Will artificial intelligence cause huge unemployment? Will it free us from working? Will it replace us? In this special edition of LSE iQ, Sophie Mallett sits down with Professor Judy Wajcman, LSE’s Emeritus Professor of Sociology and one of the world’s leading voices on technology and society. Together, they explore one of the biggest questions of…

In August 2025, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization held its 25th annual summit in Tianjin, China, with the country’s leader Xi Jinping, hosting representatives from more than 20 countries including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and India’s Narendra Modi. The absence of the United States in this gathering of global leaders may tell us about how China i…

To talk about social media and politics, and how AI can help spread – or tackle – disinformation, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Josephine Lukito, Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Journalism and Media. Her research specializes in malicious political language in the public sphere, focusing on cross-platform flow…

The LSE Phelan US Centre's regular podcast, The Ballpark, will be 10 years old in 2026. Ahead of our anniversary, and after more than 140 episodes speaking to academic experts on topics from across the social sciences, we'd like to find out what you think about the podcast with a listener survey. It only takes 10-15 minutes, and you'll have the cha…

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AI has legal consequences. Who is responsible when AI makes a mistake which causes harm or financial loss? What role does government regulation play, and do we need to revise our legal frameworks in the face of increasingly capable AI?To talk about these issues, in July 2025, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Anat Lior, an assistant professor at Dre…

This event was the launch of 'Paths Made by Walking: The Work of Howzevi Women in Iran' by Amina Tawasil.This groundbreaking ethnography on Iranian howzevi (seminarian) women reveals how ideologies of womanhood, institutions, and Islamic practices have played a pivotal role in religiously conservative women's mobility in the Middle East. This event…

With the growth of the capability of artificial intelligence (AI), there is growing concern that this technology could make millions of jobs – and their workers – obsolete. In the third episode of The Ballpark’s miniseries on AI and the US, the Phelan US Centre explored the impacts AI is already having on the workforce with Baobao Zhang, Maxwell De…

This keynote lecture delivered by Professor Hamit Bozarslan took place during the Kurdish Studies Conference organised by the LSE Middle East Centre and the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Sheffield.An expert in the Middle East, Turkey and the Kurdish question, Hamit Bozarslan has been director of studies at …

Across the world, far right ideas, once confined to the political fringe, have entered the mainstream. They spread through social media feeds and dominate tabloid headlines. Many fear they’re transforming politics, threatening democracy and tearing at the fabric of society. Joanna Bale meets Imam Adam Kelwick, whose Liverpool mosque was surrounded …

In an article in the July/August edition of Foreign Affairs magazine, “Might Unmakes Right: The Catastrophic Collapse of Norms Against the Use of Force”, Oona Hathaway and Scott Shapiro look at the history of the prohibition of the use of force between states and discuss what they see as the current assault on this prohibition.To discuss her articl…

In an article in the latest issue of Foreign Affairs, “Beware the Europe You Wish For, The Downsides and Dangers of Allied Independence”, former US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Celeste Wallander, wrote on the potential downsides of Europe spending more on its own defense for the transatlantic alliance and for A…

In July 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Kimberley S. Johnson, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University and the John G. Winant Visiting Professor of American Government at the University of Oxford, about the recent history of the US administrative state and racial representation in the US government and administr…

This talk delivered by Professor René Provost explored important lessons on the promises and limits of non-state justice in conflict zones, specifically looking at the Kurdish-dominated Democratic Autonomous Administration of North East Syria.Zones of armed conflict are spaces of disorder, which state and non-state belligerents alike aim to curtail…

In response to what the US sees as potential growing threats from China and North Korea, nuclear weapons are becoming a more and more important part of US alliance commitments and partnerships in East Asia. But what does this focus on nuclear weapons for both deterrence and reassurance mean for US foreign policy and for the security of the region? …

This event celebrated the work of Professor Charles Tripp through a new edited volume by Toby Dodge, Daniel Neep and Ali Ansari.The work of Charles Tripp – professor at SOAS University of London for over three decades – has shaped a distinct approach to the study of Middle East politics: an analytical sensibility that is empirically rich, theoretic…

In January 2025, the release of a new model and chatbot by Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company, DeepSeek, sent shockwaves through the tech industry in the US and elsewhere. DeepSeek’s launch was only one milestone in the ongoing AI competition between China and the US which has seen the US try to restrict the exports of key components used…

On the May 7th, 2025, India launched missile strikes on Pakistan in response to a terrorist attack in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir on April 22nd. On May 10th a ceasefire was reached following mediation from the United States. To discuss the US’ part in brokering a ceasefire, and the US’ responses to disputes between India and Pakistan over…

13 What is it like to be interviewed by AI, and how will it transform research? Justine Nayral by LSE PodcastsAv LSE Podcasts

