Contributor(s): Professor Robert Cooper | Robert Cooper joined the Foreign Office in 1970. He served in several posts including Japan and Germany. In 1989 he was appointed Head of the Policy Planning Staff at the Foreign Office. He was later made the UK's Special Representative in Afghanistan, before taking up a post in the European Union in 2002. Here he was responsible to Javier Solana and assisted with the implementation of European strategic, security and defence policy. A well-known public ...
Aug 08, 2013•55 min
Contributor(s): Lord Meghnad Desai | Lord Desai is an Indian-born British economist and Labour politician. He unsuccessfully stood for the Speaker in the British House of Lords in 2011, the first ever non-UK born candidate to do so. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, in 2008. Starting as an economics lecturer at LSE, in 2003 he retired as Director of the Centre for the Study of Global Governance, which he had founded in 1992, and remains ...
Aug 01, 2013•1 hr
Contributor(s): Professor Craig Calhoun | Professor Calhoun is a world-renowned social scientist whose work connects sociology to culture, communication, politics, philosophy and economics. He took up his post as LSE Director on 1 September 2012, having left the United States where he was University Professor at New York University and director of the Institute for Public Knowledge and President of the Social Science Research Council. Professor Calhoun took a D Phil in History and Sociology at O...
Jul 23, 2013•1 hr 19 min
Contributor(s): Professor David Webb, Dr Sushil Wadhwani | Professor David Webb is Head of the Department of Finance at LSE. Specialising in financial economics and monetary theory, specifically the analysis of bankruptcy and financial contracts, David has made notable contributions to the field over the past 25 years, publishing in a range of Economic journals. He has held an editorship of Economica since 1988 and Associate Editorship of the Journal of Banking and Finance since 1995. Having obt...
Jul 19, 2013•1 hr 11 min
Contributor(s): Thomas Hale, Professor David Held, Kevin Young | This event grapples with the causes and consequences of the failure of leadership and negotiations across leading sectors of international concern: security, the economy and environment. It examines worrying scenarios of continuing gridlock and pathways that might lead beyond it. Thomas Hale is a postdoctoral research fellow, Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University. Professor David Held is master of the University College...
Jul 11, 2013•1 hr 32 min
Contributor(s): Professor Mick Cox, Professor Danny Quah | Professor Danny Quah (LSE) and Professor Mick Cox (LSE) will debate this question in a public lecture hosted by LSE Summer School. Danny Quah is Professor of Economics and International Development, and Kuwait Professor at LSE. Professor Mick Cox is one of Europe’s leading commentators on the United States. He holds a Chair in International Relations and is also Co-Director of IDEAS, a Centre for the Study of Diplomacy and Strategy at LS...
Jul 11, 2013•1 hr 29 min
Contributor(s): Khalid Malik | The LSE Global South Unit is delighted to host Khalid Malik. As the lead author of the 2013 UNDP Human Development Report, Mr Malik will share the important findings of the report and highlight the unprecedented speed and scale of the rise of the Global South. Khalid Malik is the director of the Human Development Report Office, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Mr Malik is a development economist with extensive leadership, research and advocacy experienc...
Jul 10, 2013•1 hr 17 min
Contributor(s): Professor Rana Mitter | The story of China’s war with Japan is crucial to understanding the rise of modern China – both its relentless drive for self-sufficiency and its bitter relationship with Japan. Rana Mitter is professor of the history and politics of China at the University of Oxford and author of China’s War With Japan, 1937-1945.
Jul 10, 2013•1 hr 30 min
Contributor(s): John Denham MP, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Sunder Katwala | Britain as "One Nation" is an idea that originated with the Conservative Party, in particular its Victorian leader Benjamin Disraeli who saw Britain divided into two nations, the rich and the poor. Disraeli defined "One Nation" politics as the practices necessary to, "maintain the institutions of the realm and elevate the condition of the people". In his 2012 conference speech the Labour leader Ed Miliband defined his party as...
Jul 09, 2013•1 hr 30 min
Contributor(s): Deborah Perry Piscione | Entrepreneur Deborah Perry Piscione offers an inside look at Silicon Valley's unique innovation culture and demonstrates how this remarkable success can – and should – be replicated around the world, in conversation with LSE governor Mustafa Khanbhai. Deborah Perry Piscione is a seasoned Silicon Valley entrepreneur and the bestselling author of The Secrets of Silicon Valley. Mustafa Khanbhai is founder and CEO of Seamlessly. He has a background in busines...
