Diplomacy and war have both been part of human history, but neither are stagnant concepts. Different conceptions of the global order influence policy decisions daily, while the notions of war equally shape nation-states and our lives. To get a deeper understanding of how both ideas impact geopolitics, host Mark Leonard talks to Margaret MacMillan, professor of history at the University of Toronto and author of the book “War: How Conflict Shaped Us”, Robert Cooper, distinguished British and European diplomat and author of “The Ambassadors: Thinking about Diplomacy from Machiavelli to Modern Times” and Gideon Rachman, British journalist and chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times. What are different models for thinking about global order? How do ideas about war shape what statesmen and -women do?

This podcast was recorded on 14 April 2021.

Bookshelf:• “The ambassadors: Thinking about diplomacy from Machiavelli to modern times ” by Robert Cooper• “War: How Conflict Shaped Us” by Margaret MacMillan• “Zero-Sum World: Politics, Power and Prosperity After the Crash” by Gideon Rachman• “Britain alone” by Philip Stephens• “The Greek Revolution: A Critical Dictionary” by Paschalis M. Kitromilides & Constantinos Tsoukalas• “The Count of Monte Cristo” by Alexandre Dumas• “Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain” by Sathnam Sanghera• “Ioannis A. Kapodistrias, the European diplomat and statesman of the 19th century” by Helen E. Koukkou