Andrew John Williamson Memorial Public Lecture

This year's Andrew John Williamson Lecture will be delivered by General Sir Patrick Sanders, who will reflect on Antonio Gramsci’s enduring observation:
'The old world is dying, the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.'

The lecture will consider the implications of this insight for the contemporary West at a moment of acute geopolitical instability. After more than eight decades of relative peace and prosperity, sustained by the post-war international order, we now confront an era marked by disruptive change, insecurity, and the erosion of strategic confidence.

Sir Patrick will address a series of pressing questions:

• What structural forces are driving this turbulence?
• What are the potential consequences of failing to respond effectively?
• What strategies and measures might be adopted to enhance our security?
• To what extent do states and societies retain agency in shaping the emerging order?
• Although this is a period of profound risk, the lecture will also consider grounds for cautious optimism - what Ian Dury once called 'Reasons to be Cheerful'.