“It seems that every day we’re reminded that we live in an era of great power rivalry, that the rules-based order is fading, that the strong can do what they can, and the weak must suffer what they must.” – Mark Carney, World Economic Forum, Davos 2026
Mark Carney’s viral speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos this year articulated a growing sense that the rules-based international order is no longer holding. Recent events, from the dramatic capture of Venezuela’s president to escalating tensions over Greenland and beyond, point to a world in which these formal rules are giving way to more openly transactional and coercive relationships between states. As global conflict intensifies, international politics appears to be entering a new phase, one shaped less by norms and institutions than by power, deals, and precarious relationships. But was the rules-based order intrinsically unsustainable? Was it built on a faulty foundation of how humans think?
In this fireside chat, Dr Nafees Hamid will be in conversation with Lord John Alderdice to explore how and why international politics is changing, and what an interdisciplinary lens can help us understand about this shift. Together, they will examine what went wrong with the rules-based order, what might come next, and what mistakes to avoid. Drawing on insights from psychology, political philosophy, and conflict resolution, the discussion will consider how a more human-centred understanding can help inform a more realistic and sustainable global order.
This event will be followed by a drinks reception.
About the Speakers:
Lord John Alderdice (Guest) is a psychiatrist, UK trade envoy to Azerbaijan and Central Asia, and internationally respected expert on conflict resolution and peacebuilding. As Leader of the Alliance Party he was a central figure in the Northern Ireland peace process, and he then served as the first Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly following the Good Friday Agreement. As a member of the House of Lords, Lord Alderdice has worked on dialogue, leadership, and reconciliation across deeply divided societies worldwide, uniquely combining clinical insight with decades of political experience.
Dr Nafees Hamid (Moderator) is the Co-PI / Research & Policy Director of the XCEPT research programme at King’s College London, based out of the Centre for Statecraft and National Security (CSNS). He is a cognitive scientist of political violence and peace-making. He conducts neuroscience, psychology, and qualitative fieldwork with armed actors and civilians. The research he has collaborated on has spanned Western Europe, the Balkans, Morocco, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, South Sudan, and Colombia. His work has informed policies and practices in counter-terrorism; countering violent extremism; strategic communication; Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration; and peace mediation and negotiation practices. He has advised and briefed on these policies to many organisations including the US State and Defense Departments, the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, UK Home Office, UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, the Global Coalition, NATO, USIP, the EU Commission, and the French Prime Minister’s office.
To register to attend, please click here.
