Whither Liberal World Order?
Challenges from Russia, Eurasia, and Beyond
Workshop at the University of Kent, Canterbury

2-3 November 2017

Call for Papers
The world order of the 21st century seems to be undergoing some fundamental changes.
Some would even claim that its liberal character is weakening, giving way to new
configurations. The challenge to liberal world order comes first of all from the West itself,
with the election of Donald Trump, the British referendum on the EU, and the rising
popularity of illiberal and nationalist parties across Europe, some of which even successfully
rising to power. The other key challenge comes from states such as Russia and China that
have, at times openly, espoused the idea of a post-Western world order. This workshop
aims to take stock of these developments and provide an opportunity for evaluating (and
potentially rethinking) contemporary world order from various perspectives.
More specifically, the aim of the workshop is to bring together a diverse group of scholars to
discuss the posited challenges to liberal world order taking into account perspectives from
both regional powers and small to medium states in Eurasia and the implications of these
developments for IR theory. We invite scholars to contribute to this debate by submitting
both conceptual and empirical papers on the following themes:

• The alleged challenge to liberal world order by Russia and China;
• Perspectives on world order from smaller states in Central and Eastern Europe and
the post-Soviet space;
• Non-Western and non-liberal perspectives on issues such as international
institutions, international norms, and regional governance structures;
• The possible implications of a changing world order for IR theory.

The workshop also invites participants to connect these issues with topics such as regionbuilding
initiatives in the post-Soviet space, the post-Brexit character of the EU, and the
future of American global leadership.

The workshop will take place on Thursday 2 and Friday 3 November 2017 at the University
of Kent, Canterbury. It will consist of four panels and a concluding roundtable with
interventions from leading scholars in the field, including Richard Sakwa (University of Kent),
Trine Flockhart (University of Kent), Barry Buzan (London School of Economics), Viacheslav
Morozov (University of Tartu). We are delighted to announce that the keynote address will
be given by Georg Sørensen (Aarhus University). We may propose to develop the workshop
papers into a special issue of a reputable journal, subject to the quality of accepted
submissions.

Please send your abstracts (max. 300 words) along with a brief one-page CV to
[log in to unmask] by 1 August 2017. Decisions on accepted papers will be
communicated by 1 September 2017.

The workshop is organized within the framework of the H2020 UPTAKE project, which brings
together the Universities of Kent, Uppsala and Tartu. The organizers are Camille Merlen,
Zhouchen Mao and Zachary Paikin (University of Kent). Elias Götz (University of Uppsala)
and Maksim Kulaev (University of Tartu) are associate organizers. UPTAKE funding will cover
all costs of participation for the members of the UPTAKE consortium and the lunch and
refreshments for all workshop participants. Non-UPTAKE participants will have to cover
their own accommodation and travel-related costs. Registration for the workshop is free.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at
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