The CIC National Capital Branch’s Europe Study Group presents…

“European Responses to Trump Challenges: Ukraine, NATO, G-7, Trade Wars”

Wed, June 4th, 2025, 5:30 PM 

REGISTRATION

This event will be in-person. Please click here to register. After registering, you will receive a confirmation message.

EVENT DESRIPTION

That we live in turbulent times has become a sad cliché. Yet understanding international developments—and their full implications—remains a significant challenge. At the CIC’s National Capital Branch (and across our branches nationwide), we aim to host timely discussions on issues that are, or should be, of concern to us all.

Canada’s trans-Atlantic ties with Europe, already substantial, have been dramatically reinforced by the unprecedented challenges posed by U.S. President Trump. His actions threaten sovereignty, the rule of law, and the global economy. Whether these pressures will drive Canada even closer to Europe remains to be seen.

This June 4 discussion will be especially timely, preceding both the 50th anniversary G-7 Leaders’ Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta (June 15–17) and the NATO Summit in The Hague (June 24–26). Both meetings will be dominated by ongoing existential concerns over Ukraine, European stability, and the global trade wars triggered by President Trump.

Our panel (details below) will feature leaders from diplomacy, security, international law, and leading think tanks.

BIOs

Speakers:

H.E. Matthias Lüttenberg: Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Canada together with his spouse Tjorven Bellmann since September 2024. After completing his civilian non-military national service and studying law at the Universities of Passau and Aberystwyth (U.K.), he obtained an LL.M. eur. (European Business Law) from the University of Passau and passed the Second State Examination in Law in Munich in 2002. He joined the Foreign Service in 2003. After his first assignments abroad in Pristina (Kosovo) and London, he worked in the Political Directorate-General of the Federal Foreign Office, the Political Section at the German Embassy in Tel Aviv and then again in the Political Directorate-General of the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. In July 2014, he transferred to the Federal Chancellery, where he was responsible for bilateral relations with the countries of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe as well as Central Asia and the South Caucasus (with a focus on Ukraine and the Western Balkans) for seven years. He was Head of Division from 2018. In June 2021, he became Deputy Head of the Political Directorate-General of the Federal Foreign Office as Director for Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus. He is a recipient of the Order 3rd Class, of Ukraine, the Nazir Torekulov Medal of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Non-Article 5 NATO Medal.

Kerry Buck: Career diplomat who has served as Assistant Secretary to Canada’s Treasury Board, Economic Sector, 2018 to 2021. Prior to that, Kerry Buck was Canada’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to NATO, 2015 to 2018. She has also acted as Political Director and Assistant Deputy Minister for International Security and Political Affairs, and served as Assistant Deputy Minister positions on Afghanistan, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and Director General for the Middle East and Maghreb. Earlier in her career she was posted to the Canadian Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York. Ms. Buck led Canadian government Task Forces for Afghanistan, Russia/Ukraine, Syria, Mali, the Haiti earthquake and other foreign policy and humanitarian crises. Throughout her diplomatic career, she supported Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers at the G7 and NATO Summits and represented Canada at the UN, G7, NATO, OAS and OSCE on issues of human rights, security, disarmament, terrorism and humanitarian justice. Kerry Buck holds degrees from the University of Western Ontario (BA Hons, Political Science) and McGill University (LLB, BCL).

Wolfgang Alschner: International trade law professor, at the University of Ottawa. Holding the Hyman Soloway Chair in Business and Trade Law, Professor Alschner is an Associate Professor at the Common Law Section with cross-appointment to the Faculty of Engineering, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He is also a faculty member of uOttawa’s Centre for Law, Technology and Society and heads the uOttawa Legal Technology Lab.Professor Alschner holds a PhD in International Law from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, a Master of Law from Stanford Law School, a Master in International Affairs from the Graduate Institute as well as an LLB from the University of London and a BA in International Relations from the University of Dresden.

Moderator: John English

Chair of the National office of the Canadian International Council, John English is a Canadian academic who has also been very active in Canadian public life. He has previously served as Professor of History at the University of Waterloo; Executive Director of the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI); and Director of the Centre on Foreign Policy and Federalism.

He was Member of Parliament for Kitchener between 1993 and 1997. Subsequently, he served as a Special Ambassador for Landmines and as a Special Envoy for the election of Canada to the Security Council. He has also been the President of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs, and Chair of the Board of the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Canadian War Museum. His many publications include biographies of Canadian Prime Ministers Lester Pearson+ Pierre Elliott Trudeau, as well as ‘Ice + Water:Politics, Peoples + the Arctic Council’.

A Member of the Order of Canada, Order of Ontario, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and a recipient of many literary awards, he holds degrees in History from the University of Waterloo (B.A.) + Harvard (A.M. + PhD).