On Tuesday 28 March 2023, Dan Stone, Professor of Modern History and Director of the Holocaust Research Institute (Royal Holloway, University of London) joined us to discuss his new book The Holocaust: An Unfinished History with Jens Meierhenrich, Professor of International Relations at LSE. The event focussed on the importance of understanding the true history of the Holocaust in our world today. Find out more about the event and speakers Listen to the audio podcast L to R: Jens Meierhenrich (Chair), Dan Stone Stone began the talk by emphasising that “all history is contempo ..read more

Report by Morgane Lecomte, BSc International Relations, 3rd year From 11–13 April 2023, fellow 3rd year BSc IR undergraduate Miksa Jordan and I had the honour of attending the US Naval Academy Foreign Affairs Conference (NAFAC) in Annapolis, Maryland. The NAFAC aims to bring undergraduates from civilian and military institutions across the US and internationally to discuss relevant political issues. Roundtable group The theme for this year’s conference was “Democracies Divided: The Proliferation of Polarization”. This relates to authoritarian threats, democratic backsliding, and the lack ..read more

In advance of Dr Kathy Dodworth’s talk at LSE on 23 May 2023 on her new book, Legitimation as Political Practice, German artist Christian Hotz and Kathy Dodworth, Research Fellow at the Centre of African Studies at the University of Edinburgh, write about the meanings behind the cover art. Some academic books have in the past drawn on single images or stock photographs for covers, which in some cases proved reductionist for complex themes. Recently, abstract images are more commonplace, which are bold and eye-catching. For our book cover for ‘Legitimation as Political Practice’, we tried ..read more

On Thursday 23 March 2023, a panel of experts came together to celebrate and discuss Dr Katharine Millar’s new book, Support the Troops: Military Obligation, gender and making of the political community. The panel consisted of Kimberly Hutchings, Professor at the School of Politics and International Relations, Queen Mary, University of London, Dr Maria Rashid, Fellow in the Department of Gender studies, LSE, Dr Chris Rossdale, Lecturer at the School of Sociology, Politics, and International Studies, Bristol University, and Dr Katharine Millar, Assistant Professor in the Department of Internati ..read more

During Women’s History Month we take a moment to reflect on the experiences of women in our International Relations department and beyond, in a post–pandemic, digital world. We asked our department some questions about women in IR, the structural barriers they face, and what can be done to help correct current imbalances of women academics in IR.   Our former Head of Department, Professor of International Relations Karen E Smith, whose long career provides an insight into the changing culture of the IR field, describes her experience: “The IR field has a considerably better gender b ..read more

On Thursday 16 February 2023, Roy Allison, Professor of Russian and Eurasian International Relations, and Director of the Russian and Eurasian Studies Centre at Oxford University gave the Martin Wight Lecture where he discussed his thoughts on the implications of the Russia-Ukraine war. The event was organised by Dr Jurgen Haacke, Associate Professor of International Relations at LSE, and chaired by Dr Federica Bicchi, Associate Professor of International Relations at LSE. Find out more about the event and speaker Listen to the podcast The lecture was arranged in memory of Ma ..read more

In this opinion post, we hear from Magnus Obermann, LSE-PKU Double MSc in International Affairs graduate (Distinction), former Policy Officer in the Russia Division of the European External Action Service, Associate at Global Counsel in London; and Alexander van der Wusten, Associate for CEE/Russia/Eurasia at Global Counsel in Brussels, who argue that after a year of war in Ukraine, Russia will become a more hostile, technologically backward and unpredictable international player.   When thinking strategically through their response to current war developments (assuming they are ind ..read more

On Wednesday 18 January 2023, a panel consisting of Cemil Aydin, Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Menderes Çınar, Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science and International Relations, Başkent University, Ankara, Ayşe Zarakol, Professor of International Relations at the University of Cambridge, also Politics Fellow at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and chaired by Dr Katerina Dalacoura, Associate Professor in the Department of International Relations, LSE, came together to explore the historical conditions and inter ..read more

On Thursday 1 December 2022, Professor Thierry Balzacq, Susan Strange Visiting Professor 2022/23 at LSE and Professor in the Center for International Studies at SciencesPo, gave the Susan Strange Lecture on the role of diplomatic rituals in world politics. He specifically looked at the nature of rituals as compared to other social actions and examined the differences they make to the character of international society. Find out more about the event and speaker Professor Thierry Balzacq with Chair Professor Jeffrey Chwieroth As a Fellow at several high-ranking universities and form ..read more

On Thursday 17 November 2022, Patrick Thaddeus Jackson, Professor of International Studies in the School of International Service at American University Washington DC, was in conversation with Laura Sjoberg, British Academy Global Professor of Politics and International Relations at Royal Holloway, University of London, and Professor of Political Science at the University of Florida, and Sophie Rosenberg, Fellow in the Department of International Relations, LSE. They discussed the contemporary politics of science in International Relations and explored the meaning and deployment of “facts” wit ..read more