By Katrin Bastian, Professor, Research and Policy Analysis

George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies held a Research Workshop from Jan. 22-26, 2024, bringing together 20 Marshall Center alumni from West Africa, the wider Black Sea Region, the Middle East, and South and South East Asia to explore the impact of strategic competition on their respective regions. 

“Future Lab scrutinizes different dimensions and implications of strategic competition. It builds upon a symposium on normative strategic competition co-organized with and conducted in the German Federal Ministry of Defense in March 2023,” said Lt. Col. Falk Tettweiler of the Research and Policy Analysis Department at the Marshall Center.

Each of the four geographical working groups first identified the threats and challenges specific to their region, then they analyzed the influence of important actors like the U.S., EU, Russia and China on each region. More specifically, the impact of strategic competition among these powers on regional political, security and economic dynamics was assessed. The workshop concluded with presentations of different visions for a future global order, including recommendations on the solution or mitigation of some of the most severe crises.

“If we want to better understand the dynamics of strategic competition, it is important to include the perspectives of non-aligned states in different regions of the world. This is precisely what we tried to focus on during Future Lab,” said Col. Dr. Frank Hagemann, Deputy Dean, Research at the Marshall Center.

The workshop is part of a three-week study called Future Lab, where alumni study the different perspectives on strategic competition in even greater detail. Supported by GCMC’s faculty and research library, seven participants were invited for the full three weeks to conduct in-depth analysis of their respective world regions and work on a publication. 

“The Marshall Center is going new ways to engage and empower our alumni,” said Center Director retired Maj. Gen. Barre Seguin during his opening remarks to the workshop participants. “The opportunity to conduct their own research through the lens of their country and region enables extremely rich conversations and gives insight into the different perceptions of strategic competition.”

The Future Lab, with the research workshop as an integral part, had been conceptualized by Lt. Col. Falk Tettweiler and Col. Dr. Frank Hagemann of the Research and Policy Analysis Department, and supported by several faculty colleagues and members of the Partnership for Peace Consortium. The results of the research will be published on Marshall Center’s website soon.