Global order in unsettled times

• Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies

This conversation is part of an annual exchange among colleagues from Georgetown University, the London School of Economics, and the European University Institute.

The global order created at the close of the Cold War is coming to an end. Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine is one symptom of this transformation, while the violence in Israel and Gaza is another. Those conflicts warrant close attention, but the root forces transforming the global system run deeper. 

The rise of China has challenged fundamentally the leadership of the West and the acceptance of the global economy both in Europe and in the United States. When Europeans head to the polls to vote for a new European Parliament, they are expected to shift to the right, throwing their support behind more extremist movements and away from the political mainstream. American voters will follow with elections of their own. Already the choice is between Joe Biden, and his predecessor, Donald Trump. Both candidates represent a break with the traditions of liberal internationalism. 

This situation is likely to strain an already fragmenting global economy and whether it will pull countries into rival economic blocs remains to be seen. So too does the impact of new technologies like artificial intelligence on both the way the world economy is put together and how geopolitics plays out across the great powers.  

This seminar aims to reflect on the global order that is likely to emerge. The conversation will unfold across four panels related to ‘Peak China’ and its geopolitical implications, populism and the future of the European project, the possibility of a second Trump administration, the potential for the world to divide into rivalrous economic blocs, and the likelihood that artificial intelligence could emerge as a geopolitical game changer. 

By invitation only.