International relations experts kicked off the symposium Wednesday in a panel discussion titled "Power Transitions in the 21st Century."
The first event of the five-day conference was led by individuals who helped organize this year's EPIIC symposium, including interim Provost and Senior Vice President Peggy Newell, who explained the history of the symposium to the students, faculty, staff and international guests who attended the talk.
"I hope as you go through this you will engage and think," Newell said. "I hope you leave tonight a little bit different."
EPIIC Colloquium Member Cody Valdes, a senior, moderated the five-person panel, which featured Founder and Director of the Kuwait Centre for Strategic Studies Sami al-Faraj, Boston University Professor of International Relations and History Andrew Bacevich, nonresident senior associate in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment Ariel Levite, political scientist at the RAND Corporation Lowell Schwartz and Peking University Professor of Diplomacy Zhang Qingmin.
"If there were ever an American century, the American century is over, done, gone," Bacevich said. "The people who are our leaders are in denial."
Although the power of the United States may be changing, its relationship with China continues to be one of the most important international relations dilemmas to date, Qingmin said.
While some of the speakers discussed the effects of power transitions in particular countries, others talked about how the 21st Century in general has had an effect on how leaders pass on their authority.
Schwartz examined the impact of the evolution of the international economic sphere on the modern geopolitical world.
"Today, the competition of ideologies is less sharp than during the Cold War," Schwartz said. "It's still there, just different."
"There are many surprises coming down the pike," Bacevich added. "No one knows what's going to happen. The future is opaque."
