Where will the conference be held?

The conference will be held in the city of Amsterdam, NLD.

What is the primary focus of the conference?

The conference focuses on political sciences and international relations, providing a platform for discussion on contemporary global issues in the field.

International Conference on Political Sciences and International Relations (ICPSAIR) – January 2027

Name: International Conference on Political Sciences and International Relations (ICPSAIR) – January 2027
Start: 2027-01-21T00:00:00Z
End: 2027-01-21T00:00:00Z
Location: Amsterdam

Jan 21, 2027Amsterdam, NetherlandsIn-person

Registration open

The International Conference on Political Sciences and International Relations (ICPSAIR) is set to convene in the city of Amsterdam, Netherlands. This event offers a platform for academics, researchers, and practitioners to engage with contemporary issues in political science and international relations. The conference aims to foster dialogue and collaboration on pressing global challenges.

Committees & topics

Topics
Patterns and Drivers of Contemporary International Conflict · International Politics in a Multipolar Era · Political Conflicts: Intrastate Violence and Democratic Backsliding · The Discipline of Political Science: Methods and Global Relevance · Politics and Society: Polarization, Inequality, and Public Trust · International Relations: Theory and Practice in the 21st Century · Foreign Policy in an Era of Strategic Competition · Comparative Politics: Regimes, Institutions, and Governance

Why it matters

In an era characterized by rapid geopolitical shifts and complex interdependencies, understanding the dynamics of political science and international relations is more critical than ever. Events like ICPSAIR provide a vital forum for dissecting these complexities, offering diverse perspectives on governance, conflict, and cooperation.

The discussions held at this conference can contribute to a more nuanced understanding of international affairs, influencing policy discourse and academic research. The insights generated can help identify emerging trends and potential solutions to global problems, making it a significant gathering for those dedicated to the study and practice of international relations.

How to prepare

Participants preparing for ICPSAIR should focus on developing robust research presentations that contribute meaningfully to the discourse. Given the broad scope of political sciences and international relations, it is advisable to frame research within current global contexts, considering how local and regional issues intersect with international dynamics. For instance, exploring the implications of evolving power structures or the challenges of multilateral cooperation could be particularly relevant.

Effective engagement at such a conference also involves anticipating diverse viewpoints and being prepared to articulate one's own position clearly and persuasively. Familiarity with various theoretical frameworks and empirical case studies will enhance the depth of contributions. Understanding the nuances of different national interests and historical contexts, particularly from countries like NLD, can enrich the discussions.

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 1 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Netherlands

As the host nation, NLD provides a neutral ground for international dialogue, often emphasizing multilateralism and international law.

Role in topic

NLD, with its strong tradition of international cooperation and its role in hosting international legal bodies, offers a significant perspective on global governance and the rule of law in international relations. Its capital, Amsterdam, serves as a hub for such discussions.

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

Patterns and Drivers of Contemporary International Conflict

International conflict, understood as armed or coercive confrontation between states or between states and transnational actors, has evolved substantially since 1945. The Cold War era was defined by bipolar competition, proxy wars in Korea, Vietnam, Angola, and Afghanistan, and nuclear deterrence stabilized by mutually assured destruction. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 ushered in a brief unipolar period in which intrastate wars, ethnic conflicts in the Balkans and Rwanda, and U.S.-led interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan dominated the security agenda. The post-2001 'Global War on Terror' further blurred the line between interstate and transnational conflict. The core dispute today concerns whether the rules-based order codified in the UN Charter — particularly the prohibition on the use of force in Article 2(4) and the principle of territorial integrity — can withstand renewed great-power revisionism. Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, ongoing tensions over Taiwan, the 2023–2024 Gaza war and its regional spillover, and conflict in Sudan have together produced the highest level of battle deaths since the Cold War, according to PRIO and Uppsala Conflict Data Program figures. Delegates must grapple with how international institutions can deter aggression when permanent members of the Security Council are themselves parties to conflict, how grey-zone tactics (cyber operations, sabotage, mercenaries) fit into existing law, and whether arms control regimes such as New START, the INF Treaty (terminated in 2019), and Open Skies can be revived or replaced.

