It is certainly surprising that, in the middle of major international conflicts (such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the repeated massacres in Gaza, and the Israel–Iran war), the United Nations Security Council has not been able to play the role of mediation that the UN Charter contemplated. The UNSC has gathered daily, and its permanent and elected members have discussed both minor and major crises, but without being able to agree on any Resolution regarding the most important events. By itself, this would not have been a major change: in the Cold War, many UNSC Resolutions were blocked by either the USA or the USSR veto. For far too long, two major blocks operated in opposite directions: on one side, the liberal democracies led by France, the United Kingdom, and, above all, the United States, and on the opposite side, the Soviet Union – and later Russia – supported by China.
PublicationsPolitical Theory
Special Issue: Venice Seminars 2020; Communities and the Individual: Beyond the Liberal-Communitarian Divide
This volume gathers the articles presented at the 2020 ResetDOC Venice Seminars, which were held online from May 25 to May 29, 2020.
The 2020 Venice Seminars addressed the topic of “Communities and the Individual: Beyond the Liberal-Communitarian Divide”
Editors: Alessandro Ferrara, Volker Kaul and David Rasmussen
Download the pdf version here.
Our Initiatives Political Theory
The current political situation in Post-Soviet countries, primarily the Russian Federation, raises questions about the cultural roots of today’s prevailing nationalist political ideologies and behaviours. The international scientific community has to overcome the lack of knowledge about Russia’s Post-Soviet history, also in order to avoid the sheer repetition of old clichés – liberal -western opinions versus a despotic-eastern world
Videos Political Theory
Editorial Board 21 October 2024
How did religion shift from fueling division to fostering dialogue in post-war Bosnia-Herzegovina? Reset DOC’s upcoming documentary explores the pivotal role of faith in reconciliation and peacebuilding. Catch the trailer now and stay tuned for the full release!
ConveningPolitical Theory
John Cabot University
This international conference will address the critical challenges facing liberal democracies. It will explore their failure to respond effectively to the anxieties and needs of citizens grappling with globalization, precarious employment, demographic changes, and social dislocation. These issues, amplified by populist rhetoric and the perceived indifference of liberal elites, have led to growing polarization, weakened societal cohesion, and ideological stagnation in politics.
Through its lectures, workshops, the Seminars and Conference aim to analyze the fundamental aspiration of peace in different traditions: the Chinese and Confucian desire of the world harmony and the Middle Empire; the Islamic perspective, the concepts of peace and tolerance in the founding
texts; the Buddhist and Hindu perspective; and the Christian one, from crusades to pacifism.
Through its lectures, workshops, the Seminars and Conference will seek a structural, in-depth understanding of the way wars and the collapse of empires between the 19th and 20th centuries have allowed for the formation and strengthening of national identities and narratives, as well as the self-recognition of nations emerging from such processes in the global arena. It will focus primarily on dynamics that have emerged from the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian empires and how these have led to the reappearance of nationalism on the international stage