Four authors will introduce core arguments and findings from their recently-published book, United Nations Peacekeeping and the Politics of Authoritarianism (Oxford University Press, 2025). The book asks: Why do countries hosting United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations tend to consolidate authoritarian forms of governance, despite the UN’s own stated aim of promoting democratization?

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has triggered what German leaders call a Zeitenwende, a historic turning point in European security and politics. Yet beyond rhetoric, what does this transformation mean for Europe’s long-term survival as a geopolitical actor? In this talk, Johannes Volkmann, a Member of the German Bundestag (CDU) and former chief of staff in the European Parliament, examines the implications of the Zeitenwende.