Podcasts 2026
from the Department of International Relations
Catch up with this year's events
Resilience and community in international relations: lessons from central Eurasia
Hosted by the Department of International Relations and the European Foreign Policy Unit
Thursday 19 March 2026 90 minutes
In this book launch, Elena Korosteleva presents her new book, Complexity and Community in International Relations: Nurturing Resilience in Central Eurasia.
The book offers an innovative perspective on how communities in Central Eurasia - including Belarus, Ukraine, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia - display a much higher degree of resilience. This is based on centuries-long traditions, social memory, ideas of community and culture to nurture resilience in the face of poverty, climate emergency, conflict, and war. Rather than treating resilience as a mere policy tool, the study reframes it as a complex, communal process of identity, relations-building and a political agency, with capabilities to design more sustainable futures and a lesson for all social and political actors across the globe in the Anthropocene.
Professor Korosteleva's talk is followed by a discussion with IR scholars and Q&A.
Meet our speaker
Elena Korosteleva is Professor of International Politics and Director of the Institute of Global Sustainable Development (IGSD). In April 2024 Elena was appointed Chair for the Sustainability Spotlight, Warwick-wide interdisciplinary research-focused network to address planetary challenges collectively; and in July 2024 she was elected to be a member of the Scientific Council for COP29. Elena is also a Visiting Professor at Oxford University, and Jean Monnet Chair, which she was awarded twice by the European Commission in recognition of her research and teaching excellence.
Discussants
David Chandler is Professor of International Relations at the University of Westminster.
Teona Giuashvili is the DINAM Fellow in the Department of International Relations at LSE, pursuing research on EU foreign policy towards Eastern Europe and on the political and security implications of Russia’s war against Ukraine for the EU, NATO and the Black Sea region.
Emilian Kavalski is Professor of International Relations at Tampere University in Finland.
Chair
Federica Bicchi is Associate Professor of International Relations in the Department of International Relations at LSE.
Find out more about the event and speakers
Listen to the podcast coming soon
Judging under constraint
Tuesday 10 March 2026 90 minutes
International courts are regularly called upon to address some of the most pressing issues of international and regional affairs. Policymakers, practitioners, and scholars observe variation in how international courts respond to the cases brought before them. At times, international courts defer to states, whereby they accept a state’s exercise of authority. Other times, they reject states’ exercise of authority. How can we explain this variation in judicial deference?
During this event, Dr Theresa Squatrito presents her new book, which examines deference by international courts. She explains how a judicial deference is shaped by judicial independence and the political preferences of states. She demonstrates this argument based on evidence on the East African Court of Justice, Caribbean Court of Justice, and African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Meet our speaker
Dr Theresa Squatrito is Associate Professor in International Organisations in the Department of International Relations at LSE. She teaches international organisations and international institutions at LSE.
Discussants
Kofi Oteng Kufuor is Professor of Law in the University of East London. He is the author of The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement: The Development of a Regional Rules-Based Trading Order (2024) Routledge; and World Trade Governance and Developing Countries: the GATT/WTO Code Committee System, (2004) Blackwell.
Mark A Pollack is Thomas J Freaney Professor of Political Science and Law and Jean Monnet Chair at Temple University. His research focuses on international law, international organizations, and EU law and politics. He is the co-host, with Katerina Linos, of the Borderlines CJEU Profiles series of interviews with judges and advocates general of the European Court of Justice.
Chair
Jens Meierhenrich is Professor of International Relations in the Department of International Relations at LSE.
Find out more about the event and speakers
Report Launch: Strengthening the Representation of Women in Diplomacy: Lessons from the Field
Thursday 5 March 2026 90 minutes
Hosted by LSE IDEAS and the Department of International Relations
Following the publication of the ‘Women in Diplomacy’ (WiD) inaugural report in June 2024, the WiD team has convened a series of workshops and consultations, internationally, with women diplomats and practitioners to reflect on the findings and deepen understanding of the core barriers and enablers to women’s representation in diplomacy and foreign policy.
The insights gathered from these conversations now inform the second edition of the report, which integrates lived experience with policy-relevant analysis and offers concrete, evidence-based guidance for advancing gender equality in international affairs.
This launch event presents key findings from the report and bring together practitioners, policymakers, and researchers to reflect on lessons from the field and discuss pathways for change. The event offers an opportunity to engage in an open, informed discussion on strengthening women’s representation and leadership in diplomacy.
