Call for panel proposals

24 January 2013

Call for Panels for the Section: “Challenges to the Current World Order”
at the Annual Convention of the Italian Political Science Association (SISP)

12-14 September 2013, Florence, Italy
(download .pdf)

CEURUS associated scholar Stefano Braghiroli together with Nelli Babayan, former visiting fellow with CEURUS, now at the Free University of Berlin (Germany) are organizing a section of panels during this year’s Annual Convention of the Italian Political Science Association (SISP) in Florence (Italy). Scholars of international relations and related fields are invited to submit proposals for panels within the section latest by 15 March 2013.

While in the 1990s the West-centred world order, the declared primacy of the liberal democracy, and the international leadership of the United States of America (US) appeared virtually unchallenged, in the last years a growing number of challenges have been emerging. This section has the objective of unveiling these challenges, which are understood as a diversified set of factors that may either exogenously or endogenously defy the primacy of the West-centred world order. Recently, the so-called rising powers and non-state actors have been seen by pundits and policy-makers as potentially challenging the foundations of the current world order. In particular, the emergence of alternative and competing models have allegedly challenged the status quo of liberal democracy as a universal value, the current economic system, and the international institutions, with the latter often seen as representing the interests of the West. In addition, such phenomena as transnational crime with its different domains of operation may undermine political, social, and economic basis of the world order. However, the challenges to the world order may not necessarily be actor-driven, e.g. regimes alternative to democracy, but can also comprise factors and processes that may occur without specific inducement. Those challenges inter alia are failed states, areas of limited statehood, or information technologies, and the latter may be used as a tool to compromise international security.

The overarching objective of this section is not only to map the challenges to the current world order but also to understand the destructive potential of these challenges. In addition, in an attempt to better define the interconnectedness of the current world order and Western leadership, this section aims to understand whether some of these challenges may be destructive for the world order per se or only for US (and to lesser extent European) leadership. Thus, the section welcomes panels and papers employing both qualitative and quantitative methods of research and without geographic limitations on the possible challenges including but not limited to:

  • regimes alternative to democracy;
  • rising powers;
  • transnational crime;
  • failed states and areas of limited statehood;
  • information technologies (cyber wars).

In the case of panel proposals indication of up to five papers is encouraged, however not required at this stage. Please send your panel proposals by 1 March 2013 to section chairs at nelli.babayan[at]fu-berlin.de and stefano.braghiroli[at]ut.ee. Should you need more information please do not hesitate to contact the section chairs. A separate deadline will be announced for paper proposals once panels are selected, however, should you already have a paper proposal you are welcome to send it to section chairs in advance.