At Al Jazeera’s Head to Head, Vanessa Neumann defended a Trump‑ordered plan to invade Venezuela & abduct Maduro. MSc ID students Almitra Phukan & Jasmin Kelliher unpack the ethical + political implications of justifying invasion as “restoring democracy.”
blogs.lse.ac.uk/internationa...
Dr. Vanessa Neumann joined Mehdi Hasan on Al Jazeera’s Head to Head to debate whether foreign‑backed regime change can deliver democracy or instead deepens crisis.
MSc candidates Anandini Gupta and Amaya Lilles attended and reflect on the tensions raised: blogs.lse.ac.uk/internationa...
What does it mean to exist in a database?
In a recent LSE lecture, UNRWA’s Dr Valeria Cetorelli challenged the audience to look beyond the technical side of humanitarian data.
MSc candidate Jessica Subbaraman reflects on why data is an anchor for history, identity, and survival.
Is academic critique a luxury?
Myles Mordaunt reflects on Dr Valeria Cetorelli’s (UNRWA) Lecture, exploring the gap btn ideal data ethics & the constrained choices of survival on the ground.
When physical records are under threat, digitisation becomes a vital tool for preserving refugee identity.
Ken Shadlen and co authors examine how a key TRIPS transitional rule, excluding drugs with pre-1995 global priority filings from patent eligibility in India, shaped “primary” patents and generic competition.
New (open access) in Health Affairs Scholar: academic.oup.com/healthaffair...
NEW ✨How UN peacekeeping camps coexist with urban life
Worlding Home: An Urban Ethnography of Peacekeeping Camps in Goma, DRC by Maren Larsen reviewed by @sdanielak.bsky.social @georgemasonu.bsky.social @unibas.ch
@lseid.bsky.social
Last week at #CuttingEdge, Dr Ritika Arora presented her vital PhD research on School Choice and Majoritarian Politics in #India.
Nidhi Shanbhogue’s recap explores how grassroots pressures and market dynamics allow prejudice to reshape India's modern classroom.
#LSE #Development #EducationPolicy
A full‑circle moment as Ritika Arora returns to LSE ID, years after writing about a Cutting‑Edge Lecture, to deliver one of her own.
Based on 230 interviews in Delhi, she shows how parental choice isn’t neutral and how everyday demands can fuel “bottom‑up Hindutva,”a form of religious nationalism.
Can increasing spending alone solve Pakistan's funding for primary education? ByeongKyu Jun argues that the problem lies not only in the amount of resources the education sector receives, but also in how these resources are utilised in schools.
blogs.lse.ac.uk/internationa...
Remembering Professor Tim Allen
The Department of International Development is deeply saddened by the passing of Professor Tim Allen, former Head of our Department.
One of his long‑standing colleagues, Professor David Keen, shares the following tribute on behalf of the Department.
This evening we welcome CarlosGustavoFernández Valdovinos, Paraguay’s Minister of Economy and Finance.
Valdovinos shares lessons on balancing stability with reform, fostering inclusion, and building resilient institutions.
#LSEEvents
📣 Tonight at LSE!
We’re hosting Paraguay’s Minister of Economy & Finance, Carlos Fernández Valdovinos, for a public lecture on economic reform, stability, and Paraguay’s path to investment grade.
🕡 6:30pm | 📍 Old Theatre
With remarks from Larry Kramer.
www.lse.ac.uk/events/balan...
🇵🇾 Join @lseid.bsky.social for an event with Carlos Gustavo Fernández Valdovinos, Paraguay’s Minister of Economy and Finance, who will discuss the country’s economic transformation.
📅 17 February 2026
Register for the event here: buff.ly/xkzcEkk
🎙️ New on Voices from IDeaSphere
Moona Shaik (MSc Development Management) reflects on how her UN internship — including work on the Women in Tech campaign — shaped her views on gender equality, global development & the power of mentorship.
Read her insights👇
Steve Gale reviews some Rare-Earth Mineral (REM) fundamentals to understand the impediments facing the Global South and highlights why China still maintains its near stranglehold on mineral processing and separation.
blogs.lse.ac.uk/internationa...
