[Behind the Lecture ] The New International Order: A Timely Dialogue

On June 6th, the Sciences Po Alumni in Shanghai will kick off its third lecture of the year titled "The New International Order: Evolution and Prospects from Chinese and European Perspectives."

International relations is a flagship program at Sciences Po and a must-have theme for the annual lecture series organized by the Shanghai Alumni. The story can be traced back to 2022, we had plan to invite professors and senior alumni from Sciences Po to discuss the development of China-Europe relations, given that France started its rotating presidency of the European Union on January 1st, 2022. Due to various reasons, the lecture could not be held. With this small regret, we began very early to plan the theme for the International Relations lecture in 2023.

Coincidentally, last October, a fellow alumnus in the Beijing wechat group shared a message about Bertrand Badie's book The World is No Longer Just 'Us': an Alternative Thinking on International Order (Nous ne sommes plus seuls au monde) being available on “WeChat Reading”. I immediately clicked on the link and noticed a familiar name in the translator column: Huawei Zong. I promptly contacted Huayin Liu: both the author and the translator are our alumni. Could we organize a lecture around this book next year? Considering it is related to international relations, surely shall we invite an expert in China-France relations, our outstanding alumnus Professor Ji Zhang. With the main speakers confirmed, we started contacting these alumni since January to invite them to participate in the lecture and deliver speeches. The process of contacting them went incredibly smoothly, as almost everyone readily accepted the invitation.

In January, we were unaware of the French President's upcoming visit to China in early April, nor did we anticipate that the first high-level reciprocal visit between China and France in three years will have profound historical significance, not only for Sino-French relations but also for the China-Europe relations.

Therefore, it becomes evident that inviting Sino-French scholars to discuss the "New International Order" immediately following this historic visit is indeed “A Timely Dialogue”.

About this book

Even though the agenda of the lecture was all set, as someone who does not come from an international relations background, I had no understanding of this topic. So, during the Chinese New Year holiday, I quickly ordered the book to fill in my knowledge gap.

When I received the book, I found it to be thinner than I thought, which instantly relieved a lot of pressure for reading. As I started reading the book, I have to say that I was impressed right from the preface. The author's points were clear and solid, and the language was concise and easy to understand. Even without a professional background, I could easily comprehend Professor Badie’s perspectives.

Another highlight of this book is the translation by Huawei Zong. I remember when I was in university, a professor once said, "A good translation is to create a masterpiece in another language". This statement perfectly describes Huawei Zong's translation. The fluent Chinese prose, precise technical terms, and clear translation logic made the reading process extremely smooth and facilitated a better understanding of the complex issues in international relations.

In my opinion, this book is an excellent introduction to international relations. Bertrand Badie not only introduces the mainstream European perspectives on major international relations issues but also shares his own views of these perspectives. For readers, especially those without a relevant academic background, the content not only provides a comprehensive understanding of the European perspective but also offers inspiring questions and reflections.

So, I began enthusiastically recommending the book to my fellow members of the alumni association, and they all got their hands on a copy based on my recommendation.

Those familiar with our lectures know that we never engage in commercial advertisement. However, this time, I have to make an exception: to those who are reading this article, please do not miss out on Bertrand Badie's brilliant work. It is available for purchase on platforms like Taobao and JD.com, and an electronic version can be found on WeChat Reading.

For those who have read the book, we also welcome you to leave your reviews on the Douban page. Currently, the book has a rating of 7.9 on Douban, and we kindly ask for your support in pushing it beyond 8.

Speakers: All from the Sciences Po Alumni Community (a little pride on our part)

What makes us particularly proud of this lecture is that all the speakers and the moderator are alumni of Sciences Po. Without being modest, when it comes to China-French and China-Europe relations, Sciences Po truly has lots of talents.

Bertrand Badie is an emeritus professor at Sciences Po Paris, holding a Ph.D. in Political Science from Sciences Po. His research covers the sociology and theory of international relations, comparative politics, multilateralism, international public opinion, the evolution of states and sovereignty in international relations, and political culture. In France, we can frequently see Prof. Badie participating in discussions on international relations issues, including Chinese issues on television. He advocates for international relations "to go beyond self-interest, broaden the global perspective, foster better mutual understanding, and reintegrate international relations into the world." He also calls for "engaging with the other ( i.e., the external other beyond European history)". Furthermore, Prof. Badie has been the teacher for many French diplomats. When discussing the arrangement of this lecture with Bertrand Lortholary (Ambassador of France in China) and Joan Valadou (Consul General of France in Shanghai), their initial reaction was, "Ah, Bertrand Badie was my professor at Sciences Po!" It goes without saying that this shows the influence of Prof. Badie. In 2019, collaborating with the School of Journalism and Communication at Tsinghua University, Prof. Badie brought his renowned course "World Space" (Espace mondiale) from Sciences Po to the online platform MOOC, offering thousands of Chinese students the opportunity to engage with French perspectives on international relations theory and thinking.

