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Podcasts

Listen to podcasts from previous LSE IDEAS events.

In IDEAS we certainly hope we have something worthwhile to offer a global public hungry for analysis rather than soundbites, open debate rather than cheap posturing.

IDEAS Director Professor Michael Cox

IDEAS events aim to provide the public, policymakers, and professionals with diplomatic insight. Our events include public lectures, debates, policy workshops, and international conferences.

You can find podcasts and videos from past LSE IDEAS events, organised by year.

2024

Russia Ukraine Dialogues 2 300 x 300

Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: battlefield dynamics and prospects for 2024
Tuesday 13th January

Keir Giles and Ben Hodges along with chair, Leon Hartwell, discussed battlefield dynamics on the ground, sea and air as well as changing supply routes for Russia and Ukraine.

The Three Worlds

The three worlds: does the liberal order have a future?
Tuesday 6th January

G John Ikenberry, Rohan Mukherjee, Leslie Vinjamuri, Ayse Zakarol and Michael Cox discussed whether increasing competition is dividing world politics and more.

Russia Ukraine Dialogues 2 300 x 300

Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: Women on the Frontlines
Tuesday 30th January

Diana Butsko, Hannah Hopko and Mariia Zolkina explored how women's increased participation in military and paramilitary roles has altered societal perceptions.

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Russia-Ukraine dialogues: taking the pulse
Tuesday 16th January

Prof Michael Cox, Dr Tamara Krawchenko and Dr Nathalie Tocci discussed the impact of the war on the immediate region and global world order as well as looking at what to expect in 2024.


 

2023

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: the war’s impact on the Western Balkans
Tuesday 24th October

Dr Kurt Bassuener, Dr. Dimitar Bechev and Meliza Haradinaj discussed the profound implications of the war on the Western Balkans.

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: the evolution of cyber warfare
Tuesday 3rd October

Alexander Crowther, Nadiya Kostyuk and Tanel Sepp spotlighted evolving cyber strategies during the war and the changing nature of cyber warfare.

Russia Ukraine Dialogues 2 300 x 300

Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: the future of Russia
Tuesday 25th July

Natalia Arno, Janusz Bugajski and Mikhail Khodorkovsky focus on Russian domestic vulnerabilites, widening disparities and more.

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: the impact of the conflict on Moldova
Tuesday 27th June

Ana Revenco, George Scutaru and Iulian Groza examined the distinct case of Moldova and its increasingly strained relations with Russia.


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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: Rebuilding Ukraine - Challenges and Opportunities
Tuesday 13th June 2023

Gavin Gray, Luke Cooper and Nataliia Shapoval discussed the current state of the Ukrainian economy and the role of government and the private sector in supporting the reconstruction process.

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: changing the narrative
Tuesday 30th May 2023

Ivana Stradner, Jennifer A. Cassidy and Julia Davis analysed how Russia's narrative has changed since Fenruary 2022.


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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: how will this war end?
Monday 15th May 2023

Donald Jensen, Kurt Volker and Nataliya Bugayova discussed potential outcomes of the Russia-Ukraine war.


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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: deepening sanctions
Tuesday 2nd May 2023

Hanna Shtepa, Tymofiy Mylovanov and Viljar Lubi focused on sanction regimes against Russia in response to the February 2022 escalation of the war.

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: support for the war among Russians
Wednesday 5th April 2023

Alena Popova, Ian Garner, Jade McGlynn and Maksim Kruglov discussed support for the war amongst Russians.


Climate finance in a fractured world

Climate Finance in a Fractured World
Thursday 23rd March 2023

Patricia Espinosa, Sandeep Sengupta and Robert Falkner discussed whether multilateral institutions are up to the task of financing the fight against climate change?


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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: African responses to the war
Tuesday 21st March 2023

Abdelhak Bassou, Elizabeth Sidiropoulos and Liubov Abravitova focused on African responses to the war in Ukraine.


China Mongolia Acc SQ

Mongolia-China Relations in 2023: border reopening and other developments
Monday 20th March 2023

This was a discussion of trends in bilateral relations following reopening of the China-Mongolia border, protests against corruption in coal exports and advances in Mongolia’s “New Recovery” policy.


Afghanistan event

Afghanistan: the death of liberal internationalism?
Monday 13th March 2023

This event examined the multiple dimensions of conflict in Afghanistan; what happened, why, and what the future holds for the country now the Taliban are back in power.

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: NATO one year on
Thursday 9th March 2023

Paul King, Gorana Grgic, Jamie Shea discussed the impact of the war on NATO.


Russia Ukraine Dialogues 2 300 x 300

Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: Ukraine, One Year On
Tuesday 21st February 2023

Andrii Yarmolskyi, Mariia Zolkina, Olga Tokariuk, Oleksandr Hryban and Andrii Ziuz discussed Ukraine one year on from the beginning of the war.


Rupture image

The Rupture: A Revolution in China Policy?
Monday 20th February 2023

Andrew Small, Elizabeth Ingleson and Chris Alden focused on the drivers of China policy across Europe and beyond.


Can the world defeat inflation GEGC

Can the World Defeat Inflation without an International Accord?
Monday 13th Febraury 2023

Brad Setser, Ricardo Reis and Minouche Shafik addressed questions global monetary cooperation in the context of the current state of the global economy.

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: the war's intimate connection to Belarus
Tuesday 7th February 2023

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Mark Hertling and Katia Glod discussed the link between Ukraine and Belarus' struggles for freedom and democracy.

China provinces as foreign policy actors

Chinese Provinces as Foreign Policy Actors
Thursday 26th January 2023

Drawing on examples from China-Africa relations, this China Foresight event discussed the continued role of provinces under Xi and the implications this has for China’s relationship with Africa.

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: the importance of the Baltic States
Tuesday 24th January 2023

Dr Artis Pabriks, Jonas Survila and President Toomas Hendrik Ilves focused on how the war has impacted the Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – individually and collectively.

Chinas media influence acc sq

China's Media Influence in Africa
Thursday 19th January 2023

Focusing on Africa, the event discussed and evaluated the findings of the recent Freedom House report from local, regional and global perspectives.

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: where to start with New START and arms control?
Tuesday 10th January 2023

Dr Oliver Meier, Ambassador Steven Pifer and Sarah Bidgood discussed the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) and arms control in the context of the war.


 

2022

MTL Richard Walker

Meet the Leader with Richard Walker
Tuesday 13th December 2022

In this discussion Richard Walker, Managing director of the British Iceland supermarket chain, talked to Lutfey Siddiqi, Visiting Professor in Practice at LSE IDEAS.

Russia Ukraine Dialogues 2 300 x 300

Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: Black Sea security
Tuesday 6th December 2022

Andriy Zagorodnyuk, Tania Latici and Tornike Parulava joined Leon Hartwell to discuss Black Sea security from the Ukrainian, Georgian and EU perspectives.

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: the future of energy
Tuesday 29th November 2022

Benjamin Schmitt, Guy Monson and Jadwiga Emilewicz joined Leon Hartwell for discuss the impact of the war on regional and global energy markets.

Global trading system 2

The Global Trading System in Crisis
Wednesday 16th November 2022

Dani Rodrik, Ignacio Garcia Bercero, Michael Pettis and Christine Côté discuss problems with the global trading system, core reform priorities and potential obstacles.

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: non-aligned perspectives
Tuesday 15th November 2022

Desra Percaya, Tanvi Madan and Mustafa Kutlay joined Leon Hartwell to discuss the views of three states seemingly non-aligned in the war, namely Turkey, Indonesia and India.  

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: the future of China-Russia relations
Tuesday 1st November 2022

Lukas Fiala, Björn Alexander Düben and Yu Jie joined our chair Leon Hartwell to discuss the evolving relationship between China and Russia including diplomacy, lessons learned and the impact on military strategy.

NATO strategic concept

NATO's Strategic Concept
Monday 31st October 2022

Benedetta Berti, Christopher Coker and Andy Salmon took part in this LSE public event chaired by Mary Kaldor discussing NATO's latest strategic concept, when it was formed and what it is for.

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: battlefield updates
Tuesday 18th October 2022

Mariia Avdeeva, Michael Kofman and Sir Lawrence Freedman joined our chair Dr Leon Hartwell to look at the past eight months of the conflict. Discussing phases of the war, NATO support for Ukraine and future scenarios.

Strategic nexus

The Strategic Nexus Between Climate Change, Energy and Geopolitics 
Tuesday 11th October 2022

Professor Robert Falkner, Dr Rita Floyd and Professor Christopher Coker explored how to develop effective international strategies that help us prevent catastrophic global warming.

Feminist Foreign Policy

Feminist Foreign Policy
Tuesday 4 October 2022

Sofia Calltorp, Dame Judith Macgregor, Maryam Monsef and Nina Bernarding joined Professor Karen Smith to discuss what is a feminist foreign policy and how can it be implemented.

Money and empire

Money and Empire: A Conversation on Charles Kindleberger and the Dollar System
Tuesday 8 September 2022

LSE Global Economic Governance Commission experts joined us for a coversation on Professor Perry Mehrling's latest book 'Money and Empire: Charles P. Kindleberger and the Dollar System' with the author himself. 

Debt crisis thumb

The Emerging Market Debt Crisis                  

Jayati Gosh, Joseph Stiglitz and Jerome Roos discussed why emerging markets are facing another debt crisis and how can they be addressed effectively.


Russia Ukraine Dialogues 2 300 x 300

 Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: economic scars of the war

Tymofyi Mylovanov, Nataliia Shapoval, Mary Kaldor and Luke Cooper discuss the economic impact of the war in Ukraine, and future reconstruction and development.

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 Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: corporate responses

John W.H. Denton, Rory MacFarquhar and Atanas Raykov analyse actions undertaken by the private sector in the wake of the war, both in Russia and in Ukraine.

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City on the Edge: Hong Kong under Chinese Rule 

In this webinar, Bi-yu Chang, Ho-fung Hung, Tania Branigan and Christopher R. Hughes discuss the Hong Kong’s past and future under Chinese rule.

meettheleader

Meet the leader: a conversation with David Craig
Thursday 30 June 2022

David Craig speaks with Lutfey Siddiqi as part of the Meet the Leader series, hosted by LSE IDEAS’ Alumni Network.

trade_acc

The new geopolitics of trade: what are the implications for the global trading system?

Following on from the 12th WTO conference, Ignacio Garcia Bercero (Director in charge of Multilateral Affairs, Strategy and economic Analysis at DG Trade in the European Commission) reflects about possible future scenarios for the global trading system, including the prospects for WTO reform.

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: Russian and Belarusian anti-war movements

Andrei Soldatov, Ella Rossman and Lolja Nordic discuss ongoing anti-war efforts of activists and their impacts on domestic politics in Russia and Belarus. 

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Geography is Destiny - Britain's Complex Relationship with Europe
Monday 13 June

Ian Morris discusses with Michael Cox how geography, migration, government, and new technologies interacted to produce regional inequalities that still affect us today.

Russia Ukraine Dialogues 2 300 x 300

Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: negotiating with Putin
Tuesday 7 June

What lessons can we learn from past negotiations between Russia and Ukraine? Should Ukraine be negotiating with Putin? Listen to a discussion with Robert H. Mnookin and Elizabeth Hume.

Global Economic Governance sq

A New Bretton Woods: the International System in Historical Perspective
Tuesday 31 May

Rana Mitter, Margaret MacMillan, Ngaire Woods and Andres Velasco discuss integrating a rising power (i.e. China) into an existing and ill-fitting international system, how to account for and reverse the shortcomings of international organisations throughout the Global South, how to manage a global economy at war, how to establish a peaceful and durable post-war settlement, and more.

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: impact on NATO and European Security
Tuesday 31 May

As NATO prepares to adopt a new Strategic Concept in June, James G Foggo, Elena Lazarou and Lauren Speranza discussed the impact of the war on transatlantic defense and security.  

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The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor: a flashpoint of regional competition
Monday 30 May

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor offers Pakistan with abundant economic opportunities to ease out its financial distress and provides China with another opening in Indian Ocean through Gwadar. LSE IDEAS Jinnah Fellow Dr Seema Khan discusses why the CPEC has remained the subject of intense scrutiny, criticism and pivot of regional politics.

