Former Czech Ambassador Karel Kovanda, who also managed the European Union’s relations with the United States until retiring in 2010, shares his expertise and insights at Scripps College as a visiting professor through April 25.
In his seminars, he lectures on his experiences while with the European Union, which has generated many news headlines in the past few years due to how the global economic recession has affected such countries as Spain, Italy and Greece.
He predicts the crisis of the European Union has not yet reached its lowest point. “It’ll get worse before it’ll get better,” Kovanda says.
President Barack Obama mentioned the European Union in his recent State of the Union address when he referenced the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement, a free-trade pact that, once enacted, will link even further the economies of the United States and the 27 nation-state members of the European Union.
“What happens in Europe and its economy directly affects the U.S. economy,” says Kovanda, who received his doctorate degree in political science from MIT. “The two economies are intertwined intimately.”
The United States and Europe generate $2 billion daily in trade, which represents one-third of all global trade, Kovanda says.
Kovanda points out that many forget why the European Union was initially established.
“Its original objective was to prevent further wars among its members,” Kovanda says. “This has been accomplished, but today we take this very much for granted and we don’t realize how great an accomplishment this is.”
For media inquiries: Please call (909) 607-7177 to arrange an interview with Kovanda.