IIEA Talks

Latest Episodes:

UN Peacekeeping: A Conversation with the Military Advisor to the UN Department of Peace Operations Oct 06, 2023

Show notes

General Birame Diop is the Military Advisor to the Department of Peace Operations at the United Nations. General Diop has over 30 years of military experience, previously serving as Chief of the Defence Staff of the Senegalese Armed Forces. He has also served as National Security Advisor to the President of Senegal and Air Force Chief of Staff. He has also served as Deputy and Chief Air operations with United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) from 2002 to 2003. General Diop is a graduate of the Royal Air Academy in Morocco, of the Air University in the United States of America, and from the French War College.

Africa's Economic Outlook Oct 03, 2023

Show notes

On the back of the publication of the 2023 African Economic Outlook report by the African Development Bank (AfDB) in May 2023, Professor Kevin Chika Urama, Vice President and Chief Economist of the African Development Bank, and Mette Knudsen, the Executive Director who represents Ireland’s constituency on the Board of the African Development Bank, are doing a tour of several of the AfDB’s donor countries – including Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. During their stop in Ireland, the IIEA hosted Prof Urama for a keynote address where he discusses the recently published 2023 African Economic Outlook, the work of the AfDB, and the wider economic challenges and opportunities facing Africa. Additionally, Ms Knudsen provides opening remarks at the event and an interactive Q&A session follows the keynote address where both distinguished guests share their unique insights. About the Speaker: Kevin Chika Urama is currently the Chief Economist and Vice-President for Economic Governance & Knowledge Management at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB). Prof Urama is an elected Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS); a Distinguished Professor of the University of Nigeria; an Extra-Ordinary Professor in the School of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University, South Africa; an Adjunct Professor at the Sir Walter Murdoch School of Public Policy and International Affairs, Western Australia; and a Member of the Global Council on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the term 2021-2023. Prior to joining the AfDB, Kevin Urama was the inaugural Managing Director of the Quantum Global Research Lab, Switzerland; Executive Director of the African Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS); and Senior Research Fellow at the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Scotland. Kevin holds an MPhil and a PhD in Land Economy from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. Mette Knudsen is currently Executive Director in the Board of the African Development Bank in Abidjan, representing Denmark, Finland, India, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden. She has previously served as the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General for Political Affairs (DSRSG/P) in UNAMA, the UN mission in Afghanistan from 2021 to 2022. Before that she was Denmark’s Ambassador to Afghanistan from 2020 to 2021 and was Denmark’s Ambassador to Kenya, Somalia, Eritrea, and the Seychelles 2015-2020. Earlier in her career she has served as Danish Ambassador to Greece and Cyprus (2012-2015), Ethiopia, the African Union, and ECOWAS (2004-2007). She has been head of the Africa Department in the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2007-2012) and has also had postings in Zambia (2002-2004) and Tanzania (1995-1998).

The Long Game: How Sinn Féin went from Political Outsider to a Party of Government Oct 03, 2023

Show notes

Sinn Féin is the most popular political party in Ireland and Northern Ireland. The local government elections in Northern Ireland in May 2023 cemented Sinn Féin’s status as the largest party north of the border, while polling indicates that Mary Lou McDonald could lead the party into government in the Republic at the next General Election. Questions therefore arise as to what a Sinn Féin government would mean for Ireland’s role in the European Union, Irish unity, and military neutrality, amongst other issues. In her keynote address to the IIEA, award-winning journalist Aoife Moore discusses her new book, The Long Game: Inside Sinn Féin, including what can be expected from Sinn Féin as a party of government and how a Sinn Féin-led Northern Ireland Executive may impact post-Brexit politics. In the 25th anniversary year of the Good Friday Agreement, Ms Moore also discusses the state of play in Northern Irish politics. About the Speaker: Aoife Moore is an award-winning journalist and the author of The Long Game: Inside Sinn Féin. She is a former political correspondent for the Sunday Times and the Irish Examiner and spent two years working as a journalist for Press Association. In 2020, she broke the “Golfgate” story on the Oireachtas Golf Society scandal along with her colleague Paul Hosford, for which they were jointly awarded Journalist of the Year at the 2021 Newsbrands Irish Journalism Awards. A Derry native, Ms Moore has written and commented extensively on Northern Ireland, Irish and Northern Irish politics, the legacy of the Troubles, and the Good Friday Agreement, as well as the unique challenges faced by women in Irish journalism and more widely in Irish society.

