London School of Economics: Public lectures and events

Speaker(s): Professor John Mearsheimer, Professor Stephen Walt | A look at the nature and activities of the 'Israel lobby' in the United States, and how various groups and individuals have encouraged policies that are unintentionally harmful to both US and Israeli interests. John Mearsheimer is at the University of Chicago. Stephen Walt is at the John F Kennedy School of Government.

Speaker(s): Mandira Sharma, Arnold Tsunga | In this seventh 'Field notes' event held in conjunction with Human Rights Watch UK, frontline human rights defenders will discuss monitoring human rights violations in Nepal and Zimbabwe: their different personal experiences, methods of collecting and evaluating information and the ways in which they develop advocacy campaigns both locally and at an international level.

Speaker(s): Dora Bakoyannis | Dora Bakoyannis is Greek minister of foreign affairs and a leading member of the governing New Democracy Party.

Speaker(s): Richard J Gnodde | The global capital markets are being transformed by the emergence of new actors, new flows and new partnerships - creating opportunities as well as challenges for business, government and civil society. In this lecture, Richard Gnodde will share the lessons of global businesses operating in this new environment, and reflect on the ways in which global capital markets can be a force for progress for business as well as society.

Speaker(s): Howard Davies | Howard Davies, who has advised the Chinese government on financial reform for the last four years, reviews the implications of China's rise for the world's financial markets.

Speaker(s): Martti Ahtisaari | Martti Ahtisaari will draw attention to both challenges and opportunities of multi-stakeholder co-operation in conflict resolution. Mr. Ahtisaari's lecture is based on his extensive experience as a peace mediator, civil servant and board member of a number of non-governmental organisations.

Speaker(s): Baroness Jane Campbell DBE, Francesca Klug OBE; Trevor Phillips | The new Equality and Human Rights Commission has just started its work in Britain. Its goal is to be an 'independent influential champion whose purpose is to reduce inequality, eliminate discrimination, strengthen good relations between people and protect human rights.' Its remit reaches the whole community, seeking to secure equality of respect for all, and it also plans to take 'an active role in helping to achieve change to benefit some of the most vulnerable and least well represented people in our society.' How likely is it that this new body will achieve its goals? Will it do a better job than the three long-standing bodies that it supersedes, the Commission for Racial Equality, the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Disability Rights Commission? What will be its relationship with government? Can it avoid getting swamped with legal cases to the detriment of achieving lasting social change? Are there other priorities that it should have? In this question and answer session come and find out for yourself, with Commission chair Trevor Phillips and Commissioners Francesca Klug and Jane Campbell answering questions about the new body.

Speaker(s): Professor Sarah Franklin, Professor Peter Lipton; Professor Chris Mason; Dr J Craig Venter | The 1970s introduced genetic modification, the 1990s cloning and GM food, and the human genome was sequenced in 2000. Synthetic biology is heralded as the next frontier. But what is synthetic biology and how do we imagine its future directions? What are the implications of this new field for scientists, lawyers, regulators and ethicists? What social and political challenges does it pose and what role will the social sciences, the humanities and the public play in shaping the direction of this new field? The expert panel will debate these issues with the audience.

Speaker(s): Dr Stephen Cretney | Legal biographies and autobiographies are a rich and important source of information about the legal system, statute law and the legal profession. Stephen Cretney is an emeritus fellow at All Souls College, Oxford.

Speaker(s): Professor Lucy Riall, Professor John Breuilly | The Italian revolutionary leader Giuseppe Garibaldi was not only worshipped as national hero in his country but he was also a hugely popular global figure in his lifetime - an estimated 500,000 people turned out to greet him on his arrival in London in 1864. The lecture, which marks the bicentenary of Garibaldi's birth, examines the charismatic leader's emergence as global symbol in the context of nineteenth-century globalization processes, developments in mass media, and political conflicts.

Speaker(s): John Monks | John Monks will explore the prospects for workers in a world increasingly dominated by the free movement of capital and the increased movement of goods and people. Who wins, who loses? Is free movement dangerous to workers? Is a return to protectionism on the cards? What should be the trade union, Government and EU approaches to globalisation?

Speaker(s): Dr Costas Simitis | This lecture will cover aspects of politics and policy in contemporary Greece in relation to recent developments in Europe. Costas Simitis, an alumnus of LSE, was prime minister of Greece from 1996-2004.

Speaker(s): Professor John Gray | In his lecture Toby Lanzer looks at the challenges of kick starting and managing a humanitarian and development campaign for one of the world's forgotten crises, that of the Central African Republic.

Speaker(s): Shrenik Rao | Editor's note: The audio podcast contains the documentary and is followed by the panel session 41 minutes into the recording. The UK premier of a new documentary, Zimbabwe Revealed, by former LSE student Shrenik Rao, followed by a panel debate on media freedom in Zimbabwe.

Speaker(s): Sam Frankhauser, Abyd Karmali, Ralf Martin; Professor Michael Mainelli; Jan-Peter Onstwedder; Martin Wolf | How 'The London Accord' has focused City Research on Climate Change. This introduction to the London Accord will be followed by a debate on two different approaches to Climate Change - Tax versus Carbon Trading.