Credit: The Economist
A United States hostile to the EU would be terrifying for Europe at any moment, but never more so than right now, analyst Michael Crowley writes for POLITICO, adding that economic weakness, a flood of refugees and a drumbeat of Islamic State terrorism have combined to create what EU official Guy Verhofstadt calls “an existential crisis””
Economic malaise and high debt are testing the EU’s financial structures and pitting its members against one another. So is the historic influx of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa. Nationalist parties and candidates hostile to the Union are ascendant in France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands—all of which are set to hold elections this year. Russia, which may stand to gain the most from a disunited Europe, is gleefully aiding the process by disrupting Europe’s domestic politics with propaganda and hacking meant to discredit the pro-EU establishment.
European officials “have a deep well of psychological reliance on the American-led order,” says Jeremy Shapiro, a former State Department official now at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London.
Other observers fear that an isolationist ideology could weaken the battle for democracy and human rights.
The World Affairs Institute launched the Transatlantic Renewal Project in the Winter of 2014 to strengthen the transatlantic community by facilitating communication, information exchange, and cooperation between Europeans and Americans working on policy issues that are vital to the security and the preservation of the partnership.
In the past three years, the TRP Roundtable Series has convened over 250 senior government and parliamentary officials, think tank experts, and leading journalists in 2-day discussions across seven capital cities in eastern Europe, as well as numerous formal and informal meetings in Washington DC to discuss the immediate challenges confronting the partnership.
2017 Transatlantic Fellowship Schedule
Session I: June 11- June 30 Application submission deadline: April 1o Selections Announced: May 1
Session II: September 17- October 6 Application submission deadline: June 1 Selections Announced: June 30
Program Activity
Transatlantic Fellows will spend three weeks in Washington DC. During the first “orientation” week, fellows will meet with a representative group of the DC-based foreign/security policy and opinion-making community. During the second and third weeks of the program, each fellow will work with a counterpart from whose “host” office—typically a think tank, media outlet, or congressional office—the fellows will conduct the activities and research and pursue the goals that they proposed in the “Transatlantic Project” section of their application. (For further information, see Section E in the application below).
Eligibility and Criteria To be eligible, applicants must:
- be a citizen of, and reside in a member country of the European Union, NATO, or Ukraine.
- be employed in national government, politics, think tanks, or journalism (editorial or correspondent) whose work relates to issues of immediate concern to the transatlantic community.
- have excellent written and verbal English language skills.
- complete the Transatlantic Fellowship Application (below) and submit as instructed.
Guidelines In selecting candidates, WAI will generally give preference to applicants who:
- have not had comparable professional work or fellowship experience in Washington DC in the recent 5 years.
- are in early-mid career.
- are citizens of one of Europe’s new democracies.
- work in transatlantic relations, national security and defense, counter terrorism, information and disinformation, cyber security, anti-corruption and government accountability (in Ukraine).
- are able to secure and document that they can provide cost-sharing in an amount equal to $500 USD to supplement their weekly stipend; and most importantly,
- are highly likely to facilitate the strengthening of the transatlantic partnership meaningfully, and in ways relevant to the urgent challenges before it.
The Transatlantic Fellows Program is funded by a generous grant from the National Endowment for Democracy. This NED award will sponsor 16 Transatlantic Fellows in 2017.
Please download the application here.
