Can Democracy Be Bought? Democracy Promotion After 1989 [Audio]
Speaker(s): Daniele Archibugi, Armine Ishkanian; Dr Iain King | Democracy promotion became a key foreign policy issue pursued by Western governments after 1989. To what extent are external democracy promotion efforts effective?
Re-Writing the History of the Constitution: from the miraculous to the political [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Carol Berkin | Was the US constitution the work of confident demigods and innovators or the handiwork of anxious political leaders who relied on longstanding Anglo-American political traditions to save a republican in crisis? Carol Berkin is presidential distinguished professor of history at Baruch College and The Graduate Centre, CUNY.
Turning Risk into Opportunity: An insider's guide to entrepreneurial strategy [Audio]
Speaker(s): Sir Ronald Cohen | Sir Ronald Cohen is a founder of the private-equity industry in Europe and one of the world's leading private equity investors. At the age of 26, he co-founded the firm that became Apax Partners. When he stepped down from the chairmanship thirty-three years later, Apax was the largest global private-equity firm founded in Europe. He is currently chairman of Bridges Ventures and The Portland Trust. He was knighted in 2001 for his services to venture capital.
Escaping the Prisoners' Dilemma [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Nicola Lacey | Only by understanding the institutional preconditions for a tolerant criminal justice system can we think clearly about the possible options for reform within the British system.
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.
The EU at 27 - taking on a global role [Audio]
Speaker(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.
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.
The Global State of Influenza Pandemic Preparedness [Audio]
Speaker(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.
The Significance of Reconstruction after the Civil War in American history [Audio]
Speaker(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.
Cyprus Enters the 'Euro-zone': challenges and implications [Audio]
Speaker(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.
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 Logic of Life [Audio]
Speaker(s): Tim Harford | From teenage sex to the scourge of racism, Tim Harford explains why economics can provide the answers other disciplines cannot reach.Tim Harford is the author of The Undercover Economist, is a member of the Financial Times editorial board and writes a regular column for the FT magazine.
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
Meeting the new humanitarian challenges of the 21st century [Audio]
Speaker(s): Sir John Holmes, Professor James Putzel | Emergency relief efforts face multiple challenges in the next five years: preserving 'humanitarian space' and staying independent of political/military action in places like Darfur, Iraq and Somalia; increasing effective coordination of the many humanitarian actors in the field; rising to the challenge of ever more natural disasters from the effects of climate change; and coping with the immediate consequences for the poorest of the recent st
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
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.
Ontario's Place in the 21st Century [Audio]
Speaker(s): Dalton McGuinty | He led his party to a second-consecutive majority government in October 2007 and is Ontario7s 24th Premier. He was first elected to the Ontario legislature in 1990 in Ottawa South and has been re-elected four times. During his years as a backbench MPP, he served as a critic for energy, colleges and universities, native affairs and the environment. In 1996, Dalton McGuinty was elected leader of the Ontario Liberal Party. His first election campaign as leader was in
Is there a European Foreign Policy? [Audio]
Speaker(s): Lord Patten | Lord Patten served as a minister in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1983 to 1992, holding the position of chairman of the Conservative party from 1990 to 1992. From 1992 to 1997 he was governor of Hong Kong and from 1998 to 1999 he was chairman of the Independent Commission on Policing in Northern Ireland. He became a European commissioner in 1999, responsible for external affairs until 2004.
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.
