The United States - Dangerous Nation? [Audio]
Speaker(s): Dr Robert Kagan | The years immediately following the end of the Cold War offered a tantalising glimpse at the possibility of a new kind of international order, but that was a mirage.Robert Kagan is senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund.
Oil, War and Geopolitics: the struggle over what remains [Audio]
Speaker(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.
Russia and Europe: new neighbours defining a new neighbourhood [Audio]
Speaker(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.
Somalia: legal and humanitarian challenges [Audio]
Speaker(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.
Iraq: The Way Out [Audio]
Speaker(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.
The UK and the EU: what has changed over 35 years? [Audio]
Speaker(s): Lord Brittan of Spennithorne | After 35 years Britain still seems to be struggling with its relationship with the EU. as a former Cabinet Minister, and then Britain's longest serving EU Commissioner, Leon Brittan looks at the underlying issues, relationships and institutional developments, and seeks answers to the question: what has changed over the past 35 years? Lord Brittan of Spennithorne was Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Trade and Ind
Distant Suffering in the Media [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Lilie Chouliaraki | Professor Lilie Chouliaraki will talk about suffering in the media, addressing the question of how far images and stories of suffering make a difference in our ways of engaging with distant sufferers. Lilie Chouliaraki is chair in media and communications at the Department of Media and Communications and research director of POLIS at LSE.
A Debate about the Definition of 'Britishness' [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Sir Bernard Crick, Professor Anne Phillips | As the composition of British society transforms with immigration and transnational identities, ideas about the notion of 'Britishness' are changing too. In the interest of a cohesive citizenry, must the UK return to 'core British values'? Or should Britain's identity change with its population? Should a British identity even exist? Sir Bernard Crick is emeritus professor of Birkbeck College and author of Life in the United Kingd
Radical Regimes and Islamist Ideology in the 21st Century [Audio]
Speaker(s): Senator Rick Santorum | The LSESU Tocqueville Society presents a public lecture by former United States Senator Rick Santorum on the challenges to the West posed by Islamic extremism and its alliances around the world. Mr. Santorum served as U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007 and as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1991 to 1995. As a Senator, he was a champion of efforts to counter the threat of radical Islam, to protect victims of religious persecutio
Informalisation and Global Political Economy: the elephant in the room [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Spike Peterson | This lecture considers how tremendous growth of licit and illicit informal sector activities tends to exacerbate gender, race, class and geopolitical hierarchies and ultimately fuels conflicts at multiple levels, including civil wars. Spike Peterson is the Leverhulme visiting professor, LSE Gender Institute and the Department of International Relations.
The Single Monetary Policy and the Analytics of OCAs: what has the Euro area experience taught us? [
Speaker(s): Nicholas C Garganas | The introduction of the euro posed unique challenges for monetary policy. Some observers took the view that a single monetary policy for all euro-area countries would not succeed because the euro area did not fulfil the pre-requisites of on Optimum Currency Area (OCA). In his lecture Mr Garganas will argue that the traditional way of thinking about OCAs overlooks the fact that the criteria used to judge optimality are, to some extent, endogenous. He will also a
Multiculturalism and Secularism [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Tariq Modood | Can multicultural inclusivity extend to religious minorities? Can it do so without conflicting with secularism? Tariq Modood is professor of sociology, politics and public policy at Bristol University.
Is the Middle East Europe's Business? [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Ghassan Salame | The Middle East is a region where the United States plays a crucial role. But what about Europe? To what extent should the Middle East be part of the EU's diplomatic concerns? Ghassan Salame is professor of international relations at Sciences Po and a former minister of culture of Lebanon.
Does Faith Matter for Human Morality? [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Mona Siddiqui | The global revival of religion has raised fundamental questions about its role in politics and its claim that it serves as a principle of identity, indispensable to the continuing survival of communities. This series brings together leading thinkers and scholars to encourage discussion and debate on this crucial contemporary theme.
Inhuman and Degrading Treatment: the words themselves [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Jeremy Waldron | Many human rights charters contain prohibitions on inhuman and degrading treatment of prisoners and detainees. Terms like "inhuman" and "degrading" are difficult to interpret, but they are certainly not meaningless. It is important to attend to attend to the meanings of the words themselves, as well as to the decisions that courts have made about particular practices. Reflection on the meanings of these highly-charged terms reveals important complexity, whi
Disparity and Diversity in the Contemporary City: social order revisited [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Robert Sampson, Professor Paul Gilroy | A look at classic urban themes as they are manifested in the contemporary city, focusing on social reproduction of inequality, the meanings of disorder, and the link between the two. Paul Gilroy is Anthony Giddens Professor in Social Theory at LSE. Robert Sampson is Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences and chair of sociology, Harvard University.
Europe in the Global Economy [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor George Alogoskoufis | This lecture will address the impact of globalisation and the recent worldwide economic turmoil on Europe and in particular on the prospects of the Lisbon Strategy, the Stability and Growth Pact, and the European Social Model. George Alogoskoufis has been Greece's minister of economy and finance since 2004 and professor of economics at Athens University of Economics and Business since 1990.
A lecture by Mirek Topolánek, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic [Audio]
Speaker(s): Mirek Topolánek | Mirek Topolanek has been Prime Minister of the Czech Republic since September 2006. He has been chairman of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) since November 2002. Mr Topolanek will speak about the priorities of the forthcoming Czech Republic's EU Presidency.
The Great Transformation: how China changed in the long 1970s [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Chen Jian | Professor Chen offers a historian's overview of China's 1970s transformation and the beginning of global systemic change that this transformation helped create. Chen Jian is Philippe Roman Chair in History and International Affairs for 2008-09 at LSE. He is the Michael J Zak Chair of the History of US China Relations at Cornell University.
Why 2009 is a crucial year for Europe [Audio]
Speaker(s): Bruno Le Maire | Bruno Le Maire is the French minister of state for European affairs, prior to this he was principal private secretary to the Prime Minister, 2006-2007, advisor to the Prime Minister, 2005-2006, advisor to the Minister of the Interior, 2004-2005 and advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, 2002-2004. Bruno has been National Assembly deputy for Eure since 2007, and is a member of the National Assembly Finance Committee. He is also the Finance Committee special rap
