London School of Economics: Public lectures and events

Speaker(s): Saleh Muslim Mohamed | It is nine months since Kurds took control of towns in northern Syria, having established an unprecedented coalition of Kurdish parties. Saleh Muslim Mohamed, the co-President of the most prominent Syrian Kurdish party, will assess the progress of Kurdish politics and local government and the wider Syrian and regional context.Saleh Muslim Mohamed is the Co-President of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the Deputy General Coordinator of the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria (NCB) and a member of the Supreme Kurdish Council in Syria.

Speaker(s): Sir Malcolm Rifkind | The acute economic crisis of the euro, coupled with the chronic political crisis of Europe’s democratic deficit, have created a situation in which Britain’s membership of the European Union can no longer be taken for granted. Former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind outlines a ‘moderate eurosceptic’ approach to the issue, which he believes would produce a mutually beneficial solution acceptable to the United Kingdom and her European partners alike.Sir Malcolm Rifkind is Conservative Member of Parliament for Kensington. He first entered Parliament in 1974 as Member for Edinburgh Pentlands, serving as Defence Secretary between 1992 and 1995, and as Foreign Secretary between 1995 and 1997. He is currently serving as Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, which oversees the UK’s intelligence agencies.

Speaker(s): Professor Theda Skocpol | What happened to Obama's "new New Deal"? Why did his achievements enrage opponents more than they satisfied supporters? How has the Tea Party's ascendance reshaped American politics?Theda Skocpol is the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University.

Speaker(s): Dr Bassem Awadallah, Dr Adeel Malik | The speakers will argue that the struggle for a new Middle East will be won or lost in the private sector, and that dismantling regional barriers to trade constitute the most important collective action problem that the Middle East has faced since the fall of the Ottoman Empire.Bassem Awadallah is the former Jordanian minister of finance.Adeel Malik is Islamic Centre lecturer in Development Economics and Globe Fellow in the Economies of Muslim Societies at Oxford University.

Speaker(s): João Carlos Ferraz | An overarching sense of uncertainty prevails in the second decade of the 21st century, as dramatic changes sweep most aspects of life in every corner of the planet. This lecture will attempt to discuss the constitutive elements of the uncertainties we live with and their associated challenges. These should compose the boundaries of the debate about what development is, or should be, in the 21st century. The recent economic, social and political evolution of Brazil will serve as a point of reference. Uncertainty must be addressed through the pursuit of knowledge, as effective policies – whether public or private -- require sound analytical pillars. This is where Albert Hirschman and Oscar Niemeyer and their life achievements come in. They were men of their time, men of the future. They designed ideas and monuments; they were politically engaged and engage others to think about and act upon development processes. But they never abandoned the firm belief that development is time- and place-specific, a lesson which applies to Brazil and is more broadly applicable and important to recall today.João Carlos Ferraz is vice president of the Brazilian Development Bank, BDNES.

Speaker(s): Hilary Lawson, Professor Steven Rose, Professor Barry Smith | Since Plato the greatest intellectual adventure is often thought to be the pursuit of truth. Might there be alternative intellectual adventures? And if so, of what would they consist?Hilary Lawson is director of the Institute of Art and Ideas, a non-realist philosopher and the author of Closure.Steven Rose is professor of biology and director of the Brain and Behaviour Research Group at the Open University.Barry Smith is director of the Institute of Philosophy, School of Advanced Study, University of London.

Speaker(s): Vladislav Surkov | Editor's note: This lecture is delivered in Russian. The challenge of diversifying Russia’s economic structure and reducing its reliance on natural resource sectors has been the policy agenda for many years. Russia aims to transition into a self-sustaining, innovation-led economic growth model.The government has focused increasingly on modernisation and, in particular, on innovation, as the key to Russia’s successful development over the longer term. As a result of this, innovation - boosting government initiatives have been created, such as the highly ambitious Skolkovo Technopark and Skolkovo Institute for Science and Technology, that aspire to make Russia a global innovation powerhouse.Vladislav Surkov is the deputy prime minister of the Russian Federation and chief of staff of the Russian Government. He oversees a large array of government initiatives, including in area of innovation, education and culture. He is a trustee of the Skolkovo Fund and chairman of the Board of trustees at SkolkovoTech, and is actively involved with the government initiative to create a technology innovation park and ecosystem in Russia. Prior to his appointment at the Russian Government, Mr Surkov was the deputy chief of staff of the Russian President. He is widely attributed to the creation of the "Sovereign Democracy" concept in the last decade.