Professor Ji Zhang is the Vice Dean of the School of International Relations and Public Affairs at Fudan University, the Director of the Center for People-to-People Exchange Studies, and the Associate Director of the Center for French Studies. From 2008 to 2009, he served as a visiting scholar at Sciences Po. Most importantly, Prof. Ji Zhang is the originator of the lecture series organized by our Shanghai Alumni. His book “China-French Relations in the Great Transformation Era”, published in 2020, led to the first lecture organized by the Shanghai Alumni in collaboration with the Consulate General of France in Shanghai. The fascinating dialogue between Prof. Ji Zhang and former Consul General Benoît Guidée not only impressed everyone but also set the tone for future lectures of Shanghai Alumni. I promised Prof. Ji Zhang that we would hold an annual lecture on international relations, and I sincerely hope that he will attend. For students interested in China-France relations, it is worth following Prof. Ji Zhang's research achievements.

Ms. Huawei Zong is a Ph.D. candidate in International Relations at Peking University and holds a master’s degree in development from Sciences Po. In addition to translating Bertrand Badie's book, she has also translated the work The Power of Norms: European Perspectives on Global Governance (3rd Edition) by Prof. Zaki Laïdi from Sciences Po. My first impression of her came from a video she recorded for "Sciences Po's 150th Anniversary," where her flawless French pronunciation amazed me. It wasn't until this lecture that I had the opportunity to collaborate with her and get to know her more deeply. I believe that the Shanghai Alumni will continue the collaboration with her in the future.

Mr. Yaning Zhang is an assistant professor at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs (SIRPA) at Fudan University. He graduated from Sciences Po - Fudan University's "Europe and Asia in Global Affairs" dual degree program. After completing his doctoral studies last year, Yaning returned to Shanghai. After his return, I learned from Fudan-Sciences Po alumni that there was a fellow alumnus named Yaning Zhang who had recently come back, and we now had a guest speaker for our international relations lectures. Coincidentally, during our "China-EU Economy" lecture, I met Yaning in person and had a brief exchange with him, which led me to include him in the list of candidate guests. In this lecture, Yaning Zhang will serve as the moderator for the panel discussion, and I believe his expertise will inject more vitality into the dialogue among the guests.

Ms. Yunmu Gong is a Ph.D. student in International Politics at Fudan University, and she is also an alumna of the Fudan-Sciences Po dual degree program in "Europe and Asia in Global Affairs." Yunmu Gong is a member of the Shanghai Alumni office and has actively participated in the organization of our events since the first lecture. She has been enthusiastic and helpful in every aspect, but I always felt that her talents were being underutilized. My first encounter with Yunmu was during our first lecture in 2021, where she served as the host for the dialogue between Ji Zhang and the former Consul General. Before the lecture, Professor Ji Zhang told me that a Ph.D. student would be hosting the dialogue, and I secretly had some concerns: could a Ph.D. student be capable to hosting the dialogue session for our first event with the Consul General? However, after her first question was raised, all my doubts were dispelled: her fluent English, the professional content well prepared and her confidence when she moderated. It can only be said that Professor Ji Zhang has a keen eye for selecting right people. After the lecture, Mr. Benoît Guidée, the former Consul General of France in Shanghai, even specifically told Yunmu, "the questions you’ve asked were not easy." As I mentioned before, this year's lectures will invite young alumni to speak. Therefore, it is obvious that Yunmu will be best choice of the host for this lecture.

Special Thanks

I would like to express special thanks to Yifei Fan and Jiaqi Wang for their contributions to the preparation of this lecture. Due to the schedule conflicts, I was not unable to handle the final preparations for the lecture. Therefore, I entrusted this important task to these two students. Yifei Fan and Jiaqi are Wang the longest-serving members of the Shanghai Alumni team, having been involved in organizing various activities in collaboration with me since 2018. They can be considered as the founding members who have witnessed the entire journey of the Shanghai Alumni from its inception to the present.

Yifei Fan has served as the host for our lectures on multiple occasions, and she is relatively well-known to everyone. She is also a talented individual in my opinion. In addition to her hosting skills, she is also a gifted writer. I was deeply impressed by the exquisite and beautiful French language she used when she wrote the opening speech for the 150th anniversary reception at the residence of France Consulate. Her command of the French language is truly remarkable.

Wang Jiaqi, on the other hand, is the "go-to person" for all our lecture series, especially before the Alumni had the entire team, where he has taken on a significant role. Those who know Jiaqi should be aware that he is a very practical, capable, and responsible person. Furthermore, I have always believed that his unwavering commitment to the alumni has been one of the important reasons that has allowed our lecture series to come this far..

Lastly, we are tremendously grateful to the supporting institutions for their collaboration and support in organizing this event.

Venue Support：

Cocktail Support：

Visual Design：

Translation review: Yuda Pan 潘禹达

Zoé ZHOU Hewei

Vice President of Sciences Po Alumni in China

President of Sciences Po Alumni in Shanghai

2^nd  June 2023