We are living in a time of extraordinary upheaval in the world, a world that, without hyperbole, has not existed since World War II. The geopolitical landscape is shifting with astonishing speed, national political arenas are more divided than they have been in generations and rising autocracy and far-right extremist ideologies are gaining a voice and, in some places, traction. Many economies are facing massive inflation, and some economists believe parts of the global economy will go into a recession this year. We are living through times of turmoil unseen in recent generations and, for all the ways that our world intersects and is interdependent, these issues highlight the fact that, as a global society, we are more disconnected from one another than ever before.

These shifts are impacting every part of society -- governments close borders, companies undertake layoffs and shed peripheral business units, individuals turn inward -- and the most vulnerable among us generally bear the largest burden from this polarization and social fracturing. In this Human Rights Series lecture, Ingrid Carlson, the director of global strategy for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), discusses some of the biggest trends we're experiencing globally, their implications for human rights and what impact we, as individuals, can have in this environment.

Carlson currently focuses on assessing global trends and their impact on business operations, with a special interest in how the private sector can be a leading driver of a more equitable world. She has nearly 20 years of experience in the public and private sectors, largely spent assessing security, risk and geopolitical issues, as well as functional expertise in policy-oriented analysis and critical-thinking best practices to problem-solve and enhance decision confidence among senior leadership teams.

Prior to joining PwC, Carlson spent a dozen years as a counterterrorism and counterintelligence analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Counterterrorism Center and the Defense Intelligence Agency. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychobiology from Mount Holyoke College and a master's from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. She lives in Virginia with her husband and two boys.