Centre for Security Research

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We are delighted to announce the call for papers is now open for the CeSeR 2025 annual conference, with the theme of 'Futures of International Security.'

The conference will take place at University of Edinburgh on Tuesday, May 6, 2025

International order seems poised before many possible futures. The Doomsday Clock, moved one second closer to midnight at the start of his year, warns of catastrophic futures. The so-called ‘return of geopolitics’ to international order suggests futures affected by old spectres thought banished to history: economic nationalism, a resurgent international right, and the possibility of a new ‘Cold War.’ On the other hand, unprecedented transformations in international order related to emerging multipolarity, new technologies, climate change, and new voices and political claims point to radically different security futures. 

As much as the idea of plural ‘futures’ of international security suggests many possible outcomes, it also suggests that the effects of these outcomes will be uneven. Considering futures of international security thus also involves considering differential experiences of security and examining the way existing hierarchies will shape future security practices. 

The Centre for Security Research at the University of Edinburgh invites submissions from scholars engaged in a broad range of empirical and theoretical questions related to futures of international security. These include but are not limited to:

• How are security futures envisioned and what are their effects in the present?
• What new technological developments will shape futures of international security?
• What does international security mean in a climate-changed present and future?
• What kinds of old and new hierarchies and/or identities will determine futures of international security?
• How might changes to the structure of international order (e.g., polarity, regions, institutions) affect futures of international security?
• Which concepts or theoretical approaches can help us respond to changing dimensions of international security?

How to apply

Please submit an abstract of no more than 250 words clearly setting out the contribution of your paper to: ceser@ed.ac.ukwith Futures of International Security in the subject line.

Important Dates: 

Deadline for submission: Monday, February 24, 2025

Notification of selection: Friday, March 7, 2025

If you have any questions related to the conference, please contact the Conference Convenor Dr Regan Burles at: rburles@ed.ac.uk.