Margaret MacMillan sq

The Grand Alliance and Victory in the Second World War

Russia Ukraine Dialogues 2 300 x 300

Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: The road to NATO for Sweden and Finland
Tuesday 24 May

Karin Enström (Sweden’s Chair of the Swedish Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly/former Minister of Defense) and Jukka Siukosaari (Finland’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom) discuss Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership.  

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: dissecting international crimes
Tuesday 17 May

This Russia-Ukraine Dialogues event discussed Russia's international crimes – war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity – in relation to the war in Ukraine.

Russia Ukraine Dialogues 2 300 x 300

Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: humanitarian impact
Tuesday 10 May

Maria Avdeeva, Bertrand Blanc (UNHCR), and Michael Young (Mercy Corps) provide perspectives from the ground on the humanitarian impact of the ongoing war on Ukraine.

space_accsq

Space Expansionism, Planetary Geopolitics and the Future of Space Policy
Monday 9 May

In a context of increasing interest in outer space, Daniel Deudney discusses the impact of space activities on humanity and the future of space expansionism. 

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Weaponising The Global Economy
Tuesday 3 May

Ben Judah, Abraham L. Newman, Rachel Ziemba and Nikhil Kalyanpur discussed the lasting impact of sanctions and their meaning for the future of the global economy.

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: perspectives from frontline states
Tuesday 3 May

This panel of the LSE IDEAS’ Russia-Ukraine Dialogues partnered with the LSE IDEAS Central and South-East Europe Programme to discuss the reactions from and impact on frontline states: Poland, Hungary, Romania and Belarus.  

Warships sq

Global Disorder After "Liberal" Hegemony
Thursday 28 April

In a context of increasing international crisis and turmoil, this panel discusses the sources and future of global disorder after liberal hegemony. Featuring Trine Flockhart, Daniel Nexon, Jason Pack, Inderjeet Parmar and Aaron McKeil.

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: diplomacy in the time of war
Tuesday 26 April

This panel of the LSE IDEAS’ Russia-Ukraine Dialogues discussed the past, current and future diplomatic efforts towards ending the war. Speakers provided the US, Lithuanian and UK perspectives on the ongoing conflict. 

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: a view from the Balkans
Tuesday 19 April

This panel of the LSE IDEAS’ Russia-Ukraine Dialogues partnered with the LSE IDEAS Central and South-East Europe Programme to discuss the impact of the ongoing conflict on Balkan states.

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: Xi Jinping's dilemma

What are the implications of the war in Ukraine for the "no limits" partnership between Russia and China? Olga Tokariuk, George Magnus and Mariah Thornton discuss. 

USA Flag sun event sq

From Afghanistan to Ukraine: the crisis of the American empire

Dollar Yuan sq

The Quest for Global Economic Leadership: a conversation on the United States and China
Thursday 7 April

Fred Bergsten, Keyu Jin and Lutfey Siddiqi discuss whether Washington and Beijing will have the will and capacity to lead the global economy.

Stan event sq

Sinostan: China's inadvertent empire in Central Asia
Wednesday 6 April

Raffaello Pantucci and Professor Chris Alden discuss China's foreign policy in Central Asia, and what it can tell about China’s transformative vision for how international affairs should be shaped.

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: shaping the narrative
Tuesday 5 April

Edward Lucas, Margaret MacMillan and Kamil Mikulski analyse Putin's narrative management and disinformation. 

 

Michele Wucker

Meet the Leader: Michele Wucker
Thursday 31 March

Michele Wucker speaks with Lutfey Sidiqqi as part of the Meet the Leader series, hosted by LSE IDEAS’ Alumni Network and China Foresight.

Global Economic Governance sq

The World in Polycrisis: a new agenda for global economic governance
Thursday 31 March

LSE Director Minouche Shafik is joined by LSE IDEAS Director Chris Alden, Grantham Research Institute Chair Nick Stern, and Keyu Jin to discuss some of the global economy’s most pressing problems and map out a new agenda for global economic governance, which the Commission will take up in subsequent panels.

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: Putin's options
Tuesday 29 March

Catherine Ashton, Gudrun Persson, Natalia Savelyeva and Leon Hartwell focus on the impact of the war on Russia’s security and the options available to Putin.

Ukraine tank sq

New Threats and New Wars: looking to the future of Europe's strategic and defence landscape
Thursday 24 March

This webinar explored what the future of Europe’s defence and security landscape would look like.

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: what more can be done?
Tuesday 22 March

One month into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Jaroslava Barbieri, John L. Gronski, Linda Yueh and Leon Hartwell focus on what the international community can and should be doing to support Ukraine further.

Margaret MacMillan sq

Alliances and the Outbreak of the Second World War
Monday 21 March

The growth of the Axis and the failures of the democracies to counter it are often blamed for the outbreak of war in 1939. Is this fair? And could the Western democracies have done more to make common cause with the Soviet Union against the Axis? This lecture focusses on the two years from 1939-1941 and key turning points such as the Nazi-Soviet pact, the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact, the German invasion of the Soviet Union and the Japanese attack on the United States and other powers.

Watch the video recording of the lecture.

Latin American Recovery event sq

Latin American Economic Outlook: working together for a better recovery
Wednesday 16 March

This webinar presents the findings of the Latin American Economic Outlook 2021: Working Together for a Better Recovery. It also shares policy recommendations for a strong, inclusive and environmentally sustainable recovery in Latin America.

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: transatlantic responses
Tuesday 15 March

Gorana Grgić, Jason Israel, Jamie Shea, Radosław Sikorski and Leon Hartwell discussed the existing and expected responses of Ukraine’s transatlantic partners to the war.

Wall St US Flag sq

Financial Cold War? A View of Sino-US Relations from the Financial Markets
Thursday 10 March

Joyce Chang, James A. Fok and Lutfey Siddiqi discuss US-China competition from the perspective of the financial markets.

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Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: status update
Tuesday 8 March

Christopher Coker, Ben Hodges, Guy Monson, Susan Scholefield and Leon Hartwell discussed the following issues from an international perspective: State of play of Russia’s full scale military invasion of Ukraine; The international response (especially NATO, China and Belarus); Policy options for NATO and other partners.

EU Best Shot sq

The EU's Best Shot: overcoming vaccine hesitancy in marginalised local identities
Wednesday 2 March

Local identities across Central and South-Eastern Europe have seen a sustained distrust and scepticism in the region when it comes to vaccine uptake. How can the EU overcome this hurdle?

China Arctic Event sq

China and the Arctic: energy finance, history and regional governance
Wednesday 23 February

Catch up on the final China-Arctic panel from LSE IDEAS and UiT on the role of Chinese finance and energy investments and their implications for regional governance.

 

Chain sq

The US, China and the Global Race to Dominate Blockchain and Crypto Technologies
Tuesday 22 February

With growing state interests in ‘blockchain’ and ‘cryptocurrency’, the panel discusses the capabilities and potential uses of these technologies for domestic and foreign policy.

 

Greta Thunberg sq

Women in Climate Diplomacy
Wednesday 16 February

Despite seeing activists such as Greta Thunberg at the forefront of the climate movement, the lack of women’s senior leadership in climate negotiations is an ongoing issue and a concern for the future of climate diplomacy and foreign policy. Given the low representation of women in political roles — globally, only 21% of government ministers are women— it is not surprising that climate delegations are gender imbalanced. The gendered division of labour, we continue to see at events such as COP26, is characteristic of wider systemic issues in climate negotiations, as less than 30% of negotiators on climate change are women. The panellists will discuss what must change and how different scenarios will affect climate diplomacy, climate policy, and delivering on the 1.5°C pledge as a result?

Electronic Chip sq

Cyber Norms: transnational efforts to regulate cyberspace
Thursday 10 February

The digital domain is now an increasingly significant geopolitical battleground for numerous countries. Regulating their behaviour via cyber norms is therefore of paramount importance. Kaja Ciglic, Senior Director of Digital Diplomacy at Microsoft, will discuss Microsoft’s work on issues related to international peace and stability to advance trust in the digital domain.

Laptop Writing sq

Multistakeholder Collaboration in a Digital Age: challenges and opportunities of the information landscape
Tuesday 8 February

Policy, business and activist leaders discuss the challenges and opportunities of using technology in collective efforts to resolve complex problems.

Chinese Diplomacy sq

Chinese Diplomacy: from peaceful rise to wolf warriors
Thursday 3 February

What are the origins of Wolf Warrior Diplomacy and how successful has it been to date? What are its consequences for China’s growing international engagement going forward? Following the publication of Peter Martin’s book, China’s Civilian Army: The Making of Wolf Warrior Diplomacy, LSE IDEAS' China Foresight project hosts a webinar to analyse the evolution of Chinese diplomacy and its global implications.

Marie-Noelle Nwokolo

Strategies for Urbanisation in Africa
Wednesday 26 January 2022

The future prosperity and security of sub-Saharan Africa depends on building a new urban environment for the world’s most rapidly expanding population.

There is a video recording and an audio recording of the lecture available.

Margaret MacMillan sq

Victory and the Making of Peace: the Allies in the First World War
Monday 24 January 2022

The year 1917 marked a significant change with the revolutions in Russia and its withdrawal from the war and the entry of the United States. The lecture will look at the shifting balance of power and the changes in the alliances of the opposing sides and it will assess the part played by each in the ending of the war and the Allied victory. Finally it will examine the role of alliance relationships in the making of the peace.

There is a video recording and an audio recording of the lecture available.

Click here to download the PDF of Margaret's slides from the lecture.

 

Achim Steiner

Critical Partnerships for Sustainable Development
Tuesday 11 January 2022

Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator, argues that we need to step up multi-stakeholder co-operation and collective efforts to combat challenges that are exacerbated by crises like COVID-19 and climate change. The lecture marked the launch of the LSE IDEAS report Maximising business contributions to sustainable development and positive peace. A human security approach.

There is a video recording and an audio recording of the lecture available.

 


2021

Collapse Soviet Union event sq

The Collapse of The Soviet Union 30 Years On: transition and Soviet legacy
Wednesday 8 December 2021

This year states across Eastern and Central Europe are marking their third decade of independence, and the region remains in a state of unknown; oscillating between the western liberal democracies of the EU and a pivot towards Moscow and the East. Did we witness the end of History? Has Europe been wanting for a superpower ever since? Has Washington lost its fight for influence in the post-Soviet space? Catch up on this LSE IDEAS and Ratiu Forum webinar.

Pir Panjal sq

The Kashmir Conflict at a Crossroads
Tuesday 7 December 2021

Join this LSE IDEAS discussion about the Kashmir Conflict with Manish Tewari, Anuradha Bhasin and Sumantra Bose. According to some international observers, the Kashmir conflict, now in its 75th year, entered a dangerous new phase in August 2019, when India's Hindu nationalist government unleashed a policy of draconian repression in Indian-administered Kashmir. The conflict is simmering dangerously amid continuing repression, a low-level insurgency, and abysmal relations between India and Pakistan. Since 2020, China has moved from the background to the foreground of the conflict by flexing its military power on the disputed territory's eastern border, which has resulted in an alarming and protracted high-Himalayan confrontation between the Indian and Chinese armed forces. Kashmir is a tinderbox in more ways than one, in a volatile regional environment rendered even more uncertain by the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan. The eruption of a major crisis in the near future is probable.

NATO event sq

The New NATO Strategic Concept: how could the Alliance be better prepared for future challenges?
Monday 6 December 2021

The online event organized by LSE IDEAS, New Strategy Center Romania, Elcano Royal Institute, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) on 6 December addresses the implications of a new Strategic Concept of NATO, against a challenging backdrop.

Jinping Obama event sq

China and the Post-COVID Global Order: a world according to China?
Friday 3 December 2021

Elizabeth Economy and George Magnus analyse China’s global leadership ambitions and their implications at this LSE IDEAS webinar.

Margaret MacMillan sq

Alliances and War: from the Delian League to the First World War
Monday 29 November 2021

This is the first Engelsberg Chair lecture of 2021/22 on alliances and war, delivered by historian Margaret MacMillan. Do alliances prevent war or lead to it? Can alliances outlast a war or are they doomed to break apart? Such questions are as old as recorded history and continue to engage international historians and political scientists. This lecture will examine the types and fates of alliances using examples from the past with particular attention to the alliance ‘system’ before 1914 and its part in the outbreak of the First World War. It will then look at the strategies, war aims, and tensions among the Allies and the Central Powers up to the crucial year of 1917.

