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)

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 socie

By George Lawson

/ 23 Apr 2012

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

By George Lawson

/ 4 May 2011

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.

By George Lawson

/ 19 Nov 2010

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,

By George Lawson

/ 21 Nov 2002