Where will the conference be held?

The conference will be held in Hong Kong, CHN, providing a unique regional context for discussions on international relations.

What is the primary focus of this international conference?

The conference aims to foster dialogue on critical challenges and emerging paradigms shaping international relations in an age of uncertainty, taking place in Hong Kong.

Second International Conference on "Rethinking International Relations in an Age of Uncertainty"

Name: Second International Conference on "Rethinking International Relations in an Age of Uncertainty"
Start: 2026-11-21T00:00:00Z
End: 2026-11-21T00:00:00Z
Location: Hong Kong

Nov 21–21, 2026Hong Kong, ChinaIn-person

Registration open

The Second International Conference on “Rethinking International Relations in an Age of Uncertainty” convenes in Hong Kong, CHN, to address the evolving landscape of global affairs. This academic gathering serves as a platform for scholars, researchers, and practitioners to dissect contemporary challenges and emerging paradigms that redefine international relations. The conference aims to foster robust dialogue and interdisciplinary collaboration, contributing to a deeper understanding of the complexities inherent in the current global environment.

Committees & topics

Topics
The Rise of Multipolarity: Redefining Global Power Dynamics · Rising Powers and the International System · China's Belt and Road Initiative and Global Influence · Trade Wars and Economic Decoupling · Digital Economies and Cryptocurrencies · Artificial Intelligence and Global Governance · The Political Economy of China's Rise and Building a Community with a Shared Future for Humankind

Why it matters

In an era marked by rapid geopolitical shifts and interconnected crises, understanding the dynamics of international relations is more critical than ever. This conference provides a vital forum for intellectual exchange, allowing participants to critically re-evaluate established theories and frameworks in light of new realities. The discussions are expected to generate fresh perspectives on issues ranging from global governance and security to economic interdependence and cultural diplomacy.

The location of the conference in Hong Kong, CHN, is particularly salient. As a major global hub with unique historical and political characteristics, Hong Kong offers a compelling backdrop for discussions on international relations, especially concerning the interplay between regional dynamics and global trends. The insights gleaned from this event can inform policy-making and strategic thinking, helping to navigate the uncertainties that define the modern international system.

How to prepare

Delegates preparing for this conference should focus on developing a nuanced understanding of the multifaceted challenges impacting international relations. Reviewing frameworks such as the "Power-Interest Grid" (see /learn/lessons/power-interest-grid) can be beneficial for analyzing the various actors and their influence in global affairs. Additionally, considering the concept of "Hidden Stakeholders" (see /learn/lessons/hidden-stakeholders) will be crucial for identifying less obvious but significant players and their roles in shaping international outcomes.

Effective participation will also require an appreciation for diverse perspectives, particularly those from different cultural and political contexts. "Gender Dynamics Across Cultures" (see /learn/lessons/gender-dynamics-across-cultures) offers a lens through which to understand varying approaches to diplomacy and international cooperation. Participants should be prepared to engage in "Dynamic Analysis" (see /learn/lessons/dynamic-analysis) to adapt their understanding as new information and viewpoints are presented, fostering a more comprehensive and adaptable approach to the conference themes.

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 4 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

China

As the host nation, CHN is central to discussions on global power shifts and regional stability.

Role in topic

CHN's growing economic and political influence, particularly its role in global governance and regional security, will be a key area of discussion. Its perspective on multilateralism and the evolving international order will be critical.

United States

The USA's role as a traditional global leader and its evolving foreign policy will be a significant point of analysis.

Role in topic

Discussions will likely explore the USA's strategic competition with rising powers, its alliances, and its impact on international norms and institutions.

Russia

RUS's geopolitical strategies and its impact on European and global security will be a major focus.

Role in topic

The conference will likely examine RUS's foreign policy objectives, its energy diplomacy, and its influence in various conflict zones.

India

IND's emergence as a major power and its strategic autonomy will be a key theme.

Role in topic

Discussions will cover IND's balancing act between major powers, its regional aspirations, and its contributions to global development and climate discussions.

