Academic workshop on
The Broken Umbrella
Shifting Security Architecture
in Europe and the Asia-Pacific
9-11 December 2020
University of Antwerp, Belgium

Call for Papers

Application deadline: 1 June 2020
Notice of acceptance: 1 July 2020
Full details below

On 9-11 December 2020, UCSIA organizes an academic workshop on shifting security architecture in Europe and the Asia-Pacific at the University of Antwerp.

The end of the Cold War did not lead in the immediate post-Cold War period to fundamental changes in the US-centred alliance systems in either Europe or the Asia-Pacific region. Despite concerns about a possible reduction in America’s defence commitments in the wake of the disappearance of the shared Soviet threat, throughout the 1990s and until the mid-2000s European states made minimal efforts to diversify their security dependence on the US. In the Asia-Pacific region, strategic uncertainties associated with a rising China and the related absence of collective security mechanisms ensured the continuity of the US-led bilateral alliances, also known as the “hub-and-spoke” security system.

Regional fears of possible US disengagement in the post-Cold War era were initially about Washington’s political willingness. However, America’s relative decline has gradually turned the question into that of US ability to sustain its security commitments, as well as a matter of alliance burden-sharing.

Notwithstanding the significant increase in America’s defence budget, President Donald Trump’s “America first” foreign policy has questioned the credibility of the US alliance commitments. The perceived Russia threat, especially in the Eastern part of Europe, and the perceived China threat, notably in Asia’s maritime domain, have raised European and Asian “abandonment” concerns, respectively.

This is an opportune time to comparatively examine regional responses to the perceived decline in US alliance credibility by focusing on the period from the early to mid-2000s onwards.

The workshop will seek to answer the following key questions:

  • Given the changes in America’s willingness to maintain its security commitments as a result of its relative decline, how are the US-led alliances in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region being transformed in terms of objectives, burden-sharing and operational capabilities? Is there a strengthening or a weakening of the examined alliance relationships? To what extent are the interests of the allies diverging?
  • How are the American allies responding to the changing power relations beyond their alliance framework with the US, both intra-regionally and inter-regionally (i.e., at the Europe-Asia level)? What are the main trends in alignment formation?
  • What accounts for the similarities and differences between the alliance and alignment dynamics in the two regions?
  • Based on the current trends in alliance transformation, what are the future prospects for the US-led alliances from both a short-term (5 years) and mid- to long-term (10-15 years) perspective?

Expected results and impact of the workshop

This comparative study has both theoretical and prescriptive significance. Theoretically, the study directly addresses the question of hedging vs. abandoning. Do states keep the alliance with the US or do they abandon the US alliance in favour of another form of security cooperation? What kind of alliance transformation do we observe in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region? Does the observed transformation support the “alliance abandonment” theory, or some mixed “hedging” strategies? In terms of policy prescriptions, our comparative research findings will inform the European governments of Asia’s responses to the “Trump phenomenon,” and the Asian governments of Europe’s reactions.

The main contribution of the proposed workshop to the current scholarly debates on US-led alliances will be its comprehensive and comparative aspect. Not only will the workshop provide an in-depth examination of the transformation of the American-led alliances, as well as of US allies’ responses to potential American disengagement from regional security, it will also place this analysis within a comparative framework by bridging the dynamics in the European and Asian-Pacific contexts. This will also allow for a more accurate projection of current trends into the near- to mid-term future, as well as for the formulation of specific future scenarios on the evolution of alliances and alignments, in general.

Keynote Speakers

Sven Biscop

Director of the Europe in the World Programme at the Egmont – Royal Institute for International Relations in Brussels

He is the Director of the Europe in the World Programme at the Egmont – Royal Institute for International Relations in Brussels, which he joined in 2002, and a Professor at the Ghent Institute for International Studies (GIIS) at Ghent University. His research and teaching focus on the strategies of the European Union, NATO and their Member States. In 2015, on the occasion of its 10th anniversary, he was made an Honorary Fellow of the EU’s European Security and Defence College (ESDC). He regularly lectures in its courses, as well as in various European and American staff colleges, and at the People’s University of China in Beijing, where he is a Senior Research Associate of the Centre for European Studies. Sven also is an Honorary Member of the ESDC Alumni Association and a Senior Associate Fellow of the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy and of the Baltic Defence College. He is a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (UK) and of the Clausewitz Society (Germany).

