Contributor(s): Mirek Topolánek | Mirek Topolanek has been Prime Minister of the Czech Republic since September 2006. He has been chairman of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) since November 2002. Mr Topolanek will speak about the priorities of the forthcoming Czech Republic's EU Presidency.

Contributor(s): Michael Chertoff | Given the threats posed by terrorism and natural disasters, the issue of how to handle risk remains an essential one for nations. While in free societies, people routinely make risk calculations, markets do an imperfect job of risk allocation. Governments must sometimes step in, but in a way that carefully manages risk through prudent, measured regulation. On February 15, 2005, Judge Michael Chertoff was sworn in as the second Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Chertoff formerly served as United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

Contributor(s): Douglas Alexander, Professor Robin Burgess, Professor Paul Collier, Gobind Nankani | The UK's Secretary of State for International Development, Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP, will speak on the impact of the global economic downturn on the world's poorest countries. Professor Paul Collier, Oxford University, will be speaking about the latest academic thinking on promoting growth in the world's poorest countries. Professor Robin Burgess, LSE, will present on how the International Growth Centre will support economic growth in developing countries.Gobind Nankani, a Ghanaian native, was recently appointed President of the Global Development Network (GDN) in 2007. He is a development economist and had a distinguished 30 year career at the World Bank, holding management positions in various regions and sectors across the Bank.

Contributor(s): David Cameron MP | In December 2005 David Cameron was elected leader of the Conservative Party. Prior to this he held the position of Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Skills. He was elected to parliament in 2001 representing Witney. Before he became an MP, David worked in business and government. He worked as a Special Adviser in government, first to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and then to the Home Secretary. Afterwards he spent seven years at Carlton Communications, one of the UK's leading media companies, and served on the management Board.

Contributor(s): Baroness Haleh Afshar, Professor Dominic Lieven, Sam Moorhead, Nigel Spivey, Professor Norman Stone | Unfortunately due to a technical fault the last fifteen minutes of this event are missing from the recording

Contributor(s): Shami Chakrabarti, Jonathan Cooper, Professor Conor Gearty, Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, Professor Francesca Klug, Professor Peter Townsend | To mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this fun yet challenging event will ask which is the greatest right.

Contributor(s): Cherie Blair, Howard Davies | Cherie Blair is a noted barrister and QC, specialising in human rights law. She is married to Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister. Cherie studied law at LSE and is a governor and honorary fellow of the School. In this event she will talk to Howard Davies, LSE Director about her autobiography published earlier this year entitled Speaking for Myself (May 2008, Little, Brown).

Contributor(s): Alessandro Profumo | Banks are called upon to play a primary role, in cooperation with policymakers and regulators, in the quest for better levels of financial stability for the system as a whole. The real economy's needs must be central to the bank's characteristic function. Alessandro Profumo has been the Chief Executive Officer of UniCredit Group since it was founded in 1997; as of December 2005 he is Chairman of the Supervisory Board of HVB and as of July 2006 he is Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bank Austria Creditanstalt. Previously he held the post of Chief Executive Officer of Credito Italiano which he had joined in 1994 as its Chief General Manager in charge of Planning & Group Control, a year after that bank was privatised. At an international level, he is Member of the Board of the European Banking Federation - Brussels, of the European Financial Services Round Table - London, of the Trilateral Commission (Italian Group), of the Investment Advisory Council for Turkey - Istanbul and of the Institut International d'Etudes Bancaires - Brussels.

Contributor(s): Jonathan Fenby, Professor Athar Hussain, Martin Jacques, Professor Chen Jian | Whether we think sport and politics should or should not be mixed, it is clear that in the case of the Beijing Olympics the two have never been more closely intertwined. But how has the Olympics impacted on China? Has it improved or worsened China's image in the world? And how will it effect its future relations with the West? Jonathan Fenby is a British journalist, and was editor of The Observer newspaper from 1993-1995. He wrote The Penguin History of Modern China 1850-2008, which was published in June 2008. Athar Hussain is director of the Asia Research Centre. Martin Jacques is a visiting research fellow in the Asia Research Centre, LSE. Chen Jian is the Philippe Roman Chair in History and International Affairs at LSE.

Contributor(s): Dr Ian Goldin | Dr Ian Goldin is the first Director of The James Martin 21st Century School at Oxford University taking up his position in September 2006. Goldin was Vice President of the World Bank (2003-2006) and prior to that the Bank's Director of Development Policy (2001-2003). He served on the Bank's senior management team, and was directly responsible for its relationship with the UK and all other European, North America and developed countries. Goldin led the Bank's collaboration with the United Nations and other partners. As Director of Development Policy, Goldin played a pivotal role in the research and strategy agenda of the Bank. From 1996 to 2001 he was Chief Executive and Managing Director of the Development Bank of Southern Africa and served as an adviser to President Nelson Mandela. He succeeded in transforming the Bank to become the leading agent of development in the 14 countries of Southern Africa. During this period, Goldin served on several Government committees and Boards, and was Finance Director for South Africa's Olympic Bid.