Click here to download the PDF of Margaret's slides from the lecture.

Amit Sheniak

Cyber-Policy in the Middle East: origins and current trends
Wednesday 24 November 2021

This LSE IDEAS webinar with Amit Sheniak explores the origins, current trends, and the future of cyber-policy in the region.

Soviet Union tank sq

The Strange Death of the Soviet Union: reflections on the collapse of a superpower 1991-2021
Monday 15 November 2021

Thirty years ago the Soviet Union collapsed, bringing an epoch which opened up in 1917 to an end. But why did this 'superpower' implode? Was it inevitable? And what impact has the end of the Soviet system had on the former USSR, the continent of Europe, and the wider international system?

 

Dmitry Suslov screenshot sq

Russian National Strategy in a Multipolar World
Thursday 11 November 2021

Dmitry Suslov discusses the formation and practice of Russian national strategy in a multipolar world. He describes how national objectives and their achievement are developed within Russian state institutions, as well as the evolution of national strategy over the past two decades.

Clare Melford

Bankrolling Bigotry
Tuesday 9 November 2021

The financial incentives to create polarising and divisive content online have generated a tsunami of hate and division. Breaking the business model is the key to reclaiming our information space. Catch up on our webinar with Clare Melford, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Global Disinformation Index.

China Arctic Event sq

China and the Arctic: Great Power competition, security and regional responses
Thursday 21 October 2021

This webinar covered China’s security and diplomatic engagement in the Arctic, and exploring commensurate regional responses.

East Asia NGP Map sq

East Asia's Non-Great Powers: strategies for responding to China's rise
Thursday 21 October 2021

In this second of a series of lectures on Strategy: New Voices, Professor Evelyn Goh looks at the strategies of East Asia’s non-great powers for dealing with the rise of China.

World Flags Encyclopedia sq

Women in Diplomacy
Wednesday 20 October 2021

This panel explores the role of women in diplomacy in the 21st century. The panellists consider the extent to which the context has changed over the course of their careers and the work that remains to be done to improve women’s representation in diplomacy.

Balkan Theatre event sq

Dramatic Interactions for Justice and Peace
Wednesday 13 October 2021

Artists and academics discuss how drama and storytelling can contribute to rebuilding identity and meaning in post-conflict societies.

Leslie Maasdorp sq

Meet the Leader: Leslie Maasdorp
Monday 11 October 2021

In the Meet the Leader series, LSE IDEAS hosts fireside chats with leading practitioners of strategy and diplomacy, who have achieved distinction in public and private sectors. This series is part of the LSE IDEAS Alumni Network. Find out more about our Executive MSc International Strategy and Diplomacy Programme. Leslie Maasdorp is Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the New Development Bank. In this role he is responsible for the treasury, portfolio management, finance and accounting functions of the Bank.

Organised Crime Balkans sq

Transnational Organised Crime in the Western Balkans: Effects in the Region and Beyond
Thursday 7 October 2021

Researchers and policy experts discuss how Western Balkans organised crime groups came to dominate the global criminal underground from North America to South Africa.

China Environment event sq

China's Environmental Foreign Relations
Thursday 30 September 2021

Ahead of COP26 in November, LSE IDEAS' China Foresight Project, the Grantham Research Institute at LSE, and LSE's Department of International Relations co-host a panel discussing the evolution of China’s own understanding of the environment, the role of domestic stakeholders in shaping Chinese environmental diplomacy and Beijing’s role in the upcoming COP26.

Jinping Obama event sq

Is the West complicit in the resurgence of authoritarianism?
Tuesday 21 September

Has the West enabled the global resurgence of authoritarianism? Following the recent publication of Jonathan Holslag's book, World Politics Since 1989, LSE IDEAS hosts a webinar to analyse the extent to which the West has enabled the rise and consolidation of authoritarian regimes such as China since the end of the Cold War.

New Authoritarianism panel sq jpg

The new authoritarianism as a global phenomenon: a discussion on the changing nature of world politics
Monday 20 September

Against a backdrop of growing social and ecological crisis, the new authoritarianism has found a wide appeal amongst populaces all over the world. What is the source of this appeal and potency? What structural forces are propelling forward this challenge to liberalism and the rule of law? What are the implications of these trends for international politics? And what – exactly – can democrats do to withstand them?

CoxMick

Nationalism and World Order in the Era of Populism
Tuesday 29 June

Today, we live in a world wracked by nationalism and national hatreds. Over 70 years ago the famous British historian E. H. Carr proposed a way out of the problem in his long out of print classic ‘Nationalism and After’. What did he say, why was he right then, and why is he right now?

Morocco Flag sq

Morocco's New Africa Policy: expanding economic links with continental Africa
Monday 28 June

This webinar, co-hosted with the Policy Center for the New South, explores the shift in Morocco’s economic orientation southwards, examining the policy frameworks, actors, sectors and dynamics of economic engagement with the African continent.

Politics of the Far Right sq

Politics of the Far-Right in Central and South-East Europe
Friday 25 June

What must the European Union learn from authoritarian threats to democracy? Catch up on this LSE IDEAS and Ratiu Forum webinar.

Globe Watercolour sq

Achieving Peace in an Age of Chaos: Solutions for a Sustainable Future
Wednesday 23 June

What makes for peaceful countries? Leading figures in peacebuilding and human development explore a new understanding of peace in the 21st century.

New Diplomacy CSDS Conference sq

A New Diplomacy for the Emerging Global Binary: Digitalisation, Pandemics and the Search for a Reset
Thursday 17 and Friday 18 June

LSE IDEAS and the Center for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy host a timely debate on the future of diplomacy in the contemporary global binary era. Catch up on the various panels from the conference.

USA Flag sq

Can the United States Effectively Formulate and Practice a National Strategy?
Tuesday 15 June

In this first of a series of lectures on Strategy: New Voices, Matthew Kroenig asks what is needed for an effective US national strategy.

 

Arne Westad 2

Empires Past and Present: empires today
Tuesday 8 June

For the last seventy years, the United States has been the predominant state within the international system. Does it make sense to call the United States an empire? Is its power now irrevocably waning? Are we in the midst of a transfer of global power and wealth from west to east? Will China — another international power that can be seen as an empire — be the state benefitting most from the global changes we are now seeing?

Police 3 sq

How Can Donors Best Support Police Reform in Non-Western Contexts?
Friday 4 June

2020 saw mass protests against police violence in the US, Colombia, Nigeria and Indonesia, amongst other contexts. But when considering what to do about it, those interested in reform are confronted with a weak evidence-base on effective measures to reduce police violence. This leaves a prominent and unanswered question – how do you actually reform the police? Building on her over 20 years of researching police in Africa, and working with EU and UK-donor programmes, Alice Hills will discuss the challenges facing, and opportunities open to, donors seeking to influence police reform in the Global South. Andrew Faull will discuss reform efforts in South Africa. Liam O’Shea will introduce the www.howtoreformthepolice.com project, a global platform to collate and synthesise the international evidence on police reform, incubated within LSE.

China 171 event sq

17+1: China's Foreign Policy in Central Europe
Friday 28 May

Once the beacon of Chinese influence in Central and Eastern Europe, the 17+1 project has largely proved ineffective. How will Chinese diplomacy fare in a post-Covid world where transatlantic cooperation seems to be re-emerging?

Joe Biden sq

Is America Back? Transatlantic Relations from Trump to Biden
Wednesday 26 May

Have recent years really warranted the claims of decline of the USA and end of 'the West'? Rosa Balfour, Michael Cox and Jussi M. Hanhimäki discuss.

China Arctic Event sq

China and the Arctic: Critical Minerals, Environmental Politics and Climate Change
Thursday 13 May

The first LSE IDEAS-UiT panel of China and the Arctic focuses on Beijing’s climate policy vis-à-vis the region, critical resource mining and great power responsibility.

 

Insurgent Europeanism sq

The Rise of Insurgent Europeanism
Friday 7 May

The Eurozone and migration crises, Brexit and the pandemic have fundamentally changed the fabric of civil society in Europe and its attitudes towards the European project. Drawing on research that mapped, tracked and monitored developments in European civil society from 2018 to 2020, the panel will explore these changes and consider their implications for the future of Europe. 

Coker Why War sq

Why War?
Thursday 6 May

There is a claim that war is a pathology, and that if we were to sober up we could recognise this and abolish it. Catch up on this talk from Christopher Coker about the topic of his latest book, Why War? He discusses the key themes of his latest book, including a look at the development of patriotism and nationalism across the European landscape.

Ailish Campbell

Meet the Leader: Ailish Campbell
Wednesday 5 May

In the Meet the Leader series, LSE IDEAS hosts fireside chats with leading practitioners of strategy and diplomacy, who have achieved distinction in public and private sectors. This series is part of the LSE IDEAS Alumni Network. Our distinguished guest today is Dr Ailish Campbell. She was appointed Canada's Ambassador Designate to the European Union in October 2020.

Police 2 sq

What Makes Police Reform and Police Reform Movements Successful?
Friday 30 April

In this webinar, Matthew Light brings a comparative-politics perspective, looking at the broader factors which impact reform. Jyoti Belur speaks about the challenges and barriers to police reform in India. Cathy Lisa Schneider discusses the role of social movements such as the Black Lives Matter in police reform in the US. Ziyanda Stuurman presents her perspectives based on her research on policing in Brazil and South Africa.

EU Flag 300300

Clientelism and state capture in the EU and EU-accession countries
Friday 23 April

Patron-client relations, rule of law weakness, state capture: how different are these concepts, and in which way do they play out across European countries?

Police sq

How Are Police Organisations Actually Reformed?
Friday 16 April

Shota Utiashvili, Ben Bradford, Rachel Neild, Heather Sutton, Zoha Waseem and Liam O'Shea discuss police organisation reform. This is the second in a four part series on police reform.

Business SDG Rosario conf sq

Partnering with business to promote human security and the SDGs: comparative experiences
Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 April

How can business collaborate with other actors to find innovative solutions to contemporary development and security issues facing societies and policymakers?

Arne Westad 2

Empires Past and Present: empire around 1900
Tuesday 30 March

In this series of four lectures, LSE IDEAS Engelsberg Chair Odd Arne Westad discusses the concept of empire and why it is still relevant today.

Even if the Europeans had deemed the 19th century a “long peace”, the world had changed tremendously between 1800 and 1900. Of the 1800 powers only a few remained strong, and they were all European. But, at the same time, the concept of empire was changing, and new forms of anti-imperial resistance was starting to grow. This third lecture will discuss high imperialisms, their relationship to globalising capitalism, and how a destabilised European world initiated the tragedies of the 20th century.

moonis ahmar

How will Pakistan-US relations unfold during the Biden-Harris administration?
Monday 29 March

Professor Moonis Ahmar, Jinnah Visiting Fellow at LSE IDEAS, explores Pakistan-US relations during the Biden-Harris administration.

027_0003 sq

Global Histories of Anti-Nuclear and Peace Activism in the Late Cold War
Friday 26 March

Nick Dunlop, Beatrice Fihn and Mary Kaldor explore different forms of international action for nuclear disarmament since the 1980s and what lessons can be drawn for campaigners and policymakers today.

Joe Biden Bucharest sq

Resetting Transatlantic Relations: Central Europe and the USA
Friday 19 March

The United States’ policy approach towards Central and Eastern Europe will be discussed within a broader context of American foreign policy objectives in Europe and neighbouring regions.

China Korea event sq

Empire and Righteous Nation: Past, present and future of China-Korea relations
Tuesday 16 March

This panel seeks to untangle the history of Korea’s relationship with China and, given that Sino-Korean relations will be of crucial importance in the future, build on this knowledge to recognize new opportunities, or avoid false paths, over the years to come.

CRP conclusions event sq

Understanding Violence and Political Markets in Africa and the Middle East: conclusions from the Conflict Research Programme
Monday 15 March

After four years of researching violence and conflict across Africa and the Middle East, what have we learned?

Visegrad event square

The Visegrad Countries in the Global Order
Wednesday 10 March

Thorn in the EU’s side or dynamic emerging power block? Join us to discuss the role of the Visegrad Group in the global order.

