Riccardo Alcaro, Laurence Norman and Loretta O’Sullivan - 25th of March 2026

'War in the Middle-East: implications for Ireland and Europe' The multi-dimensional conflict in the Middle East is creating regional turmoil and roiling global markets, commodities most notably. This edition of IIEA Insights will discuss what the reaction from Europe says about the EU as a geopolitical actor, the implications for the war in Ukraine, and how the conflict is affecting an already strained transatlantic relationship. The economic implications for Ireland and Europe will also be examined. Riccardo Alcaro is Research Coordinator and Head of the Global Actors Programme at the Institute of International Affairs in Rome. His main area of expertise is transatlantic relations, with a particular focus on US and European policies towards Europe’s surrounding regions. He is the author of Europe and Iran’s Nuclear Crisis (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). Laurence Norman is Brussels Deputy Bureau Chief for The Wall Street Journal covering the EU, European foreign policy, and nuclear issues. Over the last 20 years, he has reported for the paper from Berlin, London, New York, and Buenos Aires. Loretta O’Sullivan is Chief Economist and Partner at EY Ireland. She has been working in the economics field for almost 20 years in both the public and private sectors, on a wide range of Irish, European, and global issues. She holds a PhD in Economics from Trinity College Dublin and an MA in Policy, Management and Government from the University of York.