Contributor(s): Professor Jeffrey D Sachs | The world has agreed to adopt Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to guide global development after 2015. Professor Jeffrey Sachs will discuss the choice of SDGs and a policy and normative framework to achieve them. Jeffrey D. Sachs is a world-renowned professor of economics, leader in sustainable development, senior UN advisor, bestselling author, and syndicated columnist whose monthly newspaper columns appear in more than 80 countries. He has...

Contributor(s): Professor Anne Applebaum | The nations of the region we called “Eastern Europe” were once closely linked, so much so that West Europeans had trouble distinguishing them. But since 1989 they have made different choices and taken different paths. Are there lessons which can be learned from the East European experience of reform? Professor Anne Applebaum is the Philippe Roman Chair in History and International Affairs for the 2012-2013 academic year.

Contributor(s): Professor A. John Simmons | Modern states claim a wide variety of rights of control over particular geographical territories. These claims, however, are regularly disputed, often leading to violence. This fact makes practically pressing the questions, to be explored in these lectures, of how and to what extent such territorial claims by states can be justified. A. John Simmons (Ph.D., Cornell) is Commonwealth Professor of Philosophy, and professor of Law; editor, Philosophy...

Contributor(s): Hugh Segal | Senator Hugh Segal, Canada's Special Envoy to the Commonwealth, will speak about Commonwealth reform and the role it can play in helping its members strengthen Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law. Senator Hugh Segal was appointed Canada's Special Envoy to the Commonwealth in 2011. This followed upon his service as a member of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group (2010-2011) which produced 106 recommendations for Commonwealth renewal for the 21st century....

Contributor(s): Professor Roland Dannreuther | When there are shifts in distribution of power in international politics, energy security emerges as a salient concern. Professor Dannreuther will consider the implications of two shifts: first, the flow of energy from east to west (oil and gas) and the increasing links between Asia and energy-producing regions; and secondly, the flow from consumers of energy to producers of energy with the rise of resource nationalism. Professor Dannreuther...

Contributor(s): Professor Etienne Balibar | Etienne Balibar is Anniversary Chair in Modern European Philosophy at Kingston University and emeritus professor of moral and political philosophy at the University of Paris 10 Nanterre.

Contributor(s): Professor Clare Hemmings | This paper charts the significance of Emma Goldman's revolutionary thought for a contemporary analysis of sexuality, gender and revolt. Throughout her life (1869-1940) and work Goldman centred sexuality as both key to how capitalism functions (particularly for women) and as a privileged site for political transformation. Connecting sexuality to labour, Goldman's analyses of reproduction, prostitution, homosexuality and free love provide a helpful...

Contributor(s): Professor A. John Simmons | Modern states claim a wide variety of rights of control over particular geographical territories. These claims, however, are regularly disputed, often leading to violence. This fact makes practically pressing the questions, to be explored in these lectures, of how and to what extent such territorial claims by states can be justified. A. John Simmons (Ph.D., Cornell) is Commonwealth Professor of Philosophy, and professor of Law; editor, Philosophy...

Contributor(s): Dr Jon Danielsson, Professor Charles Goodhart, Matt King | The first public event of the ESRC Systemic Risk Centre at LSE will debate whether the post crisis reforms of financial regulations will be effective in protecting us from financial excesses, or may perversely destabilise the financial system. The panel of experts will debate the topic and take questions from the audience. Jon Danielsson is the director of the Systemic Risk Centre at LSE. His research interests include...

Contributor(s): Stuart Basten, Carlos Cavalle, Wolfgang Lutz, Catherine Hakim, John Parker, Eric Kaufmann | This panel explores the impact of declining fertility in western countries and East Asia - especially the social effects which have largely been ignored. The panel will also launch the publication of a new book, Whither the Child: Causes and Consequences of Low Fertility (Paradigm Publishers 2013). Stuart Basten is ESRC Fellow in Demography and Social Policy at Oxford University. Carlos...

Contributor(s): Chris Brown | LSE London's 2013 Lent term seminar series begins on the 14th of January. Speakers from within and beyond academia will focus on many of the implications of the current economic and political environment for London, covering relevant issues such as the road pricing, UK trends in higher education, census data and localism. Presenters include academics and practitioners from relevant fields.

Contributor(s): Enda Kenny | Enda Kenny is Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland, a position he has held since March 2011. He has been the Leader of Fine Gael since June 2002 and has represented the people of Mayo as a Fine Gael member of Dáil Éireann since 1975. He served as Minister for Tourism and Trade from 1994 - 1997. He was also Vice-President of the European People’s Party from 2006-2012.

