Contributor(s): Professor Gilles Kepel | Islamist movements have won most of the elections that took place in the aftermath of Arab revolutions. Have they hijacked the demonstrations and sacrifice of the youth that brought down the anciens régimes or have they truly espoused democracy? Gilles Kepel is professor and chair, Middle East and Mediterranean studies at the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po).

Contributor(s): Dr Piers Brendon, Professor John Charmley, Professor David Edgerton, Lord Hurd of Westwell | Churchill was both a Liberal who championed social reform, and a Conservative who believed in Empire. This event will examine the contradictions inherent in the life of the man voted greatest Briton. Piers Brendon is a biographer, historian and former keeper of The Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge. John Charmley is a professor of modern British history and head of school at the University of East Anglia. David Edgerton is Hans Rausing Chair in the centre for the History of Science Technology and Medicine, Imperial College London. Douglas Hurd was the British foreign secretary from 1989-95.

Contributor(s): Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey | Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey is Reader in Political Science in the Government Department of the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she teaches courses in the politics of economic policy and legislative politics.

Contributor(s): Maurice Fraser, Polly Toynbee | ‘Progressive’ is a slippery term. Right (i.e. Left) - thinking people use it with casual abandon, to confer moral approval on a set of values which they regard as uncontroversial. But on close examination the meaning of the term appears contingent, historically-specific and eminently contestable. Who is to say what is ‘progressive’? Is it time to rescue it from political correctness? And can the Right lay at least as compelling a claim to it as the Left? Maurice Fraser is senior fellow in European politics in the European Institute at LSE. Polly Toynbee is a British journalist and writer, and has been a columnist for The Guardian since 1998.

Contributor(s): Anne Applebaum | We now understand far better what the gulag was, how it evolved, what purposes it served, how many people lived and died within it. Yet what do we really remember of the camp system? What do Russians remember? And how does that memory, or the lack of it, affect Russian politics today? Anne Applebaum is Philippe Roman Chair in History and International Affairs at LSE IDEAS for 2012-13.

Contributor(s): Giles Hedger | Giles Hedger joined Leo Burnett in September 2008 as Chief Strategy Officer. He leads one of the largest and most diverse planning departments in London and is helping the Leo Burnett Group realise its vision of being the destination agency for populist brands.This talk is about lessons from adland about intangible value, how it is created, and why it is key to economic recovery. Part of the Media Agenda 2012 series.

Contributor(s): Dr Nasser Saidi | As the Arab uprisings have unfolded, the need for economic reforms across the region has only become more urgent. But where are the road maps? Dr Nasser Saidi explores. Named among the 50 most influential Arabs in the world by The Middle East magazine this year for the fourth consecutive year, Dr Nasser Saidi is the former Chief Economist and Head of External Relations of Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Executive Director of the Hawkamah-Institute for Corporate Governance and The Mudara Institute of Directors at the DIFC between 2006 and 2012. He is a member of LSE's Middle East Centre Advisory Board. Dr Saidi is also a member of the IMF’s Regional Advisory Group for MENA and Co-Chair of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) MENA Corporate Governance Working Group. He is a member of the Private Sector Advisory Group of the Global Corporate Governance Forum, an institution of the World Bank driving global corporate governance reforms. He is Chair of the regional Clean Energy Business Council. He was formerly the Minister of Economy and Trade and Minister of Industry of Lebanon between 1998 and 2000. He was the first Vice-Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon for two successive mandates, 1993-1998 and 1998-2003. He was a Member of the UN Committee for Development Policy (UNCDP) for two mandates over the period 2000-2006, a position to which he was appointed by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, in his personal capacity. Dr Saidi holds a PhD. and a MA in Economics from the University of Rochester in the US, a M.Sc. from University College, London University and a B.A. from the American University of Beirut.

Contributor(s): Gillian Tett | Gillian Tett, a social anthropologist and one of the world’s leading financial journalists, will examine the current uncertain economic environment and how it emerged from the financial crisis, including the roles of institutional failings, culture and human choices. Gillian Tett is US managing editor of the Financial Times and the British Press Awards’ Journalist of the Year (2009).

Contributor(s): Dr Laura Valentini, Dr Lea Ypi | What does it mean to be a cosmopolitan? Does cosmopolitanism demand the creation of ‘global’ institutional structures transcending the state? Laura Valentini is lecturer in political philosophy in the Department of Political Science at University College London. Lea Ypi is lecturer in political theory in the Government Department, LSE.

Contributor(s): Julian Castro | The United States economy remains the worlds' largest. Demographic change is seeing Texas and other states increase their number of congressional seats and share of the US economy. Mayor Castro's SA 2020 programme details his vision for San Antonio. How does one of the US' young leaders see its place in the world? Julian Castro is the Mayor of San Antonio, the US' 7th largest city, one of the fastest growing cities in the country. He is a co-chair of the Obama 2012 Campaign and gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. In March 2010, Mayor Castro joined executives from Google and Twitter in being named to the World Economic Forum’s list of Young Global Leaders. In 2005, Castro founded The Law Offices of Julián Castro, PLLC, a civil litigation practice. He has served on the board of Family Services Association, the Clear Channel San Antonio Advisory Board and the San Antonio National Bank Advisory Board. In addition to his community service, Mayor Castro has taught courses at The University of Texas at San Antonio, Trinity University, and St. Mary’s University. Mayor Castro earned his undergraduate degree from Stanford University with honours and distinction in 1996 and a juris doctorate from Harvard Law School in 2000. Mayor Castro’s brother, Joaquin, serves in the Texas House of Representatives.