Prof. Jonathan Holslag
Professor of international politics, Free University Brussels & Mayor of the City of Tienen, Belgium
Jonathan Holslag is a professor of international politics at the Free University Brussels, where he has specialized for numerous years in geopolitics and geoeconomics. He has written several acclaimed books that were translated in about a dozen languages. Jonathan has written as a columnist for several newspapers, worked as a Special Advisor to the European Commission and has briefed numerous governments and companies. He served as a reserve officer with the Belgian Special Forces. In 2024 he ran for local elections with a newly established party and became mayor of Tienen, a city of about 37,000 residents, near Brussels, Belgium.
A Steady Course in a Turbulent World
The world is becoming normal again. It is perhaps a rather odd sentence to start with, but what we see around us is the end of an era of exceptional dominance by the West. The alternative outlook, like before the age of Western leadership, will be marked by fragmentation, nationalism and strife. But that should not cause dismay. In the past, Europe has demonstrated many times that it can reinvent itself in taxing times. Deep inside, Europe still harbours huge innovation, creativity and entrepreneurialism. This keynote explains how we can use it and hold a steady course in a turbulent world.
Business Forum – 11 September 2025 – 9:10– 9:50 – Chamber Hall