
REMIT researchers Sophie Vanhoonacker, Roberta Haar, Michal Onderco, and Mahmoud Javadi presented at the Netherlands Institute of Governance (NIG) annual conference in Delft, the Netherlands, on November 2.
As a first showcase of their academic work under REMIT, the focal point of the discourse was the panel, entitled “Challenges to Multilateralism and the Liberal International Order,” spearheaded by Roberta Haar and Professor Wolfgang Wagner from the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Both Roberta and Wolfgang assumed the dual roles of joint chairs and paper presenters. All papers had great audience engagement and excellent feedback from the discussants.
Firstly, the trio of Sophie, Michal, and Mahmoud collaborated on a thought-provoking paper entitled, “Can the European Union be an Actor in Regulating Military AI Governance?” Their piece navigates the intricate challenges faced by the EU concerning internal coherence and external efficacy in the regulation of military Artificial Intelligence (AI). They consider the EU’s potential role on the global stage, underscoring the organization’s ambitious pursuit of contributing to a robust international governance regime.
Roberta’s paper contribution, entitled “Employing the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) to explain Obama’s shift in his policy of Multilateralism with European Allies,” added a historical dimension to the discourse by providing key background knowledge about the United States’ views on multilateralism and agreater understanding of the circumstances that support U.S. multilateralism. The first part of the paper considers the historical evolution of U.S. leadership in a multilateral context, exploring the circumstances that supported the emergence of an indispensable nation role and subsequent shift to an indispensable catalystone—the country that mobilizes the support for European partners across the Atlantic to take a leading role. Using the advocacy coalition framework (ACF), the paper examines this shift in U.S. views on multilateral security operations during the first term of the Barack Obama administration.
The Annual Work Conference of the Netherlands Institute of Government is an annual meeting of scholars working on broad interdisciplinary approaches to public policy, public administration and international governance. It is held in a different city every year, and attracts large audience of speakers and attendees. The 2023 conference was hosted by the Technical University of Delft. More information can be found on the event’s website.