Seminar with Dr. Sundeep Waslekar
A World Without War: Utopian Dream or Pragmatic Necessity?
Sponsored by the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History
Date: Thursday, November 7, 2024
Time: 4 pm-6 pm, Toronto time
Location: Room 108N, Munk School, University of Toronto, 1 Devonshire Place, Toronto ON M5S 3K7
About the Event
Drawing on insights from his recent book, A World Without War, Dr. Sundeep Waslekar will argue that we live in the most dangerous epoch in the history of human civilization. With the fires spreading in Ukraine, the Middle East, Africa, and East Asia, and an escalating arms race in killer robots, hypersonic missiles, and deadly pathogens, is the world sleep walking into a global catastrophic war that will annihilate the human race? He will then proceed to propose a global social contract, a blueprint for multilateral reform, and a framework for reorienting global governance which will enable a paradigm shift to make lasting peace a reality.
About the Book
In A World Without War: The History, Politics, and Resolution of Conflict, Sundeep Waslekar examines the history and politics of war and offers solutions for achieving world peace by ending the arms race. The invention of dangerous weapons, such as hypersonic missiles, killer robots and deadly pathogens, along with the rise of nationalism and intolerance, has made human civilization more vulnerable today than it has ever been before. It might endure terrorist attacks, climate change and pandemics, but humankind cannot survive a global war involving nuclear weapons. Most people live in denial of such an existential risk because they feel it is not imminent. For them, this book serves as a wake-up call.
In A World Without War, Waslekar moves from examining the roots of war to suggesting a global social contract for lasting peace. Drawing from his comprehensive research in politics, technology, philosophy and history, he talks about the origins of war and weaponry, the dangers inherent in the introduction of new weapons and the chilling links between nationalism and war. He argues that war is a matter of choice and that peace is essential for human beings to realize their true potential.
The book has been endorsed by global thought leaders, including Nobel Peace Laureates.
About the Author
Dr. Sundeep Waslekar is a thought leader on the global future. He has worked with sixty-five countries under the auspices of the Strategic Foresight Group, an international think tank he founded in 2002. He is the author of A World Without War published by HarperCollins India (2022) and published in French as Entre Guerre et Paix by CNRS Editions (2023). He is also the author of Eka Dishecha Shodh, a bestselling book in his native Marathi language, with 25 editions.
He is a practitioner of Track Two diplomacy since the 1990s and has mediated in conflicts in South Asia, those between Western and Islamic countries on deconstructing terror, trans-boundary water conflicts, and nuclear risk reduction between permanent members of the UN Security Council. He was invited to address the United Nations Security Council session 7818 on water, peace, and security. He has been quoted in more than 3,000 media articles from eighty countries.
Waslekar read Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Oxford University from 1981 to 1983. He was conferred D. Litt. (Honoris Causa) of Symbiosis International University by the President of India in 2011.