We thought connecting the world would bring lasting peace. Instead, it is driving us apart.

In the three decades since the end of the Cold War, global leaders have been integrating the world's economy, transport and communications, breaking down borders in the hope of making war impossible. In doing so, they have unwittingly created a formidable arsenal of weapons for new kinds of conflict and the motivation to keep fighting. Rising tensions in global politics are not a bump in the road - they are part of the paving.

As a leading authority on international relations, Mark Leonard has been inside many of the rooms where our futures, at every level of society, are being decided - from the Facebook HQ and facial recognition labs in China to meetings in presidential palaces and at remote military installations. In seeking to understand the ways that globalisation has broken its fundamental promise to make our world safer and more prosperous, Leonard explores how we might wrest a more hopeful future from an age of unpeace.
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/144/1443237/the-age-of-unpeace/9781787634657.html

The Age of Unpeace

In his newly released book “The Age of Unpeace: How Connectivity causes Conflict” ECFR director Mark Leonard explains how many of the forces that we thought would bring us together have ended up driving us apart. Trade, technology, the internet, and travel were once promised to create a global village but have instead created an era of “unpeace”, where the distinctions between war and peace are breaking down.

In this week’s episode, Mark Leonard becomes the guest of his own podcast to talk with ECFR’s Asia programme director Janka Oertel about the main themes of his book and particularly how China’s growing role in this interconnected world poses threats for Europe.

This podcast was recorded on 16 September 2021.

Further reading:
Age of Unpeace by Mark Leonard
“The Afghan tragedy and the age of unpeace” by Mark Leonard
Bookshelf:
“Doom” by Neil Ferguson
“Shutdown. How Covid Shook the World’s Economy” by Adam Tooze
Move by Parag Khanna
“Renewal: From crisis to transformation in our lives, work, and politics” by Anne Marie Slaughter
“China unbound: a new world disorder” by Joanna Chiu

World in 30 Minutes

Get a sneak peek into Mark Leonard's latest book "The Age of Unpeace - How Connectivity Causes Conflict", read by the author himself.
Additionally, in October we will have a special “ask me anything” episode with Mark Leonard and ask all of you to send in your burning questions about the book to mark.leonard@ecfr.eu which will then be answered in the forthcoming episode.
All those who submit questions will be eligible to win a free signed book from Mark, so start emailing! We are happy to receive your questions in written or audio (voice-memo) form.

Sneak Peek | The Age of Unpeace: How Connectivity Causes Conflict

This week, Mark Leonard answers your most burning questions about his newly released book,  “The Age of Unpeace: How Connectivity causes Conflict”. Hosted by ECFR’s head of communications, Ana Ramic, the special Ask Me Anything episode features Mark responding to loyal podcast listeners Zebulon Carlander, Robert Cooper, Teresa Gouveia, Antonio Notario, Jonas Parello-Plesner, Timi Okoya, and Patrycja Sasnal. 

This episode was recorded on 22 October 2021 **and contains spoilers**!  
Thanks to everybody who submitted questions! 

Listen to a sneak-peak: https://soundcloud.com/ecfr/sneak-peek-age-of-unpeace-mark-leonard 

Learn more about “The Age of Unpeace”: 
• Podcast with Mark Leonard & Janka Oertel: https://soundcloud.com/ecfr/age-of-unpeace
• "Welcome to the age of unpeace" by Mark Leonard in Politico 	https://www.politico.eu/article/welcome-to-the-age-of-unpeace-geopolitics-conflict/  

Get the book here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/144/1443237/the-age-of-unpeace/9781787634657.html#:~:text=The%20%22age%20of%20unpeace%22%20%5B,his%20own%20beliefs%20have%20evolved.

