St Edmund Hall, Oxford
March 19-27, 1999
| Michael Ignatieff | Author and Broadcaster |
What has been the impact of industrial concentration in the media? Does it require tighter or looser regulation?
| Duncan Lewis | Managing Director, Equant N.V. |
| Mathew Horsman | Henderson Crosthwaite |
Where are new technologies taking us? (I)
| Dr David Levy | Head of European Policy, BBC |
Where are new technologies taking us? (II)
| Ian Stewart | Chairman, AZTEC Internet Limited |
Media Power: Deconstructing from Within (After Dark - a TV case study)
| Sebastian Cody | Open Media |
The journalistic mind
| Professor Kenneth Minogue | London School of Economics |
How is journalism changing as a profession? For better or for worse?
| Chris Elliott | Executive Editor, The Guardian |
Information in crises, conflicts and complex emergencies: who really commands the high ground?
| Nik Gowing | BBC World |
The collapse of grand narrative (1) - without the Cold War can interest be sustained in foreign news? Does it matter?
| Juan-Carlos Gumucio | El Pais |
Media and society - changing perceptions of authority, community and privacy
| Michael Ignatieff | Senior Fellow |
| Anthony Smith | President, Magdalen College, Oxford |
The collapse of grand narrative (2) - with the blurring of left and right must domestic news focus increasingly on personalities and populist causes at the expense of policy debate?
| Ian Hargreaves | Cardiff School of Journalism and Chairman of the think-tank Demos |
How far can spin doctors determine public reaction to events?
| Philip Gould | Political and Public Affairs Strategist |
The media as defender of democracy
| Mohamed Sid Ahmed | Al Ahram Centre for Strategic Studies, Cairo |
Panel discussion on the media's role in democracy
| Chandrika Kaul | Nuffield College, Oxford |
| Christina Stucky | The Sunday Independent, Johannesburg |
| Maja Zafirovska | Macedonian Television |
Advertised Synopsis
Industrial concentration and new technologies have revolutionised the media, and that revolution is set to continue. For some, the consequences have been wholly positive: an explosion of information, greatly increased access to it, and a significant expansion of choice for the consumer and the surfer of the web. For others, the results have been a "dumbing down", the over-stretching of resources, a de-skilling of journalists and a distortion of the information on which citizens depend to understand the world around them. Where does the balance lie? How far are these changes in the media affecting our attitude to authority, the right to privacy and the way communities see themselves? Recent changes in "the message" have had their own revolutionary effect: we have seen the collapse of a grand narrative - the links between stories - since the end of the Cold War and the blurring of differences between left and right. Is it only the proliferation of corpses that can attract attention to foreign affairs and politicians' private lives that make the best domestic headlines? But how far does experience differ from country to country, with the media still recognised in some as the chief bastion against tyranny while in others there is undue complacency about the freedom of the press? How can we ensure that the media serves democracy well into the 21st century?
Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn, Lahemaa National Park, Narva, St Petersburg
16-30 May 1999
| Sir Michael Weir | Director, 21st Century Trust |
The first years of Lithuanian independence: achievements and aspirations
| Dr Algirdas Brazauskas | Former President of Lithuania,Chairman of the Algirdas Brazauskas Fund |
Lithuania's security and relations with its neighbours
| Rimantas Remeika | Faculty of Philology, Vilnius University |
The workings of a new democracy
| Dr Raimundas Lopata | Director, Institute of International Relations and Political Science, Vilnius University |
Scenarios for Lithuania's development in the 21st Century
| HE Christopher Robbins | British Ambassador to Lithuania |
Looking West and East: Lithuanian foreign policy and relations with the European Union and NATO
| Algimantas Rimkunas | Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs |
| Audrius Bruzga | Deputy Political Director, Head of Western European Section, Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
Catching up: economic reform in Lithuania
| Dr Elena Leontjeva | Free Market Institute |
| Professor Eduardo Vilkas | Director, Institute of Economics, Vilnius |
The role of the media in building democracy
| Pauls Rudseps | Managing Editor, Diena newspaper, Riga |
Modernising the economy
| Dimitri Demekas | IMF Representative in Latvia and Estonia |
A comparative survey of the three Baltic States
| Ian Stewart | Director of the British Council, Baltic States |
Citizenship, ethnic minorities and social integration
| David Johnson | Head of OSCE Mission in Riga |
The development of Estonian democracy
| Andres Tarrand | Chairman, Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, Estonia |
Estonia's Foreign Economic Relations
| Madis Rausi | Marketing Director of Estonian Investment Agency |
Transforming the Estonian economy
| Mart Relve | Director-General, Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry |
Partnership for peace? Russia's security concerns and scenarios for the future
| Professor Konstantin Khudolei | Dean of the International Relations Faculty, University of St Petersburg |
Getting the economy right: policies and prospects
| Dmitry Pankin | General Director, St Petersburg Bank of Reconstruction and Development |
Liberal democracy in St Petersburg and in comparison with the rest of Russia: how well developed is it and what are the challenges it faces?
