After Pax Americana
12 October, 2026 12:00 (CET/Austria) RESOWI SZ 15.21 Universitätsstraße 15, Bauteil B, 2nd Floor
The erosion of the so-called “rules-based international order” or the end of the “Pax Americana”, visible in ongoing conflicts and genocides such as Sudan, Gaza, Ukraine, and the resurgence of authoritarian and exclusionary political formations, including new forms of technologically mediated governance. In a rapidly transforming global order marked by geopolitical fragmentation, shifting power centers, and growing contestation over norms and institutions, the notion of a stable Pax Americana appears increasingly untenable. At the same time, this conference calls for collective intellectual and political engagement to create spaces in which alternative ways of knowing, living, and relating can emerge and flourish – beyond the “imperial mode of living”. In the spirit of Audre Lorde, we may recognize that the “master’s house” is fracturing, yet rather than seeking to repair it, we turn toward building new openings that allow us to imagine and enact different, more emancipatory futures.
In response to all these challenges, wars and conflicts, this conference provides a space to pose fundamental questions, challenge dominant paradigms, and explore pathways beyond decaying systems of thought and governance. This conference critically engages with the question of whether the emerging order is best understood as multipolar, defined by competing centers of power, or as a pluriverse, emphasizing epistemic diversity, decoloniality, and alternative world-making practices. We are especially interested in contributions that interrogate and reimagine the relationships between peace, security, and global order from decolonial, local, and pluriversal perspectives.
Moving beyond entrenched epistemic and political boundaries requires collective effort and transnational solidarity. We therefore seek to connect scholars, students, and practitioners across diverse regions, histories, and struggles, fostering dialogue that transcends colonial compartmentalization.
Conference is organized by Josef Mühlbauer & Ksenia Radchenkova (section Global Governance, Uni Graz) in cooperation with the Lebanese American University, I.F.A.N University in Senegal, Centre for Critical Peace Studies & Comsats University in Pakistan, builds on the earlier “Local Peace Formation” series at the University of Graz and the conference of the Center for Critical Peace Studies (Lahore). It aims to critically engage with the transformation of global order after the decline of Pax Americana. With this unique event, we try to connect scholars from the Global South such as Senegal, Philippines, China, Pakistan, Lebanon and UAE but also scholars form the “Global North” or “the West”, such as Austria & Japan.