Navigating Multipolarity: 

As power becomes increasingly dispersed and contested, and global political change grows ever more turbulent, middle powers, diplomacy, and emerging technologies are playing an ever more significant role in shaping the emerging multipolar order.

This international conference, jointly organized by ASERI and the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, explores the political, diplomatic, and technological transformations reshaping the contemporary international order, with particular attention to the role of diplomacy, the future of multilateralism, and the capacity of the European Union and other international actors to navigate an increasingly complex and multipolar world.

The event will be held in person at ASERI headquarters.

Session 1

09:45  a.m. | Institutional Greetings and Welcome Remarks

Damiano Palano, Director of ASERI

10:00 a.m. | A Changing Global Order. Middle Powers and the Role of Diplomacy

Chair: Damiano Palano, Director of ASERI

• The EU as a Middle Power? Normative Power, Strategic Autonomy and Diplomacy in a Multipolar Order
  Beata Piskorska, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations, The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Center for the Study of Diplomacy

• Great Power, Middle Power, or No Power at All? Global South Perceptions of Europe
  Riccardo Redaelli, Director of the Department of Political Sciences, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

• Diaspora, Historical Memory and Middle-Power Diplomacy: Poland in the Emerging Multipolar Order
  Michał Dworski, Assistant Professor of History and International Relations, The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Center for the Study of Diplomacy

• Economic Diplomacy and Middle Powers in a Changing UN System. Study case: Poland
  Anna Golec-Mastroianni, Polish Italian Business Council and Center for the Study of Diplomacy

12.30 p.m. | Lunch

Session 2

02.00 p.m. | Emerging Technologies and the Future of Global Governance References in Contemporary U.S. Foreign Policy 

Chair: Valentina Villa, Associate Professor of History of Political Institutions, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

• From Battlefield to Global Actor: Ukraine's Military-Technological Capabilities and Its Emerging Geopolitical Role in a Multipolar World
  Mateusz Błaszczak, PhD Candidate (Political Science), The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Center for the Study of Diplomacy

• Drone Diplomacy, Defence Innovation and Regional Security in Poland and the Baltic States
  Aleksandra Kuczyńska-Zonik, Associate Professor of Political Science, The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin  

• Beyond the EU: Sixth-Generation Fighters and the Future of European Defence Integration
  Andrea Locatelli, Professor of Political Science, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

• Digital Resilience as Middle-Power Diplomacy: Poland’s Response to AI-Driven Disinformation and Cognitive Warfare
  Urszula Soler, Associate Professor of Sociology, Warsaw University of Life Sciences 

4.00 p.m.| Coffee break

Session 3 

4.30 p.m. | The European Union Navigating a Multipolar World
 

Chair: Giorgia Perletta, Researcher in History and Institutions of Asia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

• Laboratories under "Constraint": Italy, Poland and the Far-Right Test ahead of France and Germany
  Valerio Alfonso Bruno, Research Fellow, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

• Securing Europe in a Multipolar World: The EU’s Evolving Role
  Sonia Lucarelli, Professor of International Relations and European Security, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna 

• Beyond the Treaty: The European Commission and New Forms of Multilateralism in a Multipolar Order
  Monica Spatti, Associate Professor of European Union Law, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore 

06.00 p.m. | End of Session and end of Conference

Free participation (In presence) upon registration.