Public Lectures and Events

An Imaginary War? Culture, Thought and Nuclear Conflict during the Cold War 19th October, 6.30-8pm, LSE IDEAS (Tower 2, 9.05)

Part of the Rethinking the Cold War Lecture Series.  Collective imaginations of nuclear warfare were a central battleground of the Cold War, fought through war-games and fictitious scenarios. This panel debate explores the 'imaginary Cold War', from how specific media and national cultures created it to the implications for our understanding of the Cold War and the atomic bomb.

25 Years After the End of the Cold War: Its Legacy in a New World Order  

Launch of Cold War History Special Issue. Twenty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, how do these events shape the world today? What are the legacies of the Cold War? And are we truly in the midst of a new Cold War?

The Polish Round Table Talks & the End of the Cold War - 25 Years On

The Polish roundtable talks and subsequent elections on 4 June 1989 were a crucial step in ending the Cold War. 25 years later, LSE IDEAS and the Polish Embassy in London invite witnesses of the Polish Democratic Transition to join academics to discuss the importance of the events for Poland, for Europe, and for the world. 

The Future of EU Enlargement Report Launch

Enlargement is widely hailed as the EU’s most successful policy, largely responsible for successful transitions from dictatorship to democracy after the end of the Cold War. Yet forty years after the first enlargement, confidence in the European project seems to be at an all-time low. Is EU Enlargement in crisis? 

The Soviet Union's Collapse: Causes and Consequences

What were the origins of the collapse of the USSR? What did 1991 look and feel like from the inside? What is the legacy of 1991 for the former USSR itself? Sir Rodric Braithwaite, Andrei Grachev, and Margot Light reflect on how history unfolded.

The Cuban Missile Crisis - regional perspectives 50 years on

This public discussion, jointly hosted with the Institute for the Study of the Americas, marked the fiftieth anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis. It presented a Cuba-centric perspective of the crisis, as an alternative to the standard narrative that focuses on the superpowers with specialists on Cuban history from the UK, Canada, and Cuba. 

Catch-Up History and the Cold War with Peter Hennessy

World-renowned expert on Cold War intelligence and espionage, author of The Secret State, Peter Hennessy explores recently declassified documents and how history can help us 'catch-up' with the threats of today.

Gorbachev, Reagan and new evidence on strategic weapons and the end of the Cold War with David Hoffman

Pulitzer Prize winning author and journalist and former Moscow bureau chief David Hoffman discusses Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative and Soviet responses to it, illuminating Gorbachev's decision-making process.

The Defence of the Realm

For the first time, the British Security Service has opened its archives to an independent historian – Christopher Andrew. In this lecture, Professor Andrew describes how MI5 has been managed, what its relationship has been with government, where it has triumphed and where it has failed.

A Transnational Community of Solidarity? Western Social Reaction to the Polish Crisis 1980-82

The Polish crisis in the beginning of the 1980s provoked strong reactions in the West. In many countries, trade unions and specially founded committees used various methods to express their solidarity with Polish workers. Dr Idesbald Goddeeris explores the transnational dimension to this international solidarity campaign.