Rapid advances in technology (e.g. robotics, internet of things, social media, digitization, 3D printing, autonomous vehicles) are leading to unprecedented changes in politics, society, and economy. At the same time, shock events in politics (e.g. Brexit vote or the rise of populism) question the existing liberal democracies. Against this background, the Munich Politics Network focuses on the interdisciplinary study of disruptions, characterized by major sudden displacements of existing political, economic, societal or technological structures and its rapid substitution by new structures or emerging technologies.

Retrospect

In celebration of the 75^th birthday of Bretton Woods Institutions, the first day of the event featured panels primarily focused on the political and economic spheres, such as the ‘Fragmentation of the Institutional Landscape’, ‘Power Shifts in Global Economic Governance’, ‘Future of Global Economic Governance’. The second day of the event shifted gears to the technological and societal aspects, headlined by the panels of ‘Power & Control of New Technologies’, ‘Multilateralism & Populism in the Digital Age’, and ‘Governance of Global Commons’. The panels were underlined by an increasingly pressing necessity for an interdisciplinary approach to addressing global issues, and highlighted the importance of stable multilateral systems and institutions as the framework for embracing new challenges.

Munich Politics Network 2018

Disruptive Politics & Technology

The inaugural event of the Munich Politics Network, a joint cooperation with the National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech), was dedicated to the topic Disruptive Politics & Technology. Rapid advances in technology – e.g. robotics, artificial intelligence, e-trade, digitalization, autonomous vehicles – are leading to unprecedented changes in politics, society, and economy. At the same time, shock events in politics – e.g. the rise of populism – question existing democracies and the multilateral world order. Against this background, the Munich Politics Network 2018 focused on the interdisciplinary study of disruptions, characterized by major sudden displacements of existing political, economic, societal, or technological structures and its rapid substitution by new structures or emerging technologies.