Workshop co-organized with Elettra Bargellini and Flavia Canestrini 

The rules-based, multilateral order that has allowed Europe to strive is in crisis. Since taking office, President Trump has intensified his “America First” agenda embracing unilateralism, transactionalism and, in some cases, open hostility towards its European partners at a time of open Russian aggression, and an ongoing shift in power from the West to the Global South and China in particular. These dynamics challenge the LIO and threaten Europe’s model of prosperity, which rests on transatlantic cooperation, free trade, and multilateral institutions. In both the public and scholarly debate, bleak scenarios and growing scepticism about Europe’s capacity to respond effectively dominate. This workshop moves beyond this pessimism.

Our starting point is the insight that geopolitical rivalry, economic protectionism, and contested multilateralism challenges are not unprecedented. To develop a clearer understanding of the multi-dimensional challenges facing Europe today, how to cope with them and develop a positive vision of Europe’s role in the future, scholars and policymakers will therefore benefit from drawing lessons from the past. To broaden our perspective on the current crisis, each panel will bring together participants from different disciplines––from history to law to economics to political science––to discuss the long-term transformations of the LIO and its underlying normative frameworks, identify historical precedencies, and thereby contextualize today’s challenges. The keynote lecture will critically reflect on the perceived novelty of the LIO’s crisis and unpack its Western bias. A key objective of our inter-disciplinary exchange will be to generate ideas about how Europe can re-define its role in the future. The concluding high-level roundtable will summarize the lessons learned for Europe’s future.