Stephen G. Brooks

Professor of Government at Dartmouth

He has previously held fellowships at Harvard and Princeton. His research examines two topics: U.S. grand strategy and how economic factors influence security affairs. He is the author of four books: Producing Security: Multinational Corporations, Globalization, and the Changing Calculus of Conflict (Princeton, 2005); World out of Balance: International Relations and the Challenge of American Primacy (Princeton, 2008), with William Wohlforth; America Abroad: The United States’ Global Role in the 21st Century (Oxford, 2016), with William Wohlforth; and Political Economy of International Security (Princeton, forthcoming). He has published many articles in journals such as International Security, International Organization, Foreign Affairs, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Politics, Perspectives on Politics, and Security Studies. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science with Distinction from Yale University, where his dissertation received the American Political Science Association’s Helen Dwight Reid Award for the best doctoral dissertation in international relations, law, and politics.

Emil Kirchner

Jean Monnet Professor and Emeritus Professor at the University of Essex

He received his BA in economics and MA and Ph-D in Political Science and International Politics from Case Western Reserve University. He was a lecturer, senior lecturer and professor at the University of Essex and is currently a Jean Monnet Professor and Emeritus Professor at the University of Essex. He is Advisory Editor and Chair of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of European Integration, holder of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, a Fellow of the British Academy of Social Sciences, was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the University Association of Contemporary Studies, and has held Fellowships at NATO and the European University Institute, Florence. He has been a visiting professor at universities in various European countries, the United States and China. His recent book publications are (co-author) ‘The European Union and China’, Macmillan and Red Globe Press, 2019; (co-editor) ‘EU-Japan Security Cooperation’, Routledge, 2018, (co-editor) ‘Security Relations between China and the European Union’, Cambridge University Press, 2016, and (co-editor) ‘The Palgrave Handbook on EU-Asia Relations’, 2013.

Sten Rynning

Professor of International Relations at the Department of Political Science, University of Southern Denmark

Where he also heads the Center for War Studies. He was a member of the official Norwegian Afghanistan Commission, 2015-2016 as well as of the advisory group to ambassador Peter Taksøe-Jensen’s official review of Danish Foreign Policy, 2015-2016. He sits on the board of the Danish Atlantic Treaty Association, the advisory board of the Danish Defence College, and the editorial board of the European Journal of International Security, International Affairs, as well as the Journal of Strategic Studies. He was a visiting fellow at NATO’s Defence College, Rome, in 2012, and president of the Nordic International Studies Association, 2011-2015. In the Spring of 2017 he was scholar in residence at American University’s School of International Service where he worked on US defense innovation and US leadership in NATO. The Fulbright Commission and the Danish Research Council fund his defense innovation research.

He is the author of numerous books and articles, including ‘NATO in Afghanistan: The Liberal Disconnect’ (Stanford University Press 2012), co-author (with Theo Farrell and Terry Terriff) of ‘Transforming Military Power since the Cold War: Britain, France, and the United States’, 1991-2012 (Cambridge University Press 2013), and ‘The False Promise of Continental Concert: Russia, the West, and the Necessary Balance of Power’, International Affairs (issue 91/3, 2015, pp. 539-552). His article ‘The Divide: France, Germany and political NATO’, appeared in International Affairs (issue 93/2, 2017, pp. 267-289), and his edited book, ‘South Asia and the Great Powers: International Relations and Regional Security’, was published by IB Tauris in February 2017.

