"Given that the world has moved well beyond the period of Western colonialism, and clearly into a durable period in which non Western cultures have gained their political autonomy, it is long past time that non Western voices had a higher profile in debates about international relations, not just as disciples of Western schools of thought, but as inventors of their own approaches. Western IR theory has the advantage of being the first in the field, and has developed many valuable insights, but few would defend the position that it captures everything we need to know about world politics." (Acharya and Buzan 2009)
The 12th edition of the AGS Graduate Student conference is entitled: "Off the Beaten Track. Non Western Perspectives in International Relations". This theme derives inspiration from Amitav Acharya and Barry Buzan’s book entitled Non-Western International Relations Theory: Perspectives on and Beyond Asia (Routledge 2009), as well as from the non-Western students at AGS from such countries as Ghana, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Philippines, Liberia, Vietnam, Thailand, who often ask questions about the Western biases in International Relations.
This conference is the 12th edition of the AGS annual Graduate Student Conference, which brings together Master's and doctoral students, scholars, diplomats and other international practitioners to discuss a different theme of international relations each year. The conference is held at the American Graduate School in Paris, located in the heart of Paris in the 6th district, a five-minute walk from the beautiful Luxembourg gardens which host the French Senate.