{"id":61685,"date":"2025-07-16T16:38:48","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T20:38:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/?p=61685"},"modified":"2025-07-17T09:22:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T13:22:07","slug":"schmidt-delivers-keynote-at-eurams-25th-anniversary-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/2025\/07\/16\/schmidt-delivers-keynote-at-eurams-25th-anniversary-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Schmidt Delivers Keynote at EURAM\u2019s 25th Anniversary Conference\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Professor Vivien Ann Schmidt<\/span><\/a> recently delivered a keynote address at the 25th anniversary conference of the European Academy of Management (EURAM) in Florence, Italy. Titled \u201c<\/span>Wake up, Europe: How to Make the EU Fit for Purpose in a Changing World,\u201d the speech highlighted chaos resulting from Trump\u2019s second presidential term, domestically and internationally. Likewise, Schmidt shared recommendations for the European Union to improve policies related to security, industry, climate, governance and democracy and urged strategic utilization of EU bonds to bolster the cooperative group\u2019s global leadership and influence.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Professor Vivien Ann Schmidt delivering the keynote talk at EURAM’s 25th anniversary conference | Photo Credits: Sukanlaya Sawang (via LinkedIn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fellow colleague and member of the EURAM Sukanlaya Sawang said that Schmidt\u2019s talk \u201coffered a timely and sobering reflection on the state of global politics\u2014from the disruptive impact of U.S. leadership to the EU\u2019s role in navigating an increasingly unstable world.\u201d The professor\u2019s address challenged those in attendance to\u00a0 contemplate not only about ways for Europe to respond to these unprecedented circumstances but also to take a hard look at security, democratic governance, economic resilience, and commitment to shared values from a new lens.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During her talk, the Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration spoke about Trump\u2019s second term which has taken a more precarious pivot than his previous presidency. Due to the rapid dismantling of several governmental agencies, attacks on press and universities, and a blatant disregard for the U.S. constitution, Schmidt believes that authoritarianism is putting down its roots in the country. Apart from national upheavals, the current administration is expeditiously withdrawing from climate agreements, disrupting longstanding alliances, and deprioritizing global leadership which as per the professor, could mark the end of American democracy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Schmidt advised that leadership in Europe should pay heed to the current unfolding of events because an unstable situation in the States can empower authoritarian figures and populists across the world. Additionally, the professor asserts that Europe can no longer rely on the superpower for direction on key matters and to effectively deal with this new reality the EU should find its own purpose and leadership. For example, it needs to build its own military and strategic infrastructure and reform outdated EU rules that delay progress while revitalizing democratic structures. Schmidt also suggested that the union should utilize EU bonds to treat climate, technology, and security as shared investments instead of competing priorities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Vivien Ann Schmidt<\/span><\/a> is a Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration, Professor Emerita of International Relations in the <\/span>Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies<\/span><\/a> and Professor Emerita of Political Science as well as the Founding Director of the <\/span>Center for the Study of Europe<\/span><\/a>, all at Boston University where she taught from 1998 to 2023.\u00a0 An authority on European politics and society, European Union, and France, she has written several books including <\/span>Europe\u2019s Crisis of Legitimacy: Governing by Rules and Ruling by Numbers in the Eurozone<\/span><\/i><\/a> (2020) that was a recipient of the Best Book Award of the American Political Science Association\u2019s Ideas, Knowledge, and Politics section. To learn more about her work and accomplishments, visit her <\/span>faculty profile<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Professor Schmidt delivered a keynote address titled “Wake up, Europe: How to Make the EU Fit for Purpose in a Changing World\u201d at EURAM’s 25th anniversary conference in Florence, Italy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24850,"featured_media":61686,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8411,11797],"tags":[12985,2098,8362,12982,12983,8439,12984,12979,12977,8361,12886,8765,12981,12978,8662,9596,12823,12980],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61685"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24850"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61685"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61695,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61685\/revisions\/61695"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}