Key players

International Politics in a Multipolar Era

International politics describes the competition and cooperation among states, international organizations, and transnational actors over power, resources, and legitimacy. The discipline traces its modern foundations to the Peace of Westphalia (1648), which established sovereign equality, but its current institutional architecture — the UN, IMF, World Bank, and GATT/WTO — was constructed in the 1940s under U.S. leadership. For four decades the system was structured around U.S.–Soviet bipolarity; after 1991 it shifted to a 'unipolar moment' marked by NATO expansion, economic globalization, and the spread of liberal democracy. The central question now is whether the international system is becoming genuinely multipolar. China's GDP rose from roughly 4% of the world total in 1990 to nearly 18% today; the BRICS grouping expanded in 2024 to include new members; and middle powers such as India, Türkiye, Brazil, and Indonesia increasingly pursue 'multi-alignment' rather than bloc loyalty. At the same time, the United States and its allies retain dominant positions in finance (the dollar still settles roughly 88% of foreign-exchange transactions), advanced technology, and security guarantees. Key fault lines for debate include the weaponization of economic interdependence (sanctions, export controls, secondary tariffs), reform of UN Security Council membership, the governance of artificial intelligence and outer space, and the legitimacy crisis facing institutions perceived as Western-dominated.

Key players

Political Conflicts: Intrastate Violence and Democratic Backsliding

Political conflict encompasses contested struggles over authority, identity, and resources within and across states. Since the end of the Cold War, intrastate conflict has consistently outnumbered interstate war, with civil wars in Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Myanmar, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo producing the largest displacement crises since World War II — UNHCR reports over 120 million forcibly displaced people worldwide. In parallel, V-Dem and Freedom House have documented nearly two decades of democratic backsliding, with the number of liberal democracies in 2024 at its lowest level in three decades. The core dispute involves the interaction between contested elections, identity politics, weak institutions, and external interference. The 2010–2012 Arab uprisings, the 2020–2021 protests in Belarus and Myanmar, and the 2023 coups in Niger and Gabon illustrate how political conflict can spill from the streets into civil war or military rule. Disinformation campaigns, often amplified by social media platforms and at times sponsored by foreign actors, have intensified polarization in both consolidated democracies and fragile states. Delegates should consider the UN's tools for prevention and mediation (the Peacebuilding Commission, special political missions, R2P), the role of regional bodies such as the African Union and ECOWAS in addressing unconstitutional changes of government, and the limits of sanctions and conditionality in restoring democratic order.

Key players

The Discipline of Political Science: Methods and Global Relevance

Political science as a formal discipline emerged in the late 19th century, with the founding of the American Political Science Association in 1903 and parallel European traditions in public law and political economy. It has since developed four broad subfields — political theory, comparative politics, international relations, and public administration/policy — and has been shaped by successive methodological turns: the behavioral revolution of the 1950s–60s, rational choice theory, the qualitative-quantitative debate of the 1990s, and the more recent emphasis on causal inference, field experiments, and computational social science. The contemporary dispute concerns the discipline's relevance and inclusivity. Critics argue that political science has been dominated by Anglo-American scholarship, under-represents Global South perspectives, and has at times failed to anticipate major events such as the end of the Cold War, the Arab Spring, or democratic backsliding in advanced democracies. Replication concerns, the ethics of fieldwork in authoritarian or conflict settings, and the implications of large language models for survey research and text analysis are reshaping research practice. For an international audience, debate centers on how political science can support evidence-based policymaking on climate, migration, AI governance, and conflict prevention while maintaining academic freedom — itself under pressure in a growing number of states tracked by Scholars at Risk.

