External Action Service. The training section featured as speakers Rory Keane (Head of the UN Liaison Office for Peace and Security), Lisa Lundstrom (EEAS), Thomas Henning (EEAS Mediation unit) and Thierry Tardy (EUISS). 

In March 2016, I was invited by the Diplomatic Society at King's College London to provide a talk based on the results of our Oxford Handbook of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations. The event was chaired by Dr. Natasha Kuhrt and included a lively debate on the core challenges of contemporary and future peacekeeping operations. Many thanks for the invitation! 

In February 2016, I had the honour and pleasure of having been invited by Tufts University's Institute for Global Leadership to give a lecture on 'Challenges to European Foreign Policy Integration: The Big Three'. In the lecture I traced the history of cooperation and divergence between Britain, France and Germany and sketched out the path ahead with the strategic challenges of increasing British Euroscepticism, French loss of influence and power and German dominance in European Affairs. The Lecture was part of Tufts University's  'NORRIS AND MARGERY BENDETSON EPIIC INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM' on "Europe in Turmoil'. 

On 12 November 2015, I was invited by the European Parliament to brief MEPs on the way international partnerships (in particular with the UN) can enhance the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy. Co-panelists were Rory Keane (Head of UNLOPS, Brussels) and Clara Ganslandt (European External Action Service). The hearing can be viewed HERE (European Parliament TV).

The Future of UN Peace Operations (Podcast)

On 30 October 2015 I was invited to give a talk at the University of Oxford on 'The Future of UN Peace Operations'. Based on my co-edited Oxford Handbook of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, I was invited to give an overview of the past, present and key lessons learned of UN Peacekeeping. 

You can listen to the entire event as a PODCAST on Oxford University website HERE.

On 10 September 2015, I joined Alison Giffen, Senior Advisor to US President Barack Obama on Peacekeeping issues and Paul D. Williams for a round-table discussion in Washington D.C. to discuss the future of UN peacekeeping. Organised by the Stimson Center (a Washington based think tank focusing on global security policies), the event focused on recent policy developments in the US, at the UN and Europe and also assessed the recent reform proposals of the High Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO), whose European regional consultation was co-organized in Brussels in February by Professor Koops and the Global Governance Institute, with the support of VeCo students. The Stimson event also served as the book launch of the Oxford Handbook of UN Peacekeeping Operations, co-edited by Dean Koops and  ProfessorPaul D. Williams (Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University), who also served as moderator of the panel.

Picture from left to right:
Joachim Koops,  Aditi Gorur of the Stimson Center, Alison Giffen, Senior Advisor to Barack Obama on UN Peacekeeping and Professor Paul D. Williams (Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University) present the main results of the Oxford Handbook of UN Peacekeeping Operations and discuss the future of Peacekeeping.

On 8 September 2015, I, spoke at a workshop on ‘A Western Return to UN Peacekeeping?’, organised by the Department of Government of Georgetown University. Chaired by Professor Lise M. Howard (Associate Professor, Georgetown University) with the participation of Alexandra Novesseloff (French Ministry of Defence) and Paul D. Williams (George Washington University), the panel explored major opportunities and core obstacles regarding a strengthened re-engagement of Western nations to UN peacekeeping. An engaging Q&A session with the audience members, which included seasoned peacekeeping experts, ambassadors, UN representatives and graduate students from Georgetown university, rounded off the event.
The event also served as the kick-off of further events of cooperation between VeCo International Affairs faculty and Georgetown University professors focusing on peace, security and conflict resolution issues.
From left to right:
Professor Joachim Koops (Vesalius College), Dr. Alexandra Novesseloff (French Ministry of Defence & Center on International Cooperation), Professor Lise M. Howard (Georgetown University), Professor Paul D. Williams (George Washington University).

On 20 February 2015, I had the pleasure and honour to co-organize -and provide input to-  the diplomatic European regional consultations of the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations established by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

The Secretary-General established the Panel in October 2014 to undertake an assessment of the state of UN peace operations, and the emerging needs of the future. The review included both peacekeeping operations and special political missions. The Panel included 17 members with a wide range of experience and expertise. 

As part of its assessment, the Panel engaged with Member States, academics, think tanks and civil society in various regions of the world, including Europe. The European consultation, co-organized by GGI, together with the UN Liaison Office for Peace and Security and the Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF, Berlin), was held on 20 February at the Egmont Palace, Place du Petit Sablon, 8, Brussels. Six panel members were present and engaged in the discussions, as were representatives from more than 40 member states.

The main purpose of the consultations were to:

• Gather Member State views and concerns regarding the current state of UN peace operations, the challenges and opportunities going forward, and suggestions for consideration;
• Interact with Governments, academia, think tanks and civil society on all aspects of peace operations, including prevention and peace-making; and
• Examine, in the particular context of peacekeeping operations, the experience and perspectives of these countries as troop- and police-contributing countries.

​My talk focused on the importance of rapid reaction and cooperation in SSR and DDR.

Round-Table Discussion on the EU's track-record of Crisis Management in 2014.

From left to right: Joachim Koops, Agostino Miozzo (Managing Director, Crisis Response & Operational Coordination, EEAS; Mark Rhinard, Helene Lavoix and EEAS Secretary General Pierre Vimont)

On 28 November 2013, I was invited to deliver the keynote speech at the Annual EU-NATO Staff Talk Roundtable.
This Roundtable brings together senior military leaders and political officials from NATO and the European Union in order to chart out common strategies and approaches to emerging security challenges. This year’s roundtable focused on Maritime Security and Military Capacity-Building. My lecture kicked off the discussions with a speech on “The Future of EU-NATO Relations: Legitimacy through Action”. The lecture emphasised the importance of overcoming political deadlocks that have hampered the partnership between both organizations and sketched out some concrete projects and initiatives for strengthening cooperation in the field.

Briefing the SEDE Committee, European Parliament (2013)

In September 2013, I was invited to brief Members of the European Parliament on the European Union's various support mechanisms to United Nations and African Union Peacekeeping Operations. 
You can view the full hearing HERE.