LSE IDEAS

01/06/2026

🗓️ LSE hosts First Ladies and Gentlemen for high-level diplomacy training

On 14 May 2026, LSE hosted the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen Global Platform for high level special training in diplomacy, bringing together First Ladies and Gentlemen from seven countries for a structured, expert-led programme on the role of soft power in contemporary diplomacy.

The training brought together First Ladies and Gentlemen from seven countries: Olena Zelenska (Ukraine), Doris Schmidauer (Austria), Aleš Musar (Slovenia), Marjolijne Frieden (Luxembourg), Armanda Begaj (Albania), Tamara Vučić (Serbia) and Eva Pavlová (the Czech Republic).

Olena Zelenska, First Lady of Ukraine​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​, commented: “Even amid a full-scale war, Ukraine is not stepping back from its role on the international stage — it is expanding it. The training at the London School of Economics is yet another demonstration that a Ukrainian initiative is setting the standard: bringing together First Ladies and Gentlemen from across the world, shaping the agenda in soft power and diplomacy — and doing so in partnership with one of the most prestigious universities in the world.”

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https://www.lse.ac.uk/news/lse-hosts-first-ladies-and-gentlemen-for-high-level-diplomacy-training

01/06/2026

In Conversation with H.E. Federico Bianchi di Montano Antilia, EU Ambassador to Guinea-Bissau: A Two-Part Special Event - From West Africa to Digital Diplomacy

🗓️ Wednesday 3 June 2026, 10:30-12:00 and Thursday 25 June 2026, 17 – 18:30

Join H.E. Federico Bianchi di Montano Antilia, EU Ambassador to Guinea‑Bissau, for a two‑day conversation that links complex regional realities with the tools of modern diplomacy.

⬇️Register Here

Join H.E. Federico Bianchi di Montano Antilia, EU Ambassador to Guinea‑Bissau, for a two‑day conversation that links complex regional realities with the tools of modern diplomacy. Designed for UK and international students of foreign relations based in London, as well as foreign policy analysts ...

27/05/2026

📢The end of humanitarian aid (as we know it?)

🗓️ 28 May, 10:00-12:00

This roundtable, bringing together policymakers and academics, aims to explore whether humanitarian aid is entering a new phase.

⬇️ REGISTER HERE

In a world increasingly dominated by the erosion of international law, geopolitical interests, and the resurgence of wars, the space for effective multilateral action seems to be shrinking. This evolving geopolitical landscape is placing unprecedented pressure on international organisations and non-...

26/05/2026

📢Stakeholder engagement – meaningful, manageable or misplaced? | FREE EVENT

This webinar explores meaningful stakeholder engagement in business, examining challenges, best practices, and strategies for effective collaboration with local actors, particularly in fragile and high-risk environments.

🗓️ 27 May, 1-2pm

⬇️Register Here

This webinar explores meaningful stakeholder engagement in business, examining challenges, best practices, and strategies for effective collaboration with local actors, particularly in fragile and high-risk environments.

26/05/2026

🗓️ LSE hosts First Ladies and Gentlemen for high-level diplomacy training

On 14 May 2026, LSE hosted the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen Global Platform for high level special training in diplomacy, bringing together First Ladies and Gentlemen from seven countries for a structured, expert-led programme on the role of soft power in contemporary diplomacy.

Developed in collaboration with LSE IDEAS and its Women in Diplomacy project, supported by the Yalta European Strategy (YES) and Brooks Newmark, the training was structured around four sessions, each led by senior LSE faculty and researchers.

The training brought together First Ladies and Gentlemen from seven countries: Olena Zelenska (Ukraine), Doris Schmidauer (Austria), Aleš Musar (Slovenia), Marjolijne Frieden (Luxembourg), Armanda Begaj (Albania), Tamara Vučić (Serbia) and Eva Pavlová (the Czech Republic).

⬇️Read More
https://www.lse.ac.uk/news/lse-hosts-first-ladies-and-gentlemen-for-high-level-diplomacy-training

21/05/2026

📑Time Domain: A New Dimension of the Battlefield, Revealed by the Experience of the Russo-Ukrainian War

The Russo-Ukrainian War has revealed a new, critical dimension of warfare centred on the competition of time rather than space – in particular, speed of adaptation and innovation cycles are decisive for battlefield success. In response, in January 2024 Ukraine established a dedicated Unmanned Systems Force branch despite initial opposition – now accounting for almost a third of enemy losses.

This Strategic Update from Oleksiy Honcharuk – Prime Minister of Ukraine 2019-2020 and Co-founder & Chairman of Uforce – explores how Ukraine’s tactical superiority depends on its capacity to evolve and sustain advantages in the Time Domain – a concept that NATO Allies, it argues, should be integrating into their military planning alongside maintaining the technological edge.

⬇️Read Here
https://www.lse.ac.uk/ideas/projects/europe-initiative/education-for-victory/time-domain-a-new-dimension-of-the-battlefield-revealed-by-the-experience-of-the-russo-ukrainian-war

21/05/2026

📝How climate shapes the world, why science is an art, and why free data access and international collaborations are essential | Ulf Büntgen

On Wednesday 28 May 2025, at 15:24 local time, a substantial part of the Birch glacier in the Lötschen valley of the Swiss Alps detached and triggered a catastrophic rock-ice avalanche that obliterated most of the village of Blatten and nearby settlements (Büntgen et al., 2025a). An estimated 20 million tonnes of ice and rock travelled at a speed of up to 200 km per hour over 1200 m vertical distance to the valley floor and then nearly 200 m up the opposite slope of the valley. Preserved in Switzerland’s collective memory as the largest and most devastating ever monitored rock-ice avalanches, the Blatten disaster reveals the urgent need to improve research-based policy guidance for detecting, preventing, and managing multi-hazard cascades in steep terrain, including avalanches, debris flows, and glacial lake outburst floods. While continuous monitoring and effective risk management prevented mass casualties, most parts of the world lack the means and expertise to establish such early warning systems. This policy brief addresses the increasingly critical challenges that climate brings as it shapes our data-driven and globalised world, recommending pathways forward for policymakers to include harnessing both data and global cooperation.

⬇️Read Here

On Wednesday 28 May 2025, at 15:24 local time, a substantial part of the Birch glacier in the Lötschen valley of the Swiss Alps detached and triggered a catastrophic rock-ice avalanche that obliterated most of the village of Blatten and nearby settlements (Büntgen et al., 2025a). An estimated 20 m...