Maria Mälksoo’s Keynote at the ‘Empires’ conference, University of Navarra

Prof. Mälksoo gave a keynote ‘Russia’s Existential Imperialism at War in Ukraine’ at the conference ‘Empires: Experience, Memory and Idea’, organised by the Institute for Culture and Society, University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain on 2 October 2025. The conference examined the interplay between imperial histories and contemporary memory politics, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue.

The conference programme is available here.

 

Mariia Vladymyrova presents at NUPI IR Theory Conference 2025

22-24 September Mariia Vladymyrova joined the inaugural NUPI IR Theory Conference in Oslo.

Throughout three days and six panels scholars from Europe, North and South America shared their ideas on the relevance and pathways forward for constructivist theory amid increasingly assertive global competition and challenges such as climate change.

Mariia contributed to the panel on “Constructivism and Violence.” She presented an early draft of one of her dissertation projects’ chapters theorizing lawfare as means of ritualized coercive signaling, and looking into Russian approaches to lawfare within the framework of international laws governing peace- and wartime conduct at sea.

 

Maria Mälksoo at the EISA PEC2025 in Bologna

Prof. Mälksoo participated at the 18th Pan-European Conference on International Relations of the European International Studies Association (EISA PEC2025) at the University of Bologna, Italy on 26-29 August 2025. She presented two empirical chapters from her book project in progress (‘Making Deterrence Real: Wartiming NATO’s Readiness in the Eastern Flank’ and ‘Peacetiming for Future Deterrence’). She further contributed to two roundtables on the role of the emerging Nordic-Baltic nexus in the new European security order and the prospects of the critical security approaches in Europe in the present, respectively.

Maria Mälksoo in the Review of International Studies podcast on rituals and IR

Maria Mälksoo spoke about her editor’s selection of articles on ritual published in the Review of International Studies at the journal’s podcast, hosted by Sebastian Kaempf. The episode is available here.

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Prof. Mälksoo presented work in progress at EWIS 2025

Prof. Maria Mälksoo presented her book chapter in progress ‘Making Deterrence Real: Wartiming NATO’s Readiness in the Eastern Flank’ at the European Workshops in International Studies 2025, held at the Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland on 2-4 July 2025. The workshop was entitled ‘Reconfiguring Collective Deterrence and Defence on NATO’s Northern and Eastern Flanks: Towards a Resilient Force Posture’ (convenors: Tobias Bunde and Monika Sus).

Prof. Mälksoo speaks at the ‘NATO in the Huis’ in the Hague, 24 June 2025

Prof. Maria Mälksoo spoke at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) panel ‘Taming the Bear: Countering Russia’s Enduring Threat’ at the strategic dialogue hub ‘NATO in the Huis’ organised by  the Munich Security Conference (MSC) and the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael on the occasion of  the 2025 NATO Summit and NATO Public Forum in the Hague, Netherlands, 24-25 June 2025.

 

RITUAL DETERRENCE team at BISA 2025 Belfast

Half of the RITUAL DETERRENCE team presented research at the 50th anniversary conference of the British International Studies Association (BISA) in Belfast, UK. The conference took place on 18-20 June 2025.

Prof. Maria Mälksoo presented a paper ‘Envisioning Future Deterrence: Peace, Accountability and the End Times after the Russo-Ukrainian War’ in the panel investigating temporal security in international relations. She further participated in a roundtable on critical perspectives on NATO and another dedicated to Georg Löfflmann’s book ‘The Politics of Antagonism – Populist Security Narratives and the Remaking of Political Identity’ (Routledge, 2024).

Dr Cameron Hunter presented a paper ‘Ritual Interaction Chains in US-China Lunar Competition’ in the panel on a new space race convened by the BISA Astropolitics Working Group. He further chaired a panel ‘Middle Space Powers and Non-State Actors in Outer Space’ and presented at the ERC Third Nuclear Age Roundtable on understanding and addressing contemporary nuclear challenges.

(Image below courtesy of Lauren Rogers, picturing part of the editorial team of BISA’s flagship journal Review of International Studies meeting in Belfast).

(Image below courtesy of  Bleddyn Bowen, picturing Third Nuclear Age Roundtable participants).

Cameron Hunter at KCL Wargames Week

Dr Cameron Hunter attended the long-running Wargames Week conference at King’s College London. He was invited to discuss how to model nuclear weapons and emerging technologies in professional wargaming. While attending the event, Cameron also had the chance to participate in a Taiwan contingency crisis game run by Evan D’Alessandro.

Cameron Hunter explains the Golden Dome on Times Radio

Cameron Hunter appeared as an expert on Times Radio’s current affairs programme, “The Times at One with Tom Whipple”, to discuss the Trump administration’s Golden Dome initiative.

Dr Hunter provided historical context and strategic analysis, including potential Chinese and Russian perspectives.

The appearance is available to watch on YouTube by clicking this link.

Maria Mälksoo at Johns Hopkins University

Prof. Maria Mälksoo presented her paper ‘Peacetiming for the Future: Deterrence, Accountability and the ‘End Times’ after the Russo-Ukrainian War’ at the Johns Hopkins University, Department of Political Science in Baltimore, MD, USA on 12 May 2025. She further participated as an external discussant at the Hopkins PhD Prospectus Workshop for the critical IR doctoral students working at the department on the invitation of Prof. Tarak Barkawi (JHU) on 13-15 May 2025.