On Wednesday, 13 March 2024, LSE DINAM Research Fellow Mariia Zolkina conducted a panel discussion to review the fresh challenges and changes in the political landscapes of Russia and Ukraine, two years into the invasion. The panelists consisted of Olga Tokariuk, a Chatham House OSUN Academy Fellow, and Maryna Vorotnyuk, an Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, and it was chaired by Luke Cooper, an Associate Professorial Research Fellow with the Conflict and Civicness Research Group at LSE. Find out more about the event and speakers Lis ..read more

In this opinion post, we hear from Paula Collio Méndez, an MSc International Relations student at LSE, who argues that the replications of power structures under the ideas of liberty in the case of France, based on a singular notion of ‘modernity,’ perpetuates colonial power dynamics that disproportionately affect non-white and non-first-world women. Over the past two decades, Muslim women have faced an increase in the prohibition of the use and persecution of traditional attires from European countries like Germany, Belgium, and Austria. One of the most high-profile and systematic bans ..read more

In this opinion post, we hear from Zeynep Egin, an MSc International Relations student at LSE, who argues that immediate measures should be taken to ensure that all Afghan citizens, including women and girls, have equal access to healthcare, and that failure to take prompt action will lead to the continued suffering of millions and perpetuate the vicious cycle of poverty and oppression in Afghanistan. It has been almost three years since the Taliban troops seized control of Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul. In 2021, following the withdrawal of US and coalition forces, the Taliban officially claim ..read more

On 27 February, 2024, the collaborative effort of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Centre and the LSE IDEAS Women in Diplomacy Project brought forth the “Women Working in Security, Peace Processes, and Diplomacy” panel. Professor Karen E Smith (IR) set the stage by introducing four distinguished LSE alumnae in the early and mid-stages of their careers in diplomacy, security, and peace to an engaged audience of LSE students. The first to share her insights was Oona Burke Johnson, Team Leader of the EU-Liberia Facilitation Office. Johnson candidly recounted her experiences navigating conflic ..read more

On Wednesday, 6 March 2024, we had the pleasure of hosting Professor Michael Driessen from John Cabot University to discuss his latest book, The Global Politics of Interreligious Dialogue. The event also consisted of two other distinguished speakers: Madawi Al-Rasheed, Visiting Professor at the Middle East Centre, LSE, and Fabio Petito, Professor of Religion and International Affairs at the University of Sussex. Find out more about the event and speakers Listen to the audio podcast L to R: Professor Michael Driessen, Professor James Walters (Chair), Professor Madawi Al-Rasheed and Prof ..read more

As the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches, the West appears divided over how to support Ukraine. Spyros Economides assesses four key questions underpinning the role of the West in the war, arguing that for future support to be effective, western leaders must found their actions on pragmatic concerns rather than moralism. Talk of a “stalemate” or the need for a “negotiated settlement with Russia” in the war in Ukraine is typically met with derision: appeasement, defeatism and even betrayal are invoked against those voicing such opinions. The cur ..read more

On Monday 5 February 2024, Professor Madawi al-Rasheed delivered the Department of International Relations’ Fred Halliday Memorial Lecture. A visiting professor at the LSE Middle East Centre, al-Rasheed presented her latest book The Son King: Reform and Repression in Saudi Arabia. The packed event was chaired by Professor Jeffrey Chwieroth, Professor in the IR Department and Head of Department at LSE. Find out more about the event and speakers Listen to the audio podcast Watch the perils of Saudi nationalism on YouTube L to R: Professor Madawi Al-Rasheed and Professor Jeffrey ..read more

Alumnus Hans Gutbrod (BSc 1994 and PhD 2000) reflects on how what he learned in the LSE Department of International Relations in the early 1990s helped him develop a new set of ideas, thirty years later, for his book on the Ethics of Political Commemoration. Sometimes what you learn pays off many years later. This has been my recent experience as I worked on a book on Ethics of Political Commemoration. During the Karabakh War in late 2020, I had been struck by how fragmented the debate on social media seemed to be. What we had learned in the Ethics of War course at LSE, taught by Michael Done ..read more

The Department of International Relations is delighted to announce the following BSc in International Relations prizewinners this year:    for the best IR100 Theories and Concepts of International Relations examination performance by an IR student Myra Ahmed for the best examination performance by a second year BSc IR student Jiaxi (Jessie) Hu for the best degree performance overall by a third year BSc IR student Morgane Lecomte for the best 10,000 word dissertation by a third year BSc IR student Kira Wilmot The winning dissertation title is Bonded by Chains and by Blood: The Fami ..read more

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine produced the biggest energy shock to Europe since the 1970s oil crises. Robert Falkner writes that while the energy crisis is far from over, the EU’s strategic decoupling from Russia and commitment to tackling climate change has progressed to such an extent that Moscow is close to losing its energy stranglehold over Europe. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 caused the biggest energy shock to Europe since the oil crises of the 1970s. In the immediate aftermath, European leaders grappled with the need to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels&nb ..read more