Bio
Michael Leigh is Academic Director, Master of Arts in European Public Policy
Senior Adjunct Professor of European and Eurasian Studies at SAIS Europe
Sir Michael Leigh is currently Senior Fellow, Bruegel, Brussels, and Senior Advisor, Covington & Burling LLP, Brussels. Previously he was senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States (2011-2016); Director-General for Enlargement of the European Commission (2006-2011); Deputy Director-General for External Relations (2003-2006); cabinet member and official, European Commission (1977-2003); Assistant Professor of International Relations, SAIS Bologna Center (1976-1977); Lecturer in International Relations University of Sussex (1974-1976). Erskine Fellow (2017) University of Canterbury, New Zealand.
His research, writing and public speaking focus on the future of the EU, Brexit, enlargement, neighborhood policy; Turkey's relations with the EU, Europe's response to political change in the Mediterranean and Middle East; energy questions in the eastern Mediterranean; public opinion and foreign policy. He also has an interest in Asia-Pacific and its relations with Europe. He writes and comments regularly on European affairs for Geopolitical Intelligence Services reports online, Euractiv and other media.
Leigh holds a Bachelors degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University and a PhD in Political Science from M.I.T.
Courses
- Clear Writing for European Public Policy
This short course is designed to strengthen students' writing skills to improve their academic performance and prepare for subsequent professional challenges. It focuses on academic papers, the style and terminology used in European Union institutions and different types of written communications: essays, summaries, briefings, reports, speeches, speaking notes, and motivational letters accompanying job applications. The course involves mainly practical exercises as well as inter-active lectures and readings.
Students will be asked to draft short (500-800 word) pieces of written work for analysis in class. The readings for each session are to be scanned by students before class. Be ready to discuss what you have read in class. Students will benefit by going through the readings for the first session before the class.
- Scenarios for the Future of Europe
Since the global financial crisis in 2008, some of the most senior political figures in Europe have predicted the EU’s coming collapse or disintegration. A succession of crises (the euro, migration, Brexit, Covid-19) appeared to vindicate such predictions. But others claim that European integration has always advanced through crises and see a bright future for Europe through a "green recovery" from Covid-19, the building of a digital single market, and a robust industrial policy, enabling Europe to compete more effectively with global rivals.
In this course, Dr Leigh will draw on his experience as a senior EU official and policy analyst to disentangle these apparently conflicting claims.
The course addresses three fundamental questions:
1. What drove European integration during its formative period and enabled such breakthroughs as the creation of the single market, the launch of the euro and enlargement from 6 to 28, now 27, member states?
2. What challenges have hindered the process of European integration and prevented it from achieving its full potential? This section of the course will examine the rise of euro-skepticism and populism as well as "state capture" in central and eastern Europe and their implications for the future of "the European project." It will focus on Brexit and the risk of secession from the EU, or the eurozone, by other European states.
3. How is the European Union likely to evolve over the next decade? This part of the course will provide students with an opportunity to draw on insights gained through their work at SAIS-Europe and elsewhere to develop alternative scenarios for the EU’s future.
Classes will involve lectures, discussions, presentations by guest speakers and by students, a scenario-building exercise and a simulated negotiation. The exercise and the simulation will be adapted to conditions in Europe in spring 2021. If it is necessary to conduct them partly or entirely online, we will evaluate the impact of physical distancing on negotiations among the member states and on creating a sense of a common European identity.
