European Institute

The European Institute at the University of Maryland

The University of Maryland Center for International Policy Exchanges has embarked on an effort to revive at least some of the activities of the European Institute (EI). Our first step was to preserve the EI archives at what we are calling the “European Institute at the University of Maryland.”

We are now in the process of reviving EI's regular distribution of essays, reports, and book reviews. Its flagship publication was “European Affairs.” With a small grant from the Bertelsmann Foundation (North America), we are restarting this distribution, eventually on a twice-monthly basis. But, in keeping with the University home, and consistent with our Center for International Policy Exchanges (CIPE), we plan to adjust the content. We will not focus on political, diplomatic and defense issues. There are many other fine groups and organizations successfully filling that need now. Instead, we are aiming for authoritative pieces on economic, social and infrastructure issues with a transatlantic nexus, that is, something that is happening in Europe that might be of interest in the U.S.

About CIPE

The University of Maryland Center for International Policy Exchanges (CIPE) aims to examine policy ideas from abroad and to bring relevant policy lessons back to the U.S. for the benefit of American researchers and policymakers. The center is directed by Douglas J. Besharov, professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland.

Policymakers in the U.S. are facing significant challenges in areas as diverse as old-age pensions, health care, social welfare, immigration, energy, and the environment. While policy analysis in these fields has been dominated by U.S. researchers, universities, and think tanks, the rest of the world is quickly catching up. Non-U.S. researchers and policymakers have learned from U.S. policies and have raised standards for policy analysis. Moreover, in some areas, such as the reform of public pension systems, other countries have adopted more innovative policies. Hence, the purpose of this project is to examine what U.S. analysts and policymakers can learn from abroad.

Since 2009, CIPE has been organizing a series of cross-national policy exchange conferences, both overseas and in the U.S. While each conference’s topic and format varies, they share a common goal: the collection and presentation of high-quality, policy-oriented papers, followed by publication and dissemination of lessons from abroad in the U.S. Please click here for more information on these conferences. For more information on post-conference publications, including the Oxford University Press International Policy Exchange Series (IPES), as well as peer-reviewed journals, please click here.

A message from the former European Institute

Dear Friends,

As you may already know, The European Institute has ceased operations. I am happy to inform you, however, that the rich work of The European Institute, captured on our website (www.europeaninstitute.org), will continue to be archived and maintained by the University of Maryland’s Center for International Policy Exchanges (www.umdcipe.org).

Thanks to many of you, The European Institute has served as the leading public policy organization in Washington devoted solely to Transatlantic Relations since its founding in 1989. The core of our mission has been to facilitate the exchange of information between public policy makers in both Europe and the United States, so as to deepen the understanding of the breadth of European perspectives on key issues of common concern, and to help build consensus on mutually beneficial resolutions.

The European Institute’s policy journal, European Affairs, has been invaluable in strengthening the direct exchanges facilitated through our many meetings by drawing on a wide network of prominent experts to build a rich and comprehensive body of work on contemporary issues at the core of European-American relations. Going back to 2000, articles and blogs are archived and well indexed on the Institute’s site. 

We are grateful to the University of Maryland for making this valuable material available to all. If you have any questions, please contact Rye McKenzie at rmckenzi@umd.edu.

Sincerely,

Joëlle Attinger, former President of the European Institute