Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine marks a turning point for Europe—especially since the United States is no longer a reliable partner. Ukraine is acting as a shield, while Europe must choose between mere deter­rence and the lasting destruction of Russia’s war-making capabil­ities. How can a shared and sustainable security order be created? These questions were discussed with numerous experts at our inter­na­tional Ukraine conference on March 24 in Berlin.

The EU candidate country is facing one of its deepest political crises in recent years. For more than a year, people have been taking to the streets in peaceful protest. At the same time, the Russia-leaning ruling party, Georgian Dream, has been hardening its course: repression against civil society, independent media, and the opposition is visibly intensifying.

Russia could hardly carry out its war against Ukraine without China’s techno­logical and economic support. We discussed the impli­ca­tions for Western policy­makers at a joint event with the New Eurasian Strategies Centre (NEST) held at the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. Konstantin Eggert reports.

A year of dialogue: Israelis, Pales­tinians, and regional actors are working together in the Middle East Network to discuss ways out of the war in Gaza, the release of hostages, and a peaceful future. On September 15 and 16, the network success­fully concluded its fifth round of dialogue. Organized by the Center for Liberal Modernity, the exchange builds trust, generates new ideas, and, for the first time, brings together voices from politics, civil society, and academia.

After the scandal in the Oval Office on February 28, it has been clear that Europe must take its own security into its own hands. The split in transat­lantic relations is becoming increas­ingly clear. For Europe, this is now the moment of truth. The outcome of the war in Ukraine will have a decisive influence on the future of our continent. These messages also shaped the LibMod conference “Ukraine and us. What next?” with Andrius Kubilius, EU Commis­sioner for Defense and Space, as well as repre­sen­ta­tives from the Baltic and Nordic countries, Poland and Ukraine on March 21 in Berlin.

In our first Transat­lantic Online Dialogue, hosted by Ambas­sador John Herbst together with Ralf Fücks (Center for Liberal Modernity), we had a rich and constructive discussion on the future of the transat­lantic partnership, thanks to Marie Mendras, Ambas­sador Daniel Fried, Michael Gahler, and Robin Wagner.

The Center for Liberal Modernity cordially invites you to the inter­na­tional conference “Ukraine and Us. Where do we go from here?” in Berlin on 21 March, 2025.

Liberal democracy is navigating through turbulent times as Donald Trump’s renewed victory as well as the strength­ening of right-wing nation­alist forces in Europe make clear. Democrats and liberals must come out of the defensive; the open society needs new impetus. On January 16, together with inter­na­tional guests, we will be discussing what ideas and policies are needed and promising. 

As a result of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Eastern European countries are stepping up their efforts to join the EU. At our inter­na­tional conference on 13 November, we will be discussing the oppor­tu­nities and challenges of the current EU enlargement policy with inter­na­tional experts.

Given the level of violence and hostility since 7 October, a political solution to the Israeli-Pales­tinian conflict seems a long way off. At the same time, it is more urgent than ever. Together with experts from the region, a new LibMod project aims to explore the oppor­tu­nities for a two-state solution and for security and cooper­ation in the Middle East. 

“What peace? Ukraine and Us” — two questions that could not be more funda­mental were the focus of our inter­na­tional conference, the third since the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022: What does the war in Ukraine mean for the West, and what goals must a future peace order fulfill?

Invitation to the 4th edition of the European Book Club on 07.11.2024: Karolina Wigura, Stefan Kolev, Ewa Atanassow and Jaroslaw Kuisz in conver­sation with Alan S. Kahan about his new book ‘Freedom from Fear: A History of Liberalism’. 

On 9 and 10 July, the Center for Liberal Modernity organized the inter­na­tional conference “EU Enlargement — a geopo­litical necessity and the next steps for the EU candidate states” with its partner organi­za­tions in Tbilisi, Georgia.

On 14–15 December 2023, the European Council decided to open accession negoti­a­tions with the Republic of Moldova if progress can be made in imple­menting EU reforms, partic­u­larly in the Rule of Law. Since then, the Moldovan government has been contin­u­ously imple­menting the EU reforms. How should Moldova’s progress towards EU accession negoti­a­tions be assessed? What are the next steps in the EU integration process for Moldova? How can the EU and Germany support and accompany Moldova on its European path? 

Inter­na­tional Expert Network Russia Conference Programme as of 14 May 2024 “RUSSIA AND THE WEST: WHAT IS AT STAKE” The War in Ukraine and the West’s Future Policy towards Russia

What does Russia’s war against Ukraine mean for German-Polish relations? Inter­na­tional experts, academics, journalists and diplomats from Poland and Germany, Ukraine, Belarus and the USA discussed these and other questions at the fifth German-Polish Round Table in Wojnowice.

One year after Ukraine was granted EU candidate status, we invited high-ranking repre­sen­ta­tives of the EU and Germany as well as experts from leading European think tanks to take stock of devel­op­ments so far. The discussion in Berlin on 18/​19 September also looked at the prospects for 2024 and tried to identify necessary reforms.

Ecology and freedom: how can we reconcile the two? What does a liberal climate policy look like and what funda­mental questions will it have to answer? We will discuss these questions at our conference “Ecology & Freedom” on 29 November in Berlin. Among others with: Robert Habeck, Ursula Weidenfeld, Claus Leggewie, Michael Zürn, Ralf Fücks, Lukas Köhler, Andreas Jung and many others. 

Our major inter­na­tional conference “Ukraine and Us” in the Repre­sen­tation of the State of Hesse in Berlin generated a great deal of interest. More than 30 invited experts discussed the question “What does Russian aggression mean for Europe” in 7 panels in front of an audience of more than 160 people.

The EU wants to promote the rule of law in Ukraine, but what external measures are needed to achieve this and what are the Ukrainian realities? This is analyzed by Maryna Rabinovych in the LibMod policy paper.

“Rethinking Russia”: On 31 October, we opened our new project “Expert Network Russia” with a conference in Vilnius. Here is a selection of photographs from the event.

In our discussion series, we take a look at some key countries: What is going on in France, the USA, Poland and Hungary, in Israel and the European Union? How can the devel­op­ments in these countries be explained? What is trans­ferable to Germany, what is different here and why? And what paths can be found out of the multiple crises?