Professor Mikhail Antonov (Higher School of Economics, Russia) and Assistant Professor Walter Lee (Hong Kong Metropolitan University, PRC) explored in this discussion how the concept of the civilizational state is mobilized in Russian and Chinese political narratives to articulate leadership claims, challenge Western hegemony, and advocate multipolarity and decolonization of knowledge. Particular attention was paid to both ideological convergences and emerging tensions between the two powers, as well as to the broader implications of the civilizational state narrative for international law and international relations theory.
The talk was organized by Dr. Ksenia Radchenkova, section Global Governance, University of Graz.