Rethinking International Political Theory After the Liberal International Order

Abstract

This panel brings together contributions that critically examine core assumptions of international political theory under conditions of heightened contestation and normative uncertainty. Rather than focusing on a single empirical domain, the papers interrogate how legitimacy, authority, normativity, and political subjectivity are constituted and challenged across global, regional, and sub-state contexts. The contributions question inherited liberal frameworks—whether epistemic, cultural, or institutional—and explore alternative ways of theorizing political order, responsibility, and agency. Together, the panel reflects on how international political theory can remain analytically and normatively relevant in a world marked by pluralism, conflict, and the erosion of taken-for-granted global norms.

Title	Details
Where Norms Are Made: Lessons from the Middle East for a Post-LIO World	View Paper Details
From State’s Agency to Essentialism: Reflecting Statehood in China’s Xinjiang Policy	View Paper Details
Beyond Division: Gandhian Cosmopolitanism and the Future of Global Solidarity	View Paper Details
Narrative Foundations of Reconstructing Russian Strategic Culture Under Putin: The West as the Other	View Paper Details
The Place of Knowledge in Legitimising Global Governance: Responsible Cosmopolitan States and the Metacoordination View	View Paper Details