Annual Conference 2023

With the rise of China and Russia's war against Ukraine, the question of how demo­cracies shape their relation­ship with auto­cracies has become a highly topical issue. There is much talk of regime rivalry, which gets reduced to a polarized conflict between demo­cracies and auto­cracies in certain areas of academic and political debate. The reality, however, is much more complex: Relations between demo­cracies and auto­cracies can take on extremely different forms.

The PRIF Annual Con­ference 2023 "Dealing with Autocracies in a Fragmented World" will discuss from an empirical and normative perspective how demo­cracies can and should deal with auto­cracies in the current multi­polar world. The focus will be on climate and energy policy, inter­national develop­ment and infra­structure policy, inter­national democracy promotion, and inter­national security. The conference is aimed at academics, students and represen­tatives of politics and the media. Its goal is to de­construct simplistic, dicho­tomous views of world politics and provide nuanced views of contem­porary inter­national relations.

Roger Mac Ginty will receive the Czempiel Award on 12 October, 6:15 pm. The political scientist from Durham University, United Kingdom, is being honored for his innovative mono­graphy "Everyday Peace: How So-Called Ordinary People Can Disrupt Violent Conflict."

When: 12-13 October 2023

Where: Baseler Straße 27-31, 60329 Frankfurt

The event will be held in English. To register, please send an e-mail to annualconference @prif .org

The conference is sponsored by Deutsche Stiftung Friedensforschung.

Program

Please find the program for PRIF's Annual Conference 2023 below.

Thursday, 12 October 2023

1.30–2 p.m. Welcome & Opening Statements

• Nicole Deitelhoff, PRIF
• Pascal Abb, PRIF
• Irene Weipert-Fenner, PRIF

2–3.45 p.m. Panel 1: Dealing with China in International Development and Infrastructure Policies

Chair: Pascal Abb, PRIF

• Pascal Abb, PRIF
• Zhang Hong, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge (MA)
• Wrenn Yennie Lindgren, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), Oslo

Discussant: Marina Rudyak, Institute for Sinology, Heidelberg University

3.45–4.15 p.m. Coffee Break

4.15–6 p.m. Panel 2: Dealing with Autocracies in the MENA Region in Climate and Energy Policies

Chair: Irene Weipert-Fenner, PRIF

• Imane Boukhatem, Center for Sustainable Energy Systems (ZNES), Europa-Universität Flensburg / Irene Weipert-Fenner, PRIF
• Yana Popkostova, European Centre for Energy and Geopolitical Analysis  (ECEGA), European Union Institute for Security Studies, Paris
• Benjamin Schütze, Arnold-Bergstraesser-Institute (ABI), Freiburg

Discussant: Hannes Warnecke-Berger, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kassel

6.15–7.15 p.m. Czempiel Award Ceremony

Friday, 13 October 2023

9–10.45 a.m. Panel 3: Dealing with Autocracies in Democracy Promotion

Chair: Jonas Wolff, PRIF

• Christine Hackenesch, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), Bonn
• Michelle Pace, Roskilde University, Roskilde
• Richard Youngs, Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, Carnegie Europe, Brussels

Discussant: Marianne Kneuer, Professor of Comparative Politics, TUD Dresden University of Technology

10.45–11.15 a.m. Coffee Break

11.15 a.m.–1 p.m. Panel 4: Dealing with Russia in Europe and at the Global Stage

Chair: Jonas Driedger, PRIF

• Nicole Deitelhoff, PRIF
• Yevgeniya Gaber, Atlantic Council in Turkey
• Sofia Oliynyk, Ukrainian Expert on Human Security and Democracy Development

Discussant: Stefan Kroll, PRIF

1–2 p.m. Light Lunch

2–3 p.m. Final Discussion

Chair: Jonas Wolff, PRIF

• Marianne Kneuer, TU Dresden University of Technology
• Marina Rudyak, Heidelberg University
• Hannes Warnecke-Berger, University of Kassel
• Stefan Kroll, PRIF

To the Annual Conference's webpage