Guest Lecture Ambassador Ron Keller
On Friday 8 November 2019, Ron Keller, former ambassador of the Netherlands to China, Turkey, Ukraine and Russia gave a guest lecture at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs.
Ambassador Keller gave a lecture with the title ‘China in the 21st century: a superpower in transition’. He talked about the geo-economic history of China, its economic development and transition into a world power. He lectured about the Belt and Road initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, but also about the challenges China is facing.
After the lecture Mr. Keller engaged in a discussion with students on how China uses its economic might in its political relations with the rest of the world and the impact of the rise of China on the Netherlands and Europe.
Geo-Economics
The lecture was given in the context of the course ‘Geo-Economics’ which is part of the Minor Global Affairs. Geo-Economics is taught for the second year by Frank Heemskerk. Heemskerk, combines teaching the course with his position as Secretary General of the European Round Table for Industry in Brussels. In this course he uses economic and political theory and insights from his previous experiences as a banker, politician, Executive Director of the World Bank, Minister for Foreign Trade, to teach students on how economic instruments are used to produce geopolitical outcomes.