Dear friends and colleagues of the Kolleg-Forschergruppe,

Welcome to the summer term and to our latest newsletter-edition!

In our current edition we will give you a brief update about what is going on at the Research College “The Transformative Power of Europe” and share with you our plans for the summer term. Without doubt, the KFG participation at the ISA in New Orleans from 18-21 February 2015 has been the most important event in the KFG’s winter schedule. The conference brought us many research ideas, inspiration for further projects, and new contacts to other scholars of Comparative Regionalism and International Relations. Apart from sharing with you our ISA impressions we will inform you about the outcome of the second workshop by Kiran Klaus Patel and Wolfram Kaiser and say a warm goodbye to the major project on “The EU as a Security Actor in Asia-Pacific” of the NFG Research Group.

To meet us this summer term, don’t miss the opportunity to visit the KFG panel discussion and the MAXCAP debate at the “Long Night of Sciences” on 13 June, 2015. You are also invited to participate in the roundtable on "Elections and Democracy in the Developing World", organized by KFG fellow Inken von Borzyskowski on 19 May, 2015 and to stop by the book presentation of “European Public Spheres”, edited by Thomas Risse in Berlin and Brussels.

Last but not least, we are proud to present to you our account on Academia.edu. On Academia you are given the possibility to socialize with other academics interested in KFG topics and to stay updated on our working papers and activities.

We wish you a successful start of the summer term and hope that you enjoy this newsletter edition!

Warm regards,

Tanja A. Börzel, Thomas Risse & the KFG-Team

The KFG is pleased to announce the launch of the newly-published volume "European Public Spheres. Politics is Back", edited by KFG-director Thomas Risse. The book was published in November 2014 by Cambridge University Press, but an exclusive double book launch event will take place in the coming semester. The book launch will consist of two parallel events, which will take place both in Brussels and in Berlin. They will take the form of an interactive panel discussion, followed by a reception.

We invite you to join us for a roundtable on "Elections and Democracy in the Developing World", hosted by KFG fellow Inken von Borzyskowski. While almost all countries hold elections today, these are often plagued by fraud and violence, and are frequently administered by weak institutions. Democracy depends critically on free and fair elections and peaceful transitions – yet these essential first steps are regularly thwarted in developing countries.

The “Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften” (Long Night of the Sciences) is an annual event in Berlin and Potsdam, during which researchers present their work to a broad audience. In view of current political developments, the KFG and MAXCAP decided to devote their contribution to “Europe and Russia in Times of the Ukrainian Crisis”.

"Multiple Connections in Post-war European Cooperation: International Organizations, Policy Ideas, Practices and Transfers" is the second workshop organized by Professor Kiran Klaus Patel (Maastricht) and Professor Wolfram Kaiser (Portsmouth). Their first conference focused on continuities in European cooperation across the Second World War. The second conference held in Berlin on 29-30 January 2015 shifted the perspective to looking at the EU’s role, and that of its predecessors, in the web of European international organizations in post-war Europe, and especially in the period between the first oil crisis in 1973 and the Maastricht Treaty of 1992-3.

The 56th ISA Annual Convention, which was held in New Orleans from 18-21 February, 2015, certainly left an impression with many of its over 5000 attendees, not only for its spectacular timing. Despite below-average temperatures, Mardi Gras was still in full swing when scholars and practitioners from various fields of international studies began flocking to the crescent city from all across the world. Consequently, the sight of be-beaded and (at best) semi-sober carnival tourists, mingling with women and men in more conventional conference garb in the lobby of the Hilton New Orleans Riverside, was certainly one to be seen.

After more than four years, the NFG Research Group „Asian Perceptions of the EU“ has completed its first major research project on diffusion of security norms between the European Union and its Strategic Partners China and India.

The following books and special issues by KFG fellows have been published lately:

"Governance Transfer by Regional Organizations. Patching Together a Global Script", edited by Tanja A. Börzel and Vera van Hüllen;

"Transnationalization and Regulatory Change in the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood. Ukraine between Brussels and Moscow", by Julia Langbein

"Responses to the 'Arabellions': The EU in Comparative Perspective", edited by Tanja A. Börzel, Assem Dandashly and Thomas Risse

Last month two KFG Working Papers were published: "Building the ASEAN Center for Humanitarian Assistance and Emergency Response. Is ASEAN Learning from the Experience of the European Civil Protection Mechanism?" by Angela Pennisi di Floristella and "Moving beyond a Donor-Recipient Relationship? Assessing Partnership in the Joint Africa-EU Strategy" by Karen del Biondo.

Miguel Haubrich Seco and Tonia Bieber tell us about their time at the KFG.