Sir Michael Leigh is Academic Director of the Master of Arts in European Public Policy, Academic Director of the Master of Arts in Global Risk, and Senior Adjunct Professor at SAIS Europe. Sir Michael is currently Senior Fellow, Bruegel, Brussels, and Senior Advisory, Covington & Berling LLP, Brussels. Previously he was senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States (2011-2016); Director-General for Enlargement of the European Commission (2006-2011); Deputy Director-General for External Relations (2003-2006); cabinet member and official, European Commission (1977-2003); Assistant Professor of International Relations, SAIS Bologna Center (1976-1977); Lecturer in International Relations University of Sussex (1974-1976). Erskine Fellow (2017) University of Canterbury, New Zealand.
His research, writing and public speaking focus on the future of the EU, Brexit, enlargement, neighborhood policy; Turkey's relations with the EU, Europe's response to political change in the Mediterranean and Middle East; energy questions in the eastern Mediterranean; public opinion and foreign policy. He also has an interest in Asia-Pacific and its relations with Europe. He writes and comments regularly on European affairs for Geopolitical Intelligence Services reports online, Euractiv, and other media.
He holds a Bachelors degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University and a Ph.D. in Political Science from M.I.T.
- Relaunch or disintegration? What Covid-19 means for the future of Europe, EUROPP – European Politics and Policy, blog run by The London School of Economics (2020)
- Europe's Response to Challenges from China and Russia, in Rekindling the Strong State in Russia and China, S. Bianchini and A. Fiori (editors), Brill (2020)
- Afterwords, in Outside the EU: Options for Britain, M. Westlake (editor), Agenda Publishing (2020)
- European Integration and the Common Fisheries Policy, Croom Helm (1983)
- Nine EEC Attitudes to Enlargement, in Sussex European Papers : the Mediterranean Challenge (1978)
- Mobilizing Consent: Public Opinion and American Foreign Policy, 1937-1947, Greenwood Press (1976)
Since the global financial crisis in 2008, some of the most senior political figures in Europe have predicted the EU’s coming collapse or disintegration. A succession of crises (the euro, migration, Brexit, Covid-19) appeared to vindicate such predictions. But others claim that European integration has always advanced through crises and see a bright future for Europe through a "green recovery" from Covid-19, the building of a digital single market, and a robust industrial policy, enabling Europe to compete more effectively with global rivals.
This course will focus on some of the main challenges facing the European Union. The course addresses three fundamental questions: 1) What drove European integration during its formative period and enabled such breakthroughs as the creation of the single market, the launch of the euro and enlargement from 6 to 28 member states? 2) What challenges have hindered the process of European integration and prevented it from achieving its full potential? This section of the course will focus on the single currency, neighbourhood policy, energy union, migration, foreign policy, security, defence, migration and Brexit. It will examine the rise of euro-scepticism and populism and their implications for the future of “the European project.” 3) Is the European Union headed toward further integration or disintegration? This question will be addressed through a scenario-building exercise.
Classes will involve lectures, discussions, presentations by guest speakers, debates, and a simulation of the Brexit negotiations. (Cross listed European and Eurasian Studies/International Political Economy)