Contributor(s): Jonathan Steele | Jonathan Steele will argue that the occupation has failed, not because of a lack of pre-war planning, but because of a lack of informed political analysis by US decision-makers and the British Foreign Office. They failed to see that Islamists, Sunni and Shia, would fill the post-Saddam vacuum and that most Iraqis would quickly come to resent yet another Western intervention in the Middle East.
Jan 31, 2008•1 hr 28 min
Contributor(s): Professor Saul Estrin | In this new series of lunchtime lectures, nine of LSE's most senior academics explain the latest thinking on how social scientists work to address the critical problems of the day. They survey the leading ideas and contributions made by their discipline, explain the types of problems that are addressed and the tools that are used, and explore the kinds of solutions proposed.Saul Estrin is head of the Department of Management at LSE.
Jan 31, 2008•54 min
Contributor(s): Clarence Mitchell, Justine McGuiness, Kelvin MacKenzie, Roy Greenslade, Roger Graef | The McCanns were the biggest media story of 2007. This event goes behind the headlines to ask why it became a media obsession, whether information or entertainment triumphed, and what impact the coverage has as the case continues.
Jan 30, 2008•1 hr 40 min
Contributor(s): Lord Maurice Saatchi | Americans today may be perplexed and confused about the way America is perceived in the world. They may feel like Josef K in Kafka's 'The Trial': "Someone must have laid false accusations against Josef K because one morning he was arrested without having done anything wrong." Accusations against America have spread into a global phenomenon, crossing boarders, classes, religions, and generations. A Pew Trust research poll in 2005 concluded that anti-American...
Jan 30, 2008•1 hr 3 min
Contributor(s): Professor Fred Halliday | The academic study of International Relations has, since since its emergence after World War I, sought to combine the development of theoretical frameworks with an engagement, of greater or lesser immediacy, with the changing course of international events. Empire, World War, Cold War and post-1991 US hegemony have all been objects of its concern. Today, oscillating at times uneasily between the enticements of abstraction, and the rush of actuality, the ...
Jan 30, 2008•1 hr 31 min
Contributor(s): Dominic Casserley | Dominic Casserley will discuss the challenges and opportunities facing global companies in 2020. Will they be similar to the multinational of today? If not, how will they differ? Will they have to be large? How will they relate to investors? How will they interact with consumers? How will they manage their talent pools? How will they interact with society more broadly? Drawing on his extensive experience of advising major multi-national organisations across th...
Jan 28, 2008•1 hr 9 min
Contributor(s): Professor Sevket Pamuk | The lecture will discuss the rise of export oriented industrial centres across Turkey in recent decades, how they have contributed to the electoral successes of the Justice and Development Party and their ongoing impact on Turkey's economic and political liberalisation.
Jan 28, 2008•1 hr 23 min
Contributor(s): Guillermo Bettocchi | Guillermo Bettocchi is the Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Somalia. During his 19 years of service with the UNHCR, Mr. Bettocchi has occupied different positions in Central America, South West Asia, Africa, and, on two occasions, at the organisation's Headquarters in Geneva. A lawyer by profession, Mr Bettocchi's work has been focused on legal and practical issues related to refugee protection.
Jan 28, 2008•1 hr 33 min
Contributor(s): Professor Sonia Livingstone | Public policy is scrutinising potential media harms, given rapid expansion of the internet, fears over 'toxic' childhood, and pressing dilemmas for media regulation. But is the media the problem or the solution?
Jan 24, 2008•1 hr 22 min
Contributor(s): Professor Danny Quah | In this new series of lunchtime lectures, nine of LSE's most senior academics explain the latest thinking on how social scientists work to address the critical problems of the day. They survey the leading ideas and contributions made by their discipline, explain the types of problems that are addressed and the tools that are used, and explore the kinds of solutions proposed. Danny Quah is head of the Economics Department at LSE.
Jan 24, 2008•53 min
Contributor(s): General Sir Mike Jackson | A look at where today's strategic circumstances are and the position of the UK, and a look to the future. General Sir Mike Jackson's illustrious career in the British Army has spanned almost forty five years and all that time he has shown loyalty, courage and commitment to the British army whilst also being an undeniable media attraction. General Sir Mike Jackson is the best known British General of modern times. He retired in the autumn of 2006 after a...
Jan 23, 2008•1 hr 4 min
Contributor(s): Professor Christopher Pissarides, Michalis Sarris | In January 2008, Cyprus will adopt the euro currency. This discussion will focus on the implications of entry for Cyprus and the possible lessons for and from other entrants.
Jan 23, 2008•1 hr 22 min
Contributor(s): Jean Lemierre | Russia, Ukraine and the other countries of the former Soviet Union now share a common border with the European Union that both divides and unites. Strong relations between the neighbours will increasingly be defined by trade, and even more by investment in both directions. The challenge is for economic relations to reinforce political relationships that will help both neighbours thrive in a globalised world.
Jan 22, 2008•1 hr 12 min
Contributor(s): Professor Henrietta Moore, Professor Stephen Frosh | Jacqueline Rose's book The Last Resistance explores the power of writing to create and transform our political lives and examines the role of literature in the Zionist imagination.
Jan 22, 2008•1 hr 27 min
Contributor(s): Professor Ron Anderson | In this new series of lunchtime lectures, nine of LSE's most senior academics explain the latest thinking on how social scientists work to address the critical problems of the day. They survey the leading ideas and contributions made by their discipline, explain the types of problems that are addressed and the tools that are used, and explore the kinds of solutions proposed.
Jan 17, 2008•57 min
Contributor(s): Professor Johan Galtung | Johan Galtung, widely regarded as the father of peace and conflict studies, is a prominent and successful conflict mediator and academic. He is the founder and Director of TRANSCEND - A Peace and Development Network for Conflict Transformation by Peaceful Means, with more than 300 members from over 80 countries around the world and Rector of TRANSCEND Peace University (TPU).
Jan 16, 2008•1 hr 28 min
Contributor(s): Professor Eric Foner | Reconstruction after the Civil War is the least-known era in the American past. Professor Foner explains why an understanding of reconstruction is essential to knowledge of the course of American history, and American society today.
Jan 15, 2008•1 hr 20 min
Contributor(s): Dr David Nabarro | Dr Nabarro will review the impact of past epidemics on humanity and society and will explore current efforts to respond to and prepare for a new pandemic influenza outbreak.
Jan 10, 2008•1 hr 32 min
Contributor(s): Professor Michael Klare | Professor Klare will look at how both old and new industrial powers are girding up for a global struggle over the world's remaining supplies of oil, natural gas and other vital sources of energy.
Jan 09, 2008•1 hr 31 min
Contributor(s): Jim Murphy MP | The Minister for Europe will consider how an enlarged EU can address global challenges and how the Reform Treaty will help the EU to perform more strongly both in Europe and internationally.
Jan 09, 2008•51 min
Contributor(s): Marie Mendras | Russia has recovered its self-confidence under Vladimir Putin. But instead of becoming more comfortable with Europe, Russia is tensing up and choosing an aggressive stand-off. Why?
Jan 08, 2008•1 hr 24 min
Contributor(s): Professor Fred Halliday | No area of the globe so challenges the contemporary social scientist or the ordinary citizen as do the twenty-five countries of the Middle East. At the same time, none generates as much public controversy and unease. From its multiple wars and inter-ethnic conflicts, and the rise of religiously defined ideologies, to the enduring place it occupies in world energy markets this region is of central concern to all who seek to analyse, or formulate policies ...
Jan 07, 2008•1 hr 24 min