The Director attends the Berlin Foreign Policy Forum, 29th November 2016

On the 29th of November Oliver travelled to Berlin to attend the Berlin Foreign Policy Forum organised by the Korber Siftung Foundation. The Berlin Foreign Policy Forum brings together an international group of 200 politicians, government representatives, experts and journalists in order discuss some of the central German and European foreign policy issues. Discussions at the 2016 Forum covered topics including the long term implications of the Iranian Nuclear deal; the implications of Donald Trump's election for US foreign policy; and Europe's relations with Russia.We noted that the panel between Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, and Paolo Gentiloni, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Italy, discussed the current turmoil in the international relations of the Mediterranean, and emphasised the need for a new Helsinki method  - focused on building confidence, mutual recognition amongst states, and decreasing conflict - in the region. The Helsinki Policy Forum, which Forward Thinking convenes, provides a space where such aims and ideas are explored in depth between key regional powers and their European counterparts.A link to the full panel discussion between Minister Steinmeier and Gentiloni can be accessed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL21YiU8i5e4G8w4zufUnDQ_V12A083EQF&v=Dd6crenCJjc