At the upcoming ISA Annual Convention in San Francisco (April 3rd - 6th, 2024), the British International Studies Association (BISA) is proud to sponsor and actively contribute to several panels.

Panel details with articles or videos relevant to each can be found below. Where they are not open access, articles shown below are free access until the end of April 2024.

We will be holding a drinks reception on Thursday 4 April at 6.30-7.30pm at the Parc 55 Hotel, San Francisco. We will showcase our two highly-regarded academic journals - Review of International Studies (RIS) and the European Journal of International Security (EJIS), as well as our fantastic book series which consists of over 150 books. The reception venue is one of the official ISA conference venues and therefore very convenient following your last panel of the day.

Come and meet us, and some of our journal and book series editors, over a free glass of wine. Please register for your free place now so that we have an idea of numbers, and don’t forget to put it in your diary! Walk ups on the day are more than welcome to join us also.

You can access the official ISA 2024 website here.

Africa and International Studies Working Group

TA79: Africa and the Politics of International Courts - Thursday 4 April 2024, 8.15am 

Chair: Line Engbo Gissel (Roskilde University)

Abstract

Africa has more international courts than any other continent, yet we know very little about their changing and often difficult relationships with governments and societies. This panel seeks to explain and evaluate the politics of international courts in contemporary Africa, asking how political and social actors have shaped and used international judicial institutions and how such institutions constrain and enable African agency regionally and globally. This topic has been frequently discussed since at least 2009, when the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued its first arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir. Research on Africa’s ‘backlash’ against international courts have emerged, but mainly focus on the ICC. While this is important, we are not only interested in this international court. Our panel studies a range of international courts in Africa, such as sub-regional courts, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the ICC, in their relationships with political actors. We also seek to understand the dramatic consequences of the war in Ukraine and the recent issuing of an ICC arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin: a development which even saw South Africa briefly announce a renewed intention to leave the ICC’s jurisdiction.

Participants:

• Chair: Line Engbo Gissel (Roskilde University)
• Discussant: Franziska Boehme (Texas State University)
• Author: Line Engbo Gissel (Roskilde University)
• Author: Nicole De Silva (Concordia University)
• Author: Kerstin Carlson (Roskilde University, The American University of Paris)

A supporting interview for Theresa Squatrito's article is available below

BISA Director, Juliet Dryden, interviews author Theresa Squatrito about her article in the Review of International Studies. What are the key takeaways?

European Security Working Group

SB44: Winds of Change? National Responses in Europe to the Ukraine War - Saturday 6 April 2024, 10.30am

Chair: Monika Brusenbauch Meislova (Masaryk University in Brno)

Abstract 

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 upended the strategic milieu in Europe, bringing state-on-state war back to the continent for the first time since the Second World War. In the wake of the invasion, European countries responded to the crisis in ways that presaged a significant change in their strategic posture, institutional relationships, and international worldviews. This panel seeks to understand the different ways in which European countries responded to Russia’s war, the sources and dynamics underpinning these changes, as well as their implications for European security architecture. While there is a growing body of literature on the EU’s response to war, analysing the development of policy instruments, the dynamics and reactions of the individual European countries has been examined in less depth. It is time to take stock of the changes in national strategies, with sufficient time having elapsed since the invasion to identify the stable elements of change and to understand and link together disparate dynamics. Drawing on FPA and neorealist approaches, the presented papers explore the dynamics of change in Germany, Poland, Sweden, Italy, the UK, offering a variation in terms of sources and dynamics as well as the extent of change.

Participants:

• Chair: Monika Brusenbauch Meislova (Masaryk University in Brno)
• Discussant: Falk Ostermann (Kiel University, Germany)
• Author: Tobias Bunde (Hertie School)
• Author: Benjamin Martill (University of Edinburgh)
• Author: Monika Sus (Hertie School)
• Author: Lorenzo Cladi (University of Plymouth)
• Author: Lisbeth Aggestam (University of Gothenburg) 
• Author: Adrian Hyde-Price (University of Gothenburg) 

A supporting video interview for Julien Pomarède's article is available below

BISA Director, Juliet Dryden, spoke to Julien about his research which uses NATO's reaction to 9/11 as a case study.

Other notable panels

TA08: Peace in the Middle East: Possibilities and the limits of the international order, Thursday 4 April 2024, 8.15am

BISA Director/CEO, Juliet Dryden, will speak at this specially programmed event. Juliet spent 15 years with the United Nations in Cairo, Gaza and Jerusalem (UNRWA, UNOCHA, UNOHCHR). Her most recent position prior to joining BISA was at the West Asia - North Africa (WANA) Institute in Amman.

FD64: Publishing in leading journals - Meet the Editors, Friday 5 April 2024, 4.00pm

Soumita Basu, one of the editors of Review of International Studies, and Andrew Mumford, the lead editor of European Journal of International Security, will both appear on this roundtable alongside other editors from leading IR journals. You’ll hear about the publishing process, identifying key lessons from the editor's experiences and be able to ask questions.

FA35: Maximising your impact: communicating beyond the research article, Friday 5 April 2024, 8:15am

BISA Communications Manager Chrissie Duxson will participate in this roundtable covering how to maximise your reach, engagement and impact through social media, websites and other outlets. She will also go through the support that is available from journals and professional associations. BISA journal Review of International Studies offers all authors the opportunity to record a video abstract to be embedded alongside their article, either in English or in their native language with English captions.

With thanks to Pexels on Pixabay for the San Francisco Bay header image.