This week-long summer program is focused on the latest global and regional reactions to the war in Ukraine. On 14 December 2023, the EU’s highest political organ, the European Council, reiterated its dedication and determination “to further weaken Russia’s ability to wage its war of aggression” and concomitantly “to continue to provide strong political, financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine and its people for as long as it takes.” A similar stance has been adopted by other international actors such as NATO, the UN and the OECD. Alas, upholding this stance may provoke a series of consequences, which may heavily impact not only Russia, but also EU States and third States. Being a multi-faceted phenomenon, an inter-State conflict of this magnitude has tested the adaptability of international institutions to a new international reality.

By placing a special emphasis on the EU as a global actor, this ambitious program will zoom in five key areas of interest, with a view of assessing how effective international institutions have been so far in addressing the repercussions of the Ukraine war and whether their reform is in order to administer relevant future challenges. In particular, the five areas of interest are: Europe’s energy crisis, EU economic and monetary policy, sanctions, EU enlargement, and finally humanitarian assistance.

The GAL in action summer program aims to attract a disparate cohort of participants; mature students in law (LLM, PhD) and political science (MA, PhD) that have an interest in international institutions and their functioning, early-stage practitioners engaged in the respective fields, policy-makers and domestic administrations who seek ways to enhance their professional skills by keeping up-to-date with global regulation issues.