A New Realism for a World in Crisis — Marc Saxer

In this episode, we sit down with political analyst Marc Saxer to explore his theory of Transformative Realism and why he believes we’re living through a profound systemic crisis. From the erosion of international norms to the urgent need for reimagined statecraft, Marc offers a compelling framework for understanding the forces reshaping our world and what political leadership must look like in response.Marc SaxerMarc Saxer is a political analyst, strategist, and writer with two decades of experience in international relations. He heads the Asia Pacific office of the Friedrich-Ebert-Shtiftung and convenes the Asia Strategic Foresight Group.Publications:Transformative Realism: How to overcome the system crisisGeopolitical Conflict in the Wolf World: Great Power Competition and the Illiberal Revolt against the Liberal OrderContent00:00 - Introduction01:38 - Understanding Transformative Realism04:50 - Defining Systemic Crisis07:39 - Marc’s Most Compelling Crisis Case Study15:08 - The Erosion of International Norms and Rules18:24 - Recognizing the Signs of Systemic Crisis20:18 - The Role of Agency in Transformative Realism28:18 - Reimagining Statecraft and Political Leadership33:44 - The Crisis in Modern Statecraft EducationFollow & Further ResourcesSubstack: https://theirthinker.substack.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ir-thinker/X: https://x.com/irthinker_Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theirthinker/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/theirthinker.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/irthinkerfb Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.