Abstract

Peter Frankopan’s “The Earth Transformed” offers a fundamental reinterpretation of human history, arguing compellingly that the natural environment and climatic shifts have been pivotal, and often primary, drivers of political change, societal collapse, and civilisational transformation. The book challenges us to look beyond traditional historical narratives and recognise the deep, enduring links between planetary systems and human destiny. This roundtable discussion uses Professor Frankopan’s historical insights as a crucial lens through which to examine today’s most pressing non-traditional security (NTS) challenges.

By exploring historical case studies of climate-induced state fragility, resource conflict, migration, and pandemics, this session will bridge the past with the present. We will discuss how the historical perspective offered in “The Earth Transformed” can inform contemporary strategies for climate security, strengthen our understanding of planetary health as a prerequisite for human well-being, and provide essential context for building more resilient societies in an age of accelerating environmental change.

About the speaker

Professor Peter Frankopan is Professor of Global History at Oxford University and UNESCO Professor of Silk Roads Studies at King’s College, Cambridge. His books include The First Crusade: The Call from the East (2012) which was described as ‘over-turning a millennium of scholarship’ (The Times) and ‘the most significant contribution to re-thinking the origins and causes of the First Crusade for a generation’ (The Times Literary Supplement). The Silk Roads: A New History of the World (2015), which was described ‘not just the most important history book in years, but the most important in decades’ (Berliner Zeitung). It was named one of the Sunday Times Books of the Decade (2010-19) and as one of the 25 most important books translated into Chinese, alongside Pride and Prejudice and A Hundred Years of Solitude. His book, The New Silk Roads: The Present and Future of the World (2018) was awarded the Carical Prize for Social Sciences in 2019.

Peter’s most recent book is The Earth Transformed: An Untold History (2023), which looks at the role played by climate, nature the environment since the dawn of time has been a major bestseller around the world. It was a Financial Times, Sunday Times, Le Point, Guardian Book of the Year, and The Times History Book of the Year. According to the Financial Times, ‘Humanity has transformed the Earth: Frankopan transforms our understanding of history.’

Peter is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the Royal Geographic Society, the Royal Society of Literature, the Royal Asiatic Society and the Royal Anthropological Institute, He is also President of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs. He advises governments, multi-lateral institutions around the world about global affairs. Often described as a ‘rockstar’ academic (BBC News, New Statesman, The Times, Der Spiegel), Peter has been called ‘the first great historian of the 21^st century’ (DCM magazine).