Meet our speakers and chair
HE Dr Fatou Bensouda served as Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court from 2012 to 2021, becoming its first female Prosecutor after election by consensus with African Union support. She strengthened the Office through strategic reforms, overseeing fourteen investigations and numerous preliminary examinations worldwide.
Dr Sara Chehab is the acting Academic Director and a Senior Research Fellow at the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy (AGDA) in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Dr Chehab curates the ‘Women and Diplomacy’ research programme at AGDA. She also trains diplomats on the Women, Peace and Security agenda and contemporary global and economic affairs.
Alexander Evans is Associate Dean for Strategic Development at the LSE School of Public Policy, Professor in Practice in Public Policy, and Director of the LSE IDEAS Ratiu Forum.
Marta Kozielska is the co-founder and manager of the Women in Diplomacy Project . Marta also manages the LSE IDEAS Alumni Network.
HE Laura Popescu is the Ambassador of Romania to the United Kingdom and the country’s first woman ambassador in London.
Karen E Smith is Professor of International Relations at LSE. Her main research interests lie in the fields of foreign policy analysis and the study of international organisations.
Find out more about the event and speakers
Listen to the podcast coming soon
Read the student blogger event report
The politics of world heritage: visions, custodians, and futures of humanity
Wednesday 4 March 2026 90 minutes
In this book launch, Elif Kalaycioglu, presents her new book, The Politics of World Heritage: Visions, Custodians, and Futures of Humanity, followed by a discussion and Q&A.
The book examines the permutations of a global cultural history of humanity that has emerged through decades of World Heritage politics. Within this history, Dr Kalaycioglu excavates the exclusions, hierarchies and contradictions that challenge UNESCO's mandate of fostering global peace and solidarity; and offers an internal critique of UNESCO's "nested constructions of humanity".
Meet our speakers and chair
Elif Kalaycioglu is Lecturer in International Relations in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London.
Alvina Hoffmann is a Lecturer in Diplomatic Studies at SOAS University of London.
Sinja Graf is Assistant Professor in the Department of International Relations at LSE.
Find out more about the event and speakers
Europe in a post-liberal world
Conversation with Pedro Serrano, the EU Ambassador to the UKCo hosted with the European Institute and the European Foreign Policy Unit
Wednesday 18 February 2026 90 minutes
Join Pedro Serrano, the European Union Ambassador to the United Kingdom, at this event to discuss Europe in a post-liberal world.
Today, the founding principles of the international liberal order – the rule of law, democracy, free trade, and collective security – are being challenged in a world where military force, zero-sum competition, and the weaponisation of interdependence increasingly define international relations.
Meet our speaker
Pedro Serrano is the European Union Ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Discussants
Federica Bicchi is Associate Professor of International Relations in the Department of International Relations at LSE. Her current research focuses on contemporary trends in European diplomacy, especially in relation to the digitalisation of diplomacy and developments in European foreign policy cooperation.
Spyros Economides is Associate Professor in International Relations. His current research concentrates on: the ‘West’ in contemporary international relations; the external relations and security policies of the EU; Europeanisation and foreign policy, and the EU’s relationship with the Western Balkans.
Chair
Karen E Smith is Professor of International Relations Theory in the Department of International Relations at LSE.
Find out more about the event and speakers
Listen to the podcast (due to a technical fault this recording begins 15 mins late)
Read the student blogger event report
The Militarisation of British Democracy: The Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and the rise of authoritarianism
Thursday 12 February 2026 90 minutes
In this book launch event, Paul Dixon presents his new book, The Militarisation of British Democracy: The Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and the Rise of Authoritarianism (Edinburgh University Press, 2025) followed by a panel discussion about the key questions.
Dixon explores how senior military leaders, not just politicians, played a decisive role in driving Britain into the Iraq and Afghan wars; arguing that the pursuit of war and the further militarisation of British democracy since 9/11 has made the nation particularly prone to military aggression.
Meet our speaker
Professor Paul Dixon teaches at Queen Mary University of London and the University of Leicester. His publications include Performing the Northern Ireland Peace Process (2018) and editing The British Approach to Counterinsurgency: From Malaya and Northern Ireland to Iraq and Afghanistan (2012).
Discussants
Antonia Lucia Dawes is a Lecturer in Social Justice at King's College London and works on racism, militarism and cultural theory. Her most recent co-authored book is England’s Military Heartland (2025).
