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About Mary Kaldor

Mary Kaldor is Professor of Global Governance and Director of the Civil Society and Human Security Research Unit at the London School of Economics.

Articles by Mary Kaldor

Sunday 12th February

Syria: yes to intervention, but de-escalate the broader conflict

Mary Kaldor, 12 February 2012

The key to any intervention is to combine upholding human rights inside Syria with de-escalation of the broader regional conflict. Far from being contradictory, these two goals – human rights and peace – reinforce each other.

Sunday 18th December

‘Mr former Havel': the kind of politician we need

Mary Kaldor, 18 December 2011

Warm memories pay tribute to Vaclav Havel who died today

Wednesday 19th October

Can Intervention Work? by Rory Stewart and Gerald Knaus: book review

Mary Kaldor, 19 October 2011

It is possible to walk the tightrope between the horrors of over-intervention and non-intervention. Mary Kaldor agrees, while insisting on distinguishing between genuine humanitarian interventions and the War on Terror.

Monday 5th September

The new road to Europe: ways out of the hydra-headed crisis

Mary Kaldor, 5 September 2011

The European Union is uniquely placed to solve the problems that have been caused by the tensions and templates of national political solutions in a globalised economy. There exists a positive European reinvention of the Union for all those that are rightly indignant

Wednesday 4th May

Mary Kaldor

Mary Kaldor, 4 May 2011

Mary Kaldor

To save the euro and prevent the disintegration of the European Union, by 2013 European leaders have established a fiscal mechanism (European level taxes, borrowing and spending) which then pushes them to democratise Europe and hold elections for a President of both the Council and Commission. The new (woman) president acquires human security capabilities that have transformed the ability of the UN to stop wars and protect civilians so as to create space for democratic politics..

Finnish 2-euro coin commemorative of 100 years of universal suffrage, 2006, wikicommons/European Central Bank (ECB)

Tuesday 29th March

Libya: war or humanitarian intervention?

Mary Kaldor, 29 March 2011

In the end the prospects for democracy depend on whether the rebels can mobilise support politically throughout Libya. The problem with the military approach is that it entrenches division. Our preoccupation with classic military means is undermining our capacity to address growing insecurity.

Sunday 13th March

Afghanistan dreads the spring

Mary Kaldor, 13 March 2011

Afghans suffer at the hands of everyone - the Taliban, the Afghan security forces, the international forces, and the warlords or drug barons - sometimes in combination. In language that is reminiscent of the way young people are talking in other parts of the Middle East, they want to reclaim their dignity.

Monday 7th February

Civil Society in 1989 and 2011

Mary Kaldor, 7 February 2011

What is happening in Tunisia and Egypt is the completion of the 1989 revolutions. Giving back to us the meaning of civil society, this calls for a total rethinking of western security, foreign and economic policies

Thursday 20th January

This week's theme: Human Security in practice

Mary Kaldor, 20 January 2011

Mary Kaldor’s latest book is The Ultimate Weapon is No Weapon: Human Security and the New Rules of War and Peace co-authored with an American serving army officer, Shannon Beebe and published by Public Affairs. The book was primarily aimed at an American audience in the hope that the actual experience of Iraq and Afghanistan may open up an opportunity for rethinking security. It taps into what is already a wide-ranging debate in security circles. Here, our Human Security columnist introduces a special series of articles commissioned for openDemocracy on this theme

Monday 15th November

Time for the human approach

Mary Kaldor and Javier Solana, 15 November 2010

Dmitry Medvedev’s proposal for a new post-cold war security order offers a significant opportunity for the world. But both the West and Russia need to move on from conventional security logic, and think in terms of the human, argue Mary Kaldor and Javier Solana.

Wednesday 10th November

Documents at odds: the UK’s national security review

Mary Kaldor, 10 November 2010

The narrative of the Cold War imposed a simplified vision of the world. The UK’s defence review does move towards an understanding that risks normally associated with domestic concerns now have to be dealt with on a global scale. What it does not do is to create a capability for this kind of intervention

Wednesday 24th February

Reconceptualising war

Mary Kaldor, 24 February 2010

What if defeating the enemy was the justification for war, but not its real goal? What if its goal was a certain kind of power-brokerage?

Monday 9th November

Can Greece Lead the Way?

Anthony Barnett and Mary Kaldor, 9 November 2009

As the left across Europe flounders in the wake of the economic crisis, the Greek socialist party under George Papandreou could prove the exception with its dramatic election victory. His aim is nothing less than a pioneering form of progressive government that combines green development, democratic openness and international reconciliation.

Tuesday 11th August