Where will the conference be held?

The conference will take place in Canberra, AUS.

What is the primary focus of the conference?

The conference focuses on the enduring impact of the 'Greater Second World War' on modern global geopolitics, expanding the traditional understanding of the conflict's temporal and geographical boundaries.

When does the conference take place?

The conference is scheduled to begin in the early part of the year and conclude the following day.

The Greater Second World War and Modern Global Geopolitics

Name: The Greater Second World War and Modern Global Geopolitics
Start: 2027-02-08T00:00:00Z
End: 2027-02-09T00:00:00Z
Location: Canberra

Feb 8–9, 2027Canberra, AustraliaIn-person

Registration open

The conference, "The Greater Second World War and Modern Global Geopolitics," convenes in Canberra, AUS, to explore the enduring impact of the Second World War on contemporary international relations. This event aims to broaden the traditional understanding of the conflict, moving beyond its conventional temporal and geographical boundaries to consider its long-term global ramifications. Participants will delve into how the war's legacies continue to shape political, economic, and social landscapes worldwide.

Committees & topics

Disarmament & International Security Committee (GA1)
Disarmament & International Security Committee (GA1)
Social, Humanitarian & Cultural Committee (GA3)
Social, Humanitarian & Cultural Committee (GA3)
Special Political & Decolonisation Committee (GA4)
Special Political & Decolonisation Committee (GA4)
Legal Committee (GA6)
Legal Committee (GA6)
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
Environmental Commission (EC)
United Nations Environment Assembly / Environmental Commission
Security Council (SC)
Security Council (SC)
The Group of Twenty (G20)
The Group of Twenty (G20)

Why it matters

The Second World War is often viewed through a narrow lens, focusing primarily on its European and Pacific theaters and its immediate aftermath. However, this conference challenges that perspective by advocating for a 'Greater Second World War' framework. This expanded view acknowledges the conflict's deeper roots, extending into the interwar period, and its far-reaching consequences that continue to influence global geopolitics today. Understanding this broader historical context is crucial for deciphering current international dynamics, as many contemporary conflicts, alliances, and power structures can be traced back to the war's extended timeline and its global impact.

By re-evaluating the war's scope, the conference encourages a more nuanced understanding of how historical events shape present-day challenges. It provides a platform for scholars and practitioners to analyze the complex interplay between past conflicts and current geopolitical realities, fostering insights into issues such as regional instabilities, the rise and fall of global powers, and the evolution of international norms. This re-examination is vital for anyone seeking to comprehend the foundational elements of the modern world order and the persistent echoes of a conflict that reshaped the globe.

How to prepare

Delegates preparing for this conference should focus on how the extended timeline and global reach of the Second World War continue to influence contemporary international relations. A key aspect of preparation involves considering the diverse ways in which the war's legacies manifest in different regions and among various nations. This includes examining the long-term effects on state sovereignty, economic development, and the formation of international institutions.

An effective preparation strategy would involve conducting a "dynamic-analysis" of how the war's legacies manifest in current international relations. This approach allows for a comprehensive understanding of the historical underpinnings of present-day global challenges. Furthermore, understanding the various "hidden-stakeholders" and their motivations, as well as developing effective "engagement-strategies," will be crucial for navigating the complex discussions around the war's lasting impact.

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 6 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Australia

As the host nation, AUS provides a unique perspective on the war's impact, particularly concerning its role in the Pacific theater and its evolving relationship with global powers.

Role in topic

AUS played a significant role in the Pacific theater of the Second World War and its post-war alignment has been crucial in shaping its regional and global foreign policy. The conference's location in Canberra offers an opportunity to explore the war's legacy from an Oceanic perspective, considering its impact on regional security and alliances.

United States

The USA's emergence as a global superpower post-war is a central theme in understanding modern geopolitics.

Role in topic

The Second World War solidified the USA's position as a dominant global power, profoundly influencing the post-war international order. Its involvement and subsequent leadership in international institutions and alliances are direct consequences of the 'Greater Second World War' and continue to shape global geopolitics.

Russia

RUS's experience in the war and its subsequent Cold War rivalry with the USA are critical to understanding the bipolar world order that emerged.

Role in topic

The Soviet Union's (now RUS) immense sacrifice and victory in the Second World War were pivotal, leading to its status as a superpower and the subsequent Cold War. Its historical narrative and geopolitical strategies are deeply rooted in this period, making its perspective essential for understanding modern global power dynamics.

China

CHN's protracted conflict during the war and its subsequent rise are key to understanding contemporary Asian geopolitics.

Role in topic

CHN endured a prolonged and brutal conflict during the 'Greater Second World War,' which profoundly shaped its national identity and political trajectory. Its post-war development and current geopolitical assertiveness are direct outcomes of this period, making its historical experience vital for understanding contemporary East Asian and global affairs.

United Kingdom

GBR's role in the war marked a transition from imperial power to a key player in post-war alliances.

Role in topic

GBR's involvement in the Second World War, particularly its resistance against aggression, was central to the Allied effort. The war significantly impacted its global standing, leading to the dismantling of its empire and its re-positioning as a crucial ally in the post-war Western bloc, influencing European and global security structures.