Strategic foresight capabilities in a changing security context Oct 03, 2023

Show notes

The global security environment is in a state of flux. Not only is Europe contending with the kinetic threat posed by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, but emerging threats – including climate change, AI, cyber, quantum computing, food and water shortages, and advanced robotics – are increasingly becoming threat multipliers. In this context, strategic foresight has become an important capability for governments and government institutions to enable informed and better decision-making. This panel discussion, which is jointly hosted by the IIEA and Deloitte, aims to provoke an open discussion about the present and future threat environments and to reflect on how organisations can best develop and utilise strategic foresight capabilities to navigate a changing, contested, and challenging security context. About the Speakers: Dr Raluca Csernatoni is a Fellow at Carnegie Europe where she specialises in European security and defence, as well as emerging disruptive technologies. Csernatoni is currently a guest professor on European security and counterterrorism at the Brussels School of Governance and its Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy, at Vrije Universiteit Brussels in Brussels, Belgium; Dr Florian Klein founded and leads the Centre for the Long View (CLV) network, which is Deloitte’s global centre of excellence for scenario planning and AI-enabled sensing. Florian has authored several books on mega trends and on designing strategic decision systems; Dr Eamonn Noonan of the EPRS Policy Foresight Unit has been involved in the inter-institutional ESPAS network (European Strategy and Policy Analysis System) since 2015. He recently returned from an EU Fellowship at St. Antony’s College Oxford. As an Irish diplomat, he had postings to Luxemburg and Norway. He has studied in Florence, Mainz and Cork.

The White Paper on Enterprise and What It Means for Irish Business Oct 02, 2023

Show notes

In this address to the IIEA, Simon Coveney TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment delivers a keynote address discussing the recently published White Paper on Enterprise 2022-2030 and its implications for SMEs and multinationals based in Ireland. Following this, the event features a panel discussion during which Martina Fitzgerald, CEO of Scale Ireland, and Dr Frances Ruane, Chair of the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council, who respond to the Minister's presentation and share their perspectives on the White Paper. The event will be chaired by Dan O’Brien, IIEA Chief Economist. About the Speakers: Simon Coveney TD is the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, appointed in December 2022. He is also the Deputy Leader of Fine Gael. He has served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2017 to 2022 and Minister for Defence from 2020 to 2022. Between November 2017 and June 2020, he also held the office of Tánaiste. He has previously served as Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government from 2016 to 2017, Minister for Defence from 2014 to 2016, and Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine from 2011 to 2016. Martina Fitzgerald is CEO of Scale Ireland, the independent not-for-profit organisation representing Irish tech start-up and scaling companies. There are currently more than 2,200 tech start-up companies in Ireland, employing more than 50,000 people around the country. Martina is also actively involved in the global and European networks of start-up organisations and has contributed to many of the pan-European initiatives. Martina is also a board member of Dóchas, the Irish association of international development and humanitarian organisations. Prior to 2019, Martina was a leading national journalist, including as Political Correspondent with Ireland’s national broadcaster, RTÉ, and the author of a critically acclaimed best-selling book, Madam Politician, on the subject of Irish female government ministers. Dan O'Brien is Chief Economist of the Institute of International and European Affairs. He is also Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at University College Dublin’s Geary Institute and a regular media commentator on economic and public policy issues. For three years, from mid-2010, Dan was economics editor of The Irish Times, analysing and commenting on a wide range of Irish, European and global issues. Prior to that, he spent a dozen years, based in London and Geneva, as senior economist and editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit, an arm of The Economist Newspaper Group. Dan has also worked for the European Commission and as a consultant for the United Nations and Forfás, an Irish government in-house think tank. Frances Ruane is an Honorary Fellow at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and a Research Affiliate at the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). She is Chair of the National Competitiveness Council and represents Ireland on the European Productivity Network. An economist, she held academic and senior administrative positions at TCD between 1977 and 2006, and was Director of the ESRI from 2006 to 2015. Her research interests are in economic development, international economics and public policy, and she has published widely in these areas. Frances was elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2003 and served as President of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland from 2016-2019.

