The first session of the Autumn seminar series from the Institute of Asia and Pacific Studies takes place this Thursday, 2 October, as a joint session with the School of Contemporary Chinese Studies.

Dr Katherine Morton will be speaking on ‘China and the Future of Global Governance’.

The seminar format is:
4-5pm Guest speaker
5-5.30pm Q&A
5.30-6pm Drinks reception

All are welcome and no registration is required. Admission is on a first-come, first-served basis.

The question of how China is likely to shape the future trajectory of global governance is now of fundamental importance to contemporary debates in international relations. At a time of growing geopolitical anxiety, concerns are rising that China may be seeking to undermine the current Western dominated international order by pursuing its own agenda that is counter to pre-existing liberal norms and practices. While an aggressive revisionist strategy is difficult to identify in practice, it is becoming increasingly clear that China is now playing a more active role in shaping international norms to align with its own interests.

This lecture will first consider some fundamental questions concerning the future potential of global governance, and then investigate China’s practical and normative engagement across the economic development and security realms, paying particular attention to evolving norms relating to food security and the maritime commons. A strong Chinese preference for ‘learning from experience’ rather than ‘learning by principle’ is evident in both realms and presents a constraint upon Beijing’s willingness to conform to binding obligations. China’s maritime renaissance and the changing geopolitical context in East Asia further limit the possibilities for collective action. This does not necessarily mean, however, that the Chinese leadership is intent on subverting the rules-based international order.

Katherine Morton is Associate Professor in the Department of International Relations, and former Deputy Dean for Research at the College of Asia and the Pacific, at the Australian National University. She is a specialist on China’s International Relations with a particular focus upon non-traditional security, global governance, international norms, and the environment and climate change. Her current book project seeks to assess the likely impacts of China’s rising international status upon the evolving system of global governance. Moving beyond a traditional focus upon norms compliance, it aims to identify the ways in which China is projecting its own norms and values into the international arena. The focus of attention is upon key 21st century global challenges – maritime commons, food security, climate change, cyberspace, and conflict intervention. Dr Morton is also involved in a major international collaborative research project on ‘Climate Change and Transboundary Water Security across High Asia’ with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other partner institutions throughout the region. She previously led two Ford Foundation funded research projects on Sino-Australia Relations and Regional Security Challenges in the New Century. In 2013 she had a visiting fellowship to Peking University, followed by a fellowship to Columbia University in 2014. She is currently a senior member at St Antony’s College, Oxford University.