Uploaded January 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
About the lecture:
Longstanding tensions between Russia and members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) sits at the heart of a fast-evolving international crisis centered on Ukraine.
Following a series of crisis events, on 24 February 2022 Russia unleashed full-spectrum war on Ukraine. On this day, the world changed. Writing soon after the invasion started in full, a commentator noted:
History has accelerated; the impossible has become possible. Shifts that no one imagined weeks ago are unfolding with incredible speed.
The strategic calculations informing the USA, the European Union (EU), NATO, Russia, Ukraine, and other influential players are under scrutiny by experts and the public alike. Indeed, the conflagration has serious consequences for the world at large.
In a series of public lectures, the TM School will seek to identify the nature of these shifts in global order and its impact on Africa from the perspective of those at the heart of the international crisis as well as those affected by it. The purpose is to educate and encourage critical thinking amongst our students, academics, intellectuals, and the public in South Africa and further afield. The series will culminate in a substantive book publication.
The first public lecture will be given by Professor ‘Funmi Olonisakin, Vice-President and Vice-Principal International and Professor of Security, Leadership and Development at King’s College, London, UK.
By way of orientation, we have invited the keynote speaker to examine the following questions in more detail:
• Does the NATO/Russia conflict over Ukraine signify a deeper challenge – a clash of civilizations, a struggle between Western liberal democracy and alternative forms of governance? Or is the crisis an inevitable byproduct of imperial behaviour?
• Liberal peacemakers and their instruments – multilateral diplomacy – appear unable to ensure international peace and security.
• In brief, are these apparent failures a temporary setback for the ‘rules-based liberal world order’? Will ‘Davos men’ – those who manage the global political economy - restore order?
• How should Africans – from the public and private sectors, and citizens at large – understand and respond to this apparent recalibration of world order?
About the lecture:
Longstanding tensions between Russia and members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) sits at the heart of a fast-evolving international crisis centered on Ukraine.
Following a series of crisis events, on 24 February 2022 Russia unleashed full-spectrum war on Ukraine. On this day, the world changed. Writing soon after the invasion started in full, a commentator noted:
History has accelerated; the impossible has become possible. Shifts that no one imagined weeks ago are unfolding with incredible speed.
The strategic calculations informing the USA, the European Union (EU), NATO, Russia, Ukraine, and other influential players are under scrutiny by experts and the public alike. Indeed, the conflagration has serious consequences for the world at large.
In a series of public lectures, the TM School will seek to identify the nature of these shifts in global order and its impact on Africa from the perspective of those at the heart of the international crisis as well as those affected by it. The purpose is to educate and encourage critical thinking amongst our students, academics, intellectuals, and the public in South Africa and further afield. The series will culminate in a substantive book publication.
The first public lecture will be given by Professor ‘Funmi Olonisakin, Vice-President and Vice-Principal International and Professor of Security, Leadership and Development at King’s College, London, UK.
By way of orientation, we have invited the keynote speaker to examine the following questions in more detail:
• Does the NATO/Russia conflict over Ukraine signify a deeper challenge – a clash of civilizations, a struggle between Western liberal democracy and alternative forms of governance? Or is the crisis an inevitable byproduct of imperial behaviour?
• Liberal peacemakers and their instruments – multilateral diplomacy – appear unable to ensure international peace and security.
• In brief, are these apparent failures a temporary setback for the ‘rules-based liberal world order’? Will ‘Davos men’ – those who manage the global political economy - restore order?
• How should Africans – from the public and private sectors, and citizens at large – understand and respond to this apparent recalibration of world order?
