Join us for a critical discussion on the future of the international order. Can it be saved? What still holds it together? And what should the “Free World” stand for in a time of uncertainty?
The Free World arose out of the ashes of the Second World War. Out of devastation and loss, a new vision for international order emerged—one rooted in the principles of democracy, open markets, human rights, and collective security. The United States stood at the center of this effort, acting as the principal architect of a system that sought to bind nations together in pursuit of peace and prosperity. Germany and Japan, once devastated by defeat, became two of its key beneficiaries.
Today, that order is under unprecedented strain. Economic fragmentation, strategic competition with China, and Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine have all contributed to an erosion of trust in the very norms and institutions that underpinned the postwar system. The rise of populism, nationalism, and illiberal movements within democracies themselves poses an additional challenge: it is not only external rivals who test the system, but internal doubts and divisions.
Can this order still be saved? If so, how? What still binds the free world together? How should the “Free World” be depicted today—normatively, politically, and strategically—at a time when confidence in its coherence is fading?
This event is funded by the DAAD using funds from the Federal Foreign Office (AA).
Speakers
Gerlinde Groitl teaches International Politics at the University of Regensburg and is the founder and director of the ISS Institute for Security and Strategy in Munich, a small, independent geopolitical research and consultancy agency. Her scholarly work focuses on matters of security and strategy with a special focus on the US, Germany, the EU and NATO as well as global great power competition.
Maiko Ichihara is a Professor in the Graduate School of Law and the School of International and Public Policy at Hitotsubashi University, Japan. She is also the director of the Democracy Advocates at Risk program and chairs the steering committee of the East Asia Democracy Forum. Throughout her career, she has undertaken research on international relations, democracy support, Japanese foreign policy, and influence operations.
Francis J. Gavin is the Giovanni Agnelli Distinguished Professor and the inaugural director of the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins SAIS. Previously, he was the first Frank Stanton Chair in Nuclear Security Policy Studies at MIT and the Tom Slick Professor of International Affairs and the Director of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas.
Sergey Radchenko is the Wilson E. Schmidt Distinguished Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He has written extensively on the Cold War, nuclear history, and on Russian and Chinese foreign and security policies. He has served as a Global Fellow and a Public Policy Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Centre and as the Zi Jiang Distinguished Professor at East China Normal University (Shanghai).
Chair
Marina Henke is Professor of International Relations at the Hertie School and Director of the Centre for International Security. She researches and publishes on grand strategy, nuclear security and European security and defence policy. Before joining the Hertie School, she was an Associate Professor (with tenure) at Northwestern University as well as a Lecturer and Postdoctoral Research Associate at Princeton University.
