Symposium: Ideology and Interregnum in Light of the War in Ukraine – Sovereignism, Liberalism, and the Struggle for Order

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 sparked a sudden renaissance of a united “West.” Liberal internationalism provided ideological unity for a seemingly reinvigorated Transatlantic alliance. Many expected the “Global South” and even parts of the “non-West” to join a broad coalition against Russia’s flagrant aggression. That hope proved illusory. Four years on, Russia has held together, stabilised the front to wage a merciless war of attrition. With Donald Trump back in the White House, global uncertainties multiply as the liberal international order unravels before our eyes. While Vladimir Putin openly speaks of midwifing a new, post-Western global order, the Trump Administration has begun 2026 with new military adventurism.

Across Europe, governments are scrambling to make sense of the shifting of the ground beneath them. Parallel ideological trends—variously labelled illiberal democracy, national conservatism, or “majoritarian” sovereignism—gain ground against a backdrop of inflation, economic stagnation and geopolitical uncertainties. The centre still holds, but barely. The future of the EU and European security, peace and prosperity have perhaps not been bleaker since 1945. The future, however, is not clear. We find ourselves in a Gramscian interregnum: while a once hegemonic liberalism – or technocratic centrism – is breaking down, no clear alternative has taken its place.

Drawing on insights from political theory, intellectual history, comparative politics, IR, and area studies, this one-day symposium, examines the ideological shockwaves unleashed by the war in Ukraine. Given changing technological, social, economic and geopolitical conditions, theories on ideology from the 19th and 20th century appear ill-suited to capture developments of contemporary “liquid modernity”. Emergent ideological configurations – be they domestic, regional or global – remain vague and contested.

To explore these, the symposium has four panels including experts on International Relations, Political Theory, European politics and Ukrainian and Russian Studies.

Symposium Programme:

10.00 – 10.15

Opening remarks: Matthew Blackburn (NUPI) 

10.15 – 11.30

• In Search of an Ideology: From Centre to Right and Left; liberalism and sovereignism

Ideology in the postmodern age revolves around contrasting notions of sovereignty and political legitimacy, combined with claims of exceptionalism and civilizational uniqueness. Such sovereigntist ideological projects are often developed alongside technocratic neoliberal governance. This complicates talk of the “return of ideology” in as far as no universal ideology is on the horizon to replace global liberalism. This panel examines the return of the national interest in a context of multipolarity, the illiberal hybridity of illiberal regimes, the renewal of anti-colonial discourse towards the West. As the old right-left cleavage appears to be replaced with centrist vs populist, the panel also examines the prospects a renewed progressive left capable of challenging the new right.

Speakers:
Phillip Cunliffe (LSE London)
Mikhail Suslov (University of Copenhagen)
Ilya Matveev (University of Bremen)
Moderator: Matthew Blackburn (NUPI)

11.45 – 13.00:

• The impact of the war on the European Union:

While questions about strategic autonomy and collective action problems remain unanswered, the burden of sustaining Ukraine’s defence is passed to Europe. Meanwhile, a renewed wave of sovereigntist populism gains momentum, challenging the legitimacy of the political centre and the European Union in general. This panel examines how securitization and the politics of emergency have shifted collective identities in Europe regardless of conservative, liberal and leftist party divisions. At the same time, contrasting memory cultures and identities ensure there is significant diversity on stances to war and Europe’s militarization. Participation in the Coalition of the Willing is limited not only by material factors but cultural norms. Amidst these developments, the EU Commission appears wedded to its version of liberal internationalism and supranationalism, which it appears ready to protect through censorship and intruding on the electoral politics of EU members and EU candidate states.

Speakers:
Julie Wilhelmsen (NUPI)
Ekaterina V. Klimenko (NARXOZ University)
Agnes Gagyi (Gothenburg University)
Thomas Fazi (Independent Research and Unheard Journalist)
Moderator: Matthew Blackburn (NUPI)

14.00 – 16.00

• The impact of the war on Ukraine and Russia:

Since 2022 Ukraine has been catapulted to the front and centre of discourses on the future of the liberal order. Popularly presented as the heroic frontline resisting Russian imperialism to secure the future of the West, Ukraine has undergone a serious transformation to sustain the war effort. Meanwhile, Russia’s abortive four-year war to subdue Ukraine has also brought with it socio-economic and structural changes to Russia alongside new intellectual scaffolding to justify the war and unify elites and society. This panel examines these parallel transformations of the two combatant countries to highlight key ideological trends, the contradictions that surround them and possible scenarios for the post-war future.

Speakers:
Mikhail Minakov (European University Viadrina)
Volodymyr Ishchenko (Freie Universität Berlin)
Tatiana  Malyarenko (Odesa Law University)
Ivan Fomin (Charles University Prague)
Oleg Zhuravlev (TU Dresden)
Matthew Blackburn (NUPI)

16.15 – 17.30

• Serbia’s choice and the South-Eastern neighbourhood

We conclude with a discussion on how Serbia negotiates the current interregnum. This includes the ongoing political struggles within the country, how this relates to broader regional trends. This includes anti-Westernism as a guiding principle of domestic politics and foreign policy, as well as the impact the war in Ukraine has had on society and pre-existing right-left cleavages.

Speakers:
Filip Balunović (FMK Beograd)
Milan Varda (University of Belgrade)
Ilya Matveev (University of Bremen)