On May 11, 2024, an international Workshop on The Future of the International System and Its Legitimacy: In Search of Common Ground, organized by the Fudan Institute for Advanced Study in Social Sciences (Fudan IAS) and the Editorial Board of Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences, was held at Fudan University. More than ten experts and scholars from China, the US, France, the UK, India and other countries and regions attended the workshop.

Prof. Sujian Guo, Dean and Distinguished Professor of Fudan IAS, delivered an opening speech for the workshop. Prof. Guo first welcomed the scholars and introduced the general situation of Fudan IAS. He said that there are many major issues in world politics and the international system that are worth studying, and that Fudan IAS has been focusing on the research on the international system and its legitimacy and other related topics. Centering on the important theme of International System and its Legitimacy, the purpose of this workshop is to provide a platform for Chinese and foreign scholars to exchange ideas on this international topic.

The first session, Changing Global Order in the Contemporary World, was chaired by Jieli Li, Professor of Sociology at Ohio University. Professor Jean-Marc Coicaud from Rutgers University made a presentation entitled How to Improve International Order: from Challenges to Possible Solutions. Professor Jorge Heine from Boston University gave a speech on Active Non-Alignment, the Rise of the Global South and the Future of Global Order. Mr. Marc Uzan, Executive Director and founder of the Reinventing Bretton Woods Committee, talked on Bretton Woods@80: Economic Cooperation in a Contested World.

Mr. Marc Uzan then chaired the second session of the workshop Challenges of High-Tech on Global Governance. Prof. Jieli Li from Ohio University gave a speech on Geopolitical Challenges in Global Governance of High-Risk Technologies and Dr. Weizhan Meng, researcher at Fudan IAS, talked on Algorithmic Governance and the International Politics of Big Tech.

Prof. Jean-Marc Coicaud chaired the third session International Order: Past and Present. Professor Bertrand Ramcharan, United Nations High Commissioner and scholar of international law, made a presentation on The Foundations of International Order. Franck Debié, Professor of Geopolitics from école Normale Supérieure, talked on A 'Hundred Year of Solitude'. The Current Geopolitical Experience in Europe and the Future of World Politics. Prof. Loukas Tsoukalis from Sciences Po Paris spoke on What can be the Contribution of Europe to the Remaking of the International System?.

The fourth session of the workshop, Reimagining the International Order, was chaired by Professor Franck Debié from the école Normale Supérieure. Professor Paul Tucker from Harvard University made a presentation entitled The Significance of Legitimacy for the Future of the International System. Prof. Vesselin Popovski, Vice Dean of Law School at O.P. Jindal Global University, talked on The Second Charter: Why and How to Revise the UN Charter?.

The final session, roundtable discussion entitled A Common Ground for the Future International Order?, was chaired by Prof. Lin Xi from Fudan IAS.

In the end, Prof. Jean-Marc Coicaud summarized the workshop. He expressed his gratitude to the scholars for their speeches. The themes of the workshop are very rich and worth further in-depth research by scholars. Then, the participating scholars made their own comments and discussed questions, e. g. how today's international order responds to increasingly diverse claims, the legitimacy of the United Nations versus the hegemony of the great powers, and the fragmentation of the global South from the global North. The chair Prof. Sujian Guo thanked the scholars for their presence and the workshop ended with a round of applause.