WHO WE ARE
GlobalFocus is an independent international studies centre and think tank which produces in-depth research and high quality analysis on foreign policy, European Affairs, good governance, security and development.
Our purpose is to gather sound know-how and expertise in these areas and advance it further through a platform of cooperation and active network between researchers, individual experts, non-governmental organizations and public institutions from Romania and its foreign partners.
We achieve this through projects that focus on experience-sharing and lessons learned, be it in terms of international security, inter-ethnic reconciliation or transfer of expertise to developing countries. To exemplify, one of our flagship projects deals with mapping out Romania’s expertise in several policy areas during its transition period and developing an integrated database of Romanian experts and institutions, mainly from civil society that can transfer their knowledge to other beneficiaries – in particular to countries undergoing similar changes. The purpose of the database is to facilitate the contact between the different experts and to foster a permanent exchange of experience among those looking to improve the lot of their societies. You can find further information about our research and the Romanian expertise to the dedicated page for this project, by accessing the link below.
OUR MISSION
Given its geographic position, its strategic neighbors and its membership in NATO and the EU, Romania is at the crossroads of divergent geo-strategic interests, multi-ethnic and cultural diversity and an enhanced European and Transatlantic security. Following the NATO and EU accession Romania’s foreign policy has shifted towards both a more regional and global approach in terms of its national interests. We believe that Romania is a strong partner in regional and EU politics and that it can further nurture its position by capitalizing on its own transition and development expertise.
Our mission builds on this rationale in terms of Romania’s foreign policy. Having the living memory and ongoing practice of transition and reforms, Romania has a competitive advantage that should be further nurtured and potentially transferred to other states undergoing similar reforms and striving to meet the EU/NATO standards of consolidated partnerships.
What we want:
- To Strengthen Romania’s role in its region and at international level, by establishing and facilitating cooperation between Romanian leaders and experts and their counterparts in the EU and globally
- To promote best practices related to transition reforms and sustainable development
- To create an active platform of cooperation between different actors and within different formats
- To pass on Romania’s lessons learned
- To research on new security challenges and Romania’s contribution to viable solutions
WHAT WE DO
Our work is policy-oriented as we aim to provide decision-makers and leaders in government, public and private sectors with the best options to deal with current global challenges.
Therefore we divide our activities across five main areas/research fields/programs, listed below. Click on each area to find more information about our work:
- Development and reform
- Transatlantic cooperation and security
- EU neighborhood (and beyond) / Partnership
- Global approaches and trends
- Romania’s investment potential abroad
The cross-cutting objective in all our projects and activities is to bring forward Romania’s positioning towards the issues at hand, what its gains and losses could be and how to take advantage from them in terms of national and Euro-Atlantic interests.
This is an extremely challenging undertaking that we decided to pursue in order to increase Romania’s visibility as a valuable partner in several international dossiers on the one hand, while on the other to keep internal pressure on reforms and to foster and facilitate Romanian experts, institutions, private and public actors the engagement in European and global affairs.
In order to achieve this we partner with top professionals and organizations with a demonstrated track-record mainly from Europe and the US. Our long-term strategic partner is the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who is also one of our main beneficiaries. Internally we also work very closely with the Aspen Institute, with different embassies, the Czech Republic, United Kingdom and US Embassy in Romania being our main partners. At European level we are actively engaging with different NGO’s from our region, in particular with our Polish, Czech and Slovak Partners: CEPI, Slovak Atlantic Commission, and Forum 2000. Kosovo Foundation for Open Society is also one close partner of GlobalFocus, our main partner in the Balkan area. Regarding our western partners we have CEPA and the Hudson Institute from Washington DC and the Gerd Bucerius/Die Zeit Foundation from Germany with whom we organized different conferences and debates.
We are continuously searching for new partners and collaborators so if you find our work interesting and wish to join us, simply post send your contact details through contact form from our “Join us” section.
JOIN US
As a platform of cooperation, aggregating knowledge and expertise, we are constantly in search for potential partners and collaborators, for young leaders and talented experts, who would like to join our mission, to build together a new project or simply to express their opinion towards our work. In the same time we are looking for passionate and diligent students who are interested in our work or wish to specialize in one of our research fields. So, if you are one of the above, or just want to have your say please fill in the form below and we will contact you as soon as possible.