Iriye to Lecture on International Affairs and Transnational Relations

The Washington History Seminar of the National History Center and the Woodrow Wilson School of International Studies announce the next in a series of lectures, International Affairs and Transnational Relations, by Akira Iriye, Harvard University.  It will take place on Monday, September 29, 2014, from 4:00pm - 5:30pm, at the Woodrow Wilson Center, 6th Floor Moynihan Boardroom.  To attend, register here.

Acclaimed Harvard historian Akira Iriye will reflect on the study of history today, examining recent historiographic trends and phenomena like "motion," "interconnectedness," and "hybridity" in an effort to move away from a Euro-centric approach. Iriye will explore the fascination with non-national entities and transnational relations, rather than with more conventional international affairs understood in the geopolitical framework (world hegemony, regional order, balance of power, etc.). The increased importance of transnational relations places non-state actors and non-geopolitical themes, such as economic globalization, cultural exchanges, environmental issues, and human rights, at the forefront of the contemporary study of history. Iriye will argue this has created a more hybrid world, moving away from a geopolitically defined world order and toward a mixture of geopolitics and non-geopolitical phenomena.