In continuity with last year’s theme – which focused on the role of the United States in an era of strategic competition – the 2024 US Foreign Policy Working Group Annual Conference will unpack how US foreign policy is adapting to and actively pursuing change of the Liberal International Order, as a reaction to the acknowledgement that ‘[t]he post-Cold War world is over, and there is an intense competition underway to determine what comes next’ – as Secretary of State Anthony Blinken pointed out. This confirms key assessments of strategic documents of both the Trump and Biden administrations on the inter-state competition.
Panels, papers and round tables will address the role of the United States in response to the Russo-Ukrainian War, the Biden administration’s efforts at remaking a liberal order by updating alliances within the West, long-term political, economic, and military competition with China, the future of economic engagement, the challenges posed to US foreign policy by the rise of nationalist populism and the aftermath of the January 6th Capitol riot – including the possibility of a second Trump administration – as well as the revitalization of NATO and US alliances and partnerships under President Biden following on from Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ stance.
This promises to be an insightful and thought-provoking event.
Conference programme
Day 1: Wednesday 4 September
08:45-09:30 Registration
09:30-09:45 Welcome
09:45-11:15 Panel I: (In)security and narratives in new domains
11:30-13:00 Panel II: ‘Change and continuity at a time of strategic competition’
14:00-15:15 Workshop: publishing in US foreign policy
15:30-17:00 Panel III - The Biden administration and the era of defensive democratisation
17:15-18:30 Conference Keynote: by Prof Jennifer M Lind (Dartmouth College) with Q&A.
18:30-18:35 Closing remarks: Zeno Leoni
19:30 Conference Dinner*
Day 2: Friday 5 September
08:45-09:30 Registration
09:45-11:15 Panel IV: Roundtable – Assassination and US foreign policy.
11:30-13:00 Panel V US foreign policy and regional crises: Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Indo-Pacific
14:00-15:30 Roundtable I - The crisis of American power and its challenges after the end of the post-Cold War order
15:45-17:15 Panel VI: Hypocritical superpower? US foreign policy, international law and human rights
17:30-17:35 Closing remarks
17:45-18:15 USFPWG de-brief
*If you'd like to attend the dinner on 4th September, please contact zeno.j.leoni@kcl.ac.uk
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