Speaker(s): Dr David Graeber, Professor Craig Calhoun | From the earliest meetings for Occupy Wall Street, David Graeber felt that something was different from previous demonstrations. What was it about this particular movement that worked this time? And what can we now do to make our world more democratic again? Graeber presents a vital new exploration of anti-capitalist dissent, looking at the actions of the 99% and revealing the alternative political and economic possibilities of our future.David Graeber is an anthropologist at Goldsmiths, University of London, who has been involved with the Occupy movement most actively at Wall Street. He is widely credited with coining the phrase "We are the 99%" and is the author of the widely praised Debt: The First 5000 Years. His new book The Democracy Project is published by Allen Lane.Craig Calhoun is a world-renowned social scientist whose work connects sociology to culture, communication, politics, philosophy and economics. He took up his post as LSE Director on 1 September 2012, having left the United States where he was University Professor at New York University and director of the Institute for Public Knowledge and President of the Social Science Research Council. He is the author of several books including Nations Matter, Critical Social Theory, Neither Gods Nor Emperors and most recently The Roots of Radicalism (University of Chicago Press, 2012).

Speaker(s): Arif Naqvi | The theme of the event is private equity’s role in the transformation of the world economy. As Western economies battle to restructure their economies and re-launch growth, South-South investment flows have been steadily growing over the last decade. Vast and exciting investment opportunities are opening up in these global growth markets, but is it really true that best in class returns and socially transformational investments can go hand in hand?Arif Naqvi will give a keynote speech entitled 'Global Growth Markets: Transforming our world, our businesses, our communities'. The lecture will be followed by a panel discussion entitled ‘Doing well by doing good? Private Equity Investing in Emerging Markets’ led by Felda Hardymon with Tsega Gebreyses, Arif Naqvi and Diana Noble.Arif Naqvi is the founder and group chief executive of The Abraaj Group, a private equity investor. Naqvi founded the Group in 2002 in Dubai. It started with $60 million in assets under management and today manages $7.5 billion.

Speaker(s): Nate Silver | In this age of information-overload, Silver argues it is more difficult than ever to distinguish a true "signal" from the noisy universe of data. Silver shows that by embracing uncertainty, and being alert to the role that motivations and biases can play in warping predictions, we will be less likely to repeat the mistakes of the past.Nate Silver is a statistician and political forecaster at The New York Times. In 2012, he correctly predicted the outcome of 50 out of 50 states during the US presidential election, trumping the professional pollsters and pundits. He was named one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People in the world, and one of Rolling Stones' top Agents of Change. Silver graduated with Honors with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Chicago. He spent his third year at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His new book is The Signal and the Noise: the art and science of prediction.The LSE Media Group is a special interest group set up for and run by LSE alumni who work or have an interest in the media industry. It is active in the UK and in the US. The Group is unusual in its embracing definition of the media to include advertising, journalism, public relations, new media, entertainment, publishing, marketing and other creative interests.If you are an interested in learning more about the LSE Media Group please email alumni@lse.ac.uk.

Speaker(s): Miriam de Búrca, Ruth Goddard, Adela Jušic, Jonathan Watkins, Dr Gwendolyn Sasse | Artists from Northern Ireland, South Africa and Bosnia will reflect upon the impact of violent conflict on their work. The event includes screenings of Dogs have no religion by Miriam de Búrca, and The Sniper by Adela Jušic, as well as images from Ruth Goddard’s work The/My persistent past/history.Miriam de Búrca is a visual artist from Belfast, Northern Ireland.Ruth Goddard is a London-based artist from South Africa.Adela Jušic is an artist from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.Dr Gwendolyn Sasse is a professorial fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford and co-curator of the exhibition.Jonathan Watkins is director of Ikon Gallery, Birmingham and curator of the 2013 Iraq Pavilion for the Venice Biennale.This event is in association with the Alan Cristea Gallery. Miriam de Búrca, Ruth Goddard and Adela Jušic are three of the artists included in the exhibition Conflicted Memory being held at the Alan Cristea Gallery, 29 April – 1 June 2013, 31 Cork Street, London.

