Events

KISA 18th Annual Convention will take place in Seoul late fall 2026 (exact date TBA).

Diplomatic and Security Challenges in an Era of Shocks to the Global System
The return of Donald Trump to the White House in 2025, in conjunction with the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and Chinese threats against Taiwan, highlight the continued emergence of shocks to the global system that have already been underway since the first Trump Administration. This year alone has seen the Trump Administration initiate a conflict against Iran that has imperiled the oil markets and posed the global economy with the prospect of a recession, along with the earlier raid on Venezuela to capture President Maduro. Concurrently, the Trump Administration’s threats against NATO portend the prospect of a stridently unilateralist US foreign policy, even as Europe and the Indo-Pacific region face the possibility of increasingly assertive regimes in Moscow and Beijing. Shifting rules of engagement on the global stage are prompting traditional U.S. allies in Europe to pursue more autonomous defense and foreign policy strategies that are less exposed to Washington’s unpredictability and more conducive to deeper regional integration. Would this trend also lead to greater integration in Asia and other regions?
This backdrop underscores the urgency of this year’s Korea International Studies Association (KISA) Conference, wherein we invite scholars to submit proposals on themes that include, inter alia:
– Great power rivalry
– International security broadly construed
– Security and diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific and Transatlantic regions
– Non-traditional security concerns (including climate change, cyber – security, hybrid warfare, human rights, etc.)
– Development and Area Studies
– International Relations theory and practice
– Comparative politics

The event is sponsored by the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation.