More than 300 people gathered recently to listen to Georgetown professor Carol Lancaster discuss the “new world order” in international relations, and how this will impact the balance of wealth and power in the coming years.
The lecture, organised by the Centre for International and Regional Studies at Georgetown’s Qatar campus, was the first Distinguished Lecture of the 2009 academic year.
Currently, the interim dean of the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, Lancaster has spent more than a decade in service to the American government at a variety of agencies, including the US Agency for International Development and the State Department.
Her speech contrasted today’s global societies against what she called the “Old World Order” of international relations, a time that was defined by a state-centric political system with competing superpowers and a clear income gap between rich and poor.
This old system has been replaced by a new paradigm as a result of international advances in technology, education, political stability and prosperity.
“I feel that I’m living in one of the most exciting revolutions in human history: the technology revolution,” Lancaster said.
She went on to mention that, through the use of internet technologies, she had written academic papers with scholars around the world that she had never met face to face.
According to Lancaster, this new world order can be defined by indicators that are already visible today. “The financial crisis is one very good indication of how interdependent we are economically,” she said.
The new paradigm has raised unique traits and problems that must be understood to ensure global security and prosperity, particularly the impending issues related to population growth and climate change. Growing population continues to put greater strain on global resources.
“Every pound of beef consumed equals eight pounds of grain consumed,” she said. “As income rises, the demand for protein rises, and that puts more pressure on resources.”
That resource strain has many impacts, including driving climate change. “I think we’re in a dangerous moment,” she said. “I hope that we can seize this moment and engage this problem of climate change so that our children don’t have to live a less comfortable life.”
As a result of population growth, large-scale migrations will result from people traveling for new jobs. This migration is likely to result in challenges to traditional definitions of identity.
Recounting conversations she has had with colleagues from Copenhagen to Lisbon, Lancaster described an increasing awareness of social tensions that have risen from large-scale migration and how those immigrants assimilate into society.
“I think these are issues that will confront us,” Lancaster said. “Who are we and who is the other?” Countries that don’t address these problems of identity will suffer both economically, as well as through increased social tension.
Lancaster pointed out that traditional state organisations are not as powerful as in the past, mentioning the growing relevance of the G-20 and other groups that include strong representation from the developing world.