Approaches for Assessing Escalating Geopolitical/Geoeconomic Risks in a Transitional Global Order

Geopolitical and geoeconomic risks threatening to disrupt the global community abound in the contemporary complex transitional world order. Trade and commerce have been weaponized with the implementation of sanctions and reciprocal tariffs, supply chain disruptions and export restrictions. The tectonic systemic transformations underway in the world security and economic power structures toward a multi-polar world arena challenging the rules based liberal international order have made it increasingly difficult to adequately account for newly emerging methods for exercising influence transcending traditional kinetic instruments of power such as employing economic “choke points” for example. While rising nationalism and populism may prompt nations to seek insulation from the international economy, the reality is that our world society will remain highly interconnected in complex circumstances of unbridled technological innovation, digitalization and weakening of multinational institutional structures underpinning stability of the rules based liberal global order. Given the turbulence in today’s world, interest in assessing the interplay of geopolitical and geoeconomic risk have taken on increasing relevance. This panel aims to examine the potential of theories, frameworks and methods in the sub-fields of Political Science including Geopolitics and International Political Economy in assessing the complex array of interconnected transnational trends and developments that can be consequential for stability at the global and regional levels or within specific nation-state contexts.
IPSA’s Research Committees focused on Geopolitics and International Political Economy propose to hold this joint panel session inviting scholars utilizing theoretical models and frameworks from both these sub-fields (Geopolitics/IPE) in assessing political risk. In terms of methods, the panel should feature scholars employing both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Country case studies or research initiatives concentrating on regional and broader global circumstances and trends are encouraged. The panel should generate conclusions regarding new directions for research and findings relevant for scholars working in Geopolitics, Geoeconomics or suggesting areas for developing collaborative research bridging these two sub-fields and potentially generating conclusions from panel papers with relevance not only for the academic but also international policy community and private sector.