Discussants

Nicolas Bouchet, Research Fellow, Europe Program, The German Marshall Fund of the United States

Chris Jackson, Vice President and Strategic Communication Research Lead, Ipsos Public Affairs

Sir Michael Leigh, Senior Fellow, The German Marshall Fund of the United States

Moderator

Jennifer Diamond, Program Coordinator, Europe Program, The German Marshall Fund of the United States

On June 23, the British people will vote in a referendum on whether or not the United Kingdom should remain in the European Union. The result of that referendum, and the political process leading up to it, will have far-reaching consequences for the U.K., the EU, and other countries around the world including the United States. Please join the Washington, DC, Chapter of GMF's Young Transatlantic Network for this timely discussion, which will identify and explore a number of the core issues informing the debate, with a special focus on public opinion in the U.K. and in Europe as well as the potential implications for the transatlantic relationship.

The Young Transatlantic Network (YTN) is a flagship initiative of GMF specifically geared toward young professionals 35 years old and younger. The network aims to strengthen transatlantic relations by offering the next generation of leaders opportunities to engage critically on core challenges facing Europe and the United States, as well as new issues posed by the increasing geographic reach of transatlantic cooperation. GMF currently has YTN chapters in Brussels, Berlin, Warsaw, Washington, DC, and Belgrade.

Nicolas Bouchet is a TAPIR research fellow with the GMF Europe Program. He conducts research on the challenges and prospects for United States and the EU in democracy promotion in post-Soviet countries (especially those of the EU’s Eastern Partnership), and on relations between the United States, the EU, and Russia. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of London and is the author of Democracy Promotion as U.S. Foreign Policy: Bill Clinton and Democratic Enlargement (Routledge: 2015).

Chris Jackson is a vice president and program director of Ipsos’ Strategic Research and Polling practice in the United States. His research specialties include public opinion trends, election polling, multinational research, and strategic communications research. He works with a wide variety of public and private sector clients including running the Reuters-Ipsos Election Research program with Thomson Reuters, and he is a spokesperson for Ipsos Public Affairs in the US. Jackson is an expert on American electoral and public polling with a deep background in the American political system. Chris earned his BA from the University of Southern Mississippi and did his graduate work at the University of Georgia where he specialized in American elections.

Sir Michael Leigh is a senior fellow, consultant, and senior advisor to GMF. He focuses on European Neighborhood Policy, Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East as well as the future of the EU. In 2006, Leigh became director-general for enlargement with the European Commission after serving for three years as external relations deputy director-general with responsibility for European Neighborhood Policy, relations with Eastern Europe, Southern Caucasus, Central Asia, Middle East, and the Mediterranean countries. He began his current role after more than 30 years in EU institutions, including as director in the Task Force for the EU Accession Negotiations. He holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, politics, and economics from Oxford University and a Ph.D. in political science from MIT.

Jennifer Diamond joined GMF in 2012. Based in Washington, she is a program coordinator with GMF’s Europe Program. She works on issues related to the EU’s European Neighborhood Policy, and also helps to design and implement U.S.-based programming. Prior to joining GMF, she interned at the European Parliament. She studied at Virginia Tech and the University of Maryland.