Where will the PRCP Annual Conference 2026 be held?

The PRCP Annual Conference 2026 will be held in the city of Prague, Czechia.

What is the primary focus of the PRCP Annual Conference 2026?

The conference serves as a platform for discussions and collaborations on pressing global issues, fostering intellectual exchange and strategic partnerships in Prague, Czechia.

Will there be opportunities for networking at the conference?

While specific details on networking events are not provided, annual conferences of this format typically offer ample opportunities for participants to connect and build relationships in Prague, Czechia.

PRCP Annual Conference 2026

Name: PRCP Annual Conference 2026
Start: 2026-03-19 00:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-03-19 00:00:00+00:00
Location: Prague

Mar 19, 2026Prague, CzechiaIn-person

Registration open

**PRCP Annual Conference 2026** is a professional and academic conference held on March 19, 2026, in Prague, Czechia. Participants engage with current research, industry developments, and scholarly work within the conference's field through presentations, panel discussions, and networking sessions. The event brings together professionals and academics to exchange knowledge, discuss emerging trends, and build connections within their discipline.

Committees & topics

Topics
The Erosion and Renegotiation of International Norms · Great-Power Geopolitical Rivalry · Technological Disruption and Global Order · Stress and Reform of the International Legal System · Contemporary Armed Conflicts · Dual-Use Technological Competition · Governance of Artificial Intelligence · Security and Governance of Space-Based Systems

Why it matters

The annual conference in Prague, Czechia, is important for several reasons. It brings together a diverse group of stakeholders, facilitating a comprehensive approach to complex international challenges. The gathering in Czechia underscores the country's role as a nexus for international engagement and intellectual exchange, providing a neutral and accessible location for global dialogue.

Such conferences are crucial for advancing shared understanding and developing actionable strategies. By convening experts and decision-makers, the event contributes to the ongoing discourse on critical topics, influencing policy development and fostering multilateral cooperation. The discussions held here can shape future approaches to international relations and global governance.

How to prepare

To effectively engage with the discussions at the PRCP Annual Conference, participants should undertake thorough preparation. Understanding the various perspectives of different countries, particularly those with significant geopolitical influence like USA, CHN, RUS, and IND, will be crucial. This involves not only grasping their stated positions but also delving into the underlying motivations and historical contexts that shape their foreign policy.

Given the international setting in Prague, Czechia, considering the nuances of cross-cultural communication and negotiation will be beneficial. Lessons on topics such as "hidden-stakeholders" and "engagement-strategies" can provide valuable frameworks for identifying key actors and developing effective communication plans. Additionally, a "dynamic-analysis" of current global events related to the conference's themes will enable participants to contribute meaningfully to the dialogue and anticipate potential areas of consensus or divergence.

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 5 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Czech Republic

Host nation, facilitating international dialogue.

Role in topic

As the host country, Czechia provides the venue for this international conference, emphasizing its commitment to fostering global cooperation and intellectual exchange. Its central European location makes it an accessible meeting point for participants from various regions.

United States

Key global actor, likely to influence discussions on international policy.

Role in topic

The United States, as a major global power, often plays a significant role in international conferences by shaping agendas and advocating for specific policy approaches. Its perspective is crucial for understanding broader geopolitical implications.

China

Rising global power, offering unique economic and political viewpoints.

Role in topic

China's growing economic and political influence means its perspective is increasingly central to international discussions. Its approaches to global governance and development will be a key area of consideration at the conference.

Russia

Significant geopolitical player, with distinct security and foreign policy interests.

Role in topic

Russia's involvement in global security and energy markets ensures its viewpoints are critical for any comprehensive international dialogue. Its foreign policy stances often present unique challenges and opportunities for multilateral cooperation.

India

Emerging economic and diplomatic force, contributing to diverse perspectives.

Role in topic

India's status as a large and rapidly developing nation provides a unique perspective on global challenges, particularly concerning economic development, climate change, and regional security. Its growing diplomatic presence makes it an important voice.

