A Year After October 7: Gaza and Its Global Implications

The international system appears to be at an inflection point. Israel’s destruction of Gaza and the regional spillover, the wars in Ukraine and Sudan, have all tested the system’s ability to cope with grave violations of international law in seemingly unprecedented ways, while exposing the stark double standards in how advocates of the current international order respond to those violations.

The unfolding genocide in Gaza, in particular, is already having far-reaching implications on regional and global political dynamics, international governance and legal mechanisms, and human rights, that will likely stretch well into the future. It has also destabilized the Middle East, opening an unprecedentedly wide ambit of conflict that threatens to engulf countries from Lebanon to Yemen. 

On October 13, world-renowned international relations theorist John Mearsheimer, author of the recent book, How States Think: The Rationality of Foreign Policy, joined the Middle East Council’s Distinguished Speaker series to discuss the crisis in Gaza and the region, why various actors are behaving the way they are, and what outcomes can be expected in the near- and long-term.

The session was recorded by Al Jazeera and broadcasted as a special episode of the Center Stage Program (Centre Stage is an interview podcast where influential thought leaders share their perspectives on pressing world issues.)