Germany

DEU's role as the aggressor and its subsequent division and reunification are central to European post-war development.

Role in topic

DEU's actions initiated the Second World War, and its defeat led to profound geopolitical consequences, including its division and subsequent reunification. Its post-war journey of reconciliation, economic recovery, and integration into European structures offers a critical perspective on the war's long-term impact on national identity and international cooperation.

Topics & background

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

Disarmament & International Security Committee (GA1)

The First Committee of the UN General Assembly was established in 1945 to address the gravest threats to international peace and security in the aftermath of the Second World War. Its early agenda — set against the backdrop of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki — centred on nuclear disarmament, culminating in landmark instruments such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968), the Biological Weapons Convention (1972), the Chemical Weapons Convention (1993), and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (1996). Throughout the Cold War, GA1 served as the principal universal forum for arms control debates that the bilateral US–Soviet track could not encompass. In recent years the committee's traditional disarmament agenda has been overtaken by a new generation of military technologies. Lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS), discussed since 2014 under the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Group of Governmental Experts, remain unregulated by binding treaty despite mounting calls for a prohibition on fully autonomous lethal force. The militarisation of outer space has accelerated following anti-satellite tests by China (2007), India (2019), and Russia (2021), while negotiations on Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS) remain deadlocked. Cyber operations against critical infrastructure, the erosion of strategic arms control following the collapse of the INF Treaty and uncertainty around New START, and renewed nuclear modernisation programmes across the P5 have together produced what many analysts describe as the most dangerous strategic environment since 1962. The committee today faces the dual task of preserving the existing arms-control architecture while building new norms for emerging domains. Sharp divisions persist between states favouring legally binding instruments and those preferring voluntary norms, and between nuclear-weapon states and the growing coalition supporting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (2017).

Key players

Special Political & Decolonisation Committee (GA4)

The Fourth Committee was created to oversee the dismantling of the colonial system established before the Second World War. Building on Chapters XI–XIII of the UN Charter and the landmark Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (Resolution 1514, 1960), GA4 supervised the transition of more than 80 territories to independence between 1945 and the end of the twentieth century. With the trusteeship system formally concluded after Palau's independence in 1994, the committee was merged with the Special Political Committee in 1993 to assume a broader mandate. Seventeen Non-Self-Governing Territories remain on the UN list, including Western Sahara, Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands/Malvinas, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, and several Caribbean and Pacific territories. The Western Sahara dispute — pitting Morocco's autonomy plan against the Polisario Front's claim, backed by Algeria, for a self-determination referendum promised since the 1991 ceasefire — remains the committee's most active decolonisation file. GA4 also handles the work of UNRWA and the question of Palestinian refugees, peacekeeping operations in their political dimensions, the peaceful uses of outer space, mine action, and the effects of atomic radiation. The committee thus combines a historical mandate to complete decolonisation with contemporary questions of self-determination, occupation, and the political oversight of UN field operations. Sharpening great-power competition and the Gaza conflict have raised the stakes of its 2025–2027 sessions, particularly on UNRWA's funding and mandate.

Key players

Legal Committee (GA6)

The Sixth Committee, established in 1945, is the principal forum within the General Assembly for the consideration of legal questions and for the progressive development and codification of international law. Working closely with the International Law Commission (ILC) since the latter's creation in 1947, GA6 has been instrumental in the elaboration of foundational instruments including the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969), the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations, the Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982), and the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court (1998). The committee's contemporary agenda includes long-running items such as measures to eliminate international terrorism — where a comprehensive convention has stalled for over two decades over the definition of terrorism and treatment of national-liberation movements — alongside the ILC's draft articles on crimes against humanity, immunity of state officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction, sea-level rise in relation to international law, and the protection of the atmosphere. The universal jurisdiction debate, the scope of state responsibility, and accountability for atrocity crimes in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, and Myanmar have intensified scrutiny of the existing legal architecture, including challenges to ICC arrest warrants and ICJ proceedings under the Genocide Convention. GA6 today operates at the intersection of classical state-centric law and pressing new questions: cyber operations and sovereignty, the legal status of climate-displaced persons, the regulation of artificial intelligence, and the immunities of international organisations. Its consensus-oriented working culture sets it apart from more politicised committees, though that consensus is increasingly strained.

Key players

Environmental Commission (EC)

United Nations Environment Assembly / Environmental Commission

International environmental governance traces its modern origin to the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, which created the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The agenda expanded substantially after the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, which produced the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Convention to Combat Desertification. The UN Environment Assembly (UNEA), established in 2012 and meeting biennially in Nairobi, is now the world's highest-level decision-making body on environmental matters, with universal membership. The contemporary environmental agenda is dominated by three interlocking crises identified by UNEP as the 'triple planetary crisis': climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Following the Paris Agreement (2015), the Glasgow Climate Pact (2021), and the operationalisation of the Loss and Damage Fund at COP28 (2023), attention has shifted to implementation gaps — particularly the inadequacy of current Nationally Determined Contributions to keep warming within 1.5°C. Parallel negotiations on a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution (the INC process), the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework's '30 by 30' targets, and the BBNJ High Seas Treaty (2023) have created an unprecedented density of environmental lawmaking. The Environmental Commission today must reconcile the urgency of climate action with sharp North–South disputes over historical responsibility, climate finance (notably the New Collective Quantified Goal agreed at COP29), and the equitable phase-down of fossil fuels in countries whose development still depends on them.

