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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

Bordering on a new World War 1

Mary Kaldor 27 April 2013

What is missing is any serious discussion about the plight of the Syrian people. If it turns out that a red line has been crossed, then any intervention will be a geo-political intervention against the Assad regime. The likely response is to arm the rebels rather than to intervene to protect ordinary people.

The new war in Europe?

Mary Kaldor 18 March 2013

The European Union was founded in reaction to what I call ‘old war’ – the wars of the twentieth century. Even though material interests ought logically to lead to increased political cooperation, contemporary European politics, or the absence of politics, suggest instead the possibility of what I call a ‘new war’.

Subterranean Politics in Europe: an introduction

Mary Kaldor and Sabine Selchow 12 October 2012

In a study of Europe’s “subterranean politics,” Mary Kaldor’s team at the London School of Economics and Political Science, working with partners across Europe, has examined both new political parties and public protests, finding that all of these phenomena share not only opposition to austerity, but also extensive frustration with politics as currently practised. This week, the team reported on their findings.

Global Civil Society 2012: ten years of ‘politics from below’

Mary Kaldor 30 April 2012

The question we ask is whether today’s generation of protestors represent the harbingers of a new emancipatory agenda, or whether the opposite is the case, that social fragmentation and polarisation from above as well as from below could usher in an even more dangerous and divided world. Or both?

What to do about Syria's new war?

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.

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

Mary Kaldor 18 December 2011
Warm memories pay tribute to Vaclav Havel who died today

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.

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

Mary Kaldor

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)

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

This week's editor

Heather McRobie


Niki Seth-Smith is a freelance journalist and co-editor of OurKingdom.

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