The Show Must Go On
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These are undeniably dark days and as fear, anger, grief, and devastation fill our screens, this latest in a series of crises is yet more evidence that our international system is in freefall. The brutality and horror unleashed in southwestern Israel on October the 7th know few parallels in modern history. It was only able to come about due to a disordered international system and the incompetence and divisiveness of neopopulist leaders.
Let us not forget that conflicts continue in Myanmar, Sudan and Ukraine, while Libya reels from a biblical flood. But instead of devising sensible long-term policy, some politicians are pointing fingers to gain political points while hostile states and extremists flood an ever-more unregulated cyberspace with fake videos, inauthentic accounts, conspiracy theories and hate speech, fomenting polarization and fear across the West. Where is the discussion of sensible gamechanging ways to get out of this disorder through international collaboration?
So what steps should we be taking to mitigate the chaos, and stop the hotheads, neo-populists and malevolent actors from taking charge? Trying to propose workable win-win compromises, Jason Pack published today: Qatar is the key to peace in postwar Gaza for The Boston Globe. In it, he explains how American and British diplomats should be working on creating a pan-Arab coalition to administer postwar Gaza — and Qatar’s role would be particularly important... Read here.
The Disorder Show is produced in partnership with Goalhanger Podcasts, the UK's largest independent podcast company and producer of such acclaimed shows as The Rest is Politics.
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The 2023 Israeli-Hamas war: A Symptom of our Era of Disorder?
On Saturday October the 7th the world awoke to the most horrific, chaotic, and game changing Arab-Israeli war in 50 years. But despite how tragic the news was, it wasn’t at all surprising. Internal divisions and partisan dysfunction inside previously functioning democracies (like Israel) have left previously secure and united societies divided and open to their enemies. This has been an open invitation to those who wish to actively disorder global affairs.
In this bonus episode, Jason Pack and David Patrikarakos discuss how, in our era of disorder, conflicts in one part of the world create immediate disordering reactions elsewhere. They’ll also talk about David’s time in Gaza, Jason’s conversations with anti-Semitic cab drivers in Lebanon and the West Bank, and how the internet radicalizes reporting on this conflict. Jason and David disagree agreeably about whether Hamas has already won this war. Finally, they’ll try to suggest ways out of this conflict, as they try to Order the Disorder. Listen Here.
Historically Thinking: Disorder
Jason Pack features on Historically Thinking to talk about his personal history and the Enduring Disorder concept. They discuss being kidnapped in Lebanon, quitting the academic world, and what backgammon can teach us about global affairs. Listen Here.
Keen On: Is Peace There for the Taking?
Andrew Keen and Jason Pack discuss the disorder in Israel, Gaza, the Middle East and beyond, on Keen On. Listen Here.
Keen On: Israel, Gaza, and the New Global Disorder
Andrew Keen and Alexandra Hall Hall discuss Israel, Gaza, the Ukraine, Brexit and her long career as a British diplomat. Listen Here.
Byline Times Podcast: Brexit's Blurred Lines
Brexit is only half the story. Democracy itself is at risk - and not only in the UK, warns Alexandra Hall Hall. Listen Here.
Behind the Lines with Arthur Snell
Storm Daniel passed through the Mediterranean in early September, one of a bewildering number of extreme weather events in recent months. When it hit Libya on 10 September, torrential rainfall led to catastrophic floods in the Town of Derna. At the time of recording as many as 20,000 people are missing, feared dead. It was an example of the terrifying new reality of the climate crisis where entire cities can be wiped out by wildfires or floods, literally in a matter of hours. Jason Pack and Arthur Snell talk it through, on Behind the Lines. Listen Here.
Recommended Reading
How Israel’s Feared Security Services Failed to Stop Hamas’s Attack by Ronen Bergman and Patrick Kingsley for The New York Times.
The 9/11 Trap by Arthur Snell, in Not All Doom.
Israel and Hamas: 'Fingerpointing will Get us Nowhere'.
The ripple effects of this latest upsurge in violence will go far beyond Israeli and Palestinian territory. What now lies ahead, and what can the international community do? Alexandra Hall Hall writes in Byline Times. Read here.
Hamas' Control of Gaza Must End Now
But what should replace it? Bret Stephens writes in the New York Times. Read here.
The Disorder Endures...
We are living through an unprecedented era. International institutions like the UN are incapable of tackling global challenges, disrupting powers are deliberating whether to promote chaos rather than order, while like-minded countries fail to coordinate on transnational threats. Meanwhile, a slew of leaders are acting in their own self-interests rather than looking out for their people. The result? Crisis, tragedy, Enduring Disorder.
Episode 4: Who is Leading the Disorder?
It is generally thought that Russia is at the top table when it comes to Global Disordering, but medium powers like Iran and conflict-zones like Libya are have significant parts to play. Investigating the role that Iran plays in actively disordering the world and Libya plays in passively disordering it tells us a lot about our era of enduring disorder, who benefits from it and why the Enduring Disorder persists and escalates. Our guests on this episode are former diplomat Stephanie Williams and Iran expert Professor Ali Ansari.
Episode 5: Migration and Our Era of Disorder
Could increased global coordination be used to reframe the way migration is viewed, and lead to win-win outcomes rather than the current zero-sum debate? As climate change exacerbates and the world starts feeling the heat, the need for collective action has never been more dire. Parag Khanna, author of Move and Laurence Huang from the Institute of Migration join Alex and Jason to order the disorder.
Episode 6: NATO: The Model for Organising our World?
International institutions are only as powerful as the states and individuals that support them. NATO is arguably the most successful international institution of the post-War period. In this episode, we look at NATO and its adversaries and see what the emotional and ideological components of NATO’s success tells us about how institutions can help foster order in our Era of Enduring Disorder. This episode features Jamie Shea, Timothy Garton Ash, Kori Schake, and Charles Kupchan.
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Thanks for reading, clicking, listening, and engaging. As always, we hope we will be writing to you from a more ‘ordered’ world, but don’t hold your breath.
Jason Pack & the Global Enduring Disorder team