The Jean Monnet Network on Atlantic Studies

The Jean Monnet Network on Atlantic Studies is the previous project of the new ‘Jean Monnet Atlantic Network 2.0’. It was an initiative across the four Atlantic continents by 10 leading EU-oriented centres, many with Jean Monnet professors and based in countries identified by the EU as key ”strategic partners,” to collaborate in interdisciplinary exploration of three emerging pan-Atlantic themes of particular relevance to the EU—energy; commercial interactions; and pan-Atlantic challenges to human security. Each activity engaged next-generation and established scholars in collaborative research that drove the Network’s engagement with policymakers, civil society representatives, and wider publics. Each incorporated comparative approaches to regional integration. The Network’s balanced North-South composition ensured greater synergies and exchange of experience among established and rising powers.

The Network’s multi-continent, multi-disciplinary approach promised substantial value beyond the state-of-the-art by generating modern understandings of the Atlantic Basin as a political, economic, energy and security space in contemporary international relations, in contrast to its treatment primarily as an object of historical study; incorporating North and South Atlantic perspectives equally on these dynamics; generating greater knowledge and awareness of the EU’s role as an Atlantic actor; and contributing to comparative regionalism by incorporating regional integration processes into each theme. The Network broke a new ground by studying how energy, commercial dynamics and human security challenges are affecting the Atlantic Basin as a whole; harnessing synergies among leading centres of EU studies across the four Atlantic continents; generating updated online tools for visualizing contemporary Atlantic dynamics and the EU’s role as an Atlantic actor; including young educators in this new frontier for EU studies; and providing policymakers with the basis for new governance approaches. Visible and virtual collaboration raised greater awareness of the EU and its relevance to Atlantic partners on each Atlantic continent.

For more information about this project, please visit:

http://jeanmonnetnetwork.com.br/