🌿 At COP30 in the Amazon, climate diplomacy felt different.
LSE’s Amanda Costa, UN Young Ambassador & Forbes Under 30, reflects on watching diplomacy, resistance and rainforest reality collide.
For her generation, climate justice is lived in real time.
Drawing on Crime and Punishment, Rafael Zhansultanov argues that despite a century of progress since the Baby Boomer era, today’s young people face levels of debt and precarity disturbingly similar to those of Dostoevsky’s troubled protagonist.
blogs.lse.ac.uk/internationa...
🌏 What does it mean to return home?
Join us for a public conversation with author Tareq Baconi, Dr Mai Taha, and @aycacu.bsky.social on personal and political journeys, displacement and belonging, and identity.
📅 16 Feb | 🕕 6pm | 📍 LSE
🔗https://buff.ly/eJFXV1f
#Sociology #HumanRights #memoir
🌏 Upcoming event | Governing with nature: towards transformative change?
Find out how nature‑based solutions are reshaping urban governance and what this means for climate action, social justice, and cities.
📅 11 Feb | 🕡 6.30pm | 📍 In person & online
#LSEEvents #Sociology
Counting the dead in #Sudan is never just technical. It’s political. It’s human.
At LSE, Dr Maysoon-Dahab (LSHTM) showed how mortality data in Sudan becomes a form of resistance in a “lights‑off” conflict, where what isn’t counted is easier to ignore.
Our MSc reflections captured the stakes 👇
🌟New: New book extract: Worlding Home by Maren Larsen explores how #UN #peacekeeping camps shape everyday urban life in Goma, DRC -- not apart from the city, but within it.
If you’d like to learn more, sign up to attend the book launch 👉 👉 ow.ly/m7o350Y3CVL
Fullpost 👉 ow.ly/Qf4Q50Y3CO6
Fatima Husain questions assumptions about infrastructure-led development and argues for a shift toward context-specific and locally grounded solutions over one-size-fits-all strategies.
blogs.lse.ac.uk/internationa...
📢 Public Event Announcement
Join us for Professor Hertog's inaugural lecture: "How oil rents fuel populist foreign policy" on 21 January 2026 at 6.30pm
In-person and online tickets available 👇
www.lse.ac.uk/events/21-ja...
#LSEEvents
@lseevents.bsky.social @shertog.bsky.social
The world’s economic centre of gravity is moving East - what does that mean for global power?
Katia Konopelko notes that as US–China rivalry deepens, middle powers like Singapore gain leverage through flexible diplomacy. The question remains: who will adapt fastest?
@dannyquah.bsky.social
✨ From Chemistry to African Development to Documentary Film
MSc African Development alum Noble Nazzah shows how curiosity, culture and storytelling shaped his path, from chemistry to development and now a PhD in history.
👉 ow.ly/aNCa50XQWnG
Our students joined Al Jazeera’s Head to Head, where Mehdi Hasan challenged Oxford’s Lord Nigel Biggar on how the #empire should be remembered.
Anandini Gupta reflects on how the debate exposed Britain’s ongoing struggle with selective memory, where “balance” can blur into denial.
Our 35th anniversary event offered more than a celebration, it prompted a critical reflection on the future of development. MSc Development Studies student Mya A. shares her reflections on the discussions.
blogs.lse.ac.uk/internationa...
Anne Irfan & @myfanwyvjames.bsky.social joined James Putzel to unpack the historical roots of the crisis in Gaza.
Student reflections by Mahrukh Nisar & Piyush Mane trace today’s violence to long histories of displacement, structural exclusion & the enduring legacy of the Nakba
👉 ow.ly/xymY50XM8Nx
Kayode Adeniyi explains Genesis as the newest chapter in America’s long tradition of state-led “big science” missions.
blogs.lse.ac.uk/internationa...
New: 🔥 Universities reflect the same polarisation shaping society
MSc candidate Katia Konopelko reflects on a panel with leaders from LSE, @universitypress.cambridge.org and SOAS on free speech, #activism and rebuilding community through dialogue.
▶️ ow.ly/LF3M50XK8eY
