Abstract: Throughout the 19th century and into the 20th, over-indebted people engaged in large, vigorous campaigns to demand governments’ protection from ruinous debt. Their appeals to state legislatures across the country extended into the national arena, leading the U.S. to have one of the most protective debt relief regimes in the world by the end of the 19th century. Yet by the second half of the twentieth century, culminating in a creditor-led retrenchment of the bankruptcy code in 2005.

As Europe confronts a convergence of long-term challenges, from defence and geopolitical instability to demographic decline and the pressures of the green transition, questions about its future power and resilience are becoming increasingly urgent. The discussion will focus on six concrete ideas for strengthening the European Union’s capacity to act, offering practical policy recommendations on how to sustain competitiveness, enhance security, and adapt to structural change.

Across Europe, the rise of populist movements and concerns about democratic backsliding have raised fundamental questions about the resilience of liberal institutions. Hungary has often stood at the centre of this debate, long seen as a case study of entrenched illiberal governance. Yet the recent landslide victory of Péter Magyar has reshaped the political landscape, suggesting that electoral change remains possible even in systems widely viewed as tilted.

Almost 80 years of peace have shaped a European mindset in which war seemed unthinkable, yet today’s geopolitical realities are challenging this assumption. As the idea that “integration is security” comes under pressure, fundamental questions arise: can Europe adapt, and is it ready to confront a more dangerous world? Caroline de Gruyter is a journalist, author and lecturer based in Brussels. She is a European Affairs correspondent and columnist for the leading Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad and a regular contributor to Foreign Policy, EUobserver and De Standaard.

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Professor Dunbabin will discuss his book, the Longest Boundary, which tells the story of how the course of what became the US-Canadian border was agreed. The process occurred in steps between 1763 and 1910, and took in episodes, like the 1790 Nootka Sound crisis, that had major impacts but seldom figure in accounts of Anglo-American relations.

Dr. Allen Stroud of the Centre for Peace and Security at Coventry University discusses the way in which science fiction writing methods can (and have been used) in Defence Futures Research, drawing on examples from his work with DSTL on Creative Futures and the Resilience Beyond Observable Capabilities Network (RBOC+). Allen Stroud is a writer, lecturer and researcher at Coventry University. Stroud completed a Ph. D.

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