Contributor(s): Ambassador Richard Burt, Kate Hudson, Professor Mary Kaldor, HM Queen Noor | Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall is the time finally right to achieve the elimination of nuclear weapons? Leading proponents of nuclear disarmament discuss why achieving Global Zero - a world without nuclear weapons - is both necessary and realistic.

Contributor(s): Professor Amartya Sen, Professor Richard Sennett | Nobel Prize winner Professor Amartya Sen will discuss his latest book The Idea of Justice with LSE's Professor Richard Sennett. This major philosophical work by one of the world's leading public intellectuals constructs a new theory of justice, not from abstract ideals or notions of what perfect institutions and rules might be, but from what the results of a system are practically, in the world. It highlights the importance of...

Contributor(s): Jens Stoltenberg | Jens Stoltenberg's Second Government was appointed on 17 October 2005. It is a majority government representing the Labour Party, the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party. It was re-elected in a general election earlier this year. Mr. Stoltenberg was Prime Minister 2000-2001, Minister of Finance 1996-1997 in Thorbjørn Jagland's Government, Minister of Trade and Energy 1993-1996 in Gro Harlem Brundtland's Third Government, and state secretary at the...

Contributor(s): Ed Miliband | Ed Miliband is Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. He was previously Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, where he was responsible for helping to coordinate work across Government, and leading the Government's efforts to tackle social exclusion, support the Third Sector and coordinate the improvement of public services. From 2006 to 2007, he was Minister for the Third Sector, supporting charities, social...

Contributor(s): Professor David Marsden | In this lunchtime series of lectures, a selection of LSE's academics from across the spectrum of the social sciences explain the latest thinking on how social scientists work to address the critical problems of the day. They survey the leading ideas and contributions made by their discipline, explain the types of problems that are addressed and the tools that are used, and explore the kinds of solutions proposed.

Contributor(s): Professor Yann Algan | Can Europe's variety of economic systems be explained by differences in culture and values? And can such differences survive the homogenising impact of globalisation? Yann Algan is professor of economics at Sciences Po, Paris.

Contributor(s): Diarmaid MacCulloch | Barack Obama came to office determined to change America's relations with the Arab and Islamic worlds. The Arab world has responded to his message of "mutual interest and mutual respect" with enthusiasm and conviction. Part of the success of Obama as a communicator lies in the sensitivity he shows to recent Arab history. This lecture will examine the Obama factor in addressing the many challenges facing US policy towards the Mid East, and Arab relations...

Contributor(s): Professor David Held, Lord Patten | The list of challenges facing the world is proliferating rapidly from climate change to nuclear proliferation and nobody seems to have much of a grip on what is going on. In this public dialogue hosted by Global Policy, a new innovative and interdisciplinary journal, Chris Patten and Professor David Held will discuss what we know in each of these areas and how progress can be made.

Contributor(s): Professor Saskia Sassen, Professor Richard Sennett | With cities contributing upwards of 75 per cent of global carbon emissions, urban design is increasingly important when planning for climate change. This discussion examines the creative urban design solutions coming out of the world's cities. Saskia Sassen is Robert S Lynd Professor of Sociology at Columbia University. Richard Sennett is professor of sociology at LSE and NYU. Jonathon Porritt is the chair of the sustainable...

Contributor(s): Dr Eugene Rogan | Barack Obama came to office determined to change America's relations with the Arab and Islamic worlds. The Arab world has responded to his message of "mutual interest and mutual respect" with enthusiasm and conviction. Part of the success of Obama as a communicator lies in the sensitivity he shows to recent Arab history. This lecture will examine the Obama factor in addressing the many challenges facing US policy towards the Mid East, and Arab relations with...

Contributor(s): Jeremy Hunt MP, Peter Bazalgette, Professor Robin Mansell, Sacha Deshmukh | Jeremy Hunt MP is the Shadow Communications Minister. Peter Bazalgette is a media entrepreneur. Robin Mansell is a professor of new media and the internet and head of the Department of Media and Communications at the LSE. Sacha Deshmukh is CEO of Mandate Communications. Charlie Beckett is Direcor of Polis. Jeremy Hunt will be joined by Professor Robin Mansell and Peter Bazalgette in a panel discussion...

Contributor(s): Susie Orbach | In the past decades the pressure to perfect and redesign our bodies has been unprecedented. Susie Orbach discusses how for many, the body has become the measure of our worth. Susie Orbach is a psychoanalyst and author of Bodies and Fat is a Feminist Issue.

