Event organised by the CSD Speaker Series and UNA-UK.

Speaker: Dr Thant Myint-U 

The United Nations is approaching its eightieth anniversary in perhaps its most perilous state ever, facing severe financial headwinds and mounting criticism, or indifference, from nearly every quarter. A new reform driver is underway. But can anything restore the world organisation to its place at the centre of global peacemaking? Dr Thant Myint-U will offer a fresh perspective on the history of the United Nations and suggest a possible path forward.

Join us for this special edition event, followed by a drinks reception at the Strand Building.

About the Speaker

Dr Thant Myint-U is an award-winning author, historian, international public servant and grandson of former United Nations Secretary-General U Thant. A graduate of Harvard and Cambridge Universities and Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, he has authored five books spanning from Burmese political history to his most recent publication, Peacemaker: U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just World (forthcoming, Atlantic Books, September 2025). He is a Senior Fellow at the UN Foundation and has served on three United Nations peacekeeping operations (Cambodia 1992-3, the former Yugoslavia 1994-5 and Bosnia and Herzegovina 1996), and at the UN Secretariat in New York for OCHA and the Department of Political Affairs. 

From 2011-2021, he helped lead reform and peace processes in Myanmar, including as a presidential adviser, the Founding Chairman of the Yangon Heritage Trust and the Chairman of U Thant House. He has also written several book chapters and monographs, as well as articles for the New York Times, the Financial Times, the London Review of Books, the Nikkei Asian Review, and many other publications.

Chair

The discussion will be chaired by Director of the Conflict, Security and Development Programme, Professor Mats Berdal. His research expertise lies in the role of the United Nations and other international organisations in the field of international peace and security, and the political economy of armed conflict.

About the CSD Speaker Series

The Conflict, Security and Development (CSD) Speaker Series is an initiative from the Conflict, Security & Development Research Group in the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. It aims to bring together interested individuals with leading experts and influential thinkers in the fields of conflict, security, and development.

This event will take place in K6.29 Anatomy Lecture Room on the Six Floor of the King’s Building. A member of our team will be stationed at the Strand Building reception to register you and direct you to the room.