From 2 to 5 March 2025, Dr. Sebastian Mayer, DAAD Associate Professor, and Dr. Anja Mihr, MA in Human Rights and Sustainability (MAHRS) Academic Programme Director, at the OSCE Academy, attended the 66th Annual Convention of the International Studies Association in Chicago, USA. Dr. Mayer presented a paper on „The OSCE as a Contested Security Institution“ in a panel on “Norms shaping and being shaped by intergovernmental interactions”. The study essentially assesses institutional change of the OSCE and its international bureaucracy, in particular, against the backdrop of member state demands for transforming the institution. Dr. Mihr delivered various talks, including one on the International Paradigm shift of Security Communities, with a focus on Eurasia. She argued, among other things, that the security paradigm in Eurasia and its organizations have shifted from norm defenders and actors to platforms due to the rise of hybrid warfare, the emergence of new hegemons, and their differing modes of governance.