Which role did the Vienna Congress play for the development of the international order? How can the international situation in 1814/15 be compared to nowadays? Martha Finnemore, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, uses in her speech the Vienna contrast to help us identify some of the current changes in international politics and to better understand some of the larger normative shifts going on in today's world. She discusses three hanging elements of our contemporary order that seem important today. The first concerns the status of "Great Powers." A second issue involves the role of Great Powers vis a vis everyone else. Third, the role of law abe shifting as a tool for creating both stability and change in our international order.
Conference: 200 Years of Conference Diplomacy | From the Congress of Vienna to the G7
On 9 June 1815, the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna was signed. Two hundred years later, on 7 and 8 June 2015, Germany hosted the G7 summit. This coincidence provided a unique occasion to reflect on the past, present and future of conference diplomacy. For this purpose, an international conference with eminent political scientists and historians took place at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin on 8 and 9 June 2015. Researchers as well as political practitioners discussed the lessons of 200 years of multilateral cooperation, in four crucial areas: inclusion, effectiveness, legitimacy, and international order.