Contributor(s): Professor Sir Adam Roberts | Was the end of the Cold War a victory for power politics, or for people power? Twenty years after the opening of the Berlin Wall, debate continues about what factors sealed the fate of the Soviet system in eastern and central Europe, and eventually in the Soviet Union itself. Non-violent popular movements -- especially in Poland, East Germany and Czechoslovakia -- played a significant part in the events. How did they relate to other forms of power,...

Contributor(s): Professor Detlof von Winterfeldt | This presentation provides an overview of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis' (IIASA) accomplishments and its new strategy, focussing on policy relevant research on three global problem areas: food and water; energy and climate change; and poverty and equity. Detlof von Winterfeldt is director of IIASA and centennial professor of operational research at LSE.

Contributor(s): Takis Arapoglou | How has the banking crisis affected South East Europe? What are the prospects there for foreign banks? What are the implications for the future adaptation of the region into the EU? Takis Arapoglou is chairman and CEO of the National Bank of Greece.

Contributor(s): Professor Michael Barzelay | In this lunchtime series of lectures, a selection of LSE's academics from across the spectrum of the social sciences explain the latest thinking on how social scientists work to address the critical problems of the day. They survey the leading ideas and contributions made by their discipline, explain the types of problems that are addressed and the tools that are used, and explore the kinds of solutions proposed.

Contributor(s): Will Hutton | Will Hutton is executive vice chair of the Work Foundation taking up this position in mid 2008 having served as chief executive since 2000. He began his career as a stockbroker and investment analyst, before working in BBC TV and radio as a producer and reporter. Prior to joining The Work Foundation, Will spent four years as editor in chief of the Observer and he continues to write a weekly column for the paper.

Contributor(s): Hilary Mantel | Public figures who were once lawyers or law students will speak about how, if at all, their experience of studying, teaching or practising law has been of value to them in their other careers. Hilary Mantel is an award winning novelist and an LSE alumnus.

Contributor(s): Andrew Altman, Councillor Paul Brickell, Professor Ricky Burdett, Roger Taylor | This event explores the planning and physical development of the Olympic Park after the 2012 games as well as the wider socio-economic benefits the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are bringing. Andrew Altman is chief executive of the Olympic Park Legacy Company. Paul Brickell is executive member for Olympics and public affairs at Newham council and chief executive of Leaside Regeneration. Ricky...

Contributor(s): José María Aznar | A crisis that has impoverished the world has shown the need for an enhanced rules-based framework for the international financial system. More transparency, better regulation, incentives and oversight and a more in depth understanding of the implications of increased financial interdependence in a globalized world are the basis for the reforms needed.

Contributor(s): Professor Robyn Wiegman | This lecture explores the production of critical value and competency in contemporary feminist theory. Robyn Wiegman is Professor of Women's Studies and Literature and former Director of the Women's Studies Program at Duke from 2001-2007. Her publications include American Anatomies: Theorizing Race and Gender (1995), Who Can Speak: Identity and Critical Authority (1995), Feminism Beside Itself (1995), AIDS and the National Body (1997), The Futures of...

Contributor(s): Stephen J Dubner, Professor Steven D Levitt | Freakonomics was a worldwide sensation, selling 4 million copies in 35 languages. Now, four years in the making, arrives the follow up: SuperFreakonomics. Steve Levitt and Stephen Dubner return with a book that is even bolder, funnier, and more surprising than the first. Freakonomics made the world safe to discuss the economics of crack cocaine and the impact of baby names. SuperFreakonomics retains that off-kilter sensibility...

Contributor(s): Michael Kirby | In 2009, the Delhi High Court in India upheld a challenge to the constitutional validity of s377 of the Indian Penal Code that criminalized homosexuality. Michael Kirby will explain why UK lawyers should be engaged in the reform movement as a matter of basic human rights.

Contributor(s): Professor Danny Quah | Through the stress test of this global economic crisis, it is China's performance that has continued to drive the global economy forwards. Is this likely to continue or will the sceptics of China's so-far enduring economic success be finally proven right? Danny Quah is professor of economics at LSE.

Contributor(s): Daniel Johnson, Lionel Shriver | Lionel Shriver in conversation with Daniel Johnson. Daniel Johnson is editor of Standpoint. Lionel Shriver is a novelist. Her seventh novel, We Need to Talk About Kevin, won the Orange prize.