The World Affairs series of talks has since May 1997 addressed a wide range of country, international and thematic topics. There have also been lengthier examinations of global issues, such as a day conference on International conflict and order in the 20th century and themed discussion series on Freedom and Authority, Education and Globalisation. Arrangements are made by a World Affairs Team of Mark O'Sullivan and Declan Walton.

Recent talks have included Amir Kassam, Professor of Tropical Agriculture at Reading University, on Rethinking Agriculture; Zheng Yongnian, Professor of Chinese Politics and Director of Research in the School of Contemporary Chinese Studies in the University of Nottingham, on the question Will China become democratic?; and Professor Anil Markandya of Bath University and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on shaping a truly global response to climate problems.

World Affairs talks are normally given on the third Monday of each month. In addition to the normal World Affairs series of talks, BRLSI is currently hosting a series of talks on aspects of China, promoted and funded by the British Inter-University China Centre.

Forthcoming events
Wednesday 14 May in the China series: The battle for China’s past: Mao and the Cultural Revolution. The speaker will be Dr Mobo Gao, Professor of Chinese Studies and Director of the Adelaide Confucius Institute at the University of Adelaide. As China embraces capitalism, the Mao era is being systematically denigrated by the Chinese political and intellectual elite. The speaker tackles the highly negative depiction of China under Mao in recent publications. He argrues that most people in China, including the rural poor and the urban working class, benefited from Mao’s later policies, which included a comprehensive welfare system that gave basic health and education provision – policies now being reversed in the current rush toward capitalism.

Monday 19 May: Wellbeing and democratic challenges in Bangladesh – a case of development gone wrong? The speakers will be Dr Joe Devine and Dr. Allister McGregor of the University of Bath. Bangladesh has been dragged to the brink of chaos and anarchy as rival political groups battle for power. Now it’s run by an army-backed caretaker government. Yet this is a country which has made impressive strides over 15 years in economic growth, poverty reduction and democratic reform. Why have political relations broken down? Have there been deep-rooted development failures? What lessons can be learnt about support for political reform in this and other countries? Joe Devine is the Head of the International Development Group of the University of Bath. Allister McGregor is the Director of the Research Group on Wellbeing in Developing Coutries, in which Joe Devine serves as Bangladesh Country Cordinator.

Monday 16 June: Fusion energy: when will it contribute towards a low-carbon economy? The speaker will be Steve Cowley, Professor of Physics at the Imperial College of Science and Director-Designate of the UKAEA Culham Division. Energy from nuclear fusion produces no greenhouses gases, and may be central to the future of mankind. Unlike existing atomic power stations (based on nuclear fission) it uses common raw materials, and leaves only small amounts of short-lived radioactive waste. It is also inherently safe. But the science is very complicated, and is still in the research phase. In September Professor Cowley becomes Director of the Culham Research Centre, near Oxford, which houses the Joint European Torus (JET) - at present the world’s most powerful fusion research facility.

Work on fusion energy has been underway for almost half a century. The possible rewards are so great that virtually all industrial nations are investing heavily in cooperative research, even though progress is gradual rather than spectacular. The next-generation fusion research facility, on which construction has just started in France, is slated to become the largest international project since the International Space Station. So the stakes are very high indeed. What are the prospects?


Updated 27 April 2008
Declan Walton