Topics & background

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

The Erosion and Renegotiation of International Norms

International norms — the shared expectations of state behavior codified in treaties, UN resolutions, and customary practice — emerged from the post-1945 liberal order built around the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Bretton Woods institutions. For decades these norms governed sovereignty, non-aggression, non-proliferation, trade openness, and human rights. The end of the Cold War briefly suggested their universalization, but the 2003 Iraq invasion, the 2008 financial crisis, and the rise of non-Western powers exposed contestation over both the content of norms and the legitimacy of their enforcers. Since the mid-2010s, normative erosion has accelerated. Russia's annexation of Crimea (2014) and full-scale invasion of Ukraine (2022) directly challenged the prohibition on the use of force. China advances alternative concepts such as the Global Security Initiative and a 'community of common destiny.' Western states themselves have been accused of selective application of norms, particularly around Gaza and ICC jurisdiction. Debates now center on whether the existing rules-based order can be reformed, whether parallel normative systems are emerging, and how middle powers can shape a more pluralistic order.

Key players

Great-Power Geopolitical Rivalry

Great-power rivalry has returned as the defining feature of international politics after a roughly two-decade post-Cold War interregnum. The 2017 U.S. National Security Strategy formally re-designated China and Russia as strategic competitors, and successive administrations have maintained this framing. Rivalry now spans military deployments in the Indo-Pacific and Europe, economic statecraft (sanctions, export controls, industrial policy), technology decoupling, and influence competition across the Global South. The Russia-Ukraine war has consolidated a transatlantic bloc and pushed Moscow into deeper alignment with Beijing, Pyongyang, and Tehran. In the Indo-Pacific, U.S.-China competition manifests in Taiwan Strait tensions, South China Sea disputes, AUKUS, and the Quad. Meanwhile, middle powers — India, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Indonesia — increasingly hedge, refusing binary alignment and extracting concessions from both poles. The central question is whether rivalry can be managed through guardrails or whether it will harden into a bipolar systemic confrontation.

Key players

Technological Disruption and Global Order

Successive waves of technological disruption — digital platforms, biotechnology, quantum computing, advanced semiconductors, and artificial intelligence — are reshaping economic power, military capability, and social cohesion faster than governance frameworks can adapt. The diffusion of these technologies is uneven: a handful of states and firms control critical chokepoints (EUV lithography, frontier AI compute, cloud infrastructure), while disruptive applications spread globally with minimal friction. Governments have responded with industrial policy (U.S. CHIPS Act, EU Chips Act, China's Made in China 2025), export controls, and emerging regulatory regimes (EU AI Act, UK and Seoul AI Summits). Yet international coordination lags. Disruption also empowers non-state actors — cybercriminals, disinformation networks, and platform companies whose market capitalization exceeds many states' GDP. The core policy challenge is balancing innovation, security, and equitable access while preventing destabilizing concentration of technological power.

Key players

Stress and Reform of the International Legal System

The international legal system — anchored by the UN Charter, the ICJ, the ICC, the law of the sea, international humanitarian law, and a dense network of treaties — is under unprecedented strain. High-profile proceedings illustrate both its reach and its limits: South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the ICJ, ICC arrest warrants against sitting leaders including Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Philippines' 2016 South China Sea arbitral award that China rejected outright. Enforcement gaps, selective compliance, and accusations of double standards have fueled legitimacy crises. Major powers increasingly contest jurisdiction: the United States has never ratified the Rome Statute and has sanctioned ICC officials; Russia, China, and Israel reject ICC authority over their nationals; several African states have threatened withdrawal. Simultaneously, new domains — cyberspace, outer space, AI, climate liability — outpace existing legal frameworks. The ICJ's 2025 advisory opinion on climate obligations and pending negotiations on a cybercrime convention and a treaty on crimes against humanity highlight both ambition and fragility in legal development.