China's Financial System event sq

2021: A Pivotal Year for China's Financial System?
Tuesday 9 March

2021 may mark a turning point in the global standing of China’s financial system. From the digital yuan, to financial services liberalisation and US treasuries purchases, this panel seeks to explore key trends and place these in an increasingly fraught geopolitical context.

300x300-congo-map-hoffmann

Identity Politics, Conflict and the Political Marketplace
Thursday 4 March

This event looked at contemporary conflicts and examined how identity politics shape, and are shaped by violence, interact with the dynamics of the political marketplace, and are used by authoritarian rulers and political-military entrepreneurs to increase and maintain their power.

Kosovo sq

Europe's Frozen Conflicts: Kosovo, Transnistria and Eastern Ukraine
Friday 26 February

This discussion explores the complexities of these three regions and asks how external powers such as the USA and the EU might work to bring about peace and stability in Europe’s most troubled territories.

Visegrad event square

Seeing Central Europe 30 Years On: film and the arts in the Visegrad countries
Monday 15 February

This event explores the Visegrad countries’ cultural development since 1991 with a particular focus on film and theatre.

UK EDC Final Report sq

UK Economic Diplomacy in the 21st Century
Tuesday 9 February

Catch up on the virtual launch of the final report from the LSE Economic Diplomacy Commission, with Professor Linda Yueh, Professor Michael Cox, Stephen Paduano, Lord Mark Sedwill and Dr Adam Marshall.

Xenophobia S Africa sq

Foreign African Nationals and Xenophobia in South Africa
Wednesday 27 January

How have racist ideas and exclusionary frameworks persisted in modern South African society?

Arne Westad 2

Empires Past and Present: empire around 1800
Tuesday 26 January

Around 1800 the world was dominated by a number of predominant empires at different stages of development: Britain, France, Austria, Russia, the Ottomans, Spain, and the Qing. This is the second Engelsberg lecture of 2020/21. Arne Westad will discuss each of these empires, the resistance against them, and how the future looked from the perspective of each.

Porto Montenegro sq

Turkey, Israel and the United Arab Emirates in the Balkans
Friday 22 January

What should we make of the growing geopolitical interplay between Turkey, Israel, the UAE and the Balkans?

Bukavu expo sq

Knowledge Production in the Global South: launching the (Silent) Voices: Bukavu Expo
Hosted by the Conflict Research Programme, LSE IDEAS and the Governance in Conflict Network, Ghent University
Thursday 21 January

This event explores North-South research collaborations, discussing how to overcome the erasure of local voices in the production of knowledge across academia. The event will also launched the (Silent) Voices: Bukavu Expo, an online exhibition illustrating the difficulties faced by Congolese researchers when conducting fieldwork in conflict settings.

Visegrad event square

Spotlight on the Visegrad Economies
Wednesday 20 January

We shine a spotlight on Central Europe’s Visegrad economies thirty years after the establishment of the V4 Group.

2020

ideas nsc nupi sq

NATO Facing Challenges From the Arctic to the Black Sea Region
Thursday 10 December

LSE IDEAS, the New Strategy Center Bucharest (NSC) and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) host a one-day conference to provide a comprehensive update on the challenges to NATO in the Arctic and Black Sea.

US Intelligence Community sq

Whistleblowing Nation: The History of US National Security Disclosures
Monday 30 November

The twenty-first century witnessed a new age of whistleblowing in the United States. Disclosures by Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden, and others have stoked heated public debates about the ethics of exposing institutional secrets, with roots in a longer history of state insiders revealing classified information. Bringing together contributors from a range of disciplines to consider political, legal, and cultural dimensions, Whistleblowing Nation (Columbia University Press, 2020) is a path breaking history of national security disclosures and state secrecy from World War I to the present.

US Election CSEEP sq

The Impact of the US Presidential Election on Central and South-Eastern European Security and Defence
Friday 27 November

Will US foreign and defence policy change in Central and South-Eastern Europe under Joe Biden’s presidency?

Documenting Human Rights Abuses and Transitional Justice in Syria panel sq

Documenting Human Rights Abuses and Transitional Justice in Syria
Friday 20 November

The Syrian war is the most documented conflict in history. But is documentation paving the way for justice? Drawing on new research from the Conflict Research Programme, the panel discuss the current gaps in documentation and ways to address them. 

Mind the Gap

"Mind the Gap": New Directions in History, Culture and Diplomacy in a Time of COVID
Co-hosted with the Department of International History
Thursday 19 November

This event was the first presentation of the History, Culture and Diplomacy Series. Blanche Wiesen Cook, Margaret Peacock, Audra Wolfe, and Patryk Babiracki set the stage for on-campus lectures by each scholar in the 2021/22 academic year.

300x300_kabul

Cities at War: global insecurity and urban resistance
Wednesday 18 November

Listen to the panel discussion of the recently published book Cities at War and how urban environments are sites of contemporary warfare and insecurity.

simon miles book launch sq

The Beginning of the End of the Cold War
Co-hosted with the Department of International History
Tuesday 17 November

Simon Miles discusses how the United States and the Soviet Union decided to move from covert engagement to overt conversation and how this laid the groundwork for the end of the Cold War.

when elephants fight panel sq

When Elephants Fight: what does US-China conflict mean for the rest of Asia?
Thursday 12 November

Lee Kuan Yew once stated "The 21st century will be a contest for supremacy in the Pacific." As US-China competition escalates, how should regional powers respond?

Arne Westad 2

Empires Past & Present: the idea of empire
Wednesday 11 November

This is the first lecture in the 20/21 Engelsberg Chair series. Arne Westad discusses the concept of empire and resistance to empire in a long historical perspective.

EU Romani sq

The EU and the Romani People
Thursday 5 November

What is the European Union doing to address racism directed towards Romani communities, and race-related exclusion within its borders?

Meet the Leader Naheed Nenshi sq

Meet the Leader: Naheed Nenshi
Thursday 5 November

In the Meet the Leader series, LSE IDEAS hosts fireside chats with leading practitioners of strategy and diplomacy, who have achieved distinction in public and private sectors. This series is part of the LSE IDEAS Alumni Network. Our distinguished guest today is Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.

US-China Great Power Competition panel sq

US-China Great Power Competition: a new cold war?
Wednesday 28 October

The nature of great power competition in the 21st century will shape the world. Are we in a new cold war between the US and China?

Presidential Election US-China Panel sq

The Presidential Election and US-China Relations: at a crossroads?
Thursday 22 October

While hawkishness on China is bi-partisan in the US, the 2020 presidential election will still have a major impact on US-China relations. What can we expect after November?

David Mitrany sq

David Mitrany, Romania and the Search for a New European Order: lessons for today
Tuesday 20 October 

Michael Cox and Lucian Ashworth discuss Mitrany's impact on international relations and how his Romanian origins influenced his thinking.

FCDO Parliament Square sq

Rethinking UK Policy Towards Conflict: lessons from the CRP
Wednesday 14 October

The panel discuss the policy recommendations proposed by the Conflict Research Programme to the UK Government’s Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy.

Ministry of Defence building sq

The Integrated Review - Towards a Conclusion
Monday 5 October

Ahead of the UK Government’s final discussion on its Integrated Review of foreign, defence, security and development policy, a panel of LSE IDEAS experts consider what it should conclude.

Putin Vucic sq

Russia and China in South-East Europe
Co-hosted with the Ratiu Forum
Friday 2 October

What are Russia’s and China’s strategies and ambitions in South-East Europe?

Janne Haaland Matlary

Contemporary Challenges to Democracy
Co-hosted with the Ratiu Forum
Friday 18 September

This panel discussion explores how populist media and historical narratives are creating a crisis of self-belief in Western liberal democracies. This is part of the Ratiu Forum's "Dialogues on Democracy" event series.

Michael Burleigh Lecture sq

The End of the End of History
Co-hosted with the Ratiu Forum
Wednesday 16 September

Has liberalism failed to deliver on its promises? Professor Burleigh and Professor Cox discuss ‘the end of the end of history’. This is part of the Ratiu Forum's "Dialogues on Democracy" event series.

Viktor Orban sq

Crisis in Central and Eastern Europe?
Co-hosted with the Ratiu Forum
Tuesday 15 September

Populist and illiberal governments now dominate much of Central and Eastern European politics. Can liberal democracy survive? This is part of the Ratiu Forum's "Dialogues on Democracy" event series.

Cluj Napoca sq2

Immigration into Eastern Europe: new challenges
Monday 27 July

Central and Eastern Europe must address a new phenomenon: it is now a place of immigration. How is the region responding?

In the Streets and Online panel sq

In the Streets and Online: peace, human security and civil unrest after COVID-19
Monday 6 July

Recent events as well as the COVID-19 pandemic suggest that the world is becoming more turbulent both off and online. This panel discussion will present new global trends around peace, conflict and civil unrest, and examine their implications for online space and human security.

Michael Burleigh Lecture sq

A Journey Through History, Populism and Nationalism
Friday 3 July

Michael Burleigh delivers his third and final Engelsberg Chair Lecture. Many people consume bits of History as part of the entertainment industry, from costume dramas to how people lived ‘then’. Michael Burleigh explores a much wider sample of how History impacts on the present, from national stories/mythologies to inapt historical analogies. Can there be too much remembering? Would amnesia be better?

Geopolitics Balkans event sq

Geopolitics in the Balkans
Co-hosted with the Ratiu Forum
Monday 29 June

The COVID-19 outbreak, shifts in the global order, and rising tensions between great powers have brought new geopolitical dynamics into the Balkans. Against this backdrop, we will discuss these ongoing changes with a special focus on Serbia.

Peace and the Pandemic sq

Peace and the Pandemic
Wednesday 24 June

Will coronavirus contribute to the further escalation or new outbreaks of conflict? How can the international community –governments, international organisations, regional actors and civil society develop a peace-building response to COVID-19? Helen Clark, head of the United Nations Development Programme 2009-2017, and former Prime Minister of New Zealand leads an expert panel to discuss the development and security risks of the current pandemic.

Malign Foreign Influences Black Sea Panel sq

Malign Foreign Influences in the Black Sea Region
Co-hosted with the UK Romania Group
Monday 22 June

What threatens the Black Sea region? From border security to cyber intrusion, our panel examine current and future malign foreign influences in the Black Sea security environment.

China in One Country sq

China in One Country? Autarky, decoupling, and its implications
Thursday 11 June

Facing international upheaval due to COVID-19, and an increasingly hostile West, some speculate that China may experience a semi-Stalinist turn inward, and widespread technological and economic decoupling from the rest of the world. What is the truth behind these speculations, what is the internal debate within China, and what might this mean for China and indeed for the international community?

Democracy Ratiu 2020

Will Democracy Survive in Poland, Hungary and Serbia?
Co-hosted with the Ratiu Forum
Monday 8 June

A recent Freedom House report singled out Poland, Hungary and Serbia for their alarming rate of democratic disintegration. The COVID-19 pandemic has provided these countries with an unusual opportunity to interfere with constitutional powers and scheduled elections. How have these three countries exploited this opportunity? And what longer-term impact will this have in these precarious times for democracy?

Meet the Leader Jimmy Wales

Meet the Leader: Jimmy Wales
Wednesday 3 June

In the Meet the Leader series, LSE IDEAS hosts fireside chats with leading practitioners of strategy and diplomacy, who have achieved distinction in public and private sectors. This series is part of the LSE IDEAS Alumni Network. Our distinguished guest is Jimmy Wales.

COVID19 and Africa panel

COVID-19 and Africa: pandemics and global politics
Monday 1 June

A panel of leading African commentators reflect on the global response to the health dimensions of the pandemic in Africa. 

coronovirus_100x100

COVID-19 Economic Response: a comparative, cross-border perspective
Friday 29 May

This panel compare and contrast the economic policy response to COVID-19 undertaken by countries around the world in both developed and emerging economies. It will explore the immediate impact on supply-chains and the outlook for trade and cross-border investment from here. 

mask_world_100x100

COVID-19 and Deglobalisation
Thursday 30 April

COVID-19 was a significant supply shock for the global economy, among other things. With nations protecting their borders and even limiting some trade, will this accelerate a move toward deglobalisation? 

You can read the blog post based on this event here.

