2017 marks fifteen years since the death of John Bordley Rawls (1921-2002), author of a Theory of Justice, Political Liberalism, and The Law of Peoples. As a professor of Philosophy at Harvard, Rawls fundamentally transformed the discipline of political theory, and yet the nature—and the effects—of that transformation remain hotly contested. In Oxford, where Rawls’s influence is particularly strong, the tension has been framed as a commitment to contemporary normative theory in an analytic vein, over and against the history of political thought.

Join alumni in the contemporary tapestry studios at Dovecote for an evening of discussion, networking and refreshments.

The evening will be led by a talk by Professor Archie Brown on, 'What's so great about a strong leader?' There is widespread agreement that to have a strong leader is a ‘good thing’. Focusing especially on the UK and USA, and with a brief look at authoritarian regimes, Professor Brown will question the notion that strong, power-maximising leaders should be regarded as either the most successful or the most praiseworthy.

Discussant: Katerina Tertytchnaya (DPIR)

This talk examines the intersection between the counterinsurgency state and the marketing nation in Colombia. Through an ethnography of the government’s efforts to interpolate and demobilize fighters from leftist insurgencies, Dr Fattal analyzes the joint effort of the Program for Humanitarian Attention to the Demobilized in the Colombian Ministry of Defense and the consumer marketing firm it hires to transform guerrilla subjects into entrepreneurs and consumer citizens.

About the speaker:

From 2010 to 2016, then President, Benigno Aquino balanced China’s expansive maritime claim in the South China Sea. President Aquino challenged China by shifting the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) focus from domestic security to territorial defence, bolstering closer Philippine-U.S. security relations; acquiring American military equipment; seeking from Washington an explicit security guarantee under the 1951 Mutual Defence Treaty (MDT); and promoting a strategic partnership with Japan.

The seminar will showcase the Polish Ministry of Digital Affairs’ role in transforming the state into a modern public service provider. It will briefly go through the flagship e-Gov projects, including cybersecurity, and outline the Ministry’s responsibilities regarding the coordination of Poland’s Digital Single Market Strategy.