2021 - The 2021 Annual Telos-Paul Piccone Institute Conference Civilizational States and Liberal Empire—Bound to Collide?

Civilization seems to be the new pivot of international relations. Brexit, Trump, and the resurgence of Russia and China have put culture and civilizational identity at the heart of both domestic politics and foreign policy. From the identity politics that is sweeping much of the West to the pushback against the supposed universalism of the West's liberal empire in much of the non-Western world, civilizational norms are as important as military might and economic prosperity. As Christopher Coker puts it in his book The Rise of the Civilizational State, we are "living in a world in which civilization is fast becoming the currency of international politics."
The worldwide pandemic has amplified and accelerated this fundamental shift in geopolitics. China and the United States are not just locked into trade wars but also in a contest over norms and values—authoritarian vs. democratic, state capitalism vs. market fundamentalism, federal polity vs. unitary statehood.
We are witnessing not an era of change but a change of era. Gone is the optimism of the post-1989 years. Instead of ever-greater globalization and the respect of universal human rights based on multilateralism and free trade, the world is seeing the rise of nationalism and a retreat to national isolation anchored in populism and protectionism. Values such as democracy, human rights, and fundamental freedoms are not only contested but also seen by many powers as subordinate to national cultures or civilizational traditions. China, Russia, India, and Turkey view themselves as civilizational states that are leading the way against a decadent and weak Western liberal empire.
Civilization is also at stake within the West. The liberalism that has been dominant for the past forty years or so focused on certain values such as individual freedom and opportunity, which mostly amounts to free choice and the embrace of global mobility and endless change. But over time these values—or the ways of implementing them—have clashed with people's search for settled ways of life—around home, community, and country. The populist insurgency is in part a reflection of this backlash against a politics of the global rather than the national and the local, a politics of utopia rather than place, and a politics of individualized identity rather than shared belonging. In short, we are seeing a clash of values and norms, often linked to so-called "culture wars."
At a time of heightened tensions between great powers that view themselves as guarantors of civilizational identity, are civilizational states and the Western liberal empire bound to collide? In the past, clashes tended to occur primarily within civilizations rather than between them—e.g., Catholics vs. Protestants, the United States vs. Europe, Shia vs. Sunni, Westernizers vs. Slavophiles in Russia. Today we may be witnessing a civilizational contest between the United States and China, with Europe largely absent from the geopolitical scene and Russia increasingly absorbed into Beijing's orbit. Was Samuel Huntington half-right after all?
This conference has two objectives. The first is to bring greater conceptual clarity to current debates by exploring some of the key terms, notably the relationship between "culture" and "civilization" and between "values" and "norms." Connected with this is a focus on civilizations in a world without a single hegemon. How can we recognize, respect, and even celebrate differences between cultures and civilizations without sliding into violent conflict? How can we avoid homogenizing identity while also upholding common values?
The second objective is to explore some practical ways for civilizations to enter into a meaningful dialogue with one another. Our emphasis will be on bringing together groups of academics and commentators who can develop a set of novel ideas and perhaps even policy proposals.
Key questions include:
Are cultural and civilizational identities central to politics and international affairs?
Why do Russia and China identify as civilizational states?
Is the West a liberal empire? Does this apply to Europe more than to the United States?
What can controversial thinkers such as Herder and Huntington teach us about culture and civilization?
Is there such a thing as universal values? Are norms culture- or civilization-specific?
Does the pandemic amplify or mitigate cultural and civilizational tensions?