Ask the author anything! - Mark Leonard on "The Age of Unpeace"

Over the holiday season, we are bringing you a special mini-series looking at how the things that keep us connected – like trade, tech, the internet and migration – can also tear us apart. But rather than despairing at the state of the world, the geopolitics and ongoing superpower battles, Mark Leonard is joined by a number of high-level thinkers in this mini-series in order to find strategies for shaping and surviving our new reality. We call it The Age of Unpeace: Therapy for internationalists.   
Join us on this journey to a more therapeutic approach to international relations. The mini-series brings you five episodes with guests including today’s Marietje Schaake, Thomas Wright, and Anne Marie Slaughter. We hope you find some healing! 
_____________
First up on the couch is Marietje Schaake, International Policy Fellow at Stanford University’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. Together with Mark Leonard, they go through the five steps of self-help for internationalists and discuss how the internet has gone from being seen as the ultimate unifier of a global village to being ‘the perfect weapon’.

The Age of Unpeace: Therapy for internationalists | Session 1 with Marietje Schaake

Over the holiday season we are bringing you a special mini-series looking at how the things that keep us connected – like trade, tech, the internet and migration – can also tear us apart. But rather than despairing at the state of the world, the geopolitics and ongoing superpower battles, Mark Leonard is joined by a number of high-level thinkers in this mini-series in order to find strategies for shaping and surviving our new reality. We call it The Age of Unpeace: Therapy for internationalists.   
Join us on this journey to a more therapeutic approach to international relations. The mini-series brings you five episodes with guests including today’s Parag Khanna, Thomas Wright, and Anne Marie Slaughter. We hope you find some healing! 
_____________

Next up on the couch is Parag Khanna, founder and managing partner of FutureMap, a data and scenario-based strategic advisory firm and best-selling author. He has recently published the book ”Move: the forces uprooting us” in which he looks at how mass migration will reshape the world. Together with Mark Leonard, they go through the five steps of self-help for internationalists and discuss the weaponisation of migration which we see in today’s world more and more.

The Age of Unpeace: Therapy for internationalists | Session 2 with Parag Khanna

Over the holiday season, we are bringing you a special mini-series looking at how the things that keep us connected – like trade, tech, the internet, and migration – can also tear us apart. But rather than despairing at the state of the world, the geopolitics and ongoing superpower battles, Mark Leonard is joined by a number of high-level thinkers in this mini-series in order to find strategies for shaping and surviving our new reality. We call it The Age of Unpeace: Therapy for internationalists.   
Join us on this journey to a more therapeutic approach to international relations. The mini-series brings you five special episodes with guests including today’s Dan Drezner, Marietje Schaake, and Anne Marie Slaughter. We hope you find some healing! 
For past episodes in this series, check them out here: https://buff.ly/3ecRbiO
_____________
Today on the couch is Dan Drezner, professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and non-resident fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Together with Mark Leonard, they go through the five steps of self-help for internationalists and discuss how trade and financial relations are increasingly weaponised by some countries in order to enhance their geopolitical power and economic gain. 

Further reading: 
•“The United States of Sanctions. The Use and Abuse of Economic Coercion” by Daniel W. Drezner in Foreign Affairs, September/October 2021
• “All Politics Is Global: Explaining International Regulatory Regimes” by Daniel W. Drezner
• “The System Worked: How the World Stopped Another Great Depression” by Daniel W. Drezner

The Age of Unpeace: Therapy for internationalists | Session 3 with Dan Drezner

Since the holiday season, we have brought to you a special mini-series looking at how the things that keep us connected – like trade, tech, the internet, and migration – can also tear us apart. But rather than despairing at the state of the world, the geopolitics, and ongoing superpower battles, Mark Leonard is joined by a number of high-level thinkers in this mini-series in order to find strategies for shaping and surviving our new reality. We call it The Age of Unpeace: Therapy for internationalists.