Protecting Human Rights in the Digital Age Oct 02, 2023

Show notes

Artificial intelligence (AI) already plays a role in deciding what unemployment benefits someone gets, where a burglary is likely to take place, whether someone is at risk of cancer, or who sees an advertisement for low mortgage rates. Its use keeps growing, presenting seemingly endless possibilities. However, AI also poses major challenges to upholding fundamental rights standards in Europe. In his address to the IIEA, Michael O’Flaherty, the Director of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, discusses the implications of AI for human rights, the new AI Act, as well as the wider challenges facing human rights standards in an age of rapid digitalisation. About the Speaker: Michael O’Flaherty is Director of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights. Previously, Michael O'Flaherty was Established Professor of Human Rights Law and Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He has served as Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, Member of the UN Human Rights Committee, and head of a number of UN Human Rights Field Operations.

Frontline to the Picket Line: Striking Nurses and the NHS Crisis Oct 02, 2023

Show notes

The UK has seen significant levels of industrial action taken by many public sector trades union over the past 18 months. Just three years after the COVID-19 pandemic led to an outpouring of public support for the NHS, major strike action has been taken by nursing staff across the UK to fight for better pay and patient safety. In her keynote address to the IIEA, Director of Nursing of the Royal College of Nursing, Nicola Ranger, discusses the current challenges faced by nursing staff in both the NHS and independent health care settings, and the role of the RCN in influencing political change in the UK. About the Speaker: Professor Nicola Ranger joined the RCN in December 2022. She was previously Chief Nurse and Executive Director of Midwifery at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in London. Before that, she held Chief Nurse posts at both Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust and Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust. She has also held a number of senior nursing roles at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust. Earlier in her career, she worked at America’s George Washington University Hospital in Washington and at Mount Sinai Medical Centre in New York.

China's Whole-of-Society Approach to Espionage Sep 21, 2023

Show notes

Professor Eftimiades contends that The People’s Republic of China's massive ‘whole-of-society’ approach to espionage is creating a new paradigm on how intelligence activities are conducted, viewed, and addressed by nations and businesses. In his address, Professor Nicholas Eftimiades discusses how specific espionage and covert action tradecraft is used by China's intelligence services, State Owned Enterprises, universities, and private companies to target companies, governments, and even citizens worldwide. About the Speaker: Nicholas Eftimiades is a professor at Penn State University. He is a member of the graduate faculty teaching homeland security, intelligence, and national security policy. He conducts research on China’s economic espionage, intelligence, and emerging threats/disruptive technologies. Mr. Eftimiades retired from a 34 year government career in intelligence and diplomacy. He has extensive experience and has published widely on China and the national security space. Mr. Eftimiades held senior appointments to the Department of Defence Defence Science Board, the Department of Homeland Security's Advisory Council and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence National Intelligence Council. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, and Auburn University, McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security.

Professor Desmond Dinan 'EU policy outlook: what, how and when?' Sep 21, 2023

Show notes

'EU policy outlook: what, how and when?' Professor Desmond Dinan, Jean Monnet Professor at the George Mason School of Public Policy in Arlington Virginia, in conversation with Dan O’Brien, IIEA Chief Economist

The EU, Enlargement, and the Western Balkans: Time to Recalibrate? Sep 20, 2023

Show notes

In his remarks, Dr Bassuener focuses on the EU’s relationship with the Western Balkans in advance of the country reports which will be published in October 2023. Dr Bassuener’s contention is that, writ broadly, the political elites of the region have demonstrated that they do not want to do the heavy lifting regarding EU accession. Yet, according to Dr Bassuener, the EU’s interest in the region remains its desire to demonstrate its transformative power and geopolitical potency. Overall, in his discussion, Dr Bassuener argues that enlargement should not be abandoned, but rather there should be a reassessment of who the primary EU partners need to be – the citizens of the region. About the Speaker: Kurt Bassuener is a Co-Founder and Senior Associate of the Democratization Policy Council, a Berlin-based think-tank established in 2005. He received his PhD in 2021 from the University of St. Andrews’ Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence. Dr Bassuener is co-author and research director for the Diplomat’s Handbook for Democracy Development Support. Prior to studying at St. Andrews, he lived for 11 years in Sarajevo, starting in 2005 as a strategist for then-High Representative, Paddy Ashdown. He was a political and campaign analyst for the OSCE-ODIHR election observation mission in Ukraine in 2004–2005, and previously conducted analysis-based advocacy in Washington D.C. for the Balkan Institute, the Balkan Action Council, the U.S. Institute of Peace, and the International Rescue Committee.

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