Key players

Politics and Society: Polarization, Inequality, and Public Trust

The relationship between political institutions and societies has been transformed since the 1980s by globalization, financialization, digitalization, and demographic change. OECD data show that income inequality within most member states rose from the 1980s through the 2010s, while wealth concentration accelerated. The 2008 financial crisis, the eurozone debt crisis, austerity politics, and the COVID-19 pandemic eroded public trust: the Edelman Trust Barometer and OECD Trust Survey consistently report that majorities in many democracies distrust government, media, and parties. The core dispute is over the drivers and remedies of polarization. Some analyses emphasize economic dislocation from trade and automation; others point to cultural backlash over immigration, gender, and identity; still others highlight the structural effects of algorithmic media and the decline of mass-membership parties. Populist movements of both right and left have reshaped party systems in the United States, Brazil, India, Hungary, Italy, France, and elsewhere, often challenging norms of judicial independence, media freedom, and electoral integrity. Delegates should examine policy responses ranging from platform regulation (the EU Digital Services Act, UK Online Safety Act), to electoral reform, civic education, social protection, and reinvigoration of local democracy, as well as the role of international bodies in protecting civic space.

Key players

International Relations: Theory and Practice in the 21st Century

International Relations (IR) as a field crystallized after World War I, originally focused on preventing great-power war, and matured through successive 'great debates': realism versus idealism in the interwar period, traditionalism versus behavioralism in the 1960s, neorealism versus neoliberal institutionalism in the 1980s, and rationalism versus constructivism in the 1990s. Each generation reframed core questions about anarchy, cooperation, identity, and order. The post–Cold War decades produced unprecedented institutional thickening — the WTO (1995), the ICC (2002), the Paris Agreement (2015) — alongside expanded peacekeeping and humanitarian intervention. The contemporary practical agenda is defined by simultaneous challenges: great-power rivalry between the United States and China, Russia's war in Ukraine, climate change as a systemic risk, pandemic preparedness after COVID-19, AI and cyber governance, and stress on the nuclear non-proliferation regime as the NPT Review Conferences fail to produce consensus. IR scholarship is increasingly attentive to non-Western traditions, gender, and the political economy of the climate transition. Delegates should weigh whether existing institutions can be reformed (UNSC composition, IMF/World Bank quotas, WTO dispute settlement) or whether new minilateral arrangements (G7, G20, Quad, BRICS+, AUKUS) are progressively displacing universal institutions, and what that means for legitimacy and effectiveness.

Key players

Foreign Policy in an Era of Strategic Competition

Foreign policy — the set of strategies states use to advance interests abroad — has been reshaped over the past two decades by the simultaneous rise of strategic competition and economic interdependence. The 2017 U.S. National Security Strategy explicitly returned 'great-power competition' to the center of policymaking, followed by parallel doctrines in the EU's Strategic Compass (2022), Japan's National Security Strategy (2022), and the UK's Integrated Review (2021/2023). Sanctions, export controls (notably on advanced semiconductors), investment screening, and industrial policy have become routine tools, blurring the boundary between foreign and economic policy. The core dispute involves how states balance security, prosperity, and values. 'Decoupling' versus 'de-risking' debates have divided Western capitals; middle powers including India, Brazil, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE have pursued hedging strategies that resist binary alignment. Russia's war in Ukraine reinvigorated NATO, prompting Finland and Sweden to join the alliance in 2023 and 2024, while in the Indo-Pacific the Quad, AUKUS, and trilateral U.S.–Japan–ROK cooperation have deepened. Delegates should evaluate the effectiveness of sanctions regimes (notably against Russia, Iran, and North Korea), the use of development finance and infrastructure diplomacy (Belt and Road, Global Gateway, PGI), and how foreign policy is being democratized — or polarized — by domestic political shifts.

