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In March 2025, we profile UCL BA European Social and Political Studies student and 2024-25 European Institute Student Ambassador, Ben Rettinger.
Tell us a bit about yourself
Hi, I’m Ben. I’m a second year student of European Social and Political Studies (ESPS) here at UCL, specialising in International Relations and Spanish. As part of my degree, I’ll spend my third year abroad studying politics and law in sunny Sevilla. At the moment, I’m leading the department-affiliated EISPS Society, which has been a super enriching experience!
I spent my childhood years in London in a relatively international, politically engaged environment. My mother came to the UK in admiration of the European spirit of cooperation and freedom of movement, and here she met my German father. In that spirit, I vividly remember accompanying my mother to pro-EU marches as a child. Following the referendum, my parents decided to move from—as I like to describe it—the largest city in the EU then to the largest city in the EU now: Berlin.
After graduating from high school, I took a gap year, attending Spanish classes at Humboldt University. I cherished my little taste of German student life, but ultimately decided to come back to London to study ESPS at UCL. I’m really glad I made the choice, because I’ve had so many incredible opportunities and met so many amazing people here.
What areas or topics of study are you interested in, and how have you explored them at UCL?
I’m a bit of a news junkie, and most things related to international relations are of interest to me. However, seeing all the wars and the polarising politics in the world has been quite depressing. I’ve thus found that attending classes and talks on all these issues has been a great way of understanding conflict from a more analytical perspective, which makes me feel somewhat less helpless and gives me hope.
Leading a society has also been great in this regard, as it gives me an excuse to simply contact a professor whose work I’m interested in and ask them to come along for a discussion. For example, we had the pleasure of hosting Prof. Kristin Bakke to hear about her freshly gathered opinion polling in Ukraine, the first students to do so!
I’ve also enjoyed attending talks organised by other people, such as Dr Julie Norman’s Israel-Palestine Initiative, which has been great for understanding the Middle East conflict from a more nuanced perspective. Finally, the European Institute's own events (and the Brussels trip I attended with them, which you can read more about here) have been an invaluable and much-needed insight into what’s going on behind-the-scenes in the EU.
Why are you interested in Europe?
I see Europe as a blueprint for international cooperation. If 27 Member States, speaking 24+ languages and having countless diverse cultures can reach compromise, then so can other countries. I’m interested in seeing what ways we can use the EU to bring peace to the rest of the world, for example through its economic might and External Action Service.
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Ah, the famous question. I’m really not sure about this, although I’d like to be somewhere working in the background for greater peace and security in the world, whatever form that may take. And whether that be in London, Brussels, or elsewhere, only time will tell…