Key players

Security Council (SC)

The UN Security Council was established under Chapter V of the UN Charter in 1945, charged with primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Its structure — five permanent members (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States) wielding the veto and ten elected members serving two-year terms — reflects the post-Second World War distribution of power. During the Cold War the veto rendered the Council largely paralysed on East–West issues; the 1990s brought a brief expansion of Council activism in peacekeeping, sanctions regimes, and ad hoc tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The Council today is again gridlocked on its most consequential files. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 placed a P5 member in direct violation of Charter Article 2(4), with Moscow vetoing any meaningful Council action. The Gaza war following the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks has produced repeated US and Russian/Chinese vetoes on ceasefire and humanitarian resolutions. The civil war in Sudan between the SAF and RSF, ongoing since April 2023, has generated the world's largest displacement crisis while the 1591 sanctions regime remains poorly enforced. Beyond active conflicts, the Council is grappling with cyber operations against critical infrastructure, climate-related security risks, and proliferation crises involving the DPRK and Iran. Long-standing proposals for Council reform — expansion of permanent membership to include states such as India, Brazil, Germany, Japan, and African representation, and restraint on the veto in mass-atrocity situations (the ACT Group code of conduct, the France–Mexico initiative) — have gained renewed traction but remain blocked by the current P5.

Key players

The Group of Twenty (G20)

The G20 was founded in 1999 as a forum of finance ministers and central bank governors in the wake of the Asian financial crisis, with the aim of bringing systemically important emerging economies into global economic governance alongside the G7. It was elevated to a leaders' summit in November 2008 in response to the global financial crisis, when the Washington summit coordinated fiscal stimulus, banking-sector rescues, and reforms to financial regulation that arguably averted a second Great Depression. The group represents roughly 85% of global GDP, 75% of international trade, and two-thirds of the world's population, and in 2023 admitted the African Union as a permanent member. The G20's contemporary agenda has broadened well beyond finance to encompass climate change, global health (notably pandemic preparedness following COVID-19), digital governance and AI, food and energy security, and reform of multilateral development banks. Successive presidencies have left distinctive imprints: Indonesia (2022) navigated the rupture caused by the war in Ukraine; India (2023) elevated the Global South and DPI agendas; Brazil (2024) launched a Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty and a dialogue on taxing the ultra-wealthy; South Africa (2025) is the first African host and has emphasised debt sustainability, just energy transitions, and critical minerals. The forum's central tension is its dual character as both a club of major economies and a stage for great-power rivalry. Disagreements over the war in Ukraine, Gaza, industrial policy and subsidies, and the pace of MDB reform have made consensus communiqués increasingly difficult, even as the G20 remains the only standing leaders' forum where the US, China, Russia, and the major emerging powers sit at the same table.

Key players

Resources

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Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

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Dynamic Analysis

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Cross-Cultural Communication

Advanced Negotiation

Multilateral Negotiation

Policy Brief Writing

Australia February 2027

By committee

Frequently asked questions

The Greater Second World War and Modern Global Geopolitics

Feb 8–9, 2027Canberra, AustraliaIn-person

Registration open

Committees & topics

Disarmament & International Security Committee (GA1)
Disarmament & International Security Committee (GA1)
Social, Humanitarian & Cultural Committee (GA3)
Social, Humanitarian & Cultural Committee (GA3)
Special Political & Decolonisation Committee (GA4)
Special Political & Decolonisation Committee (GA4)
Legal Committee (GA6)
Legal Committee (GA6)
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
Environmental Commission (EC)
United Nations Environment Assembly / Environmental Commission
Security Council (SC)
Security Council (SC)
The Group of Twenty (G20)
The Group of Twenty (G20)

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 6 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Australia

As the host nation, AUS provides a unique perspective on the war's impact, particularly concerning its role in the Pacific theater and its evolving relationship with global powers.

Role in topic

United States

The USA's emergence as a global superpower post-war is a central theme in understanding modern geopolitics.

Role in topic

Russia

RUS's experience in the war and its subsequent Cold War rivalry with the USA are critical to understanding the bipolar world order that emerged.

Role in topic

China

CHN's protracted conflict during the war and its subsequent rise are key to understanding contemporary Asian geopolitics.

Role in topic

United Kingdom

GBR's role in the war marked a transition from imperial power to a key player in post-war alliances.

Role in topic

Germany

DEU's role as the aggressor and its subsequent division and reunification are central to European post-war development.

Role in topic

Topics & background

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

Disarmament & International Security Committee (GA1)

Key players