Fault lines: the new political economy of a warming world

In this lecture, Helen Milner addresses why vulnerability, lived experience, and material self-interest will drive the next phase of climate politics, and what that means for diplomacy, democracy and development.

In Fault Lines: The New Political Economy of a Warming World, Alexander F Gazmararian and Helen V Milner show how rising temperatures carve a stark divide around the 35th parallel, separating “damage zones” that stand to lose livelihoods and growth from regions that may even gain. This emerging “climate fault line” is already reshaping public opinion, business lobbying and state strategy, forging new coalitions below the line while stiffening resistance above it. This distributive clash—within countries and across borders—will decide whether decarbonisation accelerates or stalls.

Meet our speaker and chair

Helen Milner is the B.C. Forbes Professor of Politics and International Affairs and Director of the Niehaus Centre for Globalization and Governance at Princeton University. Professor Milner has researched extensively on issues related to international and comparative political economy, the connections between domestic politics and foreign policy, and the impact of globalization on domestic politics.

Liam F Beiser-McGrath (@lfbeisermcgrath) is Associate Professor in the Department of Social Policy, Chair of the Sustainable Social Policy and Welfare States Research Hub, Associate of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, and Affiliate of the Data Science Institute at LSE.

More about this event

The Department of Social Policy (@LSESocialPolicy) is an internationally recognised centre of research and teaching in social and public policy. From its foundation in 1912 it has carried out cutting edge research on core social problems, and helped to develop policy solutions.

Launched in 2025, the Global School of Sustainability at LSE (GSoS) is advancing global efforts to shape a brighter future for all that is sustainable, resilient, hopeful, prosperous and inclusive.

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