Topics & background

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

The Rise of Multipolarity: Redefining Global Power Dynamics

The post-Cold War unipolar moment, in which the United States stood as the sole superpower underwriting a liberal international order, has steadily eroded since the 2008 financial crisis. The relative economic rise of China, the resurgence of Russian revisionism culminating in its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and the growing assertiveness of regional powers such as India, Brazil, Turkey, and the Gulf states have produced a more diffuse distribution of power. Institutions designed in 1945—the UN Security Council, the IMF, the World Bank—now face persistent legitimacy challenges from states that view them as unrepresentative of contemporary economic and demographic realities. Multipolarity is not merely a redistribution of material capabilities but a contest over norms: sovereignty versus the responsibility to protect, state-led development versus market liberalism, and territorial integrity versus 'spheres of influence.' The expansion of BRICS in 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE, alongside parallel groupings such as the SCO, signals the emergence of overlapping rather than rival blocs. Middle powers increasingly practice 'multi-alignment,' hedging between Washington and Beijing while deepening South-South ties. Today the debate centers on whether multipolarity will stabilize into a managed concert of great powers or fragment into competing blocs with weakened global governance. Flashpoints in Ukraine, the Taiwan Strait, the Red Sea, and the Sahel test whether existing institutions can adapt or whether parallel architectures will supplant them.

Key players

Rising Powers and the International System

The concept of 'rising powers' gained prominence in the 2000s with the BRIC acronym coined by Goldman Sachs in 2001, capturing the rapid economic ascent of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, later joined by South Africa. These states sought greater voice within existing institutions—pushing for IMF quota reform achieved in 2010, founding the New Development Bank in 2014, and demanding permanent UN Security Council seats. Their rise coincided with the relative decline of Western share in global GDP, which fell from roughly 80% in 1990 to under 60% by 2020 in PPP terms. Rising powers have pursued a dual strategy of integration and contestation: benefiting from globalization while challenging Western dominance in setting its rules. Initiatives such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Contingent Reserve Arrangement, and de-dollarization discussions reflect institutional entrepreneurship. At the same time, these states often disagree sharply among themselves—India-China border tensions, Brazil-Russia divergences on Ukraine—undermining bloc cohesion. The current debate concerns whether rising powers are 'system reformers,' 'system shapers,' or 'system challengers,' and whether their preferences will produce a more pluralistic order or one paralyzed by veto players. The 2023 and 2024 BRICS expansions and ongoing G20 agenda-setting under successive Global South presidencies (Indonesia, India, Brazil, South Africa) have sharpened these questions.

Key players

China's Belt and Road Initiative and Global Influence

Announced by President Xi Jinping in 2013 in Astana and Jakarta as the 'Silk Road Economic Belt' and 'Maritime Silk Road,' the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) became the centerpiece of Chinese foreign economic policy. It encompasses infrastructure investment, trade facilitation, and policy coordination across more than 150 signatory countries, with cumulative Chinese engagement estimated at over USD 1 trillion. Flagship projects include the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway, the Piraeus port concession, and energy pipelines across Central Asia. The initiative has reshaped global infrastructure finance and given China unprecedented commercial presence across Eurasia, Africa, and Latin America. Critics have raised concerns about debt sustainability—exemplified in restructurings in Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Pakistan—environmental impacts, and the strategic implications of dual-use ports and digital infrastructure. Western counter-initiatives such as the EU's Global Gateway (2021), the US-led PGII (2022), and India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (2023) have emerged in partial response. Since 2021, BRI has entered a 'small and beautiful' phase emphasizing green and digital projects amid Chinese domestic economic slowdown and lender caution. The 2023 third Belt and Road Forum reaffirmed political commitment while tempering financial ambition. Today the debate focuses on whether BRI is a coherent geostrategic project, a loose investment brand, or an evolving framework for South-South cooperation—and how recipient states can maximize developmental gains while managing dependency risks.

