From September to December 2025, Postdoctoral researcher and FAU CHREN member
Dr. Gemma Lligadas González served as a Visiting Fellow at the
Lauterpacht Centre for International Law (University of Cambridge).
Research Project: Hegemonic Power and International Law
During her research stay, she examined how rising great power competition is reshaping international law. Her project analyses the role of institutions such as the United Nations in a shifting multipolar order. It pays particular attention to the relationship between declining hegemonic power and international law, the erosion of human rights as normative cornerstones of the global order in a context of increasing autocratization, and the normative sources of the institutional resilience of international law. More broadly, the project investigates the structural changes affecting international law as a system. It brings together theoretical and methodological approaches from international law and international relations in order to analyse the structural transformation of international law as a system— a project that is particularly relevant given the current phase of heightened global political tensions.
Research outcomes
In terms of research outcomes, in addition to finalizing two articles on the above-mentioned topics that have been submitted for publication, Dr. Lligadas González also co-organized a workshop at the Lauterpacht Centre together with Professor Jan Klabbers entitled “Piercing the Dogma: Rethinking International Law and International Organizations in Times of Crisis.” The workshop explored how the current crisis of multilateralism is reshaping international law and international organizations, as states disengage from traditional institutions and new actors gain influence. Particular attention was given to the growing role of private and non-state actors, as well as to shifts in global power, such as increasing multipolarity and the repositioning of the Global South, which challenge established doctrinal assumptions and call for non-dogmatic theoretical rethinking.
In addition, Dr. Lligadas González actively participated in the academic life of the Lauterpacht Centre, attending and contributing to its various academic events.
From September to December 2025, Postdoctoral researcher and FAU CHREN member
Dr. Gemma Lligadas González served as a Visiting Fellow at the
Lauterpacht Centre for International Law (University of Cambridge).
Research Project: Hegemonic Power and International Law
During her research stay, she examined how rising great power competition is reshaping international law. Her project analyses the role of institutions such as the United Nations in a shifting multipolar order. It pays particular attention to the relationship between declining hegemonic power and international law, the erosion of human rights as normative cornerstones of the global order in a context of increasing autocratization, and the normative sources of the institutional resilience of international law. More broadly, the project investigates the structural changes affecting international law as a system. It brings together theoretical and methodological approaches from international law and international relations in order to analyse the structural transformation of international law as a system— a project that is particularly relevant given the current phase of heightened global political tensions.
Research outcomes
In terms of research outcomes, in addition to finalizing two articles on the above-mentioned topics that have been submitted for publication, Dr. Lligadas González also co-organized a workshop at the Lauterpacht Centre together with Professor Jan Klabbers entitled “Piercing the Dogma: Rethinking International Law and International Organizations in Times of Crisis.” The workshop explored how the current crisis of multilateralism is reshaping international law and international organizations, as states disengage from traditional institutions and new actors gain influence. Particular attention was given to the growing role of private and non-state actors, as well as to shifts in global power, such as increasing multipolarity and the repositioning of the Global South, which challenge established doctrinal assumptions and call for non-dogmatic theoretical rethinking.
In addition, Dr. Lligadas González actively participated in the academic life of the Lauterpacht Centre, attending and contributing to its various academic events.