On 1 February 2023, Crisis Group will launch its EU Watch List 2023, the yearly publication identifying ten countries and regions at risk of conflict or escalation of violence, where a stronger engagement and early action driven or supported by the EU and its member states could help generate stronger prospects for peace and stability.

The Watch List 2023 includes a President’s Take on global trends, followed by detailed conflict analysis and EU-targeted recommendations on the ten following cases: Afghanistan, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Brazil’s Regional Role, Global Commodity Shocks, Gulf Regional Security, Iraq, Mozambique, Myanmar, Sudan, and Ukraine.

The briefing will start with a moderated high-level panel between the Secretary General of the European External Action Service Stefano Sannino and Crisis Group’s President and CEO Comfort Ero discussing ‘The Role of the EU as a Global Peace Actor’. A second panel will feature senior Crisis Group staff who will present Crisis Group’s Watch List 2023 in more detail, discussing regional trends in Europe, Africa and the Middle East that the EU should watch in 2023 and unpack some of the Watch List’s main recommendations for the EU. Both panels will be followed by a short Q&A exchange with the audience.