BRATTLEBORO — The Windham World Affairs Council opens its 2018 season of talks and presentations with Dr. Edward Cameron, who will speak on “Brexit and The European Union” on Friday, Feb. 16, at 7 p.m., at the Marlboro College Graduate Center, 28 Vernon St.
This talk is free and open to the public, and attendees are invited to come at 6:30 p.m. for coffee, tea, and conversation before the talk, according to a news release.
For 60 years, the European Union was a central force underpinning peace, prosperity, and integration in Europe. Expanding from a pioneering group of six nations in 1957, membership in the European Union grew to 28 nations by the summer of 2016, with a list of additional countries looking to join or sign partnership agreements. No country had left the EU in its long history.
This all changed in June 2016 when the United Kingdom voted to exit the EU. The so-called “Brexit” vote triggered an unprecedented crisis within the EU, initiated a complex negotiation between the U.K. and EU, and is considered the single greatest challenge to the U.K. government since World War II.
Cameron, who spent 10 years working for the EU in Brussels and was a participant in the Paris Climate Accord, will examine the causes of the Brexit vote, assess the current negotiations, and explore the potential consequences for both the U.K. and the EU.
Now living in Manchester, Vt., with his wife and young son, Cameron is a specialist in public policy and climate change. He designs climate strategies for companies and shapes climate policies with governments and the U.N. family.
As a specialist in European Union affairs with a focus on regional policy and the EU's enlargement into central and eastern Europe, Cameron has taught courses on European integration to postgraduate students in Belgium, Finland, and the Netherlands.
He has earned degrees in Ireland, Belgium, and Finland and holds a doctorate in business, economics, and social sciences from Abo Akademi University in Finland.