Contributor(s): Professor Iain Begg, Zaki Cooper, Dalia Grybauskaite | With the formal review of the EU budget under way, a panel of policymakers, experts and other stakeholders ask: what should the EU be spending taxpayers' money on? And what are the prospects for a radical overhaul? Iain Begg is professorial research fellow in the European Institute, LSE. Zaki Cooper is director of Business for a New Europe. Dalia Grybauskaite is European Commissioner responsible for Financial Programming and Budget, prior to this she served as Minister of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania.

Contributor(s): Peter Sutherland | Peter Sutherland is the United Nations special representative for migration. He is the chairman of Goldman Sachs International and chairman of BP. He is the chairman of the LSE Court of Governors.

Contributor(s): Silvana Turner | Applying forensic anthropology and related sciences, and working closely with victims and their relatives, the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team seeks to shed light on human rights violations, contributing to the search for truth, justice, reparation, and prevention of future abuses. Silvana Turner is a forensic anthropologist, investigator and researcher for the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team.

Contributor(s): Professor Robert J. Shiller | Bubbles in the stock market and the housing market are the cause of a financial crisis that is wreaking havoc around the world. The bubbles in turn are caused, at their core, by popular misunderstandings. This contradicts the 'rational expectations' view of the economy that has guided much economic theorizing. In dealing with this crisis in the short run, some kind of bailout of injured parties is necessary to prevent damage to the social fabric. In the long run, we can help mitigate such crises by improving the financial information infrastructure, by expanding market coverage of important risks, and introducing new retail financial products. Robert J. Shiller is the Arthur M. Okun Professor of Economics, Department of Economics and Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University, and Professor of Finance and Fellow at the International Center for Finance, Yale School of Management.

Contributor(s): Lord Mackay, Ross Cranston | The separation of powers idea is at the heart of all legal democracies. Yet within those democracies there will often be positions of high office which require their holders to perform functions which are both legal and political. In this series of events senior figures who hold or have held positions of this type talk about their lives in the law, the nature of their office, the institutions which they serve, their roles and responsibilities within those institutions, the role of lawyers in government and their understanding of the relationship between law and politics. Ross Cranston is justice of the High Court and visiting professor of law at LSE. Lord Mackay of Clashfern, KT, PC was formerly Lord Advocate of Scotland, 1979-1984 and Lord Chancellor, 1987-1997.

Contributor(s): President of Kosovo, Dr Fatmir Sejdiu | Fatmir Sejdiu is President of Kosovo, a position he has held since February 2006. Dr. Sejdiu is a professor at the Faculty of Law and the School of Political Science of the University of Prishtina. On 28 June 2006 he received a 'Doctor Honoris Causa' from the University of Tirana in Albania. One of the founding members of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) which was established in late 1989, Fatmir Sejdiu was elected a member of the Presidency of the Party in 1992, whereas on 1994 he was elected Secretary General of LDK. In 1992 and 1998 elections, he was elected member of the Parliament of the Republic of Kosovo holding the positions of the general secretary of the Parliament and chairman of the Constitutional Issues Committee. In the first post-war elections in 2001 and 2004, Mr. Sejdiu was elected member of the Kosovo Assembly and a member of the Presidency of the Assembly. He was also a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Judicial, Legislative and Constitutional Matters and the Committee for International Cooperation and EU Integration.

Contributor(s): Alexander Stubb | Alexander Stubb, Finland's Foreign Minister and current chairman of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is a graduate of the LSE. He became Minister for Foreign Affairs in April this year. Before that he served for four years as a member of the European Parliament.

Contributor(s): Mary McAleese | On 11th November, 1997, Mary McAleese was inaugurated as the eighth President of Ireland and was re-elected in 2004. She is a barrister and former Professor of Law and the first President to come from Northern Ireland. She graduated in Law from the Queen's University of Belfast in 1973 and was called to the Northern Ireland Bar in 1974. In 1975, she was appointed Reid Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penology at Trinity College Dublin and in 1987, she returned to her Alma Mater, Queen's, to become Director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies. In 1994, she became the first female Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Queen's University of Belfast. She has a longstanding interest in many issues concerned with justice, equality, social inclusion, anti-sectarianism and reconciliation.

Contributor(s): Peter Hendy | Sprawl versus dense? Public transport versus private car? This debate will outline how London's transport strategy shapes - and is shaped by - environmental policy, quality of life and political imperatives. Peter Hendy is commissioner of Transport for London.

Contributor(s): Professor Lord Meghnad Desai, Professor David Harvey, Professor Leo Panitch | This event brings together leading social and political thinkers to debate the contemporary meaning and relevance of Marx's legacy on the occasion of the republication of The Communist Manifesto, with an introduction by David Harvey. Meghnad Desai is emeritus professor of economics at LSE. David Harvey is professor of anthropology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Leo Panitch is professor of political science at York University, Ontario.