12 Perceptions of inequality - what do we really know? Queena Chong by LSE PodcastsAv LSE Podcasts

11 How can data help us to understand and address complex problems? Dr Alexandra Gomes by LSE PodcastsAv LSE Podcasts

10 Children's visions of digital futures, Kym Sylwander & Aisling by LSE PodcastsAv LSE Podcasts

09 The new facts of life, Professor Emily Jackson by LSE PodcastsAv LSE Podcasts

08 Scaling social innovation at LSE, Kayleigh Cunoosamy by LSE PodcastsAv LSE Podcasts

07 Insecure lives, secure futures? Laura Lane by LSE PodcastsAv LSE Podcasts

06 Joining the dots: using data to support homelessness and addiction, Dr Michela Tinelli by LSE PodcastsAv LSE Podcasts

05 The impact of climate-based natural disasters, Dr Kate Laffan & Dr António Valentim by LSE PodcastsAv LSE Podcasts

04 Making and remaking tradition: a cultural history of shark fin, Dr Ron Po by LSE PodcastsAv LSE Podcasts

03 Competing visions of the future: Colombia's Magdalena River, Dr Austin Zeiderman by LSE PodcastsAv LSE Podcasts

02 Gawi: An ancestral Rarámuri dream on the care of Mother Earth, Myriam Hernandez by LSE PodcastsAv LSE Podcasts

01 Introduction by LSE PodcastsAv LSE Podcasts

The US-led international order is under strain from without and within. Authoritarian powers such as Russia and China are challenging the core tenets of global cooperation and conflict management. Rising states of the Global South like India, Brazil, and South Africa demand reformed multilateralism in the institutions of global governance, and the …

Many institutions are now using artificial intelligence (AI) models as tools to think about solutions to a variety of challenges, from the everyday to the global. At the same time, many commentators have expressed concerns about AI and its effects on society, the economy and democracy. In the first episode of The Ballpark’s miniseries on AI and the…

What does Yemen’s political, economic and social history and experience tell us about what is realistic for the coming decade and beyond? This keynote lecture delivered by writer and researcher Helen Lackner discussed the main socio-political transformations since the 1960s, and addressed the most relevant features for the country's future. Lackner…

This event was the launch of Seçkin Sertdemir's latest book 'Civic Death in Contemporary Turkey: Mass Surveillance and the Authoritarian State' published by Cambridge University Press. What does it mean for a government to declare its citizens 'dead' while they still live? Following the failed 2016 coup, the Turkish AKP government implemented sweep…

Artificial intelligence is transforming the world around us, offering increased productivity and promising to help tackle difficult problems like global warming. But behind the scenes, its environmental costs are mounting. From massive energy use to vast quantities of water required to cool data centres, AI’s footprint is growing fast. So, in an ag…

in February 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Michael Latner, Professor of Political Science at California Polytechnic State University and Director of Research on Democratic Reform at the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School. They discussed the recent history of voting rights and the state of democracy in …

This event, co-organised with the Department of International Development at LSE, was a discussion with Professor Naila Kabeer and Professor Ragui Assaad based on their co-authored report 'Women's Access to Market Opportunities in South Asia and the Middle East and North Africa: Barriers, Opportunities and Policy Challenges'. Despite this paper bei…

In March 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to John Minnich, Assistant Professor in the Department of International Relations at LSE about why semiconductors are so important in the global economy, and why the US is willing to go to what Dr Minnich terms, economic war, over them. They also discussed how the semiconductor trade is framed as a national …

What type of person falls for an online scam? Who are the fraudsters and how does colonialism motivate them? And what’s the connection between criminality and pop music? This episode of LSE iQ looks at how we can avoid falling for online scams. We think it couldn’t happen to us, but incidents of online fraud are escalating at an alarming rate, affe…

In February 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to spoke to Mukulika Banerjee, Professor in LSE’s Department of Anthropology. They spoke about using anthropology to better study politics, how the US might be turning into what she terms a “checklist democracy” and how seeing the US from an outside point of view might help Americans to understand their o…

This event disseminated the findings of a series of papers produced for the LSE Middle East Centre by Ahmed Tabaqchali exploring the economic and financial interactions of the Iraqi economy with the outside world, particularly the use of the dollar in relation to Iran and the US. While the US’ Iraq policy is still fluid, there have been signs that …

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has brought the spectre of potential nuclear conflict back into the public consciousness for the first time in decades. But what’s behind the potential for nuclear conflict and what issues are at stake for nuclear powers other than the US and Russia, like China?To discuss these and other questions on the current stat…

This event was the launch of Dr Anne Kirstine Rønn's latest paper as part of the LSE Middle East Centre Paper Series on 'The Struggles of Labour Mobilisation in Lebanon and Iraq'. Despite facing significant challenges, including elite control and repression, labour movements in both Lebanon and Iraq have sought to assert their independence and chal…

Donald Trump’s links to the right, including the far right and the alt-right date back to least to his 2016 presidential campaign and continued through his first term and then into his 2024 election campaign where Trump faced accusations of being an authoritarian populist. To discuss Donald Trump’s links to the far right, in February 2025 the Phela…

With the cost-of-living crisis leading to the closure of community spaces around the UK, and the pressures on urban development projects, this episode of LSE iQ asks, are we in danger of losing our communities? Speakers: Professor Shani Orgad, Dr Divya Srivastava , Dr Julia King, Dr Olivia Theocharides-Feldman Research links: “Listening in times of…

The return of Donald Trump to the White House in 2025 comes on the back of extreme violence in the Middle East, led by Israel and with great financial and political investment from the United States. What impact will Trump's second term have on the Middle East region, and what can we learn from his policies in his first term as President of the Uni…

President Trump has made his feelings about US competition with China plain; one of the early acts of his second presidential term has been to place tariffs on Chinese imports. China has since responded with its own tariffs on certain US goods and restrictions on the import of important minerals.To talk about US-China relations with the return of D…

This event was the launch of Dr Marouf Cabi's latest book 'Iranian Kurdistan Under the Islamic Republic: Change, Revolution, and Resistance' published by I.B. Tauris. Cabi presents a social, political, cultural, and socioeconomic history of Iranian Kurdistan since the 1979 Revolution. In this study, Marouf Cabi shines a spotlight on the modern hist…