Abstract: Geopolitics is one of the oldest ways of thinking about world politics. Yet it is a way of thinking that is remarkably marginal in the discipline of International Relations. This absence is not an accident. It has a politics and a history. Putting sophisticated traditions of geopolitics back into IR challenges not only its dominant historical narratives and theoretical perspectives, but many of the most important political commitments that lie beneath those narratives and perspectives. Exploring these challenges is essential if a fuller understanding of geopolitics is to inform both the historiography of International Relations and its contemporary analytic and political stances.

Speaker’s Bio: Michael C Williams holds the University Research Chair in Global Political Thought at the Graduate School of Public Affairs, University of Ottawa, Canada. His research focuses on the role of ideas in world politics. He is the co-author, most recently, of The World of the Right: Radical Conservatism and Global Order (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming).

This keynote is part of the two-day workshop “Geopolitics and the Critique of Liberal Order” (13-14 Mar 2024). There is a drinks reception at the foyer after the keynote (1815-1900). If you would like more information or register for the full workshop, kindly refer to this page: talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/07be8846-36f4-4317-8ead-a5637a5f4153