Zeitenwende Conference - Roundtable: The Impact and Future of the Zeitenwende

Zeitenwende: The Changing Role of Germany in the Baltic This 1-day conference – organised by the Baltic Geopolitics Programme of the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Geopolitics and the University of Greifswald’s Interdisciplinary Centre for Baltic Sea Region Research (IFZO) – investigates Germany’s changing geopolitical orientation in the wake of the Zeitenwende and its impact on the relationships between Germany, the other Baltic Sea states, and the security of the region as a whole. In recent decades, Germany has had to re-evaluate its position following a series of transformative events, from the fall of the Berlin Wall, German reunification, the eastwards expansion of NATO and the EU, to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. This conference focuses on the impact of this reassessment for international security and relationships in the greater Baltic Sea region. This event is generously sponsored by the German Academic Exchange Service’s (DAAD) Cambridge Research Hub for German Studies. ROUNDTABLE: The impact and future of the Zeitenwende • Matthias Sonn, German Ambassador to Lithuania (2019–2023) • Maira Mora, Director General of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (2016–2020) and Head of the EU Delegation to Belarus (2011–2015) • Dr Benjamin Tallis, Senior Research Fellow and Head of Action Group Zeitenwende, German Council on Foreign Relations (2022–2024); Senior Associate and Director, Democratic Strategy Initiative, Centre for Liberal Modernity (2024–Present) • Dr Victoria Vdovychenko, Program Director for Security Studies, Centre for Defence Strategies and Co-Director for the Future of Ukraine Project, Centre for Geopolitics, University of Cambridge Chair: Prof Brendan Simms, Director, Centre for Geopolitics, University of Cambridge