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Lecture: Trust and distrust in uncertain times

Date
Photograph showing three navy ships coming towards the camera on a dark blue sea with bright blue sky and wispy white clouds above.
SOUTH CHINA SEA (Jan. 12, 2019) The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG 85), the Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS Henry J. Kaiser (T-AO 187), and the Royal Navy Type 23 ‘Duke’ Class guided-missile frigate HMS Argyll (F231) transit during a replenishment-at-sea. McCampbell is forward-deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (Photo by LPhot Dan Rosenbaum)
Date
Wednesday 22 May 2019, 16:50 - 17:50
Location
Baines Wing Lecture Theatre 2.34

Abstract

As relations between key global powers become increasingly frayed and global insecurities invite future uncertainty, Professor Wheeler asks how enemies can move beyond international conflict and distrust through face-to-face diplomacy and the development of interpersonal trust.

Drawing from a range of interdisciplinary research and based on his 2018 book Trusting Enemies, Professor Wheeler will analyse the dynamics of distrust and insecurity within the US-China-Russia relationship, focusing particularly on the issue of nuclear weapons, and ask what this reveals about managing global conflict and insecurity. Professor Wheeler will also reflect on his influential work on international security to discuss the future of security studies as part of the launch of the Centre for Security Studies at the School of Politics and International Studies (POLIS).

Speaker

Nicholas J. Wheeler is Professor of International Relations and Director of the Institute for Conflict, Cooperation, and Security at the University of Birmingham. He is the author of Trusting Enemies: Interpersonal Relationships in International Conflict (OUP, 2018), co-author (with Ken Booth) of The Security Dilemma: Fear, Cooperation and Trust in World Politics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), and Saving Strangers: Humanitarian Intervention in International Society (OUP, 2000), which was shortlisted for the International Studies Association's Best Book of the Decade award. He is co-editor of the Cambridge Series in International Relations and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.

Booking

This lecture is open to all; booking is not required.