For the 2026 Peter Wallensteen lecture, the Department of Peace and Conflict Research is pleased to welcome Professor T.V. Paul from McGill University, Montreal.

In his talk, “When Peace Unravels: Status Recognition and the Return of Great Power Conflicts”, Professor Paul will explore how status functions as an existential identity marker for great powers and how unfulfilled status aspirations are a root cause of great-power behaviour.

Against the backdrop of the radical shifts in US foreign and security policy during President Trump’s second term that dismantles the international order, Russia’s four-year brutal war in Ukraine and China’s turn away from its proclaimed “peaceful rise,” Professor Paul will discuss when and why great powers abandon relatively peaceful grand strategies for reasons of status and what this means for global stability today.

The talk will be followed by Q&A and a reception.

📅 May 20, 14:00
📍 Location: Uppsala University Main Building, lecture hall IX

Sign up to attend the lecture here.

You can find the flyer of the event here pdf, 250 kB..