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 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.
Stelios on Brands, Serial Entrepreneurship, the Environment and Giving Something Back! [Audio]
Speaker(s): Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou | Stelios Haji-Ioannou, LSE alumnus, is founder of the easyGroup companies and has given £2 million to LSE for the Stelios Scholars programme.
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.
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.
The International Criminal Court ten years on: An appraisal [Audio]
Speaker(s): Luis Moreno-Ocampo | The Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was adopted in Rome on 17 July 1998 by 120 States. The first prosecutor of the ICC, Mr. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, took office on 21 April 2003. His mandate is to investigate and prosecute the most serious crimes, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
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
In Sickness and In Power [Audio]
Speaker(s): Lord Owen | The course of world history has been critically shaped by the physical and mental illnesses of heads of state, sometimes in the public eye but usually in secrecy. Long fascinated with the inter-relationship between politics and medicine, David Owen uses his deep knowledge of both to undertake a unique study of illness in Heads of Government during the last 100 years. Owen expertly scrutinises such diverse political personalities as Sir Anthony Eden at the time of Suez in
Where Now For the United States After the Election? [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Michael Cox, Jessica Mathews; Bob Singh | The 2008 race for the White House has been the most exciting in recent American history. But will it make much difference to the United States and the rest of the world who wins: Obama or McCain? Michael Cox is a professor of international relations at LSE. Jessica Mathews is president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Rob Singh is a fellow of the RSA and an associate fellow of the Institute for the Study of the Ame
The Politics of Mobility [Audio]
Speaker(s): Peter Hendy | Sprawl versus dense? Public transport versus private car? This debate will outline how London's transport strategy shapes - and is shaped by - environmental policy, quality of life and political imperatives. Peter Hendy is commissioner of Transport for London.
The Subprime Crisis [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Robert J. Shiller | Bubbles in the stock market and the housing market are the cause of a financial crisis that is wreaking havoc around the world. The bubbles in turn are caused, at their core, by popular misunderstandings. This contradicts the 'rational expectations' view of the economy that has guided much economic theorizing. In dealing with this crisis in the short run, some kind of bailout of injured parties is necessary to prevent damage to the social fabric. In the
Human Rights Day Event: The Right of Rights 1948-2008 [Audio]
Speaker(s): Shami Chakrabarti, Jonathan Cooper; Professor Conor Gearty; Baroness Helena Kennedy QC; Professor Francesca Klug; Professor Peter Townsend | To mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this fun yet challenging event will ask which is the greatest right.
