Public lecture: ‘The End of the Liberal World Order?’

Professor G. John Ikenberry

Princeton University professor G. John Ikenberry will deliver a public lecture at Aberystwyth University on Thursday 2 May 2019 as part of the Department of International Politics’ Centenary Speakers Series.

The lecture entitled 'The End of the Liberal World Order?' will question the current challenges to and the future prospects of the liberal international order that took shape after the Second World War and has dominated world affairs since the end of the Cold War.

G. John Ikenberry, is one of the leading international thinkers on the question of world order. He is the Albert G. Milbank Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University. He is also a Global Eminence Scholar at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, South Korea. His previous positions include Georgetown University and Balliol College, Oxford. He has extensive policy experience having served in the US State Department.

Professor Ikenberry has written widely about US foreign policy and its effects on international order. Among his many important works several stand out:Liberal Leviathan (2011) examines the origins, crisis and transformation of the American international system; America Unrivaled (2002) is a collection of essays on the future of the balance of power; while After Victory (2001) looks at how international orders are built in the aftermath of great power wars.

Dr Jan Ruzicka, Director of the Department of International Politics' Centenary Celebrations, said: "John Ikenberry is a terrific scholar who combines research with vast policy experience. His book After Victory is a classic on how great powers have or have not succeeded in forging lasting international orders. Central to his argument are the notions of restraint and institutions, both of which have come under increasing strain in international politics recently. But without them, no liberal international order is possible."

G. John Ikenberry' lecture 'The End of the Liberal World Order?' will take place in the Main Hall of the International Politics Building at 6pm on Thursday 2 May 2019. Admission is free and a warm welcome is extended to anybody that wishes to attend.

About the Department of International Politics

The Department of International Politics was established in 1919, shortly after the end of the First World War in which more than 100 Aberystwyth University students were killed.

Mid Wales businessman, benefactor and politician David Davies (the future Lord Davies of Llandinam) and his sisters Gwendoline and Margaret decided to donate £20,000 to commemorate the fallen students and to establish “a global centre of learning and research on international politics in Aberystwyth”.

Aberystwyth therefore became home to the world’s first chair in international politics, which was named in honour of the American president Woodrow Wilson - the man whose name is synonymous with the creation of the League of Nations for the maintenance of international justice and the preservation of peace.

As part of the 2018-19 centenary year, a special reunion for alumni of the Department of International Politics will be held in June 2019.

Further details about the centenary are available on the website of the Department of International Politics.

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