Europe and Middle Powers: EU's relations with India, Brazil and Turkey

The seminar, held on 18 February 2025, brought together experts to discuss how non-European actors and the “middle powers” – India, Brazil, and Turkey – fit into the evolving new global order. Chaired by Dimitar Bechev, Director of the Dahrendorf Programme at the European Studies Centre, the panel featured Kira Huju, Fellow in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Rodrigo Fracalossi de Moraes, Researcher on Public Policies and International Relations at the Department of International Development at Oxford, and Galip Dalay, SEESOX.

The discussion began with a reflection on the importance of moving away from a Eurocentric viewpoint. The speakers examined how historical legacies, power dynamics, and past relationships continue to shape the role of non-European countries in global affairs. There was a strong emphasis on understanding how different regions engage with global institutions and major powers while also navigating their own internal political landscapes.

Huju, a former Oxford student and an expert on India, highlighted two key signals in the evolving relationship between the European Union and India. The first was the EU’s increasing eagerness to deepen ties with India, reflecting a shift in strategic priorities. The second was an implicit acknowledgment that the EU has significantly underperformed in its engagement with India, leaving much of the relationship’s potential unexplored. While the EU aspires to establish itself as a geopolitical player in the Indo-Pacific, this effort is largely confined to individual member states, such as France, which has prioritised defence cooperation with India. However, these national efforts do not necessarily translate into a coherent EU-wide approach.

The new European Parliament and European Commission: Who won the 2024 power-play in Brussels?

On February 11, 2025, SEESOX, together with the European Studies Centre, hosted an insightful seminar featuring Klaus Welle, former Secretary General of the European Parliament, and Anthony Teasdale, visiting professor in Practice at the European Institute of the London School of Economics. The event, chaired by Catherine Briddick, Andrew W Mellon Associate Professor of International Human Rights and Refugee Law at St Antony’s College, Oxford, focused on the shifting power dynamics in Brussels following the 2024 European elections, highlighting governance challenges, parliamentary realignments, and the future direction of European integration.

Klaus Welle opened the discussion by emphasising the unique structure of the European Parliament. Unlike national systems where power is fused within a parliamentary majority, the European Union (EU) operates through a diffusion of power. This federal-style system ensures that no single party dominates; instead, the EU is governed by a complex web of institutions—the Commission, the Parliament, and the Council—where alliances are essential to achieving legislative goals.

A key takeaway from Welle’s remarks was the changing composition of the European Parliament. The 2024 elections resulted in a divided assembly, with one-third of members aligned with left-wing parties, a strong centrist faction, and a growing presence of right-wing representatives. The steady rise of right-wing populist parties across member states, such as Le Pen’s National Rally in France and the Alternative for Germany (AfD), mirrors the broader European political landscape. Notably, the so-called “progressive majority” that had characterised the previous Parliament has now disappeared, with left-leaning parties falling below the 45% threshold necessary to form a stable coalition.

The Oxford Handbook of Religion in Turkey

On 28 January, the Oxford Middle East Centre joined SEESOX to host the launch of The Oxford Handbook of Religion in Turkey. The event marked the opening of the Michaelmas term’s Tuesday Seminar series and celebrated the publication of what promises to become a landmark volume in the study of religion and Turkish society.

The evening was introduced by Professor Eugene Rogan, who stood in for Professor Laurent Mignon—one of the book’s contributors and the original instigator of the launch event—who was unfortunately unwell. Professor Rogan warmly acknowledged Professor Mignon’s contribution to the volume and to the broader field of Turkish literary and religious studies, and he expressed what many in the audience likely felt: a desire to hear more from the editors and contributors about a book that brings together some of the finest contemporary scholarship on religion in Turkey.

Editors Professor Caroline Tee (University of Chester) and Dr Fabio Vicini (University of Edinburgh) opened the panel by sharing the origins and aims of the project. Conceived in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the idea for the handbook grew from a desire for scholarly collaboration during a time of unprecedented isolation. Yet it was also driven by a clear sense that something was missing from the field. As Tee explained, there was a noticeable gap in accessible, interdisciplinary, and comprehensive studies on religion in Turkey—particularly ones that could serve both as teaching tools and as references for researchers.