Key players

Comparative Politics: Regimes, Institutions, and Governance

Comparative politics studies political systems across countries — their institutions, regimes, parties, and policy outcomes. The 'third wave' of democratization (Huntington, 1991) saw the number of electoral democracies rise from roughly 40 in 1974 to over 120 by the early 2000s, encompassing Southern Europe, Latin America, parts of Africa, and post-communist Europe. Since around 2006, however, V-Dem, Freedom House, and the Economist Intelligence Unit have all documented a sustained 'democratic recession,' with hybrid and authoritarian regimes consolidating in cases such as Türkiye, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Tunisia, and parts of Central Europe. The core debates concern regime classification (electoral autocracy, competitive authoritarianism, illiberal democracy), the durability of authoritarian regimes such as China, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, and the comparative performance of governance models on growth, public goods, and crisis response — most visibly during COVID-19. Comparativists also examine sub-state variation: federalism, decentralization, and the role of cities in climate and migration policy. Delegates should consider how international actors influence domestic politics through EU accession conditionality, US democracy assistance, Chinese governance training programs, and election observation missions, and whether external support can durably strengthen institutions in the face of incumbents who weaponize legality.

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for International Conference on Political Sciences and International Relations (ICPSAIR) – January 2027.

Recent reporting to ground your prep

West Bengal Voter Deletion Crisis 2026

Rahul Gandhi Defends Tamil Nadu's Autonomy

India's 131st Amendment Bill

West Bengal Voter Deletion Crisis

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Dynamic Analysis

Stakeholder Mapping Workshop

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Policy Brief Writing

Conflict Resolution

Media & Press Relations

Advanced Negotiation

Netherlands January 2027

By committee

Frequently asked questions

International Conference on Political Sciences and International Relations (ICPSAIR) – January 2027

Jan 21, 2027Amsterdam, NetherlandsIn-person

Registration open

Committees & topics

Topics
Patterns and Drivers of Contemporary International Conflict · International Politics in a Multipolar Era · Political Conflicts: Intrastate Violence and Democratic Backsliding · The Discipline of Political Science: Methods and Global Relevance · Politics and Society: Polarization, Inequality, and Public Trust · International Relations: Theory and Practice in the 21st Century · Foreign Policy in an Era of Strategic Competition · Comparative Politics: Regimes, Institutions, and Governance

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 1 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Netherlands

As the host nation, NLD provides a neutral ground for international dialogue, often emphasizing multilateralism and international law.

Role in topic

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

Patterns and Drivers of Contemporary International Conflict

Key players

International Politics in a Multipolar Era

Key players

Political Conflicts: Intrastate Violence and Democratic Backsliding

Key players

The Discipline of Political Science: Methods and Global Relevance

Key players

Politics and Society: Polarization, Inequality, and Public Trust

Key players

International Relations: Theory and Practice in the 21st Century

Key players

Foreign Policy in an Era of Strategic Competition

Key players

Comparative Politics: Regimes, Institutions, and Governance

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for International Conference on Political Sciences and International Relations (ICPSAIR) – January 2027.

Recent reporting to ground your prep

West Bengal Voter Deletion Crisis 2026

Rahul Gandhi Defends Tamil Nadu's Autonomy

India's 131st Amendment Bill

West Bengal Voter Deletion Crisis

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Dynamic Analysis

Stakeholder Mapping Workshop

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Policy Brief Writing

Conflict Resolution

Media & Press Relations

Advanced Negotiation

Netherlands January 2027

By committee

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Resources

Related conferences

Four Years of Russia’s Full-Scale War Against Ukraine: Causes, Consequences and Paths to Peace

Youth Security Conference 2026

International Conference on International Law and Governance (ICILG)

Geopolitical Update 2026 – From Civil Production to Military Production

International Conferenceon Global Politics and Historical Transformation (ICGPHT) 2026

International Conference on Peacekeeping, Human Rights, and International Security (ICPHRIS - 26)

Frequently asked questions

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Resources

Related conferences

Four Years of Russia’s Full-Scale War Against Ukraine: Causes, Consequences and Paths to Peace

Youth Security Conference 2026

International Conference on International Law and Governance (ICILG)

Geopolitical Update 2026 – From Civil Production to Military Production

International Conferenceon Global Politics and Historical Transformation (ICGPHT) 2026

International Conference on Peacekeeping, Human Rights, and International Security (ICPHRIS - 26)

Frequently asked questions