Radical_Uncertainty_4085 sq

Radical Uncertainty: decision making for an unknowable future
Tuesday 10 March

Two leading economists, John Kay and Mervyn King, discuss decision making in conditions of radical uncertainty, where we can neither imagine all possible outcomes nor assign probabilities to future events.

LSE Festival Personalities sq

Personalities and Progress: LSE and the world
This event was part of the LSE Festival: Shape the World
Friday 6 March

Since its foundation in 1895 LSE people and ideas have helped to shape the world. We will explore the lives and influence of six LSE people whose work and ideas have shaped our world – do their experiences hold any lessons for today as the 21st century progresses.

China Jiangling sq

Made in China 2025: avoiding the middle-income development trap
Monday 2 March

This panel discusses the challenges that China faces in avoiding the ‘middle-income trap’ of development and how this aims to be avoided through the ‘Made in China 2025’ industrial strategy.

2030 SDGs panel square

2030 Sustainability Goals: can businesses rise to the challenge?
Co-hosted with the LSE Systemic Risk Centre
Tuesday 25 February

This panel event asks whether the private sector can rise to the challenge of meeting the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Coalitions for Change square

Coalitions for Change: working with the private sector to improve peace and security
Tuesday 11 February

Durable solutions to conflict, underdevelopment and humanitarian crises require new alliances between diverse and non-traditional actors from the private sector, government and civil society. What role should the Academy play in encouraging and supporting such partnerships?

Civilisation-States event sq

Civilisation-States and the Future of World Order
Friday 7 February

This panel event explores the concept of ‘civilisation-states’, with specific reference to China, Russia and India, and what this may mean for the future of the world order.

Dahrendorf 300300

The Future of Anglo-German Relations: beyond Brexit
Co-hosted by the Dahrendorf Forum at LSE IDEAS and the European Institute
Monday 3 February

This panel discussion with Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones, Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Dr Norbert Röttgen focuses on assessing the implications of the Brexit process for the future of Anglo-German relations.

Disinformation 300300

Think Tanks in an Age of Fake News
Thursday 30 January

What do think tanks 'think'? Are they more than just advocates of special interests? How can they retain their independence? And what is—and should be—their role in the 'Age of Fake News'?

BurleighMichael

Engerland! Rossiya! Hyphenated-phantom-limb Nations on the Edges of Europe
Tuesday 21 January

The second Engelsberg Chair Lecture from Michael Burleigh examines how Britain and Russia have dealt with the loss of empire and what impact that has had on self-understanding and politics.

LSE EU AKK-01609 sq

Securing Freedom in the Age of Connectivity: towards a deeper German-British partnership?
Co-hosted by the Dahrendorf Forum at LSE IDEAS and the European Institute
Thursday 16 January

Listen to Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, minister of defence & leader of the CDU in Germany, deliver a lecture at LSE on future German-British partnerships.

 

2019

Shanghai sq

Reassessing China's Economy in Uncertain Times
Tuesday 10 December

This panel reassesses the Chinese economy and consider the effects of a slowing Chinese economy.

ECB sq

Rethinking the governance of the EU and the euro: Hard-earned lessons
Co-hosted by the Dahrendorf Forum at LSE IDEAS and the European Institute
Monday 9 December

The Dahrendorf Forum at LSE IDEAS and the European Institute welcome George Papaconstantinou and Panicos Demetriades for an evening of reflection and discussion to mark the launch of their latest publications.

Christopher Coker square

NATO's Next Ten Years
Co-hosted by the New Strategy Center and NATO Public Diplomacy
Thursday 5 December

Listen to the podcasts from the day-long conference that consider NATO's Next Ten Years, bringing together senior officials, military personnel, former practitioners and other experts. The conference was held the day after the NATO heads of state and government meeting in London in December 2019, held to mark the 70th anniversary of the alliance.

Versailles sq

From 1919 to 2019: Pivotal Lessons from Versailles
Thursday 28 November

A panel of distinguished scholars discuss the legacy of the First World War, the Versailles Peace Treaty which followed, and why the treaty has been so hotly debated ever since by critics and defenders alike.

Taiwan sq

Redefining cross-strait relations: Taiwan elections 2020
Tuesday 26 November

With the Taiwan elections approaching in January 2020, there grows a stirring, yet precarious, potential of a redefining shift in the nation’s foreign policy. Join us for a panel discussion.

Euromissile event sq

Towards a new Euromissile Crisis? Implications of the end of the INF Treaty
Thursday 21 November

In light of the American and Russian withdrawals from the landmark 1987 INF Treaty, this event discusses the implications for European security, transatlantic relations, and nuclear disarmament.

BurleighMichael

"We, the People?" Some Thoughts from our Past on Contemporary European Populism
Tuesday 12 November

What can history contribute to an understanding of contemporary European populism, which is now as much in power as insurgent? This was the inaugural Engelsberg Chair lecture with Michael Burleigh.

Games Warfare Strategy event sq

From Games to Warfare and Strategy: How Multi-User Platforms Will Transform Difficult Decisions
Thursday 7 November

Joe Robinson from British technology company Improbable discusses how new advances in the games industry are being adopted by government departments in order to greatly improve the way nations prepare and plan for conflict. 

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India's Foreign Policy
Co-hosted with the South Asia Centre
Tuesday 29 October

Ian Hall, Kate Sullivan, and Mukulika Banerjee discuss India's Foreign Policy.

Soldiers sq

Goliath: why the West doesn't win wars and what we need to do about it
Thursday 24 October

Sean McFate talks about his newest book Goliath which looks at warfare in the 21st century and examines why the West doesn't win wars and what we need to do in this new age of war.

Berlin Wall 2 sq

30 Years After the Fall of the Berlin Wall: German historical memory and national identity
Co-hosted with the Department of International History
Wednesday 23 October

Hope Harrison examines the arc of memory politics in Germany since 1989, including the impact of the rise of the far right as well as German plans for the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Wall.

Revolution fist sq

Anatomies of Revolution
Co-hosted with the Department of International Relations
Tuesday 22 October

Some of the world's best-known and most acute scholars of revolution discuss the main themes that emerge from George Lawson's recently published book Anatomies of Revolution.

Thinker sq

Think Tanks and Their Role in the Age of Digital and Political Disruptions
Wednesday 16 October

World-renowned think tank expert James McGann discusses the role of think tanks and the ways in which the industry is changing.

Iqaluit sq

Siloed Thinking: Systemic Marginalisation in Canada's Indigenous Communities
Wednesday 9 October

The event examined the systematic injustices faced by Canada’s indigenous communities by the legal system, drawing on Matthew Eaton-Kent’s experience working in the country’s far north.

Trump Johnson sq

No Longer Special? The Death of Anglo-America?
Co-hosted with the Department of International Relations
Thursday 3 October

John Ikenberry, Kori Schake and Linda Yueh discuss the notion of 'Anglo-America', what the relationship between the USA and UK has meant for the world in the twentieth century, and how a retreat by both from the world - and perhaps from each other - will impact on the international system.

Euro sq

Challenges Facing the Euro
Tuesday 17 September 2019

The Governor of the Bank of France recalls the tangible assets that the Euro has already provided to the Euro area and will focus on the efforts needed towards building a stronger Europe, against the backdrop of Brexit, while stressing three priorities: increasing resilience, increasing growth and affirming sovereignty.

EmpowermentBangladeshEventSq

Women's Empowerment in Muslim-Majority Bangladesh
Thursday 13 June 2019

We heard from the High Commissioner of Bangladesh to UK, H.E. Ms. Saida Muna Tasneem, on women's empowerment in Bangladesh. The talk was followed by an interactive dialogue with Lutfey Siddiqi.

China Britain square

What would it mean for Britain's economic diplomacy if China becomes dominant in the world economy?
Thursday 6 June 2019

Linda Yueh explores what Britain needs to consider in relation to economic diplomacy and China.

SDI sq

Star Wars: A View from the Commentariat
Friday 31 May 2019

Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman from King's College London delivered the keynote lecture entitled 'Star Wars: A View from the Commentariat'. This was part of the conference 'Towards an International History of the Strategic Defence Initiative'.

NATO event sq

NATO at 70: History, Politics and Challenges
Thursday 23 May 2019

Reflecting on NATO’s 70 anniversary, this round-table discussion reflected on the challenges that the Alliance faces today in light of its long-term history and development.

Brexit Ireland event sq

Brexit, Britain and the Irish Question
Wednesday 22 May 2019

Michael Burleigh and Michael Cox explore Brexit and the Irish Question. This event also marked the launch of the LSE IDEAS report: Ireland-UK Relations and Northern Ireland after Brexit.

Israel Turkey sq

Contemporary Israeli-Turkish Relations in Comparative Perspective
Thursday 16 May 2019

The event introduced a multi-dimensional comparative perspective on the Israeli-Turkish relations and provided comparative analyses from both Israeli and Turkish contributors.

Flags Geneva UN sq

From the "End of History" to the Crisis of the Liberal Order: rethinking the end of the Cold War
Wednesday 8 May 2019

How and why has the liberal promise of the post-Cold War world not been realised? Where is the world now heading? Is the post-Cold War era over?

Chronicle event sq

Chronicle of a Brexit Foretold? Britain and Europe in the Thatcher Era, 1975-85
Co-hosted with the LSE Department of International History and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Tuesday 26 March 2019

This event examined the stresses, quarrels, compromises and ambitions which contributed to an unhappy relationship between the United Kingdom and her European partners.

European Elections event accordion

European Parliament Elections Panel 2019
Co-hosted with the LSESU Grimshaw Club
Thursday 21 March 2019

This panel discussed the upcoming European Parliament elections which are predicted to be a crucial and transformational event in the history of the European Union. 

Cauldron event sq

The Cauldron - NATO’s 2011 operation to protect civilians in Libya
Wednesday 20 March 2019

Rob Weighill and Florence Gaub examine the formation, execution and aftermath of an operation marked with many firsts for NATO. A fascinating insight into the mechanics of NATO by experts on the subject.

WPS 300300

What is the Role of Women in Peace and Security?
Co-hosted with the LSESU Amnesty International Society
Thursday 14 March 2019

At a time of international uncertainty, what is the role of women in peace and security? This panel event aims to answer this question, through a number of perspectives.

Civ State 300300

The Rise of the Civilizational State: China, Russia and Islamic Caliphate and the challenge to the liberal world order
Thursday 7 March 2019

Christopher Coker discusses the rise of the civilizational state, drawing on China, Russia, and the Islamic Caliphate.

Gentiloni 300300

Reflections on the Future of Europe with Paolo Gentiloni
Co-hosted with the Dahrendorf Forum, a project of LSE IDEAS, and the LSE European Institute
Wednesday 6 March 2019

Paolo Gentiloni offers his insights on the future of Europe, drawing on his experience as prime minister of Italy from 2016 to 2018.

Asian Century 300300

The Coming Asian Century: challenges for the West
Tuesday 5 March 2019

In the 19th century, the world was Europeanized. In the 20th century, it was Americanized. Now, in the 21st century, the world is being irreversibly Asianized. The ‘Asian Century’ is even bigger than you think.

IDEAS_logo_300x300

Inside IDEAS: what is it like to work at a leading university think tank? Co-hosted with the LSESU United Nations Society
Monday 4 March 2019

This joint forum aims to provide students with a glimpse of what life is like at a leading university think tank. 

New World DisOrders 300300

Crisis of the Liberal World Order, or is the West in Decline - Again? This event was part of the “New World (Dis)Orders” LSE Festival
Wednesday 27 February 2019

John Ikenberry has for many years been insisting that the liberal world order created by the USA after WW2 has proved remarkably durable. Now, however, a series of major shifts in the world has placed the liberal order under immense strain. In this Roundtable, Professor John Ikenberry will be in conversation with leading LSE public intellectual Professor Mary Kaldor.

New World DisOrders 300300

A Marketplace for World Order This event was part of the “New World (Dis)Orders” LSE Festival
Tuesday 26 February 2019

What forces will now shape the international system? Is disorder the only logical outcome with the breakdown of our current world order? Danny Quah  suggests how an economic marketplace model for great power competition can help answer these questions, and guide thinking for constructing a world order that works for all the international community. 

