About George Lawson

George Lawson is a lecturer in international relations at the London School of Economics (LSE) and a member of the LSE IDEAS Management Committee. LSE IDEAS has recently published the report to which he has contributed, After the Arab Spring: Power Shift in the Middle East? His books include Negotiated Revolutions: The Czech Republic, South Africa and Chile (Ashgate, 2004) and (as co-editor) The Global 1989: Continuity and Change in World Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2010)

Articles by George Lawson

The Arab uprisings

It is a long road from an initial uprising to something that can be called a successful revolution. So far in the Arab region, only Tunisia has met even the minimum criteria of revolutionary success. And although there is increasing talk of a ‘Turkish’ or ‘Indonesian’ model combining a pious society with a democratic state, the region as a whole is stuck in a phase of fragile pacts and illiberal renewal

George Lawson

The first half of the twenty-first century was marked by two major trends in international relations: first, a shift towards ‘globalism’ as a result of shared problems (e.g. environmental degradation), shared risks (e.g. nuclear proliferation), and shared domains of activity (e.g. the market); and second, a shift to ‘decentred’ authority as power diffused around the world both geographically and institutionally. The resulting synthesis, ‘decentred globalism’, made international affairs much messier, but also more pluralistic, more democratic and, in policy terms, more humble. The post-Western world proved to be one in which heterogeneity and hybridity flourished. 

The global 1989

The political transformation and social drama of the 1989 revolutions in east-central Europe promised a decisive rupture with the past. But the perspective of two decades and of a global frame offers a more complex picture of this historic moment, says George Lawson.

Truth or dare? Truth commissions between old and new nations

Truth and reconciliation commissions are one of the innovative institutions that have emerged in the search for social healing after violent conflict. In Chile, South Africa and the Czech Republic, three very different stories and styles of truth-telling have unfolded. How have they helped to bring social justice, national reconciliation, and to repair damaged lives?
‘There was a time when we thought that by now we would be cutting necks and putting people on the firing line.

This week's guest editors

openGlobalRights editors

Our guest editors James Ron, Leslie Vinjamuri, Sophie Arie and Archana Pandya introduce this week's theme of:

Emerging powers and human rights.

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