On 9 and 10 October 2025, the Foundation and the Pierre du Bois Foundation for Current History organized the international colloquium «European Security in Global Disorder» in Lausanne. Find the films of these two days of discussions and exchanges here.
Organized jointly by the Pierre du Bois Foundation for Current History and the Jean Monnet Foundation for Europe, the colloquium «European Security in Global Disorder» brought together experts, scholars, and diplomats at the Aula-IDHEAP in Lausanne to reflect on the new challenges facing European security in a changing geopolitical context.
On Thursday, 9 October, the inaugural evening opened with welcome messages from the Presidents of the two Foundations, Pat Cox and Irina du Bois, as well as a video message from Andrius Kubilius, European Commissioner for Defence and Space. The evening continued with a lecture by Joschka Fischer, former Foreign Minister and Vice-Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, followed by a discussion with Roger de Weck and questions from the audience.
On Friday, 10 October, four thematic panels, followed by audience questions, addressed key areas of reflection:
Panel 1: Europe facing hybrid warfare moderated by Vassily Klimentov, SNSF-Ambizione Researcher, University of Zurich
- Amb. Martin Dahinden, Professor, University of Zurich
- Amb. Thomas Greminger, Director of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Jonathan Nelson, Director of Risk Intelligence, Alto Intelligence
Panel 2: Europe, military forces and armament moderated by Lucie Du Pasquier, Head of Scientific Mediation and Publications, FJME
- Hélène Conway-Mouret, Senator for French Citizens Abroad
- Raoul Delcorde, Honorary Ambassador of Belgium, Professor at UCLouvain
- Ulrike Franke, Senior Policy Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations
- Katja Gentinetta, Philosopher and Political Advisor, President of the Geneva Graduate Institute
Panel 3: Europe’s security system of the future moderated by Bernhard Blumenau, Senior Lecturer, University of St Andrews
- Michael Gehler, Professor, University of Hidelsheim
- Jussi Hanhimäki(Zoom), Professor, Geneva Graduate Institute
- Walter Spindler, Major général (ret) of the German Bundeswehr
- Bruno Tertrais(Zoom), Deputy Director, Foundation for the Strategic Research
Panel 4: European policy in relation to world blocs moderated by Raoul Delcorde, Honorary Ambassador of Belgium, Professor at UCLouvain
- Amb. Pascale Baeryswil(Zoom), Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations in New York
- Pat Cox, President of the FJME, former President of the European Parliament
- Klaus Welle, Chair of the Academic Council of the Wilfried Martens Centre, Special Advisor to the European Commissioner for Defence and Space
The conference concluded with a fireside chat between Pat Cox and Rose Gottemoeller (Zoom), William J. Perry Lecturer at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, former NATO Deputy Secretary General, and former U.S. Under Secretary of State, offering a valuable transatlantic perspective on the future of European security.
The lively and highly relevant discussions highlighted the need for Europe to rethink its security strategy in a rapidly changing international environment. The audience, present in large numbers, particularly appreciated the quality of the interventions and the diversity of perspectives shared throughout the event.