Yoichiro Sato

Professor in the College and Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies at the Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Beppu

Previously, he taught at the U.S. Department of Defense’s Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, Auckland University in New Zealand, the Colorado School of Mines, Kansai Gaidai Hawaii College, and the University of Hawaii.
He has published ten academic books including ‘The Rise of China and International Security’ (co-edited with Kevin Cooney, Routledge, 2008), ‘The U.S.-Japan Security Alliance’ (co-edited with Takashi Inoguchi and G. John Ikenberry, Palgrave, 2011), ‘U.S. Engagement in the Asia Pacific’ (co-edited with See Seng Tang, Cambria, 2015), and ‘Re-rising Japan: Its Strategic Power in International Relations’ (co-edited with Hidekazu Sakai, Peter Lang, 2017). He has appeared in various international media, including Time, Newsweek, USA Today, National Public Radio, Voice of America, Agence France-Presse, Al Jazeera, Radio Australia, Bloomberg, MSNBC, and TVNZ.
Dean Sato holds a B.A. in Law from Keio University, an M.A. in International Studies from the University of South Carolina, and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Hawaii.

Thomas S. Wilkins

Senior Lecturer in International Security at the University of Sydney

He is also Senior Visiting Fellow at the Japan Institute for International Affairs, and is currently working on the Sasakawa Peace Foundation project: ‘US Alliances: a Balance Sheet”. He received his Ph.D from the University of Birmingham, UK, and completed his Post-Doctoral Studies at the University of San Francisco, and the East West Center, Honolulu. Since then he has been Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Taiwan Fellow (Taiwan National University), Japan Foundation ‘Japan Studies’ Fellow, Japan Society for Promotion of Sciences Research Fellow (both at the University of Tokyo), and a Visiting Associate Professor at the University of Hong Kong, and at Keio University. He specializes in security issues in the Asia Pacific region and has published on this subject in journals such as Review of International Studies, International Relations of the Asia Pacific and Australian Journal of International Affairs, among others. His book ‘Security in Asia Pacific: The Dynamics of Alignment’ was published with Lynne Rienner in February 2019. He is presently an Associate Editor for the journal Pacific Affairs and Area-Editor for Japanese Studies.
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Programme Outline

Wednesday
9 December 2020

19h00-21h00
Public openinglecture on

Europe & Security Cooperation

Lecture by Stephen G. Brooks
Professor of Government at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire

Response by Sven Biscop
Director of the Europe in the World Programme at the Egmont, Royal Institute for International Relations in Brussels & Professor at the Ghent Institute for International Studies (GIIS) at Ghent University

Thursday
10 December 2020
9h00

Welcome by UCSIA

9h00

Introduction by chair

9h15
Introductory lecture on

Alliance and Alignments
in Times of Strategic Uncertainty

Thomas Wilkins
Centre for International Security Studies, University of Sydney

9h45

Response

10h00

Q & A

10h45

Coffee Break

11h00

Paper Presentations Panel I

(3 x 15 min, response by moderator, Q&A)

12h30

Lunch

13h30

Introduction by chair

13h40
Introductory lecture on

Alliance Dynamics and New Security
Partnerships in Europe

Sten Rynning
Department of Political Science, University of Southern Denmark

14h10

Response

14h25

Q & A

15h15

Coffee Break

15h30

Paper Presentations Panel II

(3 x 15 min, response by moderator, Q&A)

17h00

End of Day Programme

Friday
11 December 2020
9h00

Welcome by UCSIA

9h00

Introduction by chair

9h15
Introductory lecture on

Alliance Dynamics and New Security
Partnerships in the Asia-Pacific Region

Yoichiro Sato
College and Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Beppu

9h45

Response

10h00

Q & A

10h45

Coffee Break

11h00

Paper Presentations Panel III

(3 x 15 min, response by moderator, Q&A)

12h30

Lunch

13h30

Introduction by chair

13h40
Introductory lecture on

New Security Partnerships Between
Europe and the Asia-Pacific Region

Emil Kirchner
Jean Monnet Professor, University of Essex

14h10

Response

14h25

Q & A

15h15

Coffee Break

15h30

Paper Presentations Panel IV

(3 x 15 min, response by moderator, Q&A)

17h00

End of Day Programme

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Call for Papers

The workshop ‘The Broken Umbrella: Shifting Security Architecture in Europe and the Asia-Pacific’ consists of a two-day international meeting (preceded by a public opening lecture) with specialized lectures, presentations and debates by invited senior and junior scholars. The aim is to offer a platform to scholars to present their research on the topic and exchange their ideas on research findings. Such a meeting may open up new multidisciplinary horizons to think about the topic.

