The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Transatlantic & International Security

"The USA and Europe: Drifting Apart or Coming Together?"

Speaker: Dr. Jamie Shea,
Director of Policy Planning, NATO Headquarters

22 April 2009, 5.30pm, Committee Room 10, House of Commons

To attend, please RSVP to:
kyra.choucroun@henryjacksonsociety.org

(confirmation of your place will be provided in due course
with Members and Peers receiving preference)


By kind invitation of Gisela Stuart, MP, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Transatlantic & International Security is pleased to invite you to a discussion with Dr. Jamie Shea.

Dr. Shea will address the future of the US-Europe relationship, a very contentious and relevant topic given the recent NATO Summit in Strasbourg, and President Obama's attempts to revitalise the transatlantic alliance.
In a town hall meeting on Friday evening, Obama firmly stated the role of Europe in both the fight against Islamist extremism, and closure of Guantanamo. But his efforts were somewhat undone by the vexed issue of NATO's record in Afghanistan, where only Britain responded - and even then half-heartedly - to his request for additional troops to support the combined mission there. With France and Germany promising only assistance, and other nations offering tens of troops rather than the thousands required, was the summit therefore a failure? And despite the reintegration of France into the military structure and the entry of two new members in the form of Albania and Croatia, is NATO now in danger of sinking into irrelevance as an effective alliance?

Dr. Shea is perfectly positioned to both examine the impact of recent events and provide the wider contextualisation for them. As Director of Policy Planning in the private office of the Secretary General at NATO Headquarters, he has had an unparalleled insight into NATO policy-making and will use this to assess the health of the transatlantic alliance and its future prospects on the occasion of its 60th anniversary.

Biography

Dr Jamie Shea is Director of Policy Planning in the Private Office of the Secretary General responsible for advising and assisting the Secretary General, senior NATO management, and the North Atlantic Council in addressing strategic issues facing the Alliance.

He has a proven track record in both the academic and professional worlds. His academic career began at the University of Sussex, where he gained his B.A. (hons) in Modern History and French, and continued to attain his D.Phil in Modern History from Lincoln College, Oxford, in 1981. He has held a wide array of positions within prestigious academic institutions. He is associate professor of International Relations at American University in Washington, D.C., has lectured in defence studies at the University of Lille, and is a Professor at the Brussels School of International Studies.

As a spokesperson for NATO, he gained acclaimed attention during the 1995 Bosnia and 1999 Kosovo campaigns, having previously held various positions within the same organization since 1980. Dr Shea was subsequently Director of Information and Press and then Deputy Assistant Secretary General for External Relations prior to taking up his current posting in 2005.


APPG Officers


Chair
Mrs Gisela Stuart MP

Vice Chairs
Mr Patrick Mercer MP
Mr Paul Keetch MP

Treasurer
Mr David Ruffley MP

Secretary
Mr Derek Twigg MP