23.09.2026
Timothy Garton Ash
On Europe
As confidence in the post-war world order led by America and policed by NATO is increasingly shaken, Russia threatens Europe’s borders, and the US administration cosies up to right-wing disruptors across the globe, it has never been more important to understand the extraordinarily complex and tightly meshed history, geography, culture and politics of the European continent.
On Wednesday, September 23, we welcomed one of the world’s leading scholars of Europe: Timothy Garton Ash. He spoke on the occasion of the Dutch translation of his book, Europe in 7 1/2 Chapters — The Shortest Introduction to the World’s Oldest and Newest Continent.
Timothy Garton Ash was joined in conversation by political scientist Theresa Kuhn (University of Amsterdam) and foreign policy expert Anna van Zoest (Netherlands Atlantic Association) to discuss Europe’s place in a rapidly changing world.
Participants
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Timothy Garton Ash
Timothy Garton Ash has written eleven books chronicling Europe’s transformation since the Cold War. A close observer of landmark events, he interviewed key political figures and explored how change shaped everyday life across the continent. He is Professor of European Studies and Isaiah Berlin Fellow Emeritus at Oxford, Senior Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and a Guardian columnist.
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Anna van Zoest
Anna van Zoest is Executive Director of the Netherlands Atlantic Association, a platform for debate, research, and education on international security and transatlantic relations between Europe and the United States. She is a member of the Peace and Security Committee of the Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV), which advises the Dutch government and Parliament on issues relating to international peace and security. In addition, she teaches in the Global Affairs minor programme at Leiden University (The Hague Campus).
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Theresa Kuhn
Theresa Kuhn is Professor of Modern European History and Politics at the University of Amsterdam and academic director of the Amsterdam Centre for European Studies. Her research looks at how European integration and globalisation shape people’s everyday lives, political attitudes and identities. Theresa Kuhn currently leads EUDENTIFY, a five-year project on European institution-building and identity formation.
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Geert Maarse
Geert Maarse is a journalist and programme-maker. Having worked for Erasmus University for over five years, he is specialized in connecting scientific research to public debate. He has a background in Business Administration and Cultural Studies. He is the founder and regular host of Studio Erasmus, a monthly science magazine broadcasted by OPEN Rotterdam. He worked on a documentary and published in a number of online and offline media (de Volkskrant, Vers Beton, Erasmus Magazine).
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12.02.2026
Finitude Capitalism: Neoliberalism’s Predatory Turn
with Arnaud Orain & Caroline de Gruyter