As part of efforts to build knowledge exchange and research networking the GCRI has to date held a number of thought-provoking events featuring speakers from various disciplines at Swansea University and beyond on geopolitical issues we face around the world.
The GCRI held its launch event on 17th April 2024 entitled Navigating Ukraine’s Future: Challenges, Opportunities and Geopolitical dynamics.
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GCRI steering committee member Alan Collins (left) and Anja Mihr (right)
Date: 23 January 2025
Speaker: Professor Anja Mihr, is a political scientist, consultant, senior lecturer, writer, and researcher specialising in International Human Rights Law, governance, public policy, and transitional justice/transitology, with a focus on Eurasia. She is the founder and programme director of the Center on Governance through Human Rights at the Berlin Governance Platform in Berlin, Germany, as well as the academic director of the Global Campus of Human Rights Central Asia and the MA Program in Human Rights and Sustainability (MAHRS) at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Web: www.anjamihr.com
Event description:
Professor Mihr centres her talk around arguing that one key difference in why some former Soviet republics or satellite states became democratic while others did not is the level and intensity—exclusive or inclusive—of applying transitional justice measures after 1991.
In her talk, she covers a wide breadth of case studies, highlighting that levels of freedom and self-governance of some states relative to others did not equate to swifter nor effective democratic transitions following independence and dissolution of the Soviet Union. Examples here include the cases of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, who enjoyed greater freedoms compared to other Soviet republics but not on par with satellite and aligned states like Hungary, Poland and Yugoslavia, but nevertheless made more rapid and sustaining transitions to democracy.
Consequently, the level of freedom experienced by a former Soviet republic does not determine its success or failure in achieving democratisation. From this she explores other factors and processes that account for successful democratic institution-building, crucially identifying and unpacking transitional justice and its formulation and impacts for democratic transitions across various post-Soviet states.
Yik Chan Chin (left) and GCRI Director Kris Stoddart (right)
Date: 11 June 2025
Speaker: Dr Yik Chan Chin, Associate Professor in the School of Journalism and Communication at Beijing Normal University. Her research specialises in AI and data governance, internet governance, digital ethics, policy, regulation and law. Her ongoing projects include digital governance in China, global AI and data governance.
Event description:
Enterprises, the United Nations, regional organizations, and national governments increasingly emphasize the importance of interoperability in AI governance. Technical incompatibilities hinder cross-border data sharing and impede international AI cooperation. The lack of a shared understanding of AI’s societal functions and impacts leads to ethical inconsistencies. Regulatory policies for AI-generated content vary across countries, and future cooperation and consultation among nations are imperative to avoid creating regulatory silos.
The talk focused on two key aspects of interoperability: (1) regulatory frameworks and (2) technical standards. It examined their current landscapes, analyses challenges, and identifies policy recommendations. It argued that strengthening the existing global AI regulatory ecosystem, enhancing coordination of regional regulatory frameworks, and establishing international mutual recognition mechanisms are essential. Equally important is the development and adoption of interoperable AI foundational technical standards across platforms and regions that prioritize safety, reliability, and human rights.
The panellists
Date: 17 April 2024
Speakers (third from the left to right): Dr Kris Stoddart (Swansea University / GCRI Director - Chair) Professor Brad Blitz (University College London), Dr Wojciech Michnick (Jagiellonian University), Dr Allyson Edwards (Bath Spa University), Dr Jenny Mathers (Aberystwyth University), Dr Victoria Vdovychenko (Centre for Defence Strategies – via Zoom) Professor Bettina Renz (University of Nottingham – via Zoom)
Event description:
The roundtable featured experts from around the globe specialising in Ukraine and Russia, who discussed some of the key questions and themes around the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War. These included geopolitical consequences of the conflict, humanitarian issues, strategies for ending the war with Russia, and evaluating the prospects for peace and stability in the region. Key questions addressed included why Russia invaded Ukraine, what peace could look like, the short-term and longer-term implications of the conflict for the security landscape of Europe and whether Russia’s war aims would end with Ukraine.
GCRI Director Kris Stoddart (left) and Keir Giles (right)
Date: 17 June 2024
Speaker: Keir Giles, Senior Consulting Fellow with the Russia and Eurasia Programme of the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House, and Director of the Conflict Studies Research Centre (CSRC)
Event description:
What kind of future lies in store for Europe depends on the outcome of the conflict in Ukraine. But the same is also true of Russia's own future path. Any prospect of near-term political or social change in Russia depends on how the country will respond to victory or defeat.
In this talk, Keir Giles considered not only variables and unknowns that depend on the future course of the war, but also the constants and objective factors that will constrain the possible paths of Russia's future development. He discusses both the scope for political upheaval in Russia following defeat, and the limits to that scope imposed both by the current Russian government and the nature of Russia's history and society.
Drawing on decades of studying - and accurately predicting - Russia, he places the current episode in the broader sweep of history, and considers what that can and cannot tell us about what to expect from Moscow next.
The panellists
Date: 1 July 2024
Speakers (left to right): Dr Matthias Dilling (PPIR - Chair), Ansgar Wohlschlegel (Economics), AP Matt Wall (PPIR Head of Department), Dr Ceri Hughes (Media and Communication), and Dr Ella Rabaiotti (CSSP Head of Department).
Event description:
In the lead up to the UK general election on 4 July 2024 the GCRI hosted a roundtable discussion with experts from various disciplines across Swansea University. They discussed some of the key challenges the next government and parliament would inherit including in areas like the economy, public confidence and trust in politics, crime and law and order, security and defence, and sustainability and climate change action. They also covered the electoral process itself, addressing how the political parties had run their respective campaigns, media coverage and focus, use of social media, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s calculus and reasoning for calling an early election.
