Date/Time: Thursday 1 February 2024, 5.30pm

Venue: Curtis Auditorium, Herschel Building, Newcastle University

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All our events remain free and open to all, but pre-booking is required. Bookings for this lecture will open at 10.00am on 25 January. To reserve your place click the booking link below or telephone our booking voicemail line 0191 208 6136.

Chaired by Dr Martin Farr, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary British History and Co-Chair, Public Lectures Committee

The crisis in the Middle East pushed the crisis in Ukraine into the shadows. And yet the stakes over both could not be higher. China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea are openly challenging the liberal democratic order we have grown used to. If they win, it will be a very uncomfortable world to live in. The former UK Defence Secretary, and Secretary General of NATO, considers what can be done.

Biography

Lord (George) Robertson was Secretary General of NATO and Chairman of the North Atlantic Council from 1999 to 2003 and UK Secretary of State for Defence from 1997-1999. He was Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland from 1992-1997 and Principal Opposition Spokesman on Europe from 1983-92. He was MP for Hamilton and then Hamilton South from 1978 -99. He is one of the sixteen Knights of the Thistle (KT), and among several high international honours received, he was awarded the highest American civilian honour, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003. He is a Senior Adviser to Chatham House and is on the Advisory Council of the Centre for European Reform, and the International Advisory Board of the US Atlantic Council.