Contributor(s): Dr John Collins, Professor Danny Quah, Professor Fransisco Thoumi, Professor Peter Reuter, Javier Sagredo, H.E. Ambassador Néstor Osorio Londoño, Dr Vanda Felbab-Brown, Dr Ethan Nadelmann, Dr Catalina Pérez Correa González, Dr Joanne Csete | The War on Drugs is over. What comes next? Experts from around the world gathered at LSE IDEAS for this International Drug Policy Project policy planning workshop on building a new 'drugs peace'. The workshop was held to mark the launch of the After the Drug Wars report which was endorsed by 5 Nobel Prize winners and President Santos of Colombia. Read the report here: www.lse.ac.uk/drugpolicy

Contributor(s): Matthew Connelly | In the wake of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, it would seem that the US state is obsessed with surveillance and secrecy. But has this always been the case? Professor Matthew Connelly, Philippe Roman Chair in History and International Affairs at LSE IDEAS, explains how the twentieth century transformed the radical transparency of the American Republic into a culture of state secrecy and a threat to open government.

Contributor(s): Delegates at the US Foreign Policy Conference | In September 2014, leading thinkers descended on the LSE for the US Foreign Policy Conference, co-hosted by LSE IDEAS and the LSE International Relations Department. A key theme was whether shifts in economic power are eroding American hegemony; but the story of how power shifts turns out to be more complex than the rise and decline narrative of many contemporary pundits. In this video, speakers from the Conference share their perspective on the changing shape of power in the international system, and the implications for US foreign policy.

Contributor(s): Dr Eirini Karamouzi | In the context of the Eurozone crisis, many have questioned the rationale behind the decision to let Greece join the European Economic Community (EEC). Dr Eirini Karamouzi discusses this issue and her book, ‘Greece, the EEC and the Cold War, 1974-1979. The Second Enlargement’.

Contributor(s): Professor Michael Cox | A quarter-century after the end of the Cold War, Founding Co-Director of LSE IDEAS Professor Michael Cox explains why it’s worth looking at the events of 1989 to understand issues facing the world today.

Contributor(s): Dr Tanya Harmer | Dr Tanya Harmer discusses her research and the need for a global history of the Cold War in Latin America.

Contributor(s): Tomila Lankina, Rodion Skovoroda | Tomila Lankina, Associate Professor of International Relations, LSE and Rodion Skovoroda, Assistant Professor Nottingham University, discuss their application of the “last digit” fraud detection statistical technique to analyse the interaction between electoral fraud and mass protests in Russia, and why electoral authoritarian regimes should be wary of mass protests when they try to reproduce themselves through electoral fraud.

Contributor(s): David Patel | David Patel, Assistant Professor Cornell University and Crown Center Brandeis University discusses his innovative research into how "squares and roundabouts" - elements of the spatial layout of capital cities and people's collective understanding of urban spaces—help explain why during the recent wave of Arab uprisings mass protests happened in some states and not others.

Contributor(s): Olga Onuch, Joshua Tucker | Olga Onuch, Research Fellow Nuffield College, Oxford University, and Joshua Tucker, Professor of Politics New York University discuss their new survey and online media use data obtained during the recent EuroMaidan protests in Ukraine, their ground-breaking techniques for analysing how new technology interacts with established, “off-line,” social networks, and why policy makers across the world should take note of this research.

Contributor(s): Professor Alejandro Madrazo Lajous | The LSE IDEAS Expert Group Report on the Economics of Drug Policy produced the most thorough independent economic analysis of the current international drug strategy ever conducted. It aims to use this analysis to design a successor strategy to the global ‘war on drugs’. In so doing it provides the academic underpinnings for a new international paradigm that promotes human security, public health and sustainable development.