Abstract: At a time when the project of European integration has become tarnished by economic malaise, institutional dysfunctionality, and growing public disaffection, the impression of a broader crisis of leadership in Europe has gained ground. This talk examines the nature of political leadership and its contribution to the channels of European diplomacy that underpin the EU. Roland Vogt will share his recent key findings from his recently published monograph Personal Diplomacy in the EU. Political Leadership and Critical Junctures in European Integration and discuss why the EU's decision-making model has come to atrophy of late.

Bio: Dr Roland Vogt is Assistant Professor of European Studies at HKU and Deputy-Director of the European Union Academic Programme in Hong Kong. His interdisciplinary research on postwar European diplomatic history and EU-China relations sheds light on the role of individuals, symbols, rituals, emotions, identities, and perceptions in the conduct of foreign policy. His recent publications include Personal Diplomacy in the EU. Political Leadership and Critical Junctures in European Integration (Routledge, 2016), European National Identities. Elements. Transitions. Conflicts (ed. with W. Cristaudo and A. Leutzsch, Transaction, 2014), and Europe and China. Strategic Partners or Rivals? (HKUP, 2012). He is currently pursuing grant-funded research on the politics of reputation and the influence of the EU regime on tax evasion on Asian financial centres.