Upcoming Debate on Libya

"Intervention in Libya: Right or Wrong?"

Aidan Hehir, Senior Lecturer in International Relations and author of Humanitarian Intervention After Kosovo

Richard Seymour, Author of the Liberal Defence of Murder

6:30pm, Thursday 31st March, Portland Hall, Lower Titchfield Street

No booking necessary but event starts promptly. Hosted by the University of Westminster Political Debating Society, Socilaist Worker Student Society, and the International Development Society

Studentships for prospective PhD students

The Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Westminster is pleased to offer two Studentships for prospective PhD students.

Applications are invited for the following awards which are tenable for up to three years for full-time study:

2 fee waivers (home/EU*) and £3,000 per year for 3 years

*Please note that only Home/EU students are eligible to apply

Libya and the Essential Irrelevance of the Responsibility to Protect

“Humanitarian intervention” briefly topped the international political agenda following the interventions in Kosovo and East Timor in 1999. It was soon eclipsed, however, by the War on Terror. Later, the lamentable international response to the slaughter in Darfur appeared to prove that “liberal interventionism” had lost all momentum. Current events in Libya, however, have reignited this debate as evidenced by a number of recent articles in The Guardian (Seumas Milne, March 2^nd, Timothy Garton-Ash, March 3^rd).

ASSESSING THE LEGALITY OF PILOTLESS DRONE ATTACKS UNDER INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW AND INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW

PLEASE NOTE: THIS SEMINAR HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

The Next Intervention and Statebuilding Seminar takes place this Thursday; details below.

10th March 2011           
ASSESSING THE LEGALITY OF PILOTLESS DRONE ATTACKS UNDER INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW AND INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW

Dr Robert Barnidge,

School of Law,

University of Reading

Please note, the seminar starts at 18:30 rather than 18:00 (Westminster Forum, 5th Floor, 32-38 Wells St)

All are welcome to attend; drinks and nibbles will be provided.

Tell all!

All the best,

Aidan

'The Ontology of Danger: Recasting the Human Subject in Discourses of Vulnerability and Resilience',

Professor Chandler's paper 'The Ontology of Danger: Recasting the Human Subject in Discourses of Vulnerability and Resilience',  at the 'Problematising Danger' workshop, King's College London, 21-22 February 2011, is available as a podcast via this link.

World View Interview

Below is a link to a project run by Youtube, where one world leader is interviewed every month .
The questions are sent in by 'normal' people.
So far Barack Obama and David Cameron have been interviewed.
World View Interviews

Johanna Larsson  
Undergraduate Student,
Department of Politics and International Relations

"Liberal Militarism and the US National Security State: Revisiting the 'Liberal Moment'"

Dr Bryan Maybee, Queen Mary, University of London
Title: "Liberal Militarism and the US National Security State: Revisiting the 'Liberal Moment'"
Thursday 3rd March, 18:00-20:00, Westminster Forum, 5th Floor, 32-38 Wells Street.

All welcome; drinks and nibbles provided.

Abstract: That a ‘national security state’ was built in the post-World War II period is a commonplace characterisation of the postwar US state. While there are differing interpretations of exactly what this means, all demonstrate that the US national security state was distinctive in its particular version of militarism. The paper focuses on such claims in order to theorise specific varieties of militarism that emerged in postwar period, demonstrating that the US version was a species of militarism characterised as ‘liberal militarism’, that emerged due to a particular ideology of national security that triumphed in the postwar period. The importance of liberal militarism is not only in its external manifestations, but in how a broad ideology of national security implied a particularly liberal ordering of state and society, both internally and externally.

Bio: Dr Bryan Mabee is Senior Lecturer in International Politics at Queen Mary, University of London. He is the author of 'The Globalization of Security: State Power, Security Provision and Legitimacy', and co-editor of 'Mercenaries, Pirates, Bandits and Empires: Private Violence in Historical Context'.

Organiser contact: Dr Aidan Hehir, DPIR. A.Hehir@westminster.ac.uk