New World DisOrders 300300

A Populist Wave? Unity and Division Among Europe's New Parties This event was part of the “New World (Dis)Orders” LSE Festival
Tuesday 26 February 2019

This event explores two counterintuitive arguments about Europe’s populist parties. First, that populist parties may find more in common with traditional parties in their home countries than with their counterparts in other European contexts; second, that populist parties on the left and the right have more in common with each other than with the traditional parties they separated from.

New World DisOrders 300300

Whatever Happened to the Revolution? LSE in the 60s This event was part of the “New World (Dis)Orders” LSE Festival
Tuesday 26 February 2019

One British university above all others came to be associated with student rebellion in the 1960s - the LSE - later referred by one of the original  rebels as that 'utopia at the end of the Kingsway rainbow - for a period'. But why the LSE? What did the students hope to achieve? And what legacy did they leave behind?

New World DisOrders 300300

A New International Order? Peacemaking after the First World War This event was part of the “New World (Dis)Orders” LSE Festival
Monday 25 February 2019

A century after the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919, this session reappraised the peace settlement that followed the First World War. 

Disinformation 300300

Why Facts and Think Tanks Matter in an Age of Disinformation
Thursday 31 January 2019

A panel of five distinguished speakers with different academic interests and professional affiliation discussed ‘Why Facts and Think Tanks Matter in an Age of Disinformation’. This event formed part of the annual Why Think Tanks Matter Forum and the 2018 Global Go To Think Tank Report Launch event series.

America China 300300

China’s Peaceful Rise and the Thucydides Trap 
Co-hosted with LSE IDEAS and LSE SU China Development Society
Tuesday 29 January 2019

This Bridging Minds Symposium discussed whether the prospects of China's “peaceful rise” are indeed fading, approaching the question from different perspectives.

Avramapolous 300300

Europe’s Response to the Challenge of Migration and Security 
Co-hosted with the LSE European Institute and the Dahrendorf Forum, a project of LSE IDEAS
Wednesday 23 January 2019

Dimitris Avramopoulos explores how Europe has reacted to the challenges brought about by migration in a globalised Europe.

Political Order 300300

The Rise and Fall of Political Orders
Monday 21 January 2019

Drawing on political theory, comparative politics, international relations, psychology and classics, Ned Lebow offered insights into why social and political orders form, how they evolve, and why and how they decline.

Commonwealth 300300

The Empire's New Clothes: thinking about the Commonwealth in the era of Brexit 
Co-hosted with the LSE Department of International History
Thursday 17 January 2019

Philip Murphy offered a personal perspective on the Commonwealth, a complex and poorly understood institution, and asked if it can ever escape from the shadow of the British Empire to become an organisation based on shared values, rather than a shared history.

Restraining Great Powers 2 300300

Restraining Great Powers: soft balancing from empires to the global era
Wednesday 16 January 2019

This event examined a crucial element of state behaviour: the use of international institutions, informal alignments and economic instruments such as sanctions, to constrain the power and threatening behaviour of dominant actors.

 

2018

Chocolate 300300

The Chocolate Case 
Co-hosted with United Nations Cinema and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Thursday 6 December 2018

Marking the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, LSE IDEAS and the UN Cinema presented a screening The Chocolate Case, followed by a panel discussion on the links between responsible business, consumers, and modern day slavery.  

Trump 300300

Trump, America, and the World: two years on
Tuesday 27 November 2018

Two years ago Donald Trump’s election shocked the world. This event explored how far he has changed US foreign policy. 

World After War 300300

The World After the War
Wednesday 21 November 2018

Derek Leebaert explored the Anglo-US relations in the years after World War Two – a period that redefined what has come to be the ‘special relationship’.

Global Business 300300

Global Business
Thursday 8 November 2018

Experts on international business  discuss recent trends in conversation with Mahesh Joshi's new book Global Business - a straightforward commentary on mega trends in globalization.

Global Financial Crisis 300300

Ten Years after the Global Financial Crisis: what have we learned and what did we forget?
Thursday 18 October 2018

This event explores the causes of the 2008 global financial crash and the lessons we should learn from it with the policymakers who were there.

Crucible Fenby 300300

Crucible: Thirteen Months that Forged Our World 
Tuesday 16 October 2018

Jonathan Fenby extols his thesis on the crucial months between 1947-1948 which shaped the politics of the Cold War, and left an indelible mark on the modern world.

Euro 300300

Reforms to Strengthen the European Monetary Union
Tuesday 2 October 2018

Vítor Constâncio, the former Vice President of the European Central Bank, explored the possible reforms proposed to strengthen the EMU and their predicted consequences.

Guha 300300

Gandhi - the years that changed the world, 1915-1948
Tuesday 25 September 2018

Ramachandra Guha tells the epic story of Gandhi's life and how he changed the world armed only with his arguments and example. 

Philosophy 300300

The Crisis of Global Politics: lessons from continental philosophy
Monday 9 July 2018

Can the work of the great European philosophers help solve Europe's problems today? At this event, scholars discussed how the ideas of thinkers such as Heidegger, Arendt, Anders, and Adorno can be applied to populism, climate change, and artificial intelligence.

End War 300300

To End A War Co-hosted with the United Nations and the Embassy of Colombia
Tuesday 26 June 2018

What does it takes for a nation of 50 million to move from hatred to forgiveness, from war to peace? Listen to the panel discussion on the Colombian peace process and the future of the country.

Middle East ISIS 300300

The Middle East after ISIS: what is at stake? 
Monday 18 June 2018

ISIS has been defeated militarily, but the fight for the Middle East is just beginning. Gilles Kepel, author of The Rise of Jihad in the West, discusses the future of the region and how it will shape global politics in the decades ahead.

Paris 300300

The French Revolution: one year on Co-hosted with the LSE European Institute
Thursday 24 May 2018

How successful has Emmanuel Macron's first year as President of France been? Jean Pisani-Ferry, former Director of ideas on the Macron campaign, and journalist Christine Ockrent discuss.

Zielonka 300300

Counter Revolution: liberal Europe in retreat Co-hosted with the LSE European Institute
Wednesday 16 May 2018

Liberal ideas are under attack across Europe. In this lecture, Jan Zielonka explores the sources of this counter-revolution to the liberal establishment and asks if Europeans can feel secure again?

Varela 300300

Transparency: the most important pillar in a functional democracy Co-hosted with the LSE Global South Unitpart of the CAF-LSE Leadership Series
Tuesday 15 May 2018

Our event with Juan Carlos Varela, President of the Republic of Panama, where the President spoke about his battle against corruption, the 'Panama Papers', and building relations with China the 'Panama way'.

Italy Cold War Ally 300300

The Underrated Ally: Italy in the Cold War
Wednesday 9 May 2018

Most histories of the Cold War portray Italy as being passive, without its own ambitious foreign policy. This panel discussion challenges that assumption by exploring Italian diplomacy during the Cold War and how Italian foreign policy was shaped by the country's domestic economy and politics.

Pedro Sanchez 300300

The Catalan Crisis: populism and secessionism Co-hosted with the LSE European Institute and The Cañada Blanch Centre for Contemporary Spanish Studies
Tuesday 8 May 2018

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on the political, social and economic factors that have led to the growth of populism and secessionism in Catalonia and possible solutions to the current political blockade. 

Economists 300300

The Great Economists: how their ideas can help us today
Monday 9 April 2018

Linda Yueh discusses her new book that helps us to think about the biggest economic challenges of our time by drawing on the ideas of the great economists whose thinking has already changed the world.

EU Flag 300300

EU Foreign, Security, & Defence Policy after Brexit Co-hosted with the Dahrendorf Forum, a project of LSE IDEAS 
Thursday 8 March 2018

Does Brexit create an opportunity for more defence integration in Europe by removing the UK veto, or will the damage from losing British military capabilities be too great?

Newspapers 300300

Why Post-Truth Matters to Think Tanks
Tuesday 30 January 2018

As part of the Global Go To Think Tank Index launch, Chatham House, LSE IDEAS, and the Institute for Government joined hundreds of other leading world think tanks in hosting a simultaneous event discussing the role of think tanks in government and civil society.

CAFLSE18 300300

Leadership, Resilience and Development in an Era of Instability Co-hosted by CAF - Development Bank of Latin America, the LSE Global South Unit, and LSE IDEAS
Friday 19 January 2018

The 2018 CAF-LSE conference focused on the importance of leadership. How can leaders in the global south, in the public and private sectors, maintain stability and growth in turbulent times for the world? 

Cold War History 300300

The Cold War: a world history
Tuesday 9 January 2018

Arne Westad and Michael Cox discusses the truly global nature of the Cold War, with East and West demanding absolute allegiance around the world.

 

2017

EU Flag 300300

Less Populist, More Popular: my vision for the EU in 2018 Co-hosted with the LSE European Institute
Monday 18 December 2017

Pierre Moscovici, EU Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, set out his political priorities for the coming year.

Karber 300300

Russia, China, and the US: challenges yet to come
Monday 11 December 2017

In this Global Strategies lecture, Phillip Karber looks in detail at Russian and Chinese military capabilities, with particular reference to the experience of battle in Ukraine, and explains the extent of their challenge to US and NATO strategy and forces.

FCO Commerce 300300

The Foreign Office, Commerce, and British Foreign Policy
Wednesday 29 November 2017

How did the Foreign Office support British commerce? And how has commerce shaped British foreign policy?

UN 300300

The UN, the Private Sector, and Human Security Partnerships
Monday 13 November 2017

How can the private sector play a role in addressing insecurity and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals?

Hard Brexit Soft Brexit No Brexit 300300

Hard Brexit, Soft Brexit, No Brexit? LSE IDEAS-Konrad Adenauer Stiftung event
Thursday 19 October 2017

David McAllister MEP, a member of Angela Merkel's CDU and vice president of the European People's Party, and Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska of the Centre for European Reform discussed the likelihood and consequences of three Brexit scenarios, with a focus on UK-Germany relations.

Vichy EU 300300

Forging Europe: Vichy France and the origins of the European Union LSE IDEAS-Open University event
Wednesday 11 October 2017

Luc-André Brunet explains continuities from the wartime Vichy regime to the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the forerunner to today’s European Union, and what this means for current debates about Europe.

Gorbachev 300300

Gorbachev: his life and times 
LSE IDEAS - LSE Department of International History event
Thursday 5 October 2017

How did a peasant boy rise to the top of the Soviet system and end it? Pulitzer Prize winner William Taubman explains how Gorbachev's biography and background influenced his unique role in world history.

Colombia 300300

Pathways to Peace in Colombia
LSE IDEAS - International Alert - LSE LACC event
Thursday 4 May 2017

Joshua Mitrotti on the challenges and achievements of a ground-breaking approach to absorb thousands of former paramilitaries and guerrilla fighters into productive employment as part of the country’s post-conflict transition.

Balkans Cold War 300300

The Balkans in the Cold War: Book Launch Discussion
Friday 28 April 2017

The edited volume ‘Balkans in the Cold War’ contains 16 contributions from renowned experts and scholars on how the global Cold War manifested in the Balkans. This Q&A with the editors includes introductory comments by Arne Westad and Vesselin Dimitrov.

Trump China 300300

Trump and China in the Asian Century Part of the 'Rethinking the Cold War' Lecture Series with the University of Sheffield
Tuesday 25 April 2017

The election of Donald Trump as president signals a profound change in US foreign relations. Professor Arne Westad of Harvard University asks what the reactions to the Trump presidency are likely to be in eastern Asia and whether we are facing a fundamental power shift in the region.

Downing Street 300300

The Life and Times of Clement Attlee: From Houghton Street to Downing Street 
Thursday 14 March 2017

Clement Attlee was one of the great sons of the LSE, yet he was looked down upon by many academics on the left. What does Attlee’s life say about the story of the left in modern Britain and indeed the part played by the LSE in that history? Attlee biographer John Bew discusses with IDEAS Director and LSE historian Michael Cox. 

World Reimagined 300300

The World Reimagined: Americans and Human Rights Part of the Rethinking the Cold War Lecture Series with the University of Sheffield
Tuesday 28 February 2017

How did the idea of 'human rights' develop in the twentieth century? Mark Bradley explored how changes in US culture and thought in the 1970s reflected a changing global idea of 'universial human rights' and changed the American idea of what it means to be free.

