大象传媒

This year's Reith lecturer is Canadian professor, diplomat, and politician Lester Pearson. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for organizing the United Nations Emergency Force to resolve the Suez Canal Crisis and was the 14th Prime Minister of Canada. During his tenure as Prime Minister, his government introduced universal health care, the Canada Pension Plan and the Order of Canada. With these accomplishments, together with his groundbreaking work at the United Nations and in international diplomacy, Pearson is generally considered among the most influential Canadians of the 20th century.

In his first lecture entitled 'Peace in the Family of Man', from his Reith series of the same name, Lester Pearson contemplates the possibilities of another world war. He argues for the economical, political and social changes which he believes are necessary in order to establish an effective international order to stop countries from battling at a nuclear level. He explores the need for fundamental changes to international relations in order to allow peace to flourish.