This year the Young Security Conference (YSC) will host its monumental 5th edition, where we ask one core question: what lessons have we learnt about Europe in the past four years? On the one hand, we have seen a Europe that strives for a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), a vision of unity and collective action in the face of global challenges. Yet, we also have encountered a Europe where the allure of national sovereignty and military sovereignty still holds sway. Despite endeavours towards European Cooperation, likely reduced military support by the United States of America, and rising tensions with China, Europe cannot disentangle itself from the complex web of national agendas and self-interests. This dichotomy between the continued integration of foreign and security policies and splintering national interests shows the two faces of the EU: a Union stuck between reform and resistance.

Over these two days, the Young Security Conference e.V., a Berlin-based think-tank, will continue with its core mission to foster inclusive and intergenerational spaces for young thinkers to connect with policy experts, scholars, and high-ranking officials to discuss some of Europe’s most pressing topics on European foreign and security policy. With panels on EU Enlargement, Nuclear Policy, Europe's Conventional Deterrence, Gender and Security and the Weimar Triangle, the YSC 2024 will explore the two faces of the EU, considering historical, political, and institutional factors that shape national priorities, impeding robust engagement with the CFSP and slowing the development of a more unified EU Foreign Policy.

Photo: ©Young Security Conference e.V.

Friday, May 24, 2024

2.30 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Opening of the Conference & Keynote

3 p.m. – 4.30 p.m.
EU Enlargement: A Moral Responsibility or Institutional Overstretch?
Panel Discussion in cooperation with Euro Créative

5 p.m. – 6.30 p.m.
Franco-German & Polish Cooperation in the Shadow of the Ukraine Invasion: A Weimar Triangle Perspective
Panel Discussion
 

Saturday, 25 May 2024

2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Unveiling Feminist Perspectives on Cybersecurity: Challenging Militarisation and Gendered Norms in Cyberspace
Panel Discussion

4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Nuclear Realities: Navigating Diverging Perspectives in the EU in Times of Crisis
Panel Discussion

6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
NATO's Conventional Deterrence: Assessing Transatlantic Preparedness for Future Conflict Scenarios
Panel Discussion

Admission is free. Please register via the following registration form. Please click the button "Load external content" if the form is not displayed directly.

Young Security Conference

Franco-German University (DFH), Friedrich Naumann Stiftung, BayFrance, Universität der Bundeswehr München, Amerikahaus - Bavarian Center for Transatlantic Relations