Michael Lawrence is a Research Fellow of the Polycrisis Project at the Cascade Institute (Royal Roads University, Victoria BC) where he examines the causal mechanisms of crisis interactions across such global systems as governance, energy, food, economy, climate, ecology, technology, and security. He leads the Institute’s production of complexity learning tools, co-edited of the Global Sustainability special issue “Polycrisis in the Anthropocene,” and is a co-creator of polycrisis.org, a hub of polycrisis knowledge and practice.

Michael earned his PhD in Global Governance at the Balsillie School of International Affairs where his dissertation used complex systems thinking to trace the co-evolution of world order and violent conflict. At the University of Waterloo, he has taught on foreign policy, conflict resolution, and the complexity of global governance. He has also co-instructed courses at the University of Toronto on culture and human security, and on the intersection of art, history, and politics in twentieth century Berlin. Michael’s other professional experiences include work with the Colombian Campaign Against Landmines, the Centre for International Governance Innovation, and Security Governance Group.

Michael’s research interests include conflict analysis, peacebuilding, security studies, state formation, societal collapse, organized crime, world order, and applications of complexity thinking in the social sciences.