Key players

Trade Wars and Economic Decoupling

The contemporary era of trade conflict opened in 2018 when the Trump administration imposed Section 301 tariffs on roughly USD 360 billion of Chinese goods, citing intellectual property theft and forced technology transfer. China retaliated in kind, and the 'Phase One' agreement of January 2020 left most tariffs in place. The Biden administration retained and selectively expanded these measures, adding sweeping semiconductor export controls in October 2022 and tariffs on Chinese EVs, batteries, and solar products in 2024. The return of the Trump administration in 2025 has further escalated tariff use as a general instrument of statecraft. Beyond bilateral US-China frictions, the period has seen a broader shift from efficiency-driven globalization to 'security-driven' economic policy: industrial policy via the US CHIPS and Inflation Reduction Acts, the EU's Critical Raw Materials Act and anti-coercion instrument, and Chinese 'dual circulation' and export controls on gallium, germanium, and rare earths. The WTO dispute settlement system remains partially paralyzed by the US block on Appellate Body appointments since 2019. Policymakers now distinguish between full 'decoupling' and more limited 'de-risking'—a term embraced by the EU and G7 in 2023—focused on critical technologies, supply chain resilience, and dependencies on geopolitical rivals. The debate centers on the macroeconomic costs of fragmentation (IMF estimates of 0.2-7% of global GDP), the viability of friend-shoring, and whether a rules-based trading order can survive sustained great-power competition.

Key players

Digital Economies and Cryptocurrencies

The digital economy now accounts for an estimated 15% or more of global GDP, with cross-border data flows generating greater value than physical goods trade. Platform giants headquartered overwhelmingly in the United States and China dominate cloud, search, social media, and e-commerce, raising questions of taxation, competition, and digital sovereignty. The OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework's 2021 two-pillar agreement on a 15% global minimum corporate tax and reallocation of taxing rights remains in uneven implementation, with Pillar One in particular still contested. Cryptocurrencies emerged with Bitcoin in 2009 and expanded into a sprawling ecosystem of tokens, stablecoins, and decentralized finance reaching a peak market capitalization above USD 3 trillion in 2021. High-profile collapses—Terra/Luna and FTX in 2022—accelerated regulatory action: the EU's MiCA regulation entered force in 2024, the US passed the GENIUS Act on stablecoins in 2025, and over 130 central banks are exploring CBDCs, with China's e-CNY the most advanced major-economy pilot. Sanctions evasion, ransomware, and capital-flight uses keep crypto on national security agendas. The core governance debate concerns how to reconcile innovation, financial stability, monetary sovereignty, and consumer protection across borders. Divergent regulatory philosophies—the EU's comprehensive rulemaking, the US's enforcement-led approach, China's prohibition coupled with state CBDC, and permissive jurisdictions like the UAE and Singapore—create arbitrage and complicate coordination through bodies like the FSB, IMF, and BIS.

Key players

Artificial Intelligence and Global Governance

The release of ChatGPT in November 2022 catalyzed a worldwide policy debate on artificial intelligence that had been building since the 2010s deep-learning revolution. Frontier models concentrated in a handful of US and Chinese firms raise simultaneous concerns about catastrophic and systemic risks, labor displacement, bias and discrimination, electoral disinformation, and military applications including autonomous weapons. The compute, data, and capital required to train state-of-the-art systems has produced sharp asymmetries between AI-leading and AI-dependent states. Initial governance responses have been fragmented but proliferating. The EU AI Act, adopted in 2024, establishes the first comprehensive risk-based framework. The 2023 Bletchley Declaration, signed by 28 states including the US and China, launched a series of AI Safety Summits (Seoul 2024, Paris 2025). The US has shifted from the 2023 Biden executive order toward a more deregulatory stance under the 2025 AI Action Plan, while China has issued targeted rules on generative AI and algorithmic recommendation. UNESCO's 2021 Recommendation on AI Ethics and the 2024 UN General Assembly resolution on AI offer normative anchors, and a UN AI Scientific Panel and Global Dialogue were established in 2024-2025 under the Global Digital Compact. Key unresolved questions include whether a binding international instrument is feasible, how to govern dual-use compute and model weights, how to share AI benefits with developing countries, and how to address military AI through forums such as the REAIM summits and the GGE on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems.

