CfP: Conference “National Sovereignty (1918-2018): Idea and Political Practice” (18-19.05.2018)

Political Sphere Institute (Belarus-Lithuania)
Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Belarus
Polish Institute in Minsk
Belarusian Collegium
Institute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Lithuania)
Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania)
Lithuanian Institute of History
VII Minsk Conference of the Political Sphere Institute
National Sovereignty (1918-2018): Idea and Political Practice
Date: 18-19 May 2018
Applications accepted until 15.03.2018
The year 1918 changed the entire region of Eastern Europe.

Empires were collapsing and new states were emerging, borders were being redrawn and nations were consolidating.

The idea of sovereignty and independence acquired political embodiment.

For some nations this was more successful (Lithuania, Latvia, Poland), for others less so (the Belarusian People’s Republic, the Ukrainian People’s Republic).

Debates about sovereignty did not end there, however; they remained important throughout the twentieth century, were raised to a new level with the collapse of the socialist bloc and the USSR (1990-1991), and again became relevant after EU enlargement in 2004.

Under the new challenges to security and peace in Eastern Europe that began with the Ukrainian-Russian conflict in 2014, and with the aggravation of relations between Russia and the EU and the United States, problems of sovereignty, its limits and durability again came to the centre of attention.

The conference aims to systematize the idea and practice of sovereignty in Eastern Europe, both in the context of the centenary of the emergence of national states and in the context of contemporary political and geopolitical challenges.

Main topics for consideration:
1918: the idea of sovereignty and its significance in the emergence of new nation-states in Eastern Europe.

The idea of sovereignty, political conflict with the centre, the restoration of national states and the collapse of the USSR, 1990-1991.

National sovereignty in Eastern Europe: the challenges of EU enlargement in 2004.

State sovereignty in Eastern Europe: changing approaches and challenges after 2014.

The working languages of the conference are Belarusian, Russian, English, Polish and Ukrainian.

To apply for participation in the conference, please complete the registration form (https://palityka.wufoo.eu/forms/z4g9i310rtsgw2/).

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected]