Russia’s war is expanding. In Ukraine, missiles and drones are claiming an ever-growing number of civilian lives, while acts of sabotage and drone incidents are increasing at an alarming rate in Germany and across Europe. What can and should we do to stop Putin’s regime? We discussed this question with members of the German Bundestag and experts at our panel discussion, “Russia and the West”. Among the partic­i­pants was prominent Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

The Center for Liberal Modernity cordially invites you to its annual panel discussion “Russia and the West” in Berlin on Wednesday, 14 October 2026.

How can the European Union adapt its enlargement policy to new geopo­litical realities? What oppor­tu­nities do models of gradual integration offer? And how is Russia attempting to undermine the European integration of its neigh­bouring countries? These questions were at the heart of the inter­na­tional conference “The Future of EU Enlargement: EU Integration as a Geopo­litical Necessity”, held on 5 October 2026. The Zentrum Liberale Moderne, together with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, hosted the public event in Berlin.

Our annual conference “Russia and the West” will take place on 14 October this year. It will focus on the prospects for ending the war, on Russia’s domestic dynamics and on Europe’s strategy for a post-war Russia. The event will be followed by a public discussion.

At a recent expert round­table held in Berlin with our partners from the New Eurasian Strategy Center, we discussed the deepening ties between Russia and China, their asymmetric nature and Moscow’s increas­ingly subor­dinate position. Our Russia Programme Director Maria Sannikova-Franck summa­rizes the key findings.

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.

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.

The Center for Liberal Modernity cordially invites you to the inter­na­tional conference “A Common Security Policy for Ukraine and Europe – Objec­tives, Pathways, Respon­si­bil­ities” on 24 March 2026 in Berlin.

Russia continues to pose a huge security challenge for Europe. Every year, the Center for Liberal Modernity invites leading experts to discuss the options for policy­makers at its “Russia and the West” conference. Our programme director Maria Sannikova’s analysis sums up the assess­ments of our last conference.

Russia is waging its full-scale war against Ukraine for four years already, but Germany and Europe are still strug­gling to find the right answers to the threat posed by Moscow. At this year’s panel discussion ‘Russia and the West’, partic­i­pants called for deter­rence and containment – but also for keeping contact with those in Russia who will be needed after the end of the regime.

On November 12, 2025, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Academy hosted the inter­na­tional conference “Geopo­litical turning point? Ukraine and the Future of the EU,” organized by the Center for Liberal Modernity in cooper­ation with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Numerous high-profile panelists debated the future of the EU and a possible geopo­litical turning point.

On 10 and 11 November, the Middle East Network of the Centre for Liberal Modernity organized two polit­i­cally signif­icant events in Israel and the Pales­tinian terri­tories of the West Bank, creating space for an open dialogue between Israelis and Pales­tinians. Despite the tense situation on the ground, more than 100 partic­i­pants came together to discuss prospects for peace, regional cooper­ation, and the future of diplo­matic initiatives.

The Centre for Liberal Modernity together with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation cordially invite you to attend our inter­na­tional conference ‘Geopo­litical Zeiten­wende? Ukraine and the Future of the EU’ on Wednesday, 12 November 2025 at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Academy.

Inter­na­tional Expert Network Russia Annual Conference RUSSIA AND THE WEST: Rethinking Europe’s Security – Key Elements of a New Russia Strategy

The disman­tling of the U.S. Agency for Inter­na­tional Devel­opment (USAID) and the ensuing freezing of foreign aid are a cause for serious concern among civil society organi­za­tions in Eastern Europe. At...

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.

When the Center for Liberal Modernity was founded in 2017, the “illiberal counter­rev­o­lution” (Timothy Garton Ash) was already in full swing. But the force with which autocratic and illiberal currents have since picked up speed exceeds our fears. Our inter­na­tional conference “Rethinking Liber­alism — Challenges to Liber­alism in Turbulent Times” took place just days before Trump’s second inaugu­ration, in the third year of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and overshadowed by the electoral successes of right-wing populists across of Europe. 

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.

“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’. 

The Center for Liberal Modernity cordially invites you to the inter­na­tional conference “What Kind of Peace? Ukraine and Us” on October 16, 2024.

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.

As a result of Russia’s constant attacks on its energy sector, Ukraine suffers an ongoing severe energy shortage. Power outages are a daily occur­rence. This makes life difficult for the population, endangers...

July 9–10: Center for Liberal Modernity in Tbilisi — inter­na­tional conference with our partner organi­za­tions aims at fostering collab­o­ration among civil society organi­za­tions from the eastern partner­ships and the Western Balkans and strenghten them on EU accession issues. Partic­i­pants will share their paths to EU membership, exchange best practices and develop joint initiatives.

While Russia is preparing for a long war, the West remains hesitant and divided. At this year’s conference Russia and the West, partic­i­pants urgently called for a new European policy versus Moscow....

Ideas matter! That is why LibMod launched a new format: The European Book Club. The second discussion will be devoted to “The Blind­sided” by Sylvie Kauffmann.

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? 

Germany’s foot-dragging over military aid to Ukraine and the half-hearted imple­men­tation of Chancellor Scholz’ Zeiten­wende were subjected to sharp criticism at the Center for Liberal Moder­nity’s recent public discussion “Russia...

The war in Ukraine is a test for liberal democ­racies’ resolve and for their capacity to act. There is still time to turn the tide. Otherwise, future histo­rians will mark this...

Despite the ongoing war Ukraine is deter­mined to rebuild its aviation industry and enable its citizens to travel by air again. On 8 May, the Centre for Liberal Modernity discussed the future of the Ukrainian aviation industry with European and Ukrainian experts. The most urgent needs are: trainings for staff, funds (loans or direct aid) as well as air defence systems and munition. Lukas Daubner summarised the results of the discussion here.

In our public discussion «Russia and the West — What is at stake» on 15 May in Berlin we will discuss policy options for the West versus Moscow and what Germany’s allies expect from Berlin. Find the programme and details how to register offline and/​or online here.

On 20 March, LibMod organised two expert discus­sions on carbon management and negative emissions in Brussels. Many decisions that are also crucial for Germany are currently being made there. All the more reason to open our eyes to the EU perspective.

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

On February 28th LibMod organised a workshop on the Green energy transition in Ukrainian commu­nities to discuss current legislative frame­works and practical local experi­ences of small distributed gener­ation in munic­i­pal­ities with lawmakers and experts from Ukraine and the EU. Decen­tralized energy can benefit commu­nities through strength­ening their resilience and security, reducing electricity costs, and increasing invest­ments and local ownership. Since the Russian war of aggression, municipal owned enter­prises and local ownership of renewable energy have become highly important. 

On February 28th, the Zentrum Liberale Moderne hosted its kick-off European Book Club event, featuring a thought-provoking discussion on the essay “Posttrau­matic Sover­eignty” by our Program Directors and Senior Fellows Karolina Wigura and Jaroslaw Kuisz. 

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.

For many years, Poland and Germany pursued different policies regarding Russia and Ukraine. While Warsaw advocated harsher sanctions against Moscow and more support for Kyiv, Berlin was tradi­tionally more reluctant. Despite Zeiten­wende, differ­ences linger. Can the two countries synchronize their approach?

With its overar­ching theme “How fragile is the Putin system?” the recent meeting of LibMod’s Expert Network Russia at the Eastern Studies Centre in Warsaw sent a clear message: A fragile Russia...

On 11 October 2023, an inter­na­tional conference organised by the Centre for Liberal Modernity shed light on the signif­i­cance of the Russian war of aggression for Europe. What can we do to ensure that a free and united Ukraine emerges from the war? How can war criminals be held accountable? How do we shape the European security order of the future?

Inter­na­tional Expert Network Russia Network Meeting “How Fragile is the Putin System?”

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.

Karolina Wigura at the LAMPA Conver­sation Festival in Cēsis, Latvia on “Democracy and its enemies: How Not to Lose the Battle”. Putin’s war of aggression in Ukraine has created new geopo­litical and security realities that no longer leave Europe in peace. We are facing a decade of turbu­lence — how can we weather this storm? What are the threats to our democracies?