Key players

Contemporary Armed Conflicts

The number and intensity of armed conflicts is at its highest level since 1945, with concurrent wars in Ukraine, Gaza and the wider Middle East, Sudan, Myanmar, the Sahel, and the eastern DRC. Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine triggered the largest interstate war in Europe in eighty years and has reshaped global energy, food, and arms markets. The October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks and Israel's subsequent military operations in Gaza, Lebanon, and exchanges with Iran have reignited regional confrontation. Sudan's April 2023 war between the SAF and RSF has produced the world's largest displacement crisis. These conflicts share several features: the involvement of external patrons (Russia, Iran, the UAE, Wagner/Africa Corps successor groups), the erosion of civilian protections under international humanitarian law, the integration of drones and commercial technology onto the battlefield, and the paralysis of the UN Security Council through vetoes and divided membership. Conflict resolution mechanisms — mediation, peacekeeping, sanctions — are visibly underperforming, while protracted wars compound humanitarian and refugee pressures globally.

Key players

Dual-Use Technological Competition

Dual-use technologies — those with both civilian and military applications — have become the central terrain of strategic competition. Semiconductors, AI models, biotechnology, quantum sensing, hypersonics-enabling materials, and commercial space assets all blur the line between economic and security policy. The U.S. October 2022 and October 2023 export control packages on advanced chips and chipmaking equipment to China, expanded in 2024-2025, mark a deliberate shift from 'small yard, high fence' to broader technological containment. China has responded with rare-earth and gallium/germanium export restrictions and accelerated indigenous innovation. Multilateral export control regimes (Wassenaar, MTCR, Australia Group, NSG) struggle to keep pace, and lack key members. The EU has rolled out outbound investment screening, an Economic Security Strategy, and dual-use regulation updates. The core dilemma is that the same firms, datasets, and research networks underpin commercial competitiveness and military advantage, making decoupling costly and incomplete. Debates focus on plurilateral coordination among like-minded states, the role of universities and private labs, and the rights of third countries caught between competing control regimes.

Key players

Governance of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence has moved from research domain to systemic geopolitical issue with the public release of large language models in 2022-2023 and the rapid scaling of frontier compute. AI governance now spans national strategies, voluntary commitments (the Bletchley, Seoul, and Paris AI summits), regional regulation (the EU AI Act entering into force in 2024), and emerging UN processes including the 2024 Global Digital Compact and the High-Level Advisory Body on AI. U.S. Executive Order 14110 was rescinded in 2025 in favor of a deregulatory posture, while China has implemented binding rules on generative AI and algorithmic recommendation. Core disputes concern: who sets safety standards for frontier models; how to address military AI and lethal autonomous weapons (overlapping with the CCW GGE on LAWS); how to manage concentration of compute and talent in a handful of firms and states; and how to ensure developing countries are not relegated to AI consumers. The 2024 UN General Assembly resolution on AI and the proposed International Scientific Panel on AI represent the first universal multilateral footholds, but binding instruments remain distant.

Key players

Security and Governance of Space-Based Systems

Space has shifted from a domain of a few state programs to a congested, contested, and commercially dominated environment. Mega-constellations (Starlink, OneWeb, China's Guowang and Qianfan) are placing tens of thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit, while military and intelligence reliance on space-based ISR, PNT, and communications has been dramatically demonstrated in the war in Ukraine. Anti-satellite (ASAT) tests by China (2007), the U.S. (2008), India (2019), and Russia (2021) have produced debris and signaled offensive capability; the U.S. unilateral moratorium on destructive direct-ascent ASAT testing (2022) has been joined by over 35 states but not by Russia or China. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty and related instruments remain foundational but predate commercial space, dual-use proliferation, and rendezvous-and-proximity operations. PAROS negotiations at the Conference on Disarmament remain deadlocked; the UN OEWG on reducing space threats concluded in 2023 without consensus, while a new GGE on PAROS continues. Debates center on norms of responsible behavior, debris mitigation and active removal, cyber threats to space assets, and whether commercial constellations constitute legitimate military targets.

Key players