Professor Mary Kaldor will introduce some of the key ideas of a book she is writing about the nature of political change. The speaker uses the term experimental juncture to describe the process of political experimentation that takes place during major paradigm shifts in world history. And she uses the term social innovation to describe the sources of experimentation. Previous experimental junctures occurred during major wars, for example the Napoleonic wars or the two world wars. Mary Kaldor will discuss whether the current cascade of crises represents a similar existential moment.

Mary Kaldor is Professor Emeritus of Global Governance and Director of the Conflict Research Programme at The London School of Economics and Political Science. Prof Kaldor is also an Affiliated Faculty member at IBEI. She has pioneered the concepts of new wars and global civil society. Her elaboration of the real-world implementation of human security has directly influenced European and national governments. She is the author of many books and articles including New and Old Wars: Organised Violence in a Global Era (3rd edition, 2012), International Law and New Wars (with Christine Chinkin, 2017) and Global Security Cultures (2018).