Speaker(s): Dr Karma Nabulsi, Professor Ilan Pappe, Professor Rosemary Hollis, Peter Kosminsky | On this panel discussion, chaired by Jon Snow of Channel 4 News, the speakers will discuss aspects of the current situation in Palestine, including: Palestinian domestic politics, Israel’s position, the international dimension of the impasse and the insights into the conflict provided by film-making.Karma Nabulsi is Lecturer in International Relations at the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford and Fellow in Politics at St Edmund Hall.Rosemary Hollis is Professor of Middle East Policy Studies and Director of the Olive Tree Scholarship Programme at City University London. Her research focuses on international political and security issues in the Middle East, particularly European, EU, UK and US relations with the region.Ilan Pappe is Professor of History, Director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies and Co-Director for the Exeter Centre for Ethno-Political Studies at the University of Exeter.Peter Kosminsky is a British writer, director and producer. He is the director of The Promise, a four episodes television series telling the story of a young woman who goes to Israel and Palestine determined to find out about her soldier grandfather's involvement in the final years of Palestine under the British mandate.Jon Snow is a British journalist and presenter. He has been the face of Channel 4 News since 1989.

Speaker(s): Charles Moore | Not For Turning is the first volume of Charles Moore's authorized biography of Margaret Thatcher, the longest serving Prime Minister of the twentieth century and one of the most influential political figures of the postwar era.Charles Moore's biography of Margaret Thatcher, published after her death on 8 April 2013, immediately supercedes all earlier books written about her. At the moment when she becomes a historical figure, this book also makes her into a three dimensional one for the first time. It gives unparalleled insight into her early life and formation, especially through her extensive correspondence with her sister, which Moore is the first author to draw on. It recreates the atmosphere of British politics as she was making her way, and takes her up to what was arguably the zenith of her power, victory in the Falklands.Charles Moore joined the staff of the Daily Telegraph in 1979, the year Margaret Thatcher came to power, and as a political columnist in the 1980s, he covered several years of Mrs Thatcher's first and second governments. From 1984-90 he was editor of the Spectator; from 1992-95 editor of the Sunday Telegraph; and from 1995 to 2003 editor of the Daily Telegraph, for which he is still a regular columnist.

Speaker(s): Nancy Pelosi | Nancy Pelosi is the Democratic Leader of the House of Representatives. From 2007 to 2011, she served as the first woman Speaker of the House and is also the first woman in American history to lead a major political party in Congress. Leader Pelosi has led House Democrats for a decade and has represented San Francisco in Congress for 25 years.Pelosi led the Congress in passing historic health insurance reform, key investments in college aid, clean energy and innovation, and initiatives to help small businesses and veterans. She has been a powerful voice for civil rights and human rights around the world for decades.Professor Michael Cox is founding co-director of LSE IDEAS and professor of international relations at LSE.

Speaker(s): Gillian Lees, Michael Power, Martin Thomas, Alfred Wagenhofer | 10.30-10.45 Welcome from Michael Bromwich and Al Bhimani10.45-11.45 Laura Spira (Oxford Brookes University) - Corporate Governance and Management - a Blurred Boundary?11.45-12.45 Michael Power (London School of Economics and Political Science) - Searching for Risk CultureAfternoon Session Hong Kong Theatre, CLM.G.02, ground floor, Clement House, Aldwych14.00-14.30 Martin Thomas (Call4Change) - Measuring Thriving Organisational Performance in Turbulent Times14.30-15.30 Alfred Wagenhofer (University of Graz, Austria) - Characteristics of Accounting Information that Serves the Board of Directors15.30-16.45 Panel Discussion - Management Accounting and Corporate Governance - Gillian Lees, Michael Power, Martin Thomas, Alfred Wagenhofer - Chairman: Michael Bromwich17.15-18.00 ICAEW Distinguished Practitioner Lecture - Philip Gregory, Senior independent non-executive Director, Hansard Global plc. - The Effect of Changing Governance on the Finance Function; Some Personal Observations and Experiences