The SAIS Europe Student Government Association (SGA) organized a seminar with Ian Bremmer, the president and founder of The Eurasia Group and professor at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). After a brief introduction by SAIS student Filipe Carvalho, Dr. Bremmer began his seminar with an overview of the international system. He said that we are currently in a "G Zero" world, meaning that the global balance of power has changed, but the international institutions that help stabilize the international system have not. The United States in particular has been unable to adapt due to political dysfunction, and strained bilateral relations between the US and China make global leadership from either unlikely.

Given the lack of leadership on the international stage, Bremmer said that leadership is coming from other places. Non-state actors like financial institutions and youth organizations have pressed for greater action on climate change, and technology companies are increasingly exercising more power in international affairs. Bremmer said that it is important for political scientists to better understand how these private actors exercise sovereign authority, particularly as they are insulated from democratic control. He proposed a typology for understanding and differentiating these companies based on how they approach the division of power between the physical and virtual worlds.

The seminar concluded with a Q&A session, with questions from SGA members and students on a range of topics including the regulation of the tech industry and how the US can adapt to the "splintering" of the internet.

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Organized by the Johns Hopkins University SAIS Europe Student Government Association