On October 19th, 2022 Estonian ambassador to Germany, Alar Streimann, and the Estonian Embassy hosted CISS and 25 interested students and young professionals in an informal and friendly environment. After a short introduction to current Estonian politics and history from CISS co-director for Eastern Europe to Central Asia, Lance Bradley, Ambassador Streimann provided a detailed look into foreign policy challenges for Estonia before the floor was opened up for discussion.

Many attendees knew something about Estonia already, but also gained new insights about Estonia’s role in the EU and how strongly Estonia supports Ukraine. Participants were also able to learn about diplomatic life in Berlin and some historical developments of the Estonian diplomatic service following the re-establishment of Estonian independence in 1991.

During the event, all participants could enjoy the ambience of the beautiful Estonian Embassy, one of the oldest in Berlin continually used by the same country. Furthermore, the embassy had many examples of Estonian artwork for participants to enjoy both before and after our joint discussion with the ambassador.

For information about upcoming events like this, keep an eye on the CISS website and our social media! Big thanks to the Estonian embassy for hosting us and helping us kick off the new “Fireside Chat” series!

Fireside chat with Estonian Ambassador Alar Streimann. Photo: CISS

On October 19th at 18:00, we are meeting up with Estonian Ambassador to Germany, Alar Streimann, at the Estonian Embassy in Berlin where we will have drinks, snacks, and an open and friendly discussion.

Estonia is a country known for e-governance and a hip tech start-up scene, but Estonia has much more to offer than just that. The small nation joined with its Baltic neighbors to fight for the reinstalment of their independence in the early 1990s, and now Estonia is playing a huge role in supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression. Economically and politically, Estonia has gone from a little-known country struggling with its own identity to a major player in the European Union within the last decades.

How to participate

Please register at info@ciss.eu with your name, organization, and position (i.e. Max Mustermann, Humboldt University, student). The list of participants is limited to 25 persons, so don’t miss this opportunity to register in advance.

For security purposes, the Estonian Embassy also needs this information and kindly asks all participants to bring a photo-ID with them to the event. The event will be held in English.

This time, CISS Podcast Host Louis Mourier and CISS’s Regional Co-Director EU & Europe Julien Strandt talked with Mihkel Märtens, freelance journalist covering international affairs at Eesti Päevaleht, one of Estonia’s major newspapers, as well as student in International Relations at the University of Tartu.

After a commentary on the current state of the freedom of the press, we unpacked the numerous scandals of Estonia’s political scene that led up to a government collapse in January 2021, with our guest, Mihkel. After discussing Estonia’s political future and place in the EU, Mihkel told us about his work as a reporter and gave a few tips on how to think like a journalist.

We first recap the first months of the German Council Presidency to then talk about the situation in Lebanon and the EU’s Foreign Policy in the Middle East. To top it off, as a celebration of our 10th anniversary, we discuss how CISS was created and what it means to get involved in International Relations as a young person.

This episode was recorded on the 27th of February, 2021.

For our very first podcast – and because it’s the 10th anniversary of CISS – we sat down with Prof. Dr. Hanna Pfeifer, co-founder of CISS and currently Assistant Professor for Political Science with a Focus on Radicalisation and Violence Research at the Goethe University Frankfurt (and not Assistant Professor of International Relations as we wrongly stated in the podcast).

We first recap the first months of the German Council Presidency to then talk about the situation in Lebanon and the EU’s Foreign Policy in the Middle East. To top it off, as a celebration of our 10th anniversary, we discuss how CISS was created and what it means to get involved in International Relations as a young person.

Small rectification post-recording: In the episode, we wrongly state that Prof. Dr. Hanna Pfeifer has lived in Lebanon for a few years. In fact, she was there for several months.

This episode was recorded on the 28th of August, 2020.

CISS is searching for members of our core team on a voluntary basis:

1. Regional Directors for the Latin America & Caribbean region (LAC) – 2 positions
2. Regional Director for the EU & Europe region – 1 position

More information can be found here (only available in German as advanced knowledge of German is required due to the organisation’s structure and the main cooperation partners).

Please apply until 23rd February 2020 by sending your application to Anne Laible (anne.laible@ciss.eu).

Several people who had not previously engaged with CISS took part in the discussion and brought interest and new impulses for the evaluation process – which was particularly joyous. More than that, it was discussed at length how CISS might manage to motivate more young people to take part and initiate Impact Groups.

Aside from the format of the strategy meeting, Saturday, 7^th September 2019 also saw the constituting meeting of CISS This forum had the solemn task of passing change to the statute of CISS in order to streamline the organisation of members – but do not worry, nothing has factually changed regarding member fees! The second big task of the forum was the relief of the executive board and the election of new members to the executive board for the next three years.

The previous executive board consisted of Theresa Lieb, Johannes Klein, Dr. Kilian Spandler, Florian Winkler and Dr. Steffen Murau. They were relieved unanimously, and we would like to take this moment to once again thank them wholeheartedly for their work and dedication! We are thankful that they will remain as contact persons and wish them only the best for their future!

Members of the new executive board are: Anne Laible, responsible for human resources; Katharina Lange, responsible for finances; Jessica Kininger, responsible for the website and social media; and Florian Schöler, responsible for member management. We are particularly thankful to Dr. Steffen Murau who accepted the election to the executive board again, responsible for the management of Impact Groups.

Once more, CISS looks to three interesting years ahead – should you be interested in participating, the next strategy meeting is just around the corner and will take place from 28^th February to 1^st March 2020!