On June 15th, LibMod organized a Round Table on the prospects of a German-Ukrainian biomethane cooper­ation where the repre­sen­ta­tives from politics and business as well as experts from both countries discussed the potential of biomethane production in Ukraine, its role in facil­i­tating a green transition, and economic and legislative challenges for the trade development.

Center for Liberal Modernity together with our Ukrainian partners from Clean Energy Lab would like to invite you to an online discussion on “Small distributed gener­ation and reforming the energy system of Ukraine” June 28th 14–15:30 CET.

While the Western countries have intro­duced unprece­dented sanctions against Russia’s energy sector, its nuclear industry, repre­sented by the state-owned nuclear energy monop­olist Rosatom, remains an exception in the sanction policy of the EU and G7. Despite its role in seizing the occupied Zapor­izhzhia nuclear power plant and virtually black­mailing Europe, Rosatom seems to be protected from the sanctions, as many countries are still dependent on the Russian nuclear industry.

More than 120 experts from a dozen countries attended the fifth edition of our conference “Russia and the West” on 20 April in Berlin. The partic­i­pants, including prominent Russian opposition figures in exile, discussed future policy towards Moscow and post-Putin scenarios.

During an Inspiring Round­table last week, we discussed the West’s future Russia policy on the basis of four key countries’ approach — Poland, France, Germany and the US. Some short takeaways:

What is the economic and ecological future of Russia and what are the climate policy conse­quences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine? We invite you to a public discussion on 15 December 2022 with German and Russian economic, energy and climate experts.

Russia’s war against Ukraine has upended not just relations with the West but is testing the inter­na­tional system as a whole. The urgent need for new thinking has prompted the Center of Liberal Modernity to set up its Expert Network Russia, which met in Vilnius under the headline “Rethinking Russia” for the first time on 31 October.

“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.

The Center for Liberal Moder­nity’s Expert Network Russia kicked off last week with a one-day meeting in Vilnius. In his opening remarks, Ralf Fücks reminded everyone why we need to Rethink Russia.

Do Russian war crimes constitute genocide? What oblig­a­tions does this impose on the inter­na­tional community? Experts from politics, academia and civil society discussed these questions at the inter­na­tional conference “Inter­na­tional Law against Genocide”.

Our new project “Expert Network Russia” kicked on October 31 with an inaugural meeting in Vilnius. Network members will gather in the Lithuanian Seimas to discuss how the West should deal with an increas­ingly total­i­tarian and neo-imperial Russia.

Liberal democracy is under pressure worldwide. At our conference “Rethinking Liber­alism, Renewing Democracy” on 24 November in Berlin and online, we discussed with inter­na­tional guests from academia, politics, think tanks and business how liber­alism and liberal democracy must evolve in order to sustain. 

On 31 May, we discussed the future of the Russian economy after the war in Ukraine with Dr Vladislav Inozemtsev, Angelina Davydova, Dr Janis Kluge and Michael Harms.

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine is a turning point for Europe and the whole world. What are its policy impli­ca­tions? Are the sanctions imposed so far suffi­cient to contain the...

On 22 March, at 2 pm, the Center for Liberal Modernity in cooper­ation with Naftogaz Ukraine and the Ukrainian Feder­ation of Employers of the Oil and Gas Industry invites you to...

How should we deal with a repressive and confronta­tional Russia? Join our annual discussion “Russia and the West” on 24 March, which will be held jointly with the Munich Security Conference...

  On October 5, 2021, the Center Liberal Modernity held the public discussion on prior­ities for cooper­ation with Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova under the Eastern Partnership Plus project. The discussion...

On January 17 the Centre for Liberal Modernity held its second inter­na­tional Russia conference. This year’s topic was if Germany’s policy of detente of the 1970s can offer any guidance...

On March 13 the Center Liberal Modernity held its first inter­na­tional conference on Russia. The event’s main intention was gaining a deeper under­standing of the Putin System and to find out...