The Dukakis Center at the European Think Tanks Summit

Dukakis Center director David Wisner traveled to Madrid, Spain, on April 10-13, to participate in the Seventh Annual European Think Tanks Summit following an invitation of the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program, University of Pennsylvania (TTCSP), and the Real Instituto Elcano,
Dr. Wisner’s invitation came on the heels of his having invited Dr. James McGann, Director of the TTCSP, to be the keynote speaker at the Dukakis Center event in Athens on May 13.
The Madrid summit was attended by 65 senior think tank executives, from 50 think tanks in 42 countries, among which Chatham House, the Institut Montaigne, Bruegel, Clingendael, and dozens more. The Dukakis Center was the only institution based in Greece in attendance.
Among the distinguished speakers to participate were Joaquin Almunia, Javier Solana, and current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, who hosted a dinner for conferees at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Dr. Wisner will attend the 2020 European Think Tank Summit in Amsterdam. In the interim, he will pursue the select strategic partnerships he discussed in Madrid with representatives of such institutions as Real Elcano, the Institut Montaigne, the European University Institute, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, and the Centre for Liberal Strategies (Sofia).

Such an endeavor is one of the cornerstones of current Dukakis Center strategic planning. As Dr. Wisner notes, “we have continued to attain international recognition, as a result of my having attended events in Paris, Brussels, and Madrid over the past two years, just as we have consolidated our standing among select American institutions, including, most recently, the TTCSP.”