Konferencia | 10th Pécs African Studies Conference

AFRICAN, ASIAN, AMERICAN AND CENTRAL EUROPEAN VIEWS ABOUT
THE CHANGING WORLD ORDER AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

April 29, Wednesday

09:30 – 10:00 Onsite registration (Vargha Damján Conference Hall, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Pécs, Ifjúság útja 6) and welcome coffee

10:00 – 10:30 Welcome addresses

10:30 – 11:15 Keynote lecture / Ian Taylor Memorial Lecture: Dr. Lina Benabdallah (USA), Between Solidarity and Geopolitical Rivalries: Making Sense of Africa–China Relations in a Shifting Global Order followed by a Q&A until 11:30

11:30 – 12:50 Panel 1 Chair: István Tarrósy (Hungary)
11:30 – 11:45 Zoltán Vörös (Hungary): A Contested World Order
11:45 – 12:00 Pamela Chemelil (Kenya): Humanitarianism in the Changing Global Order
12:00 – 12:15 Gergely Buda (Hungary): Geoeconomics of Instability: Recent Resource Exports and Coups in Africa
12:30 – 12:50 Q&A debate

12:50 – 13:30 buffet lunch

13:30 – 14:50 Panel 2 Chair: Lina Benabdallah (USA)
13:30 – 13:45 Tamás Dudlák (Hungary): Turkey’s Expanding Role in the Horn of Africa: Strategic Cooperation with Ethiopia amid Middle Power Geopolitics
13:45 – 14:00 Fedor Zolotarev (Russia): Knitting Networks below Nation-State Level: Russian City Diplomacy with African States
14:00 – 14:15 Belay Asmara Aragaw (Ethiopia): Russia–Ukraine Diplomatic Warfare in Africa: Motives, Strategies, and African Responses
14:15 – 14:30 Viktor Marsai (Hungary): The role of external small state actors in African peace and stability – the Hungarian example
14:30 – 14:50 Q&A debate

14:50 – 15:15 coffee break

15:15 – 17:00 Panel 3 Chair: Viktor Marsai (Hungary)
15:15 – 15:30 Sabine Planel (France): (Ethiopia's) civil war from below
15:30 – 15:45 Meressa Tsehaye Gebrewahd (Ethiopia): Factional politics in Tigray in the context of the post-Tigray–Ethiopia war
15:45 – 16:00 Gebrehiwot Hailemariam (Ethiopia): The Quest for Sustainable Peace in the adjacent communities of Tigray and Afar: Inter-Community Conflict Mapping and Analysis at Grassroots Level
16:00 – 16:15 Neo Sithole (South Africa): A Cross Regional Comparison Early Agrarian Populism in Russia and Guinea Bissau 
16:15 – 16:30 Douaa Dridi (Tunisia): Inclusion by Exclusion at The Tunisian-European Borderland: Crisis Narratives vs. Solidarity Narratives
16:30 – 17:00 Q&A debate

17:00 – 17:20 coffee break

17:20 – 18:30 Round-table discussion Moderator: Zoltán Vörös (Hungary) Participants: Jeffrey Sommers (USA), Kwang-su Kim (South Korea), Ali Miganeh Hadi (Djibouti), István Tarrósy (Hungary)

The evening cultural programme is part of the Africa Days/Afrika Napok of the International Seasons 2026 of the University of Pécs. Starting off at 19:30. This day is dedicated to Rwanda, and we will have a fashion show between 19:30 and 20:00, then, from 20:00 dance performances and a community dance session.
Organizer: Close to Africa Foundation

April 30, Thursday

09:00 – 10:40 Panel 4 Chair: Pamela Chemelil (Kenya)

09:00 – 09:20 Ali Miganeh Hadi (Djibouti): Impacts of Foreign Military Presence in Djibouti on Regional Security and Port Infrastructure Development: A Multidisciplinary Analysis
09:20 – 09:40 Demeke Achiso (Ethiopia): The Landlocked Regional Power: Ethiopia's Strategic Pursuit of Access to the Sea
09:40 – 10:00 Andrés de Castro (Portugal) & Laura Gogny (Spain): Beyond Traditional Security Assistance: Measuring Impact of the GAR-SI Sahel Project (2017–2025)
10:00 – 10:20 Buyisile Ntaka (South Africa): Rebel legacies and post-conflict political orders in Africa: Comparing the RPF and RENAMO
10:20 – 10:40 Q&A debate

10:40 – 11:00 coffee break

11:00 – 12:30 Panel 5 Chair: Dudlák Tamás (Hungary)
11:00 – 11:15 Kwang-su Kim (South Korea): Identity, Collective Memory, and Gen Z Political Participation in Madagascar: Structural Inequality and the Demand for Regime Change
11:15 – 11:30 Emmanuel Frimpong Sarpong (Ghana): Rethinking soft power through Ubuntu: South African Political Elites Discursively Construct China
11:30 – 11:45 Danilo Lorenzo Delos Santos (The Philippines): A Tale of Divergence: Why the Belt and Road Initiative Won Kenya and Lost the Philippines
11:45 – 12:00 István Tarrósy (Hungary): African Views and Policies on Digital Advancement and Cyber Security – Focus on Chinese Engagements
12:00 – 12:30 Q&A debate

12:30 Closing of the conference

12:45 – 13:30 buffet lunch

TOVÁBBI INFORMÁCIÓ