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Person

Heather Grabbe

Nationality:

British
Location:

Brussels, Belgium
Occupation:

European political scientist

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Heather Grabbe is a European political scientist and left-of-center political activist. 1 As of 2022, she is director of the Open Society European Policy Institute (OSEPI), located in Brussels, Belgium. OSEPI is the European Union (EU) policy arm of Open Society Foundations (OSF), 2 founded by liberal billionaire George Soros. 3 The OSEPI works to influence EU laws and policies. 4

Education

Grabbe earned a bachelor’s degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from Oxford University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Birmingham. 5 Her doctorate was on the politics of EU influence in central and eastern Europe through the process of admitting post-Communist states to the EU. 6

In 1998, Grabbe was a research fellow on European politics with the European University Institute (EUI). 7 The EUI is an international postgraduate and post-doctoral teaching and research institute located in Florence, Italy and established by EU member states. 8

From 2002 to 2004 Grabbe had a post-doctoral research fellowship at Wolfson College, focused on European politics. 9 From 2015 to 2016, Grabbe was a fellow with the European University Institute. 10

Career

Grabbe began her career in 1993 as an editor for Oxford Analytica, 11 an international geopolitical analysis and consulting firm that provides strategic analysis of world events. 12

Starting in 1996, Grabbe was a research fellow at Chatham House for 2 years. 13 Chatham House is an international affairs think tank based in London. 14

From 2000 to 2004, Grabbe he was deputy director of the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think tank, where she published widely on EU enlargement and other European issues. 15

From 2004 to 2009, Grabbe was senior advisor to Olli Rehn when he was European Commissioner for enlargement, with the Balkans and Turkey portfolio. 16

Since 2009, Grabbe is director of the Open Society European Policy Institute (OSEPI), located in Brussels. OSEPI is the EU policy arm of Open Society Foundations, the main entity within the Soros Network of left-of-center advocacy-philanthropic groups created by investor George Soros. 17 OSEPI works to influence decision-making on EU laws and policies to promote left-of-center policy priorities in Europe, 18 especially on issues of race, migration, health care, and economics. 19

Presentations and Publications

Grabbe has published extensively and speaks frequently at conferences. 20

In March 2018 she gave a TED talk at TEDx Brussels on the topic of how governments discourage critical thinking to preserve power. 21

In February 2020 Grabbe was interviewed by Europe’s Stories, 22 a project of an Oxford University research team, on what Europeans really think about Europe and its future. 23 Grabbe said that she identifies more as a European than as a citizen of any of the individual countries, and supports an expanded EU. 24

In 2021, Grabbe published a chapter entitled “Normative, Protective, Transformative Europe: Digital and Climate Meta-Policies” which was published in 2021 in European Futures – Challenges and Crossroads for the European Union of 2050. This publication focuses on the opportunities and challenges facing the EU in the future. 25

She also published “Climate Politics in a Fragmented Europe” for Carnegie Europe in 2019. 26 Carnegie Europe specializes in European foreign and security policy analysis. 27

References

  1. “Heather Grabbe.” Open Society Foundations. Accessed November 30, 2021. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/who-we-are/leadership/heather-grabbe
  2. “Heather Grabbe.” Open Society Foundations. Accessed November 30, 2021. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/who-we-are/leadership/heather-grabbe
  3. “Who We Are.” Open Society Foundations. Accessed November 28, 2021. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/who-we-are
  4.  “Open Society European Policy Institute.” Open Society Foundations. Accessed December 10, 2021. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/who-we-are/programs/open-society-european-policy-institute
  5. “Heather Grabbe.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 30, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-grabbe-1011263a/
  6.  “Heather Grabbe.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 30, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-grabbe-1011263a/
  7. “Heather Grabbe.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 30, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-grabbe-1011263a/
  8. “About.” European University Institute. Accessed December 10, 2021. https://www.eui.eu/en/public/about
  9. “Heather Grabbe.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 30, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-grabbe-1011263a/
  10. “Heather Grabbe.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 30, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-grabbe-1011263a/
  11. “Heather Grabbe.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 30, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-grabbe-1011263a/
  12. “About Us.” Oxford Analytica. Accessed December 12, 2021. https://www.oxan.com/about/
  13. “Heather Grabbe.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 30, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-grabbe-1011263a/
  14. “About Us.” Chatham House. Accessed December 12, 2021. https://www.chathamhouse.org/about-us
  15. “Dr. Heather Grabbe.” UCL European Institute. Accessed December 10, 2021. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/european-institute/people/advisory-board/dr-heather-grabbe
  16. “Dr. Heather Grabbe.” UCL European Institute. Accessed December 10, 2021. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/european-institute/people/advisory-board/dr-heather-grabbe
  17. “Heather Grabbe.” Open Society Foundations. Accessed November 30, 2021. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/who-we-are/leadership/heather-grabbe
  18. “Open Society European Policy Institute.” Open Society Foundations. Accessed December 10, 2021. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/who-we-are/programs/open-society-european-policy-institute
  19. “Our Work.” Open Society Foundations. Accessed December 10, 2021. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/what-we-do/regions/europe
  20.  Heather Grabbe. The Brussels Binder. Accessed December 10, 2021. https://brusselsbinder.org/user/heather/
  21. [1] “Heather Grabbe: Open & Happy Society.” TED website. March 2018. Accessed December 10, 2021. https://www.ted.com/talks/heather_grabbe_open_happy_society
  22. “Europe’s Stories: Heather Grabbe.” YouTube. February 4, 2020. Accessed December 12, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aScTOc45KM
  23. “About.” Europe’s Stories. Accessed December 12, 2021. https://europeanmoments.com/about/project
  24. “Europe’s Stories: Heather Grabbe.” YouTube. February 4, 2020. Accessed December 12, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aScTOc45KM
  25. “European Futures Challenges and Crossroads for the European Union of 2050.” Routledge Taylor and Francis Group. 2021. Accessed December 12, 2021. https://www.routledge.com/European-Futures-Challenges-and-Crossroads-for-the-European-Union-of-2050/Damro-Heins-Scott/p/book/9780367444433
  26. “Climate Politics in a Fragmented Europe.” Carnegie Europe. December 18, 2019. Accessed December 12, 2021. https://carnegieeurope.eu/2019/12/18/climate-politics-in-fragmented-europe-pub-80616
  27. “About.” Carnegie Europe. Accessed December 12, 2021. https://carnegieeurope.eu/about/
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