In his address to the IIEA, Ivan Krastev argues that the COVID-19 pandemic marks the real beginning of the 21st century, abruptly turning Europeans to face the future. The political challenge presented by COVID-19 confronted European leaders with a strategic choice: they can either fight to preserve a globalised world of open borders, or work towards a softer version of de-globalisation. He contends that the great paradox of the pandemic was that it was the EU’s failure rather than its success that demonstrated its relevance and spurred European governments towards deeper integration.

About the Speaker:

Ivan Krastev is the Chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies and permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences, IWM Vienna, and a globally renowned author and political scientist. He is a founding board member of the European Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the Board of Trustees of The International Crisis Group and member of the Board of Directors of GLOBSEC. Ivan Krastev is the author of "Is it Tomorrow, Yet? How the Pandemic Changes Europe" (Allen Lane, 2020); The Light that Failed: A Reckoning (Allen Lane, 2019), co-authored with Stephen Holmes; and “After Europe” (UPenn Press, 2017); among other books.