| Brian Whitmore | St Petersburg Times |
Human rights issues and the work of Grazdanski Kontrol'
| Boris Pustintsev | Grazdanski Kontrol' (Citizens' Watch) |
Perspektiven: the work of a charity for street children in St Petersburg
| Margarete von der Borch | Chair of Perspektiven |
Cultural tour of St Petersburg
| Dr Alexey Leporc | Art Historian |
Advertised Synopsis
The Baltic States and St Petersburg region, one of great natural beauty and architectural distinction, has in the past decade seen changes as quietly revolutionary as in any part of the former Soviet Union. The Baltic States have accomplished a major transformation of their social, political, and economic circumstances without recourse to violence, while St Petersburg has re-discovered its historic role as Russia's alternative capital with its own interests. This tour will study both the recent past and future challenges, looking at inter alia the strategies used to overcome the grim legacy of Soviet rule; the ethnic divisions within the region; and current pressures for a special relationship with the EU and NATO. We will seek to identify the particular characteristics of each state as well as those they have in common, visiting not only their handsome capital cities but provincial and rural areas. We will have meetings with prominent figures in politics, government, business, and the academic world, and also have time for sight-seeing and relaxation - with the benefit of the midnight sun. This trip offers a rare opportunity to learn more about a region and its cultures which have historic associations with the West but remained closed to outside view for over half a century.
Klingenthal Castle, near Strasbourg
18-26 June 1999
| Robert Cooper | Foreign Office, London; author of The Post-Modern State and the World Order |
What are the historical roots of the nation state? How deep do they run?
| Dr Christopher Coker | Reader in International Relations, London School of Economic |
What is the state for?
| Geoff Mulgan | Policy Unit, Office of the British Prime Minister |
Multilateral security and intervention by the international community: where does that leave sovereignty?
| Rosemary Righter | Chief Leader Writer, The Times, London |
To what extent is globalization transforming what the state can do?
| Professor Bertrand Badie | Professor of Political Science, Institut d'Etudes Politiques, Paris |
How far can or should international institutions limit the role of the nation state?
| Gilles Andréani | Former Director, Centre d'Analyse et de Prevision, Quai d'Orsay, now Senior Fellow International Institute for Strategic Studies, London |
What impact will the economic and military might of the United States have on the future of the nation state?
| Flora Lewis | Columnist, the International Herald Tribune |
Do post-colonial nation states show up the limitations of the Western model?
| Lakhdar Brahimi | Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Former Foreign Minister of Algeria |
The Nature of the African State
| Professor Patrick Chabal | Professor of Lusophone African Studies, King's College, London |
Advertised Synopsis
For over three centuries world order has been maintained by the nation state, partly through its internal laws and external treaties and partly by conquest. In today's world of some 180 states, this picture seems to be changing. As well as treaties we have treaty organisations: the OSCE and the WTO alongside the older NATO and OECD. Above all, under the Treaty of Rome, we have EU institutions making laws with direct application in member states, and (sometimes) giving orders to governments. Below the state level there is an increasing trend towards devolution of power. France has been decentralised; the Spanish regions have extensive powers; the German länder are resisting the transfer of power to either Bonn or Brussels. In the UK Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are all about to acquire devolved power. Thirdly, the power and influence of non-governmental bodies are growing. Many of these operate across national boundaries. In the early post-war years there was concern about transnational corporations. These are if anything a a greater force today. Nor can states ignore bodies such as Greenpeace and Amnesty International and international news media such as CNN. Where does that leave the nation state? Is it, as the popular saying goes, too big for small problems and too small for big problems? But if this is the case can we really imagine a world, or a Europe, without states or without nations?
Al Akhawayn University, Ifrane, Morocco
10-17 September 1999
| Dominique Moïsi | Deputy Director, Institut Français des Relations Internationales, Paris |
The View from Morocco
| Professor Rachid Benmokhtar Benabdellah | President, Al Akhawayn University |
Global telecommunications, the Internet, and centres of power
| Duncan Lewis | Managing Director, Equant N.V. |
Economics: are national borders becoming redundant?
| Richard O'Brien | GBN, London |
Global Corporations and Development: Nation Builders or Nation Wreckers?
| Dr Noreena Hertz | The Judge Institute of Management Studies, Cambridge |
The management of the global economy
| John Sewell | Overseas Development Council, Washington DC |
Culture: is Globalization really Americanization?
