Previous Events - 2016

A Briton at the Heart of Europe: Revisiting Roy Jenkins' Presidency of the European Commission 

Joint LSE IDEAS-LSE Department of International History event. 
Forty years ago, a British politician was appointed President of the European Commission. In this lecture Dr Piers Ludlow explored what Jenkins' tenure reveals about the nature of the job and the history of Britain in Europe.

Global Elite Knowledge Networks & Anglo-American Power: Think Tanks, Foundations, & Universities & the New World Order

Joint LSE IDEAS-City University London-Princeton University event.
This international workshop examined the role of think tanks in foreign policy making. In particular, it focused on the huge influence of think tanks in post war planning during and after World War II, and the establishment of international informal networks of policy evidence.

The Legacy of Peace: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos

Joint LSE IDEAS-LSE Latin America and Caribbean Centre event.  The LSE IDEAS International Drug Policy Project was honoured to welcome President of Colombia and 2016 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Juan Manuel Santos to the LSE on November 2nd, where he said the referendum result could be a "blessing in disguise" for the peace process. 

The European Union at the Crossroads: Brexit and After

LSE IDEAS Dahrendorf Forum event.  With the UK heading for Brexit, the European Union faces a historic challenge but also an opportunity to rethink its own future. French Minister Axelle Lemaire, historian Margaret MacMillan, and Lord Giddens debated Brexit and the future of Europe.

An Imaginary War? Culture, Thought and Nuclear Conflict during the Cold War Part of the Rethinking the Cold War Lecture Series with the University of Sheffield. 

Collective imaginations of nuclear warfare were a central battleground of the Cold War, fought through war-games and fictitious scenarios. This panel debate explored the 'imaginary war' and how culture and individuals struggled to comprehend nuclear war.

Strengthening Global Governance for the 21st Century

In this lecture, Director-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova will explore the role of the United Nations in sustaining a rules-based international order in an increasingly turbulent world. 

The Decline of the West in the New Asian Century?

Financial Times columnist Gideon Rachman and experts from LSE IDEAS discussed his new book Easternisation, debating how far Asia's growing wealth will move the international balance of power away from the West, Chinese nationalism, and the US-China competition for allies in Asia. 

Signals and Social Consequences from Shrinkflation to Fighter Jets

Joint event with LSE Department of International Relations.  Former US Presidential adviser Pippa Malmgrem gave an impassioned lecture on why we need to watch non-data economic signals to understand modern geopolitics. 

Power and Pragmatism with Sir Malcolm Rifkind

For almost forty years, Malcolm Rifkind served at the forefront of British politics. In this lecture, Sir Malcolm gave a lively account of his involvement in some of recent history’s most important events - such as early meetings between Thatcher and Gorbachev, and secret negotiations with the Argentine government on the Falklands Islands.

British-Soviet Relations in the Cold War Project Launch

The launch of our British-Soviet Relations in the Cold War 1943-1953 project took place at the British Academy on Wednesday, 13 July 2016. Speakers included Ash Amin, Foreign Secretary of the British Academy, Alexandr Chubarian of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Vladimir Pechatnov, Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

EU Referendum: What Now?

The Monday after the UK voted for Brexit, LSE IDEAS held an event with Sarasin & Partners on what happens now. LSE experts and guests from business and politics discussed the impact on the global markets, the UK economy, British politics, and the wider world. 

Sun Tzu meets Michael Porter: Military Strategy vs Business Strategy

In this Global Strategies @ LSE lecture, economist John Kay discusses to what extent is business strategy is similar to military or political strategies. John Kay is one of Britain's leading economists, whose career has spanned the academic world, business and public affairs. His interests focus on the relationships between economics and business.

Dahrendorf Symposium 2016: Europe and the World - Global Insecurity & Power Shifts, Berlin

The Dahrendorf Symposium is a high-profile event debating Europe’s future, attended by around 300 European policy-makers and foreign policy experts. Watch videos, read blogs, and catch up with Twitter from the event now.

The key to success of the Sustainable Development Goals?

