10:30 am Featured Talk II: Ending the War: Sovereignty Over Endless Conflict

Despite claims that the post Cold War world order would usher in an era of globalization, peace, and prosperity, the past decades have instead witnessed a seemingly unending series of wars across the globe, with no clear end in sight. In recent years, conflicts have multiplied and expanded in scale, drawing in larger regions and greater numbers of actors. From the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian War to the recent escalation of conflict involving Iran, the international system appears increasingly prone to instability. If globalization has failed to prevent these wars, the question remains how conflict can be limited and contained. In this featured talk, Philip Cunliffe will argue that national sovereignty, rather than globalization, provides the most effective framework for reducing the spread of conflict and bringing an end to so called “forever wars.”