Since the tragic events of 9/11, Western armies and security forces, alongside numerous allies, have been conducting sustained efforts, including interventions into more localised and regional conflicts, in the name of overseas counter-terrorism.  Starting against Al-Qaeda and then to include the newer Islamic State, such international efforts against these two trans-national groups have enjoyed mixed results.  This talk will consider the balance sheet as it stands today – including a view on current strengths and weaknesses of AQ and IS, the merits of Western strategy and operations

In order to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the absence of a vaccine, governments around the globe have resorted to non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as physical distancing, quarantining and lockdowns. While these measures have sound epidemiological foundations, they have brought generational tensions to the fore. COVID-19 poses a significantly higher risk to the elderly, yet non-pharmaceutical interventions and associated economic ramifications place a heavier burden on younger generations.

Local news is dying – and publishers are struggling financially – because many consumers, given other options, have stopped paying attention to it. Accordingly, any long-term solution to the industry’s financial crisis must include reinvigorating Americans’ demand for local public affairs content. We suggest a demand-side approach that capitalizes on the fact that many Americans actually have favorable attitudes toward local news and local politics – at least in the abstract.

The following seminars will take place at 1pm unless otherwise stated. All welcome to join via Zoom, but registration required: https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/calendar.

In this article, we present the results from a novel large-scale field experimental technique designed to measure racial bias among the American public and their elected officials. We conducted the first audit study on the public—sending correspondence to 250,000 randomly- drawn citizens—and also paired that with the largest audit study of public officials to date. Our within-subjects experimental design tested the public’s and their elected officials’ responsiveness to simple requests for help from either an ostensibly Black or an ostensibly White sender.

After sustained investment and reform Moscow has overhauled its conventional armed forces and shown a willingness to use this capability. Recapitalisation is on a Russian, not a Soviet scale, but Moscow now possesses smaller, better equipped and increasingly professional forces. Investment in conventional weaponry has occurred in parallel to modernising its nuclear delivery systems.