Revolutions 300300

Revolutions in the Afghan Desert Part of the LSE Literary Festival 2017 
Friday 24 February 2017

The story of how vast areas of desert in Afghanistan have been transformed into farming land through the use of revolutionary new technologies in the poppy and opium trade. This event was part of the IDEAS exhibition on the topic, and included insight from satellite imagery.

Revolutions 300300

From One Cold War to Another? Part of LSE Literary Festival 2017
Thursday 23 February 2017

In what sense did the Cold War represent a revolution in world history? Was 1989 yet another – very different kind of - revolution in international affairs? And why does the Cold War we all thought dead and buried continue to exercise such influence on our discourses about the modern world?

LSE Works 2017 300300

Drug Policies Beyond the 'War on Drugs'? Part of the LSE Works lecture series
Wednesday 15 February 2017

As countries examine new ways of managing drugs beyond the failed 'war on drugs' model, this event explored the future of drug policy and the role of LSE research in driving government policies around the world.

Twenty Years Crisis 300300

Looking Back: Looking Forward. Another 'Twenty Years' Crisis?
Thursday 9 February 2017

The international system is facing a perfect storm. Can history teach us how to avoid crisis? Ken Booth, Mary Kaldor, and Michael Cox discuss E.H. Carr's Twenty Years Crisis.

Alumni Policy Weekend sq

Brexit - Britain at the Crossroads: European Consequences, Geopolitical Risks?
Tuesday 7 February 2017

The FT's Gideon Rachman and New York Times Steven Erlanger assessed the international consequences of the referendum on the United Kingdom’s membership in the European Union. Select Alumni Breakfast Podcasts from the Alumni Network page to listen.

Alumni Policy Weekend sq

Decline of the West and Crisis of Democracy?
Tuesday 7 February 2017

Populism is on the rise across the West. How far does this reflect a decline in Western economic power? And how much does it threaten liberal democratic institutions? Brian Klass, Gideon Rachman, and Leslie Vinjamuri debate. Select Alumni Breakfast Podcasts from the Alumni Network page to listen.

 

2016

Cyber 300300

War and PCs: Cyber and Violence in the 21st Century
Monday 5 December 2016

Lecture by General Sir Richard Barrons, who served as Commander Joint Forces Command until April 2016 in a military career including operations in Bosnia, Kosovo, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. Sir Richard outlines how disruptive technology will transform defence and security thinking worldwide.

Margaret Gowing 300300

Margaret Gowing and British Nuclear History LSE IDEAS - NATO - LSE Department of International History conference
Monday 5 December 2016

Margaret Gowing was an LSE alumna & leading nuclear historian, who wrote the ground breaking official history of Britain & Atomic Energy. Members of the Gowing family, NATO officials, civil servants, leading historians, & LSE students attended this one day conference to explore her personal and academic legacy.

Liberty Wall 300300

Clash of the Titans? China-US Relations from Nixon to Trump
Thursday 1 December 2016

When Nixon opened a door to China in 1972  the world was turned upside down for ever. But what is the state of the US-China relationship nearly fifty years on? Margaret Macmillan and Christopher Coker discuss the past, present, and future of arguably the most significant relationship of the modern era.

USA Flag 300300

The Yanks are Coming! LSE in the American Century
Thursday 17 November 2016

LSE has helped shape the United States and Americans have helped define the LSE since its foundation in 1895. Professor Mick Cox explains what has been a very “special relationship”.

Jenkins EU 300300

A Briton at the Heart of Europe: Revisiting Roy Jenkins' Presidency of the European Commission LSE IDEAS - LSE Department of International History event
Tuesday 8 November 2016

Fourty years ago, a British politician was appointed President of the European Commission. Dr Piers Ludlow explored what Jenkins' tenure reveals about the nature of the job and the history of Britain in Europe. 

Juan Manuel Santos 300300

The Legacy of Peace LSE IDEAS - LSE LACC event
Wednesday 2 November 2016

LSE IDEAS was honoured to welcome President of Colombia and 2016 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Juan Manuel Santos to the LSE. In his lecture President Santos said the referendum vote agaisnt the peace deal could be a "blessing in disguise" for the peace process, spoke about Colombia's biodiversity and environmental policies inspired by the Stern Report, and revealed his favourite memory of being an LSE student.

EU Flag 300300

The European Union at the Crossroads: Brexit and After
Monday 31 October 2016

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.

Imaginary War 300300

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
Wednesday 19 October 2016

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.

Easternisation 300300

The Decline of the West in the New Asian Century?
Tuesday 4 October 2016

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.

Malcolm Rifkind 300300

Power and Pragmatism: Sir Malcolm Rifkind
Monday 25 July 2016

For almost fourty years, Malcolm Rifkind served at the forefront of British politics. In this lecture, former Foreign Secretary 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.

Alumni Policy Weekend sq

NATO at the Crossroads
Wednesday 29 June 2016

Confronting Putin? Surviving Trump? Where is NATO – and indeed the whole Transatlantic relationship – likely to be heading in these deeply uncertain times? NATO's Jamie Shea and Anne Applebaum discuss. Select Alumni Breakfast Podcasts from the Alumni Network page to listen.

EU Flag 300300

EU Referendum: What Now? LSE IDEAS - Sarasin & Partners event
Monday 27 June 2016

The Monday after the UK voted for Brexit, this event asked what happens now, with LSE experts and guests from business and politics discussed the impact on the global markets, the UK economy, British politics, and the wider world. 

John Kay 300300

Military Strategy vs Business Strategy
Thursday 9 June 2016

In this Global Strategies lecture, economist John Kay discusses what business strategy can learn from military or political strategies. John Kay is one of Britain's leading economists, whose career has spanned the academic world, business and public affairs.

Dahrendorf 300300

Dahrendorf Symposium: Europe and the World - Global Insecurity & Power Shifts
Wednesday 25 - Friday 27 May 2016

The Dahrendorf Symposium is a high-profile event debating Europe’s future, attended by around 300 European policymakers and foreign policy experts. View full videos, Symposium publications, and a cartoon summary from the 2016 event in Berlin.

Changing Waters 300300

Changing Waters: Towards a New EU Asia Strategy
Thursday 28 April 2016

The EU-Asia relationship has changed. At this event, contributors to the LSE IDEAS report 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.

Lawrence Freedman 300300

The Limits of Strategy
Thursday 7 April 2016

Lecture by Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King's College London and author of Strategy: A History.

EU Flag 300300

Europe & the Return of Geopolitics 
Tuesday 22 March 2016

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. 

China Britain square

UK-China: Stocks, Shakespeare, and Satellites
Thursday 17 March 2016

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

Ian Morris 300300

Each Age Gets the Inequality It Needs: 20,000 Years of Hierarchy Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 15 March 2016

Through most of history, humans lived in small groups with low hierarchy. The invention of farming increased the size of societies and inequality. Ian Morris explains how the ways we capture energy from the environment has affected hierarchy and what that tells us about where inequality will go in the coming decades.

Twitter: #LSEMorris / Download Audio / Listen

After Drugs 300300

After the Drug Wars report launch
Monday 15 February 2016

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 the Sustainable Development Goals.

Ian Morris 300300

Each Age Gets the Bloodshed It Needs: 20,000 Years of Violence Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 9 February 2016

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? Ian Morris argues that violence has slowly been putting itself out of business, with war creating large organisations that impose peace.

Twitter: #LSEMorris / Download Audio / Listen

Russia EU 300300

Russia and the EU: back to realism?
Wednesday 3 February 2016

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.

 

2015

Each Age Gets the Great Powers It Needs: 20,000 Years of International Relations Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series

Tuesday 8 December 2015

Ian Morris traces the 20,000 year story of ‘International Relations’ asking why the world’s greatest powers were concentrated in western Eurasia until about AD 500, why they shifted to East Asia until AD 1750, why they returned to the shores of the North Atlantic, and where they will go next.

Twitter: #LSEMorris / Download Audio / Listen

Russian Foreign Policy as an Exercise in Nation-Building LSE IDEAS - LSE Department of International Relations event
Wednesday 3 November 2015

Leading Moscow-based analyst Dimitri Trenin opens up the black-box of Russia’s foreign policy and sheds light in particular on the role of the internal factors driving the country's policy.

Will the 21st Century be Asian?
Monday 2 November 2015

If the 19th century was Europe's - and the 20th century became America's - is there any reason why the 21st century should not be Asia's? 

A Theory of Everything: Evolution, History and the Shape of Things to Come Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 27 October 2015

In the last 50 years, knowledge of archaeology, anthropology, history, evolution, genetics and linguistics has exploded. Biology and geography have driven a 150,000-year story of cooperation and competition. Ian Morris argues that by projecting forward the patterns of the past and the forces that disrupt them, we can begin to see where the 21st century might take us.

Twitter: #LSEMorris / Download Audio / Listen 

The Crisis in European Security
Thursday 8 October 2015

Experienced European diplomats Robert Cooper and Wolfgang Ischinger were joined by Professors Karen Smith and Robert Falkner for this Dahrendorf Forum discussion on the Ukraine crisis and how to restore a “Europe whole and free”.

Does Europe Have a Future? LSE IDEAS - LSE US Centre event
Thursday 1 October 2015

Professor Walt of the Kennedy School at Harvard spoke at this on the strategic challenges facing the EU and if it can meet them.

Black Earth: the Holocaust as history and warning
Monday 14 September 2015

Timothy Snyder (@TimothyDSnyder) will talk about his new book, Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning, in which he argues we have missed basic lessons of the history of the Holocaust, and that some of our beliefs are frighteningly close to the panic that Hitler expressed in the 1920’s. As ideological and environmental challenges to the world order mount, our societies might be more vulnerable than we would like to think. 

China, the United States and Asia in the Twenty-first Century
Tuesday 5 May 2015

The rivalry between China and the United States for influence in Asia will determine the geopolitical landscape in this century. Arne Westad on what China can do to mobilise its undeniable resources in the exercise of a more effective foreign policy and how domestic developments in the two countries influence their long-term Asia policies.

Crowd-Sourcing, Surveillance, and the Era of the Synopticon Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Wednesday 18 March 2015

‘Big data’ poses a massive challenge to the democratic accountability. Over the last four years the U.S. has quadrupled the amount of information that it classifies annually. But the information revolution has also provided citizens with the means to address these challenges. 

In his concluding Philippe Roman lecture, Matthew Connelly explains how data-mining can help preserve the principle of open government.

Download / Listen

Deng Xiaoping vs Gorbachev
Wednesday 18 March 2015

Was Deng Xiaoping right to call Mikhail Gorbachev “very stupid”? Alexander V. Pantsov discusses why the USSR couldn’t follow the pattern of Chinese reforms in the decade leading up to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The Cold War and the Culture of Secrecy Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 13 January 2015

Official secrecy in the U.S. during the Cold War altered the culture of government and served many hidden agendas. Matthew Connelly explains how classified information became an institutional asset, security clearances became a way to police behaviour, and senior officials who leaked classified information could use tactic to gain higher office.

Download / Listen

2014

Open Government in the Age of Total War Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 2 December 2014

How did the US national security state emerge and what shaped the government’s approach to official secrecy? Matthew Connelly explains how the period 1914-1945, bookended by two horrendous world wars, transformed the US into a nation equipped with a vast intelligence-gathering apparatus that could dramatically curtail civil liberties.

Download / Listen

Stalin's Team
Tuesday 11 November 2014

We know a lot about Stalin but less about the team – Molotov, Kaganovich, Mikoyan and the rest of a group whose membership was roughly but never quite equivalent to the Politburo – that surrounded him for 25 years.

25 Years After the End of the Cold War: Its Legacy in a New World Order
Monday 27 October 2014

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?

A Changing World and China
Wednesday 22 October 2014

Despite China’s growing interactions with the rest of the world, the country’s foreign policy is largely dictated by domestic politics and further economic reform. Distinguished Chinese diplomat Wu Jian Min will explore China’s international strategy and what this means for the country’s relations with the rest of the world.

The Radical Transparency of the American Republic Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 21 October 2014

For most of its history, the U.S. government’s commitment to transparency stood as a radical counter-example to the rest of the world. Washington, Madison, and Lincoln were in some ways as radical as Julian Assange in their commitment to transparency. In his first lecture, Matthew Connelly explores how recent invocations of national security stand in sharp contrast with America’s founders and their principles. 