Jul 08, 2013•1 hr 27 min
Contributor(s): Professor Fiona Devine, Dr Sam Friedman, Professor Tim Newburn | We are delighted to confirm that the Impact of Social Sciences blog will continue to receive financial support from both HEFCE and the LSE for another year. To celebrate, we are hosting an event that will look at the opportunities and challenges of undertaking large-scale public social science projects. The session will look at the ways in ways in which academics are seeking to make their research and disciplines mo...
Jul 02, 2013•1 hr 11 min
Contributor(s): Professor Ray Monk, Professor Stephen Mulhall | Is the biography of a philosopher relevant to an understanding of his philosophy? And is philosophy itself always somewhat autobiographical? Ray Monk is professor of philosophy at the University of Southampton. Stephen Mulhall is professor and fellow in philosophy at New College, University of Oxford.
Jul 02, 2013•1 hr 29 min
Contributor(s): Massood Ahmed | Moderate growth is anticipated in the Middle East and North Africa region for this year, with oil exporters’ healthy growth rates moderating and mild recovery in the oil importers. However, complex political and social conditions, a challenging external environment, and low policy buffers burden the region’s oil importers. Difficult and unpopular policy choices coupled with a bold structural reform agenda will be necessary to maintain macroeconomic stability, crea...
Jun 28, 2013•55 min
Contributor(s): Professor Amartya Sen | When India became independent in 1947 after two centuries of colonial subjugation, it immediately adopted a firmly democratic political system, with multiple parties, freedom of speech and extensive political rights. The famines that had been so common in the colonial era disappeared, and steady economic growth replaced the almost complete stagnation characteristic of the long rule of the Raj. The growth of the Indian economy, which has quickened over the ...
Jun 26, 2013•1 hr 25 min
Contributor(s): Dr Derya Bayir, Dr Ayça Çubukçu, Dr Zeynep Gambetti, Dr Özlem Köksal | How should we understand what is happening in Turkey? Is this as an anti-capitalist or anti-authoritarian rebellion, a struggle to redefine politics and to practice direct democracy? Why should we expect it to inspire people into action beyond Turkey? Should the popular insurgency in Turkey be understood as part of a global uprising that spans the Middle East and Africa, Europe and Latin America? More specific...
Jun 26, 2013•1 hr 52 min
Contributor(s): Ambassador Akbar Ahmed | The United States declared war on terrorism in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. More than ten years later, the results are decidedly mixed. In The Thistle and the Drone, world-renowned author, diplomat, and scholar Akbar Ahmed, reveals a tremendously important yet largely unrecognized adverse effect of these campaigns: they actually have exacerbated the already-broken relationship between central governments and the tribal societies on their periphery. In th...
Jun 26, 2013•1 hr 24 min
Contributor(s): Dr Gordon Finlayson, Dr Simon Glendinning, Professor Laurence Goldstein, Professor MM McCabe, Dr Kristina Musholt, Dr Lea Ypi | Six philosophers have ten minutes each to pitch their arguments to a live audience. No deviation, hesitation or repetition! Gordon Finlayson is senior lecturer in philosophy at the University of Sussex. Simon Glendinning is reader in European philosophy at the European Institute, LSE, and director of the Forum for European Philosophy. Laurence Goldstein ...
Jun 25, 2013•1 hr 39 min
Contributor(s): Professor Justin Lin | This event marks the publication of Professor Lin's new book Against the Consensus: Reflections on the Great Recession. In June 2008, Justin Lin was appointed chief economist of the World Bank, right before the eruption of the worst global financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression. Drawing on experience from his privileged position, Lin offers unique reflections on the cause of the crisis, why it was so serious and widespread, and its likely ...
Jun 24, 2013•1 hr 36 min
Contributor(s): Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, Asanga Welikala, Uvindu Kurukulasuriya | Sri Lanka's civil war, which spanned more than a quarter of a century, ended in 2009. With more than 100,000 war casualties and one million refugees, it represented one of Asia's most violent, destructive and intractable conflicts. Four years since active military hostilities ended, there has been no progress towards constitutional and political reforms addressing the problems of pluralism and democracy that l...
Jun 20, 2013•1 hr 30 min
Contributor(s): Stephen King | The Western world has experienced extraordinary economic progress throughout the last six decades, a prosperous period so extended that continuous economic growth has come to seem normal. But such an era of continuously rising living standards is an historical anomaly, economist Stephen D. King warns, and the current stagnation of Western economies threatens to reach crisis proportions in the not-so-distant future. Praised for the 'dose of realism' he provided in h...
