Philosopher to share ideas on our geopolitical position

A political philosopher will ask people to consider our current global geopolitical situation 101 years after the outbreak of World War I when he presents Charles Darwin University’s first Professorial Lecture for 2015 on Tuesday, 16 June.

Professor Wayne Cristaudo is Chair of Politics at CDU’s School of Creative Arts and Humanities and will deliver the lecture entitled “Global Instabilities 101 Years After the Commencement of the First World War”.

“Far from being ‘the war to end wars’, 101 years after the outbreak of World War I, the precariousness of our geopolitical situation today still owes much to a number of the forces that led into or were unleashed during that devastating war,” Professor Cristaudo said.

“This lecture considers our contemporary geopolitical situation in light of that event that forever changed the world. I will ask: which geopolitical problems were settled by World War I, which were unleashed by the war, and which do we still live with?

“I will also explore the geopolitical differences between 1914 and today, and consider the worst case scenario for peace in our time,” he said.

Professor Cristaudo has worked in the field of political and social philosophy for more than three decades and has a particular interest in the philosophy and history of culture, ideas, social and political institutions, wars and revolutions.

An avid writer, he has written and edited 17 books (one of which has been translated into Chinese) and special journal issues on areas as diverse as political philosophy, religion and politics, revolution, love and evil, metaphysics, literature, and European identities. He is also a singer / songwriter and has self-released two albums.

Professor Cristaudo teaches the subjects international politics, foundations of Western civilization, and political ideas. He has held positions at the University of Adelaide and the University of Hong Kong, and has lectured in Europe, the USA and China.

He is presently working on a book on philosophy in the social sciences and the social circulation of ideas.

The Professorial Lecture will be held on Tuesday, 16 June from 5:30pm to 7:00pm in the Nitmiluk Lounge, Level 4, Parliament House. The event is free, but seats are limited and RSVPs are essential. RSVP by June 12 to E: rsvp@cdu.edu.au or T: 08 8946 6554.