R-EU-nion Brussels

Well, this is it – Brussels, Belgium – the last stop on our magnificent adventure.

All of us who have been scattered across Europe since Paris gather together again for the final few days. And we do so in the “capital” of the European Union.

Brussels is to Europe as Washington DC is to the United States. The EU Parliament, Commission, Council of Ministers, and NATO are all based in Brussels.

Many people of the nation states that make up the EU also think of Brussels as a strange and distant place where only politicians reside in some sort of bizarro world…the same as folks in the US think of DC.

Our meetings here were very much focused on governance and security issues. The difference in perspectives from the various places we had been was on full display here. It made for a wonderful wrap up and framed so many of the conversations that led to this point.

We met with members of the EU Parliament, the Council of the European Union, lobbyists, members of NATO, and even the US Ambassador and permanent NATO representative.

The security at NATO was pretty intense.  They kept everything electronic at the gate (cameras, phones, PDAs, memory sticks, you name it).  I only have the pictures in my mind, but they are vivid as the speakers and presentations were both serious and substanative.  We met some very smart folks dealing with the most important issues of our time.  It was quite the experience. 

Natasha Jones and I had our home stay with Bart Dirks, who covers the EU and NATO for de Volksrant, a newspaper in the Netherlands.   Bart and his partner, Roeland, had a wonderful meal for us and we very much enjoyed our time there talking politics, work, and family.

Of course, all of the Marshall Fellows had quite the reunion with many stories to swap and tales to tell.  We enjoyed the town and each other.