Jun 19, 2013•1 hr 23 min
Contributor(s): Professor Sarah Broadie, Dr Alex Voorhoeve | Why be moral? May we kill one to save others? Is morality objective? This dialogue engages with renowned philosopher Philippa Foot’s answers to these questions. Sarah Broadie is professor of moral philosophy and Wardlaw Professor at the University of St Andrews. Alex Voorhoeve is reader in philosophy in the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, LSE.
Jun 18, 2013•1 hr 26 min
Contributor(s): Zhu Min, Professor Lord Stern | Mr Zhu will review broad global trends and argue that globally we may be witnessing a fundamental shift in the direction of change. This shift will be analysed using several perspectives, including clusters and spillovers. Implications on global gravity, deleveraging, and growth will be discussed. Mr Zhu will also focus on the financial sector in Asia. After reviewing the current structure of the financial sector, he will discuss key challenges the...
Jun 18, 2013•1 hr 24 min
Contributor(s): Jon Cruddas MP, David Davis MP, Professor Francesca Klug, Professor Alan Sked | Britain as "One Nation" is an idea that originated with the Conservative Party, in particular its Victorian leader Benjamin Disraeli who saw Britain divided into two nations, the rich and the poor. Disraeli defined One Nation politics as the practices necessary to, 'maintain the institutions of the realm and elevate the condition of the people'. In his 2012 conference speech the Labour leader Ed Milib...
Jun 12, 2013•1 hr 26 min
Contributor(s): Fatih Birol, Gregory Barker | The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science hosts an invitation-only event to accompany the launch of a new report, Redrawing the Energy-Climate Map: World Energy Outlook Special Report, by the International Energy Agency. Lord Stern of Brentford, Chair of the Grantham Research Institute, will introduce the seminar by Fatih Birol, Chief Economist at the International En...
Jun 12, 2013•1 hr 32 min
Contributor(s): Dr Jaimini Bhagwati, Professor Mary Kaldor, Mark Leonard | Since the last European Security Strategy when Western hegemony seemed unassailable, Europe has lost both hard and soft power because of the euro crisis. Should Europe simply retire from global governance? Or are there assets on which it can draw in order to play an influential role as a new world order emerges?’ Dr Jaimini Bhagwati, is the high commissioner of India to the United Kingdom. Mary Kaldor is professor of glob...
Jun 11, 2013•1 hr 12 min
Contributor(s): Mathieu Cantegreil, Dweep Chanana, S. Gopalakrishnan, Farhad Forbes, Alok Kirloskar, R Mukundan and Shankar Vanavarayar | In India, business has never been just about wealth creation. Besides being engines of growth, corporations and their founders have long played a role in addressing pertinent social issues of their time. India is set to become one of the world’s leading producers of wealth, and with this has come renewed scrutiny of the role of businesses and their promoters. ...
Jun 11, 2013•1 hr 27 min
Contributor(s): Mrs Rajashree Birla, Mr Dweep Chanana, Dr Ruth Kattumuri, Mr Gautam Kumar | From supporting the establishment of modern India to the innovative work of recent years, philanthropy has played, and continues to play, a critical role in the development of India. As the country is set to become one of the world’s leading producers of wealth it should therefore come as no surprise if it also takes the lead in philanthropy. However, philanthropy in the country remains largely unknown co...
Jun 10, 2013•33 min
Contributor(s): Professor Richard Rose | Less than a year away from the 2014 European Parliament elections, Professor Richard Rose talks about his new book on democracy in Europe, Representing Europeans: A Pragmatic Approach (OUP). With the European Union now impacting more and more on people's lives, he analyses how democratic the EU institutions are, how far they respond to voters' concerns, how voters see European elections and referenda, and how the EU institutions might yet be reformed. Ric...
Jun 06, 2013•1 hr 21 min
Contributor(s): Jean-François Copé | Leading figure of the centre-right opposition, Jean-François Copé assesses François Hollande’s Presidency and sets out an agenda for domestic reform and France’s European policy. Jean-François Copé is founder of think tank Generation France and leader of the French opposition. He is the mayor of Meaux, deputy for the 6th constituency of Seine-et-Marne, and acts as president of the Union for a Popular Movement Group in the French National Assembly. Jean-Luc Al...
Jun 05, 2013•1 hr 31 min
Contributor(s): Dr Rupert Read, Professor Roger Scruton | On the basis of a shared interest in planetary survival, can we forge an alliance across the left/right rift in our culture? Rupert Read is chair of the Green House thinktank, East of England Green Party co-ordinator and a reader in Philosophy at UEA. Roger Scruton is a philosopher, writer and consultant who holds visiting positions at St Andrews University and the University of Oxford.
Jun 05, 2013•1 hr 32 min
