SNES Spring Conference 2023

The Swedish Network for European Studies (SNES) conference was organized by Stockholm University in Stockholm 23-24 March 2023.

Click here to watch a panel organized by SNES and Sieps discussing the Swedish EU presidency at half time (in Swedish).

The European Union in an autocratic world: cross-cutting challenges for democracy, security and economic development

The EU and its member states are facing a range of cross-cutting challenges emanating from the increasing trend of autocracy around the world. Internally, the EU and its institutions are challenged by political actors – including member state governments – that actively undermine the rule of law and other core features of liberal democracy. Externally, the Union is facing the most severe threat to the post-Cold War security order in Europe as a result of Russia’s war against Ukraine. In general, the trend towards autocratic rule and anti-globalist sentiments across the globe, combined with intensified geopolitical competition in trade and technology, suggest bleak prospects for the liberal model of economic development that the EU has promoted for several decades. What does this entail for the EU as a global actor? How resilient are democratic institutions in the EU and member states in the face of these challenges? What role might the EU play in the emerging security order in Europe shaped by the return of large-scale military aggression


The SNES Spring Conference 2023 aims to bring together junior and senior scholars in the field of EU and European studies to explore these and related issues. The conference is co-organized by the Department of Political Science, Stockholm University and the Swedish Network for European Studies in Political Science (SNES). In conjunction to the academic conference, a public event on the Swedish EU Presidency will be organized in collaboration with the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies (SIEPS).

Keynote speaker: Abraham Newman (Georgetown University)

Paper proposal submission and registration

Deadline for paper proposals and registration has passed.

Last modified: 2023-03-30