Join us on this journey to a more therapeutic approach to international relations. The mini-series brings you five special episodes with guests including today’s guests: Anu Bradford, Thomas Wright, and Feng Zhang. We hope you find some healing!
For past episodes in this series, check them out here: buff.ly/3ecRbiO 
_____________
On today’s couch, we gathered Anu Bradford, Henry L. Moses Professor of Law and International Organizations at Columbia Law School; Thomas Wright, Senior Fellow and Director of the Center on the US and Europe at Brookings; and Feng Zhang, professor of international relations and executive dean of the Institute of Public Policy at the South China University of Technology.  
Together with Mark Leonard, they discuss the three empires of connectivity – the US as a gate-keeping power, the EU as rule-making power, and China as a relational power. The big question in this group therapy session is: How can those three powers have a peaceful and constructive relationship with each other?  

Further reading:

• “Brussel effect” by Anu Bradford 
• “ Aftershocks: Pandemic Politics and the End of the Old International Order”by Thomas Wright 
• “The rise of Chinese exceptionalism in international relations” by Feng Zhang

The Age of Unpeace: Therapy for internationalists | Session 5 with A. Bradford, T. Wright & F. Zhang

Since the holiday season we have brought to you a special mini-series looking at how the things that keep us connected – like trade, tech, the internet, and migration – can also tear us apart. But rather than despairing at the state of the world, the geopolitics and ongoing superpower battles, Mark Leonard is joined by a number of high-level thinkers in this mini-series in order to find strategies for shaping and surviving our new reality. We call it The Age of Unpeace: Therapy for internationalists.    
Join us on this journey to a more therapeutic approach to international relations. The mini-series brings you five special episodes with guests including today’s Anne-Marie Slaughter, Marietje Schaake, and Anne Marie Slaughter. We hope you find some healing! 
For past episodes in this series, check them out here:  buff.ly/3ecRbiO
_____________ 
Today Mark is joined by Anne-Marie Slaughter, chief executive of the think-tank New America. Previously, she was dean of Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and director of policy planning in the US State Department. Together, Mark and Anne-Marie go through the five steps of self-help for internationalists and discuss the reconceptualisation of globalisation while focusing on different players that form the hidden wiring of much of our everyday lives: Why are our societies are increasingly divided over identity, equality, and history? What effect does connectivity have on societies? 

Further Reading:
- Renewal: From Crisis to Transformation in Our Lives, Work, and Politics by Anne-Marie Slaughter
- The Chessboard and the Web: Strategies of Connection in a Networked World by Anne-Marie Slaughter

The Age of Unpeace: Therapy for internationalists | Session 4 with Anne-Marie Slaughter

In July, Mark Leonard launched the newly released paperback edition of his book -   "The Age of Unpeace: How Connectivity Causes Conflict" (Penguin) - with a brand-new essay on the war in Ukraine and its geopolitical impact. Together with Fiona Hill, senior fellow at Brookings, and Jason Cowley, editor-in-chief of the New Statesman, he discusses a new way of looking at the origins of the war in Ukraine, the way it is being conducted and the implications for global (geo-)politics. Is the “Age of Unpeace” just another term for a cold war? And will global challenges – like climate change – in the end still bind us together? Or does the “Unpeace” era make us even less able to tackle those?  

The material for this podcast was recorded on 8 July 2022. 

Available here: https://buff.ly/3RAyiZC

Learn more about “The Age of Unpeace”:  
- https://soundcloud.com/ecfr/age-of-unpeace 
- https://www.politico.eu/article/welcome-to-the-age-of-unpeace-geopolitics-conflict/ 

Bookshelf 
- There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the 21st Century by Fiona Hill 
-  Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin by Jason Cowley

Ukraine in the age of unpeace with Fiona Hill

Weekly podcast on the events, policies and ideas that will shape the world.

World in 30 minutes is curated by Mark Leonard, Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), and features top-level speakers from across the EU and beyond to debate and discuss Europe’s role in the world. It was awarded “Best podcasts on EU politics” by PolicyLab in 2019.

Member of the EuroPod network.

The Age of Unpeace

Mark Leonard's World in 30 Minutes