Sir Simon Jenkins is a journalist and author. He writes weekly for the Guardian and elsewhere.
Tom Stevenson is a foreign correspondent and contributing editor at the London Review of Books. He has reported from Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Turkey, Iraq, Mexico, and Ukraine, among others.
Chair
Professor Toby Dodge is Professor of International Relations at LSE.
Find out more about the event and speakers
'A History of Modern Syria' Book Launch
Wednesday 4 February 2026 60 minutes
Hosted by the LSE Middle East Centre and the Department of International Relations
Listen to the launch of Dr Daniel Neep's latest book A History of Modern Syria published by Penguin Random House.
Modern Syria has seen violence, repression, and autocracy, suffering through tragedy after tragedy over the past century. Yet the history of Syria is not just a tale of dictators and generals. From the 1800s to the 2020s, the Syrian people have engaged in a passionate struggle for justice, equality, and a better future. Whether fighting for national independence from French colonial rule, battling local landowning elites to share the country's wealth, or rising up against the Assad regime, the Syrian people have fiercely clung to their right to live with respect and dignity. Theirs is a story of protest and perseverance in the long fight to reshape the political destiny of their nation. Daniel Neep’s new book, A History of Modern Syria, offers a gripping narrative of how Syrians have navigated the events of the last two centuries. Never losing sight of the fates of ordinary people, it provides a comprehensive account of how a nation born in conflict sustained a rich, complex, and diverse society that after the fall of Assad will chart a new path into the uncertain future.
Daniel Neep is Non-Resident Fellow at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University, and Senior Editor at Arab Center Washington DC. He has taught Middle East politics at George Washington University, Georgetown University, and the University of Exeter.
Meet our discussant and chair
Charles Tripp FBA is Professor Emeritus of Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
Jasmine Gani is Assistant Professor in International Relations Theory at LSE. She specialises in anti-colonial theory and history, and the politics of empire, race and knowledge production.
Find out more about the event and speakers
Listen to the podcast (Soundcloud)
Forged or fragmented? Europe in times of crisis
Thursday 22 January 2026 90 minutes
Co-hosted with the European Foreign Policy Unit at LSE
Jean Monnet envisioned that the joint pursuit of practical solutions to common challenges can reinforce European integration. In recent years, the EU has confronted a poly-crisis, as overlapping threats and challenges have increasingly compounded one another.
The event explores how today’s strategic landscape, including Russia’s war against Ukraine, hybrid campaigns, a volatile transatlantic relationship and intensifying geo-economic competition, is affecting Europe’s priorities, European politics and European integration. Will the existing threats and challenges forge a more united Europe or splinter it?
Meet our speakers
Mikaela Gavas is the Managing Director of The Center for Global Development (CDG) Europe and a Senior Policy Fellow.
Caroline de Gruyter is a Member of the Board of Bruegel and a Europe correspondent and columnist for the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad.
Anand Menon is Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at King's College London and Director of the UK in a Changing Europe project. His areas of research interest include the policies and institutions of the European Union, European security, and British politics.
Chair
Teona Giuashvili is the DINAM Fellow in the Department of International Relations at LSE.
Find out more about the event and speakers
Listen to the podcast (apologies for the poor audio quality)
Decentering Emissions: How the developing world can shape the climate change agenda
Co-hosted with the Global School of Sustainability at LSE
Wednesday 21 January 2026 (90 minutes)
Our collective climate future is likely to be shaped by the development choices made by the vast majority of people in the developing world. Yet, the global climate policy conversation seldom asks what it would take for the Global South to align development with low-carbon and resilient futures.
This talk explores the intersection of climate and development. It examines different forms of national climate politics, how they intersect with development futures, and explores whether and how development choices can internalise climate concerns.
Meet our speaker
Navroz K Dubash is a Professor of Public and International Affairs and the High Meadows Environmental Institute at Princeton University, and a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Sustainable Futures Collaborative, New Delhi, which he helped co-found.
Discussant
Kasia Paprocki is Associate Professor of Environment in the Department of Geography and Environment at LSE. Her research is broadly concerned with political economies and ecologies of development, and the social movements that address them. Her work sheds light on the ways that development interventions and knowledge systems shape communities and landscapes.
Chair
Robert Falkner is Professor of International Relations in the Department of International Relations at LSE, and the Academic Dean of the TRIUM Global Executive MBA.
Find out more about the event and speakers
Read our student blogger event report