On September 6-7, 2016, The McCain Institute for International Leadership and the Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC) will host an international conference in Tbilisi, Georgia: “Europe’s Changing Geostrategic Landscape after the Warsaw Summit.” The two-day conference will take place at the Tbilisi Rooms Hotel.
The McCain Institute for International Leadership will be represented by Executive Director Hon. Kurt Volker and Senior Director for Human Rights & Democracy, The Hon. David J. Kramer. The Tbilisi International Conference provides a unique platform and brings together experienced political and security leaders from the United States, Western Europe, Georgia and the wider Euro-Atlantic community to discuss the vision of a Europe whole, free and at peace; the challenges facing Europe’s eastern nations; and strategies to move forward. The objective of this year’s conference, coming a few months after the Warsaw Summit, will be to facilitate input and participation of the countries most affected by the new realities in Europe; discuss existing and possible implications on their security, economic and democratic development; and design a vision and strategy for short, medium, and long-term security.
The conference will bring opinion-makers from the United States and Europe to Georgia to discuss global security threats and challenges, as well as the importance of Euro-Atlantic integration of countries like Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova in this process. The conference comes at a particularly interesting time – a month ahead of Georgia’s parliamentary elections.. Some of the issues to be covered during the conference include: strengthening Georgian democracy, EU and U.S. policies in the region, democracy under attack and outlook for the region, the upcoming presidential elections in the United States, addressing the Russian threat, a look back on how the Baltic states joined NATO and the EU, and reflections on the recent NATO Warsaw Summit.