Contributor(s): Dr Ama de Graft Aikins, Dr Gora Mboup, Professor Vanessa Watson | Notwithstanding improvements, urban health in Africa remains a particular challenge, with 70 per cent of urban dwellers living in informal settlements, facing multiple disease burdens. How might we move towards healthy African cities? Ama de Graft Aikins is a visiting fellow at LSE Health and senior lecturer at the Regional Institute for Population Studies, University of Ghana. Gora Mboup is a senior demographic...

Contributor(s): Louise de Sousa, Elda Moreno, Pragna Patel | The Istanbul Convention is the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence. It is the first legally binding instrument in Europe and in terms of scope the most advanced treaty in the world creating a comprehensive legal framework to prevent violence, to protect victims and to end the impunity of perpetrators. It defines and criminalises various forms of violence against women...

Contributor(s): Professor Dr Ahmet Davutoglu | Professor Dr Ahmet Davutoglu is Minister of Foreign Affairs of the 60th Government of the Republic of Turkey, a position he has held since 2009. He was born on February 26th, 1959 in Konya and completed his secondary education at the Istanbul High School. In 1983 he graduated from the Bosphorus University with a double major in Political Science and Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. He completed his MA in the...

Contributor(s): Mark Hoban | Presented by British Government @ LSE and LSE Civil Service and Public Policy Alumni Group.

Contributor(s): Dr Gareth Jones, Juan Sebastian Lama, Gloria Morrison, Dr Austin Zeiderman | This panel event is a student-led initiative, full title 'Urban Controversies: how controversies shape our cities,' with speakers Dr Gareth Jones (Reader, LSE Urban Geography), Juan Sebastian Lama (architect, PUC Chile and MSc City Design student), Gloria Morrison (Campaigning Coordinator, JENGbA) and Dr Austin Zeiderman (LSE Cities Research Fellow), talking about natural and man-made disasters and...

Contributor(s): Baroness Williams | Shirley Williams is a former Labour cabinet minister and one of the Gang Of Four who left Labour to start the Social Democrats.

Contributor(s): Paul Collier | How to Harness Natural Resource Wealth for Accelerated Development.

Contributor(s): Hilary Lawson | Philosophers have pursued truth, and many have placed truth at the centre of their account of meaning. But might this be a mistake? Could error be at the heart of language, and adventure, rather than truth, be the matter in hand? In the first of three events on the theme, Hilary Lawson argues for a radical reappraisal of the importance of error. This lecture is the first of a three-part series entitled Error, Lies and Adventure, the second talk 'The Power of...

Contributor(s): Pablo Fernandez, Carlos Lopez, Miguel Klingenberg | The recent expropriation of Repsol by the Argentine government raises important legal, diplomatic and policy issues that put into question the current system of international investment protection. This seminar invites to debate on this issues from the investor's perspective. Pablo Fernández is Professor of Finance at the IESE Business School, Madrid. Carlos López Jall is the Director of International Organizations and...

Contributor(s): Dr Hazem Kandil | Cambridge University's Dr Hazem Kandil will help explain why Egypt's popular uprising has so far failed to overthrow the regime through exploring the positions of the main players in the revolt: the military, security, and the various political factions. Kandil's latest book, Soldiers, Spies and Statesmen: Egypt's Road to Revolt, (Verso, 2012) analyses Egypt’s transformation from military regime to police state, on the road to revolution. Hazem Kandil is the...

Contributor(s): Alain Juppé | At this time of mistrust towards the European Union, Alain Juppé reiterates his strong beliefs and his faith in Europe's future. A plea by a French statesman who has always been committed to the European enterprise. Alain Juppé was President of the political party Union for a Popular Movement from 2002 to 2004. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2011 to 2012. He also served as Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques...

Contributor(s): Baljit Bains | LSE London's 2013 Lent term seminar series begins on the 14th of January. Speakers from within and beyond academia will focus on many of the implications of the current economic and political environment for London, covering relevant issues such as the road pricing, UK trends in higher education, census data and localism. Presenters include academics and practitioners from relevant fields.

Contributor(s): Miranda Glover, Charles Leadbeater, Sam Riviere | Some people have been struck by the aphoristic potential of Twitter. Others see developments in new media as bringing the era of the literature to an end. This panel will explore the way new media impacts on traditional literary and philosophical forms of writing and reading. One question is about the *threat* of new media to classical literacy: fragmentation and overload in new media leading to the withering away of...