Key players

The Political Economy of China's Rise and Building a Community with a Shared Future for Humankind

China's transformation since Deng Xiaoping's 1978 reforms has been the most consequential economic event of the modern era: lifting more than 800 million people out of poverty, becoming the world's largest manufacturer and trading nation, and reaching roughly 18% of global GDP. WTO accession in 2001 integrated China into global supply chains, while a distinctive state-capitalist model—combining market mechanisms, large SOEs, industrial policy, and Party leadership—has defied earlier Western expectations of convergence. Slowing growth, demographic decline, a property-sector downturn, and US-led technology restrictions now define a more constrained phase. Alongside material rise, China has articulated a normative vision. Xi Jinping introduced the concept of a 'Community with a Shared Future for Humankind' in 2013, since enshrined in the Party constitution and the PRC constitution. It is operationalized through the Belt and Road Initiative (2013), the Global Development Initiative (2021), the Global Security Initiative (2022), and the Global Civilization Initiative (2023). Together they propose an alternative framing emphasizing sovereignty, non-interference, developmentalism, 'indivisible security,' and civilizational pluralism, contrasting with Western emphases on liberal democracy and universal human rights. The debate centers on whether this vision represents a genuine pluralist contribution to global governance, a rhetorical wrapper for Chinese strategic interests, or something between. Reception varies sharply: warm in much of the Global South, where Chinese finance and rhetoric resonate; skeptical in Western capitals concerned about authoritarian norm export; and pragmatic in middle powers that engage selectively. Outcomes will hinge on China's domestic economic trajectory and the credibility of its initiatives in delivering public goods.

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for Second International Conference on "Rethinking International Relations in an Age of Uncertainty".

Recent reporting to ground your prep

West Bengal Voter Deletion Crisis 2026

West Bengal Voter Deletion Crisis

Delimitation Based on 2011 Census

Supreme Court Upholds Election Commission Dis

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Gender Dynamics Across Cultures

The Power-Interest Grid

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Persuasion & Influence

Advanced Negotiation

Multilateral Negotiation

Policy Brief Writing

China November 2026

By committee

Frequently asked questions

Second International Conference on "Rethinking International Relations in an Age of Uncertainty"

Nov 21–21, 2026Hong Kong, ChinaIn-person

Registration open

Committees & topics

Topics
The Rise of Multipolarity: Redefining Global Power Dynamics · Rising Powers and the International System · China's Belt and Road Initiative and Global Influence · Trade Wars and Economic Decoupling · Digital Economies and Cryptocurrencies · Artificial Intelligence and Global Governance · The Political Economy of China's Rise and Building a Community with a Shared Future for Humankind

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 4 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

China

As the host nation, CHN is central to discussions on global power shifts and regional stability.

Role in topic

United States

The USA's role as a traditional global leader and its evolving foreign policy will be a significant point of analysis.

Role in topic

Discussions will likely explore the USA's strategic competition with rising powers, its alliances, and its impact on international norms and institutions.

Russia

RUS's geopolitical strategies and its impact on European and global security will be a major focus.

Role in topic

The conference will likely examine RUS's foreign policy objectives, its energy diplomacy, and its influence in various conflict zones.

India

IND's emergence as a major power and its strategic autonomy will be a key theme.

Role in topic

Discussions will cover IND's balancing act between major powers, its regional aspirations, and its contributions to global development and climate discussions.

Topics & background

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

The Rise of Multipolarity: Redefining Global Power Dynamics

Key players

Rising Powers and the International System

Key players

China's Belt and Road Initiative and Global Influence

Key players

Trade Wars and Economic Decoupling

Key players

Digital Economies and Cryptocurrencies

Key players

Artificial Intelligence and Global Governance

Key players

The Political Economy of China's Rise and Building a Community with a Shared Future for Humankind

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for Second International Conference on "Rethinking International Relations in an Age of Uncertainty".

Recent reporting to ground your prep

West Bengal Voter Deletion Crisis 2026

West Bengal Voter Deletion Crisis

Delimitation Based on 2011 Census

Supreme Court Upholds Election Commission Dis

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Gender Dynamics Across Cultures

The Power-Interest Grid

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Persuasion & Influence

Advanced Negotiation

Multilateral Negotiation

Policy Brief Writing

China November 2026

By committee

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Resources

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Frequently asked questions

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Resources

Related conferences

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ICIEDPS 2026 - International Conference on International Relations, Diplomacy and Political Science

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Frequently asked questions