The Maastricht Debates is a platform for debate and networking for and by Maastricht organisations and actors. 

It aims to be a prominent manifestation of the intellectual richness of the Maastricht region, a reference point for debate among students and professionals and a policy instrument for the local and provincial government. The focus of the monthly events is on issues of international cooperation and globalisation, an area of expertise of a large number of Maastricht-based institutes and linked with the content of the Maastricht Treaty as signed by the European leaders in 1992.

Russia and the EU

Strategic partners or competing neighbours? Experts from the European Commission and renown thinktanks will search for answers on March 11.  More...

Film Forum 'Another African Story'

On April 7, the first Maastricht debates Film Forum will be organised on conflicts in Africa, organised together with COS Limburg. Featuring the documentary film 'Another African Story' by award winning filmmaker Emanuele Piano, who will be present to join the discussion. More...

The economic power of the poor

'Playing in invisible markets' was the title of the 2008 Charles Cooper lecture and debate, organised on February 13 by UNU-MERIT in cooperation with Maastricht Debates. Keynote speaker Shyama V. Ramani explained the 150 participants energeticly and detailed the functioning and obstacles of the market economy for services targeting low income groups, taking the case of toilets in India.

Beware for war on energy!

On November 14, Michael Klare, expert on the US energy policy and international power implications, pencilled for an audience of 170 people a bleak picture in which the US, China, and Russia will literary fight to get control over energy resources. Online video report, press coverage and pictures.

Overwhelming interests for insights on Israel - Palestine relations

On April 25, the fourth Maastricht debate took place about Israel and Palestine with Avi Primor, former Israelian Ambassador for Germany and Saman Khoury of the Peace and Democracy Forum East Jerusalem.  For security reasons, not all the 225 people that wanted to attend the debate where allowed to enter the full room. They missed a richness of information and thoughts based on years of direct involvement in the political process by both speakers. They stressed the need for European involvement and political and public pressure. Online video report, press coverage and pictures

200 people attended debate on Darfur with Jan Pronk 

'Everything went wrong and everyone is responsible'. With this statement, Jan Pronk, former special UN representative for Sudan opened the debate on March 29 in Maastricht. Future options on how to implement the notion of Responsibility to Project' came to the fore, including the need for the EU to speak-up and develop a Common Foreign Policy. Pronk was critical about the international political climate which is according to him hampering an active, credible and strong position of the UN, and is blocking consensus on peace keeping operations. He calls for a purification of the US and governments like the Dutch to regain credibility. 

Report, slideshow, full video report ....

SID programme

The Maastricht Debates is one activity within a larger programme of the Society of International Development (SID). SID aims to stimulate the public and political debate on international cooperation in the Netherlands and beyond. For its 2007 – 2008 programme, SID has chosen ‘Energy, water and food: Global scarcities and power shifts' as the central theme.