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    Keyvisual WZB-Konferenz 2026
    WZB / Ines Meyer
    7. - 9. Oktober 2026

    2nd Annual Interdisciplinary WZB Conference 2026

    Challenges to International Orders: Causes and Consequences

    Great Powers and less powerful states alike increasingly act outside international law. New alliances and rivalries are emerging. The declining importance of the UN Security Council and NATO, wars, as well as the weaponization of tariffs and technology, seem to wash away international norms and institutions, especially the liberal ones. Moreover, many voices from the Global South demand a new order that ends what they consider Western domination. What many once saw as a stable global order —understood as the set of institutions, norms, and power relations that structure interactions among states and across borders —now appears more fragmented, contested, and open to decline, or at least transformation.

    This 2nd Annual Interdisciplinary WZB Conference 2026, to be held in October in Berlin, will bring together researchers from political science, sociology, economics, and law to examine how international orders are being challenged and reshaped—and what this means for states, societies, and global cooperation. The conference opens on the evening of 7 October 2026 with a high-level public discussion featuring Odile Renaud-Basso (President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) and Boris Pistorius (German Minister of Defence; to be confirmed) on the roles of international organizations, financial institutions, and of Germany and Europe in a changing transatlantic and global order.

    Confirmed keynote speakers and panelists are:

    • Anita Gohdes,Hertie School Berlin
    • Charles A. Kupchan,Georgetown University
    • Clémence Lenoir, Economic Advisor to President Emmanuel Macron
    • Cristiane Lucena Carneiro, University of Sao Paulo
    • Abraham L. Newman, Georgetown University and CEPR
    • Dani Rodrik, Harvard University and CEPR
    • Beth Simmons, University of Pennsylvania
    • Xuefeng Sun, Tsinghua University

    Paper submissions are now open. Deadline: 23 April 2026.

    Paper Submissions

    For the 2nd Annual Interdisciplinary WZB Conference, we invite paper submissions ─ full-length, unpublished papers − from interested researchers of all social science disciplines. Our goal is to foster exchange across disciplines and perspectives.

    Potential topics for the parallel sessions are (but are not limited to):

    • Changes in international orders across different issue areas such as climate policy, global health, migration, trade, technology, and development cooperation.
    • The causes of these changes, e.g., shifting power dynamics, economic transformations, identity politics, cultural scripts, and developments in world society.
    • The consequences for peace, economic development, environment, social solidarity, and global inequalities.

    Funding

    Limited travel and accommodation support is available for participants. However, the organizers would appreciate it if attendees who have access to their own research funds could use them to cover their costs.

    How to Apply

    Authors who already have a CEPR HUB profile can upload their submission by:

    1. Going to https://hub.cepr.org/ and logging in
    2. After you have logged in, go to https://hub.cepr.org/event/5118
    3. Click on "Step 1: Apply"
    4. Under "Apply to Attend" click "Yes"
    5. Tick the boxes that apply to you
    6. Tick "Would you like to submit a paper?", upload your paper and supply the requested information. Please include the keywords in the abstract field.
    7. Click "Submit form" to make the submission.

    Authors who do not have a CEPR HUB profile can upload their submission by:

    1. Creating a new profile here https://hub.cepr.org/user/register  
    2. After you have logged in, go to https://hub.cepr.org/event/5118  
    3. Click on "Step 1: Apply"
    4. Under "Apply to Attend" click "Yes"
    5. Tick the boxes that apply to you
    6. Tick "Would you like to submit a paper?", upload your paper and supply the requested information. Please include the keywords in the abstract field.
    7. Click "Submit form" to make the submission.

    All submissions must be received by Thursday, 23 April 2026 at 18:00 CEST. Submissions received after this time will not be accepted.

    Contact

    Conference Enquiries

    For any questions regarding the conference, please contact Katinka von Kovatsits, Officer at the Presidential Department at the WZB, at conference [at] wzb.eu.

    Registration Support

    If you experience any difficulties registering for this conference, please contact Despoina Chatzilari, CEPR Senior Events Officer at dchatzilari [at] cepr.org.