This event with UN advocates Paul Polman (CEO of Unilever) and Alaa Murabit explored how the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be achieved -including the crucial roles of local leadership and institutions, global businesses, and young people around the world. 

Gaining Freedoms: Claiming Space in Istanbul and Berlin

How does the space of a city influence democracy? In this Dahrendorf Forum lecture, Berna Turam explores how urban sites create new and creative politics, particularly in Turkey where they challenge the binary view of Islamist-secularist conflict in both exceptional moments like the Gezi protests and everyday living.

Changing Waters: Towards a New EU Asia Strategy

The EU-Asia relationship has changed. At this event, contributors to Changing Waters spoke about the future of EU-Asia relations from building a new development relationship, expanding the EU's role in Asian security, and Chinese perspectives on the EU.

The Role of Think Tanks and Technical Experts In Foreign and Security Policy

This conference in Rome was a joint event between Italy's preeminent think-tank Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), LSE IDEAS, the LUISS School of Government, and Centre de la Méditerranée Moderne et Contemporaine in Nice (in cooperation with Institut Francais and Knorad Adenauer Stiftung), held as part of IAI's 50th anniversary celebrations.

Europe & the Return of Geopolitics

In this Dahrendorf Forum lecture, Ambassador Pierre Vimont, first executive secretary-general of the European External Action Service, asked whether the EU - designed to prevent geopolitics - can meet the challenge of their return in the Ukraine crisis.

UK-China: Stocks, Shakespeare, and Satellites

British Ambassador to China Barbara Woodward on the 'Golden Era' of UK-China relations, the importance of public diplomacy, and building a strategic partnership.

Philippe Roman Chair Lecture: 20,000 Years of Hierarchy

In his final Philippe Roman Chair lecture, Ian Morris explains how the way a society produces energy creates the 'right' amount of inequality for it to thrive, from foraging groups to the Roman Empire. Using the method of long term history, Morris also asks what technology will mean for the future of inequality.

China, Brexit, & the EU: Challenges, Uncertainties, & Opportunities?

This China Foresight-Dahrendorf Forum workshop explored strategic aspects of China-EU relations and how the Brexit debate will impact the newly revived bilateral relationship between Beijing and London.

Rebooting the Cold War: A Global History of Western Triumphalism & Nostalgia

Part of 'Rethinking the Cold War' Lecture Series. This lecture by Prof Penny Von Eschen of Cornell University considers the restructuring of Cold War binaries in the early 1990s as many Americans searched for ‘a new enemy’, and again after 9/11 with George W. Bush’s ‘Axis of Evil’.

Global Histories of Latin America's Revolutionary Left

Joint IDEAS Cold War Studies Project-LSE Department of International History event. This international conference brought scholars together from around the world to debate Latin America’s revolutionary left, including its links with Catholicsim and the world. 

Can China Achieve Hegemony in East Asia?

Joint IDEAS-LSE Department of International Relations event.
This seminar explored the regional policy of China and other countries during the Ming Dynasty era to compare with our understanding of the international order in East Asia today.

After the Drug Wars: International Drug Policy Project report launch

In this event, contributors to After the Drug Wars from the LSE Expert Group on the Economics of Drug Policy set out a new framework for drug control based on Sustainable Development ahead of the UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS).

Philippe Roman Chair lecture: 20,000 Years of Violence

20,000 years ago, the average person stood a 10-20% chance of dying violently. Today, the chance is under 1%. How has this happened. Philippe Roman Chair Ian Morris argues that violence has slowly been putting itself out of business.

Russia and the EU: back to realism?

At this Dahrendorf Forum lecture, leading Moscow analyst and Editor-in-Chief of Russia in Global Affairs Fyodor Lukyanov argued that it's time to redefine the Europe - Russia relationship based on a pragmatic understanding of respective interests and capabilities.

Tsar Alexander I and the European Order, Ideas, & Practices

This Paulsen Project lecture by Prof Marie-Pierre Rey explored the personality, reign, and ideas of Tsar Alexander I. Professor Rey explored the Tsar's ideas of European balance of power and peace through Christian union and how they have shaped the modern international order.