We welcome both theoretical contributions that engage with the concepts of “alliance” and “alignment”, and theorise about regional responses to changing power relations in Europe and the Asia-Pacific, and empirical papers.

Papers presented at the workshop will focus on, but will not be limited to, the following case-studies:

The regional level in Europe:

  • EU’s defence integration, especially after Brexit (PESCO)
  • Bilateral alignments between European states that are both EU and NATO members: for example, France-UK, France-Germany; Visegrad countries
  • A new potential collective security organisation in Europe that includes Russia (in the form of a strengthened OSCE or a fundamentally transformed NATO)

The regional level in the Asia-Pacific region:

  • Bilateral alignments between US allies (or close security partners): for example, Australia-Japan, Japan-the Philippines, Japan-India
  • “Minilaterals” that include the US and its allies (or close security partners): US-Japan-ROK, US-Japan-Australia, US-Japan-India
  • Alignments between US allies and other regional states, for example, Japan-Vietnam; and alignments between US allies and US strategic competitors, for example, ROK-China

The inter-regional Europe-Asia level:

  • Alignments between US allies in the Asia-Pacific region and the EU: Japan-EU, ROK-EU, Australia-EU
  • Alignments between US allies in the Asia-Pacific region and European states: for example, Japan-UK, Japan-France
  • Alignments between US allies (in Europe or the Asia-Pacific) and US strategic competitors: for example, Japan-Russia, EU-China
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Application Procedure

To submit your application

  1. fill in the online submission form
  2. upload the abstract (750 – 1.000 words including references, in English) of your proposed paper
  3. upload your curriculum vitae, in English, list of publications included (if available)
Online Application Form

Application deadline: 1 June 2020

Day(s)

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Selection Criteria

Applicants should

  • be a doctoral student or postdoctoral researcher
  • be involved in ongoing academic research relevant to the themes addressed in the sessions of the workshop
  • respect formal requirements of the application process
  • submit a well written paper proposal, related to the main topic of the workshop and representative of your research work, indicating the methodology and theoretical underpinning of your research

Selection Procedure

Blind peer-review:

the selection of participants will be made on a competitive basis by the members of the organizing scientific committee headed by the academic director of UCSIA. The papers will be examined through a blind refereeing process. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Notice of acceptance:

1 July 2020 at the latest

Workshop Attendance

  • conference attendance, meals and accommodation for the selected presenters are free of charge
  • all participants are expected to arrange and pay for their own travel
  • all participants are expected to take part in the full programme

Presentation and publication opportunity

  • selected participants will present their papers in a panel session
    (20 minutes in English)
  • a selection of papers presented at the workshop will be considered for publication
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Organizers

Elena Atanassova-Cornelis, Research Group International Politics, University of Antwerp

Sven Biscop, Royal Institute for International Relations, Brussels & Ghent Institute for International Studies

Yoichiro Sato, College and Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Beppu

Tom Sauer, Research Group International Politics, University of Antwerp

Stijn Latré, Director of UCSIA

Coordinator & Contact

Barbara Segaert
Project Coordinator Europe & Solidarity, UCSIA
T | +32 (0) 3 265 49 60

In Cooperation With

UCSIA vzw

Universitair Centrum Sint-Ignatius Antwerpen

Egmont

Royal Institute for International Relations

Research Group International Politics

focuses on international security, international diplomacy, and the political economy of international institutions

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Practical details

Date & Time

Academic workshop: 10-11 December 2020
Public lecture: 9 December 2020, 19h00-21h00

Call for Papers

Application deadline: 1 June 2020
Notice of Acceptance: 1 July 2020
Full details | Online submission form

Venue

University of Antwerp
City Campus – Hof van Liere
Prinsstraat 13 & 13 B, 2000 Antwerp
BELGIUM

Travelling to Antwerp from Abroad

International trains

Antwerp Central Station offers direct railway connections to Amsterdam Centraal, London St Pancreas International, Paris Nord and Köln Hauptbahnhof.