Download / Listen

The Paradox of China's Peaceful Rise
Tuesday 7 October 2014

Despite the widespread view that China does not have a coherent grand strategy, China has already articulated one that is based on the home-grown idea of ‘peaceful rise/development’. Barry Buzan, Arne Westad, and Michael Cox discuss.

A New Strategy? Russia as an Unlikely Soft Power
Monday 9 June 2014

This expert roundtable discusses Russia’s declared strategy to invest in soft power instruments in regional and global politics. What are Russia’s soft power assets? Has Moscow been successful in turning them into influence?

The Polish Roundtable Talks and the End of the Cold War
Wednesday 4 June 2014

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 hosted witnesses of the Polish Democratic Transition to join academics to discuss the importance of the events for Poland, for Europe, and for the world.

Ending the Drug Wars report launch
Wednesday 7 May 2014

Members of the Expert Group on the Economics of Drug Policy present the evidence from their report Ending the Drug Wars.

The Origins of the Final Solution: Eastern Europe and the Holocaust Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 11 March 2014

The Nazi Final Solution was implemented in occupied Poland and the occupied Soviet Union, in the lands that after the end of the war quickly fell behind the Iron Curtain. The opening of borders and archives has permitted a much fuller acquaintance with the victims of the Holocaust, the vast majority of whom were east European Jews. Must the national history of eastern Europe collapse into nothing more than a prehistory of catastrophe or can a grounding in the national histories help us better discern the human causes of the Holocaust?

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Russia, Ukraine, and Us
Friday 7 March 2014

LSE IDEAS hosted this BBC Radio 4 debate putting the Ukraine crisis into historical context and asking what it means for our relationship with Russia. Hosted by Bridget Kendall, with Anne Applebaum, Sir Rodric Braithwaite, Ben Judah, and Olexiy Solohubenko.

The Origins of Mass Killing: the Bloodlands Hypothesis Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 21 January 2014

At no other time in European history were so many human beings deliberately killed as a matter of policy as in Eastern Europe between 1933 and 1945. Most deliberate Soviet killing, and almost all deliberate Nazi killing, took place in this zone between Berlin and Moscow. Timothy Snyder argues that if we can understand the totality of this catastrophe we will both better understand the two regimes and  be better prepared to understand its component parts, the most significant of which was the Holocaust of European Jews.  

Twitter: #LSEBloodlands / Download / Listen

2013

The Origins of the Revolution: Marx and Eastern Europe Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 5 November 2013

Marx and Engels believed in liberating Eastern Europe from imperial rule in the nineteenth century but the twentieth century saw communist oppression in region. Timothy Snyder discusses if Marxism was in any sense native to Eastern Europe and argues Poland’s Solidarity was the only working class revolution in the world. 

Twitter: #LSEMarx / Download / Listen

The Origins of the Nations: the Brotherlands Hypothesis Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 15 October 2013

Why do we have nations at all? And why do we have the nations that we have? Timothy Snyder tells the story of brothers from important families who chose different nationalities and led rival national movements to provide a new perspective on the question of ‘motherlands’ and ‘fatherlands’. 

Twitter: #LSENations / Download / Listen

The EU in the Eye of the Storm
Monday 14 October 2013

The EU and the Eurozone have been hit by the strongest crisis in their history. Southern Europe, particularly, has been suffering from its effects. After the happy years of integration at the end of the last century, for some Southern European citizens, the EU has come to feel more like a burden than a blessing. The European project is thus facing stark challenges: economic, social and political. The time has come for resolute action by policymakers and for positive engagement by Europe’s politicians in order to embark on a more constructive path. 

Does Eastern Europe Still Exist? Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 12 March 2013

During the Cold War, the nations of the region we called 'Eastern Europe' were closely linked. Since 1989 they have made different choices and taken different paths. Anne Applebaum argues that the label ‘Eastern Europe’ is no longer relevant to a diverse region that can offer crucial lessons in transition to the rest of the world. 

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Putinism - The Ideology Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 12 February 2013

Anne Applebaum argues that Vladimir Putin cannot be dismissed as a thuggish or thoughtless authoritarian leader. She explains the sophisticated institutional and ideological underpinnings of ‘Putinism’ as an ideology including foreign policy, history, and education.

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2012

The Gulag: What We Know Now and Why it Matters Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 20 November 2012

Since the archives of the Gulag system became available to researchers in the 1990s, historians’ previously sketchy understanding of the Soviet concentration camp system has come more sharply into focus. We now understand far better what the Gulag was, how it evolved, what purposes it served, how many people lived and died within it. Anne Applebaum asks what we really remember of the camp system and why it’s not an issue for debate in modern Russia. 

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True Believers: Collaboration and Opposition under Totalitarian Regimes Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Wednesday 17 October 2012

The horrifying genius of Soviet communism, imposed by force on Soviet-occupied Europe, was the system’s ability to get the silent majority in so many countries to play along without much protest. Anne Applebaum explains how carefully targeted violence, propaganda and the state’s monopoly on economic and civic institutions persuaded populations to ‘go along’, illustrated with individual stories.

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A Conversation with Senator John McCain
Wednesday 10 October 2012

Senator John McCain is Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee and was the Republican nominee for President in 2008. In this event with LSE staff and students he answers questions on his career, defence policy, the US 'pivot' to Asia, and the future of American power.

Sport and the Nation: Interpreting Indian History Through the Lens of Cricket Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 6 March 2012

How did a game played by homesick colonial administrators in front of curious native onlookers become not only a fanatic obsession with the latter, but a part of their history and cultural identity? Ramachandra Guha explains how the Indianisation of cricket is not only a great sporting history, but an expression of societal relations in colonial and post-colonial India.

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Ten Reasons Why India Will Not and Should Not Become a Superpower Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Thursday 26 January 2012

It is said that just as the 20th century belonged to the United Kingdom and the United States, the 21st century will belong to China and India. Rather than seek to expand India's influence abroad, Ramachandra Guha argues that the Indian political class and intellectual elite would do well to focus on the fissures and challenges within.

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2011

Global Political Challenges: women advancing democracy
Friday 2 December 2011

Former US secretary of state Madeleine Korbel Albright will address the future of US foreign policy and the leadership of women in helping to build prosperity, foster peace, and promote democracy across the globe. 

Jawaharlal Nehru and China: A Study in Failure? Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 29 November 2011

The historical reputation of Jawaharlal Nehru has been stained by India's defeat during the Sino-Indian War of 1962. This was a national humiliation, for which Nehru was considered personally responsible. By putting 1962 in the broader perspective of China-India relations, Ramachandra Guha attempts to reassess Nehru's legacy.

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Arguments with Gandhi Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 25 October 2011

At once a freedom fighter, social reformer, religious pluralist, and environmental thinker, Mahatma Gandhi's ideas were original and controversial. Ramachandra Guha explores how Ghandi's life and work continue to illuminate the major social and political debates of our time.

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Nuclear Arms & Human Rights Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 1 March 2011

The decisive breakthroughs in the Cold War occurred in seemingly unrelated fields, nuclear arms control and human rights. Niall Ferguson asks what were the links between these two issues and which mattered more?

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The Grand Strategy of Détente Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 18 January 2011

'Nixon goes to China' shattered the façade of Communist unity and dug the United States out of the hole it found itself in at the end of the 1960s. Critics have seen Nixon and Kissinger's policy as morally compromised, but Niall Ferguson asks if it was actually the key to America's victory in the Cold War? 

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2010

The Third World’s War Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Wednesday 24 November 2010

The Cold War was waged partly through a series of proxy wars in Third World countries from Guatemala to Korea to Vietnam. Although a great deal of attention has been devoted to a select number of U.S. Interventions in the Third World, Niall Ferguson argues that we need to see the ‘Third World's War’ in perspective. He explains how successful the Soviet Union was in pursuing a strategy of fomenting revolution and how consistently successive U.S. administrations behaved in response.

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The Political Economy of the Cold War Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Monday 18 October 2010

At its heart the Cold War was a competition between two economic systems. In his first lecture, Niall Ferguson compares and contrasts the United States and the Soviet Union and asks how far the outcome of the Cold War was economically determined from the outset. In particular, what role did commercial and financial globalisation play in enhancing U.S. power in the world and how serious a threat did inflation pose to the United States in the 1970s?  

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Barack Obama and the Muslim World Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 23 February 2010

How successful has President Obama’s engagement with the Muslim world been? Gilles Kepel assess the impact of the of Obama’s cultural outreach. 

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Muslims in Modern Europe Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 12 January 2010

Today over 13 million people from Muslim backgrounds live and work in modern Europe. Gilles Kepel looks at the complex character of the Muslim population in Europe and explains the many different ways in which they see the world around them.

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2009

Jihad: the trail of Political Islam Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 24 November 2009

Political Islam has emerged as one of the great ideologies of the modern world. How did this occur? Gilles Kepel explores the origins of Islamism and its future, discussing if it makes a clash of civilization inevitable.  

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The International Economy, and the process of citizen's revolution in Ecuador
Tuesday 27 October 2009

LSE IDEAS was honoured to host President Correa, the 43rd President of Ecuador, in office from 2007 to 2017. At this event, he spoke about charting a new course in the international economic system and how domestic priorities inform foreign policy.

Beyond Terror and Martydom: the future of the Middle East Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 13 October 2009

The Bush administration’s ‘War on Terror’ has dominated American understanding of the Middle East. Gilles Kepel analyses the consequences this has for the region and America’s allies there. 

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Rising Asia in the World Crisis Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 5 May 2009

The global financial crisis presents both opportunities and challenges to Asia. The initiatives and responses by Asian countries, China and India in particular, have the potential to define the world's path of development now and in the future. To discuss these issues Chen Jian is joined by Danny Quah (Director of the LSE Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre) and Athar Hussain (Director of the Asia Research Centre).

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Indonesia: Global Reach, Regional Role
Tuesday 31 March 2009

LSE IDEAS was honoured to host President Yudhoyono. President Yudhoyono, in office from 2004-2014, was Indonesia's sixth President. At this event, he speaks about how Indonesia's international role is changing.

The Great Transformation: how China changed in the ‘long 1970s’ Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Thursday 22 January 2009

China's adoption of a new path toward modernity, one that champions ‘reform and opening to the outside world’, had profound significance not only for China itself but also for the rest of the world. What were the origins of this ‘Great Transformation’? Professor Chen offers a historian's overview of China's 1970s transformation and the beginning of global systemic change that this transformation helped create.

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2008

China After the Olympics Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 2 December 2008

Whether we think sport and politics should or should not be mixed, it is clear that in the case of the Beijing Olympics the two have never been more closely intertwined. Chian Jian is joined by Guardian Columnist Martin Jacques and Director of the Asia Research Centre Athar Hussain to discuss how the impact of the Olympics on China and ask if it changed China’s world image or affected future Western relations. 

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The China Challenge as Myth and Reality Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Wednesday 8 October 2008

Few countries have experienced changes as dramatic as China in the past 25 years, from ‘revolutionary state’ to ‘status quo power’. Professor Chen discusses the origins, processes and implications of China's rise from the perspective of a historian of China's international relations, focusing on deconstructing some common myths.  

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The Nuts and Bolts of Empire Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 26 February 2008

All great and long-lasting empires have required a sophisticated logistical system and a secure communications system to sustain themselves in a world of endless challenges. Without such ‘nuts and bolts’, imperial ambitions soon collapse. Professor Kennedy examines the hard, infrastructural underpinnings of the Roman, Spanish and British Empires, concluding with some reflections of how today's sole superpower, the USA, compares in this regard.  

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Measuring American Power in Today's Fractured World Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 5 February 2008

In the official IDEAS launch event, Professor Kennedy explored relative American power. The United States remains the world’s largest power but in an increasingly challenging and fractured world, Professor Kennedy argues its influence cannot be measured by military ‘hard power’ alone but also by examining comparative economic performance and  ‘soft power’ cultural factors. 

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2007

Reforming the United Nations – Mission Impossible? Part of the Philippe Roman Chair Lecture Series
Tuesday 11 October 2007

In the first Philippe Roman lecture, Professor Kennedy discussed the United Nations: its strengths, weaknesses and prospects for reform. In particular he focused on the role of the Security Council and the special privileges bestowed upon its five permanent members, discussing the complex historical reasons for their veto and the reasons why Charter amendment is probably impossible. 

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