Bio
Michael Leigh is Academic Director, Master of Arts in European Public Policy
Academic Director, Master of Arts in Global Risk
Senior Adjunct Professor 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
- Writing for Public Policy
This workshop is designed to strengthen students' writing skills with an eye to improving academic performance and preparing for subsequent professional challenges. The course focuses on academic and professional writing with an emphasis on European public policy. Students will complete short readings and participate in inter-active lectures and discussion. They will also have the opportunity to do practical exercises in and outside of class. Students will acquire fundamental tools to plan, write and edit an effective briefing and motivational letter. In particular, they will learn how to identify the implications of an issue; create a logical structure of ideas; elaborate and support ideas; and produce precise, concise, and cohesive prose.
- 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 collapse or disintegration. A succession of crises (the euro, migration, Brexit, rule-of-law, Covid-19, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, inflation, the Hamas-Israel war) as well as the rise of euro-skeptical populism 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, a robust and united response to external threats, the building of a digital single market, and a robust industrial policy, as well as the EU's regulatory power, extending to AI, enabling Europe to compete more effectively with global rivals. Some see a growing EU role in foreign policy, security and defense, including transatlantic engagement and a strategic response to the rise of China and to Russian aggression. A major EU role in the reconstruction of Ukraine (and Gaza?) could reinforce this more positive narrative.
In this course students work together in teams, in dialogue with the instructor, to develop scenarios projecting alternative futures for the EU in the period until 2035.