PRIMO - Power and Region in a Multipolar Order

PRIMO is a global PhD programme studying the rise of regional powers and its impact on international politics at large. The programme is a Marie Curie Initial Training network, funded by the European Commission.

PRIMO (Power and Region in a Multipolar Order) starts from the premise that the importance of non-western regions and certain of their leading states – notably Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the so-called BRICS states – for international politics and the world economy is rapidly growing. However, the nature of these processes, the consequences for global governance, and the material and social power dynamics of BRICS states’ rise vis-à-vis international institutions and powers such as the EU and the US are far from clear.

PRIMO studies the actions, relations, processes and mechanisms of BRICS states’ interactions, both in their own regions and with well-established powers, multilateral institutions and non-state actors. PRIMO will account for processes of identity construction, the formation of foreign policy goals, and the strategies of regional powers at the regional and global level. This knowledge is highly relevant for the formulation of European foreign policies and strategies in multilateral institutions. As a network of public and private partners with an ambitious outreach strategy, PRIMO aims to directly infuse this knowledge into the policy process.

PRIMO’s fellows will have excellent career opportunities. The PRIMO PhD programme includes

- novel theoretical approaches to the study of regional powers,
- an encompassing training in new qualitative methodology,
- practical skills such as academic management,
- grant applications or the writing of risk assessments for the private sector,
- the acquisition of substantial empirical expertise on regional and emerging powers,
- concrete practical career opportunities in academia or the private sector.

PRIMO establishes a network of public and private partners that will substantially advance and expand already existing structures and collaboration by directing training towards employment opportunities in the private sector, enhancing the mobility of PhD students in and beyond Europe, and advancing the interests of a European research community in a global context.