International Conference "Ideas, Concepts and Policies of Sovereignty in the Age of the Cold War, 1945-1990"

 Notions and policies of sovereignty have (re)gained significance at both the international and domestic levels. In light of contemporary conflicts such as the war in Ukraine, examining sovereignty from a historical perspective is more pressing than ever. While ideas and concepts of sovereignty played a crucial role in the emergence of the modern (European) territorial state and the age of the nation-state, this conference will focus on the historicization and historical analysis of sovereignty in the Cold War era.

The conference is based on the premise that ideas, concepts, and manifestations of sovereignty are historically contingent and closely intertwined with dynamics of security, insecurity, and power—nationally, internationally, transnationally, and globally. A central question in this context is, “Whose sovereignty?” As a contested concept, sovereignty is shaped by conflicting interests and by the capacity to articulate and pursue these interests