This makes the train a comfortable and green way to travel to Antwerp from many larger cities in the Netherlands, Great-Britain, France and Germany.

We recommend you to order your train tickets as soon as possible, because prices increase in time. The earlier you book, the cheaper your trip. Ticket sales open three to six months in advance, depending on the trainline operator.

When you arrive in Antwerp Central Station, take a minute to look around you. Many travel guides have rated it as one of the most beautiful stations in the world.

Visit Antwerp

While visiting Antwerp for academic purposes, take the opportunity to get to know our unique and beautiful city!
Click Here

Antwerp skyline with Cathedral

Photo by Zoë Gayah Jonker on Unsplash

Brussels National Airport

Brussels National Airport in Zaventem is the most travelled airport in Belgium. If you are coming by plane, you will most likely arrive here.

The Airport Express is a direct coach service that runs every hour (3 a.m.-12 p.m.) between Brussels Airport and Antwerp Central Station. The ride takes about 45 minutes. You can find the bus stop at park P15, close to the terminal. The covered walkway leads you automatically to and from the terminal.

There is also a direct train connection (twice an hour) between Brussels Airport and Antwerp Central Station. The approximate travel time is 32 minutes. The airport train station is located below the terminal (basement level -1). Keep your train ticket at hand upon arrival at Brussels Airport. You will need to scan it at the automated access gates.

More information:
www.brusselsairport.be/

Antwerp City Airport

Antwerp Airport is a small airport located in Deurne at a mere seven kilometers from the city centre of Antwerp. It covers a selection of mostly European destinations such as London Southend, Florence, Innsbruck, Malaga, Split, Toulon, …

The easiest way to travel to the city centre is by taxi (15 min, € 15).

You can also take public transport, but there is no direct service. Take bus 51, 52 or 53 directly in front of the airport building to Antwerp-Berchem railway station in 10 minutes, where you can take bus 21 and 32 or tram 9 and 11 to Rooseveltplaats (Roosevelt Square), near Antwerp Central Station.

More information:
www.antwerpairport.aero

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

Another option is the international airport in our neighbour’s capital: Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Especially for long distance flights, it is an alternative worth looking into. Your journey could turn out significantly cheaper and/or shorter.

There is a direct train connection between Schiphol Airport and Antwerp Central Station every hour. The estimated travel time is under an hour.

We recommend you to order your train tickets as soon as possible, because prices increase in time. The earlier you book, the cheaper your trip. Ticket sales open four months in advance.

You can also buy international train tickets at the NS Hispeed desks, located near the Meeting Point at Schiphol Plaza.

The NS train station is located directly below the terminal building. Take the escalator or lift downstairs and board the train.

More information:
www.brusselsairport.be/en/

 

Brussels South Charleroi Airport

This is an airport with mostly short distance destinations (with the exception of Hong Kong). The majority of the flights are operated by low cost airlines.

Mind: although your flight might be cheaper, travel time to and from Antwerp will be longer and your transport options for early and late flights are limited.

Also take into account that, although the airport is called Brussels South, it is located in Charleroi, which is in no way near to Brussels National Airport. When booking your train tickets make sure to select the right railway station.

You can buy a single or return ticket (same day return) to “any Belgian station” from the ticket machines outside the terminal near Door 2. This ticket includes the TEC bus journey (from the airport to Charleroi-South station) and the train journey (from Charleroi-South station to another Belgian station of your choice).

More information:
www.brussels-charleroi-airport.com

UCSIA

Prinsstraat 14
B-2000 Antwerpen
info@ucsia.be
Tel. +32 (0)3 265 49 60
Fax +32 (0)3 707 09 31