Speculation of what the international order will look like once the dust settles from the current global economic turmoil and from the fallout of the crisis in the Ukraine is well underway. While the nature of the landscape is not yet clear, its shape will be determined by tectonic shifts that have been taking place since at least the end of the Cold War. Three are especially important for the challenges that lay ahead for Europe in the broadly defined Eurasian space: the (re-) emergence of new global or regional powers such as Russia, China, Iran and the growing importance of central Asian states (RICCA); the increasing salience of a number of transnational issues that directly involve Europe’s relations with this region and the entire international system; and growing uncertainty about the institutional architecture of a new global order. These three elements – powers, issues and architecture – form the basis of the conference .

The Jean Monnet Centre of the University of Trento is organizing a conference on “Beyond Vilnius: The European Union and the Emerging Eurasian Space”, to be held in Trento on 29-30 January 2016. The aim of the conference is to explore whether there are important differences between how the EU and its regional partners understand political power, whether these are along the lines that political commentary has described and, if so, what kinds of challenges does this raise for the EU and its partners in addressing specific issues that need to be addressed collectively.

The central aim of the conference is two-fold. First it wants to explore how RICCA and Europe understand power (economic, geopolitical, resource based, normative, etc.) in the international arena and its projection (bilateral relations, multilateral institutions, etc…). Second, it wants to gather information from both Europe and RICCA on a series of key transnational issues that affect relations between the two sides; as well as positions that the different sides take on what sort of architecture is to govern their relations with Europe and on a broader global scale. The central question that will inform the conference is whether Europe and the RICCA powers have a similar understanding of what should be the foundations of the international system. Do the other regional powers think in terms of “governance beyond the state”? Do they see the European Union as an anomaly or as the basis of the architecture of a new global order? Is there a consensus within Europe on how, and on what issues, to treat RICCA – as partners, rivals and/or enemies – and whether interaction should be on a regional basis or through bilateral relations?

We are interested in proposals from scholars and experts of not only the European Union but also its regional partners that we have defined as RICCA (Russia, Iran, China and Central Asia). The conference will take place over two days in Trento on 28-29 January 2016. Participants will be asked to submit papers by 20 January so as to provide sufficient time to circulate. The aim will be to turn the conference proceedings into a proposal for an eventual special issue of a journal or edited volume. Conference organizers will cover travel costs and accommodation.

Deadline for proposals is: 15 November 2015.

Proposals and any queries may be directed to Vincent Della Sala at: Euricca2016 at soc.unitn.it 

Vincent Della Sala, University of Trento