Event Summary
On May 5, the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings (CUSE) hosted Lord Christopher Patten for the fifth annual Sakip Sabanci Lecture. In his address, Lord Patten drew on his decades of experience in elected government and international diplomacy to discuss how Turkey, Europe and the United States can realize opportunities for multilateral cooperation in confronting the global challenges of the 21st century.
Sabanci Lectures
Event Information
When
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
10:30 AM to 11:45 AM
Where
Falk Auditorium
The Brookings Institution
1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC
Map
Also in this Series
Number 7
The Brookings Institution, May 04, 2011
Number 6
The Brookings Institution, March 17, 2010
Number 4
The Brookings Institution, May 08, 2008
View All »
Lord Patten is one of Europe's most distinguished statesmen and the current chancellor of Oxford and Newcastle Universities in Britain. Representing Bath, Patten was first elected to Parliament in 1979, a seat he held until 1992. From 1999 until 2004, he served as the European commissioner for external relations. He was previously the secretary of state for the environment, chairman of Britain’s Conservative Party, and the final British governor of Hong Kong.
The Sakip Sabanci Lecture is delivered annually by a leading international statesman and explores Turkey’s increasingly important role in the world. The event honors the memory of Sakip Sabanci, one of Turkey’s foremost business leaders, a visionary supporter of democratic and economic reforms and a leading advocate of Turkey’s efforts to join the European Union.
Brookings President Strobe Talbott was joined by Ms. Guler Sabanci, chairperson of the Sabanci Group, and provided introductory remarks. CUSE Visiting Fellow Steven Pifer moderated a question and answer session at the conclusion of Lord Patten’s remarks. A live video link to Sabanci University in Istanbul provided students and a wider overseas audience an opportunity to participate in the event.
Transcript
LORD CHRISTOPHER PATTEN:
The nature of any European partnership with the U.S. is imbued with the lessons that you taught some of us after the Second World War. There has to be an international rule book to which all are subject, supported by international institutions that help to give it legitimacy. We want to work with you as partners to deal with common problems that no one state can tackle successfully on its own. It was the sense that that view of the world had been cast away with derision by the Bush administration that caused such wailing and gnashing of teeth in Europe. Now we sense that normal service has been resumed with a charm, dash, and eloquence that captivate us.
With President Bush we knew what we were against; but do we now know exactly what we are for or, rather, what we are prepared to do to sustain a view of the world that we regard as fundamentally European? There are a few problems. When we define Europe's multilateralism is there a danger that, as Gertrude Stein said of Oakland, "There's no there there"?
View Full Transcript »
Participants
Introduction
President, The Brookings Institution
Featured Speaker
The Rt Hon Lord Christopher Patten
Chancellor, Oxford University; Former European Commissioner for External Relations; Former British Governor of Hong Kong