| Lord David Puttnam | Film Producer; Chairman, National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts |
Doing business in a global marketplace: intellectual property as a case study
| Dr Harriet Strimpel | Bromberg & Sunstein, Boston |
Globalization: to whose benefit? The West or the world as a whole?
| Professor Remy Leveau | CERI, Paris |
Advertised Synopsis
What is the real significance of globalization? In nearly all public debate it is regarded as a given, frequently in an unexamined or clichéd way. It has been seen as an unstoppable economic process, radically constraining government policies and transforming societies. Proponents applaud this, pointing to the growth and development resulting from liberalisation in trade - particularly in capital flows - and the dynamism of transnational corporations. The technological revolution, principally in communications, makes this a new and enduring phenomenon, they argue, despite any temporary setbacks. Critics, however, point to the concomitant global costs in environmental degradation, crime and terrorism, and to the social groups and low income countries suffering unemployment or exploitation as a consequence of relentless market forces. They have foreseen a cultural backlash against the homogenizing values of Western style capitalism, and perhaps the resurgence of protectionism and nationalism. This debate has been brought into sharp focus by the economic crisis in the Asia Pacific region and Russia. What are the long term consequences of the crisis likely to be? As the Bretton Woods institutions come to look ever more dated, what measure of management or regulation of the world economy is desirable and what is practicable? How are the economic crisis and more fundamental changes going to affect international relations and governments? What will be the enduring importance of globalization and its discontents.
(In Conjunction with the St. Catharine's Foundation)
Cumberland Lodge
17-19 February 1999
| Andy Oliver | Head, Health Safety and Environmental Unit, Shell International |
| Richard Sandbrook | Director, International Institute for the Environment and Development |
Issues and Dilemmas
| Andy Oliver | Head, Health Safety and Environmental Unit, Shell International |
| Richard Sandbrook | Director, International Institute for the Environment and Development |
What is Objective Truth?
| John Vidal | Journalist, The Guardian |
| Richard North | Freelance Journalist |
Of Genes and Oil – Business and Sustainable Development
| Chris Gibson-Smith | Managing Director, British Petroleum |
| Colin Merritt | Technical Manager for Biotechnology, Monsanto |
The Role of NGOs in Motivating Change
| Robin Grove-White | Director, Centre for the Study of Environmental Change, Lancaster University |
| Kirsty Hamilton | Greenpeace International |
| Charles Secrett | Executive Director, Friends of the Earth |
Use and Abuse of Science in the Environmental Debate
| Sir Robert May | Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government and Head of Office of Science and Technology |
Does Spin Affect Public Policy?
| The Rt Hon John Gummer | Member of Parliament and former Secretary of State for the Environment |
The Constraints of the Media
| Simon Campbell-Jones | Producer of "Scare Stories", BBC Television |
Advertised Synopsis
Assessing the long-term impact on the environment of current industrial and agricultural practices is highly complex, and clear-cut scientific predictions are often impossible. There are also difficult trade-offs between environmental and economic interests, even when "sustainable development" is a declared common goal. The issues are inevitably simplified in debate and this conference will consider how far the public perception of environmental threats is shaped - or distorted - by the agendas of environmental movements, businesses, governments and the media, and in turn how those agendas are influenced by public reactions. The international dimension of the debate and of public policy will also be examined. To what extent is the public being badly informed with regard to environmental issues? In what ways might the standards of truth be raised?
Deutsche Bank Berlin Branch Headquarters
12-14 November 1999
| Dr Hermann Freiherr von Richthofen | Former Ambassador of Germany to NATO and to the United Kingdom |
The cultural and architectural significance of the reconstruction of Berlin
| Dr Hans Stimmann | State Secretary, Berlin Senat |
Berlin - Centre or Periphery?
| Prof Dr Hagen Schulze | Free University of Berlin |
Berlin's new role in an EU enlarging eastwards
| Thomas Kielinger | Die Welt |
| Gerd Wartenberg | State Secretary, Berlin Senat |
Scenarios for the economic future of Berlin
| Frederick Stüdemann | Berlin Bureau, Financial Times |
Berlin and its minorities
| Barbara John | Berlin Senat |
The new image of Berlin
| Volker Hassemer | 'Partner für Berlin' |
Advertised Synopsis
Following closely upon the tenth anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, this will be an opportunity to explore the reconstruction of Berlin and its renewed status as the capital of Germany. The weekend will include a tour of some of the main architectural projects, and guest speakers will lead discussions about how the city is coming to terms with its past and fashioning its future role in Germany's politics, economy and culture as well as in a European Union enlarging eastwards. By kind invitation of Deutsche Bank AG the seminar will be held at their Berlin Branch on Unter den Linden; the building also houses the Berlin Guggenheim Museum which we will visit.