ICU Political Philosophy Society

Michael Albert is an American activist, speaker, and writer. From an early involvement in the social movements of the 1960's, he has become an influential figure in progressive activism today. He is co-editor and co-founder of Zcommunications, including Z magazine and Znet, an alternative media and networking site with hundreds of thousands of weekly readers. He also co-founded South End Press and has written numerous books and articles. Along with Robin Hahnel he developed an alternative economic vision called participatory economics. In this talk, Michael Albert will discuss prospects for social change based on mass participation of the public. Building on observations of past progress, including his own experiences from the movements of the 60's up to the present day, Albert will argue for the relevance, and indeed the necessity, of a mass movement for social justice that explicitly opposes the logic of profit, authoritarianism and gender-based and racial oppression. Along the way, strategies for a succes

Ran Gidor - Israeli Embassy's Political Counsellor; Guest Interviewer: Tim Llewellyn - Former BBC Middle-East Correspondent. Join us for an open interview and Q&A session with the aim of discovering the OFFICIAL Israeli view and position on Current affairs pertaining to Israel and the Middle-East.

Brigadier General Frank Rusagara - Author and Defense Attache, Rwandan Embassy, London; Chairman of both the Rwandan Centre for Strategic Studies and African Centre for Strategic studies, Rwandan Chapter; Former President of the Rwanda Military Court and Commandant of the Rwanda Military Academy, Nyakinama; Zain Latif - Founder and Principle of TLG Capital, London; Formerly the youngest VP of Merrill Lynch; Former Executive Director of Goldman Sachs

Professor David Nutt - Professor David Nutt was dismissed as the governments chief drug adviser last year, after stating that the use of certain illegal drugs - such as LSD, ecstasy and cannabis - is statistically less harmful than alcohol and tobacco. The resignation of several members of the advisory board followed, in the controversy over "the line between science and policy". Guest Interviewer: Dr Stephen Webster -head of Science Communication Group at Imperial College. science-writer and a prize-winning playwright. Join us as special guest interviewer Dr. Stephen Webster interviews the former chief drug adviser to the British government, Professor David Nutt, on what he thinks are the roles and responsibilities of science to society.

Adam Deen - Renowned Intellectual Activist and Muslim Apologist; Dan Barker - Author and former ordained minister turned atheist; Co-President of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The ICU-PPS present a structured debate that aims to discuss whether goodness and ethics can only follow godliness.

Prof. Noam Chomsky - Professor Emeritus in Linguistics at MIT; world renowned author and leading intellectual; Tariq Ali - Historian, Author and well known political commentator. The Imperial College Political Philosophy Society, in association with Palestine societies at UCL, SOAS, Goldsmiths, LSE, Imperial and Kings, proudly present one of the greatest political philosophers of all time: MIT Professor Emeritus Noam Chomsky, for what could be his last trip to London.

Dr Patrick Riordan - Assistant Director of Heythrop Institute; Researcher and Lecturer in Religion and Politics; Professor Mashood Baderin - Professor of Law at SOAS, Specialist in International and Comparative Human Rights Law and Islamic law. In this event, which is part of the Religion and Politics Series, we will be conducting a panel discussion on whether religion and modern politics and law should mix; whilst also analysing models of church-state rule, and how Christianity and Islam view political involvement.

Bruce Fein - Specialist in international and constitutional law. He served as associate deputy attorney general under President Ronald Reagan and was a member of the ABA Task Force on presidential signing statements. Join the ICU PPS as we host Bruce Fein in conversation on the conflict in Sri Lanka to discuss the war between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan Government and why he thinks it might a case of genocide.

Alastair Crooke - Founder of Conflicts Forum, former special Mid-East adviser to the European Union High Representative, staff member of President Clintons Fact Finding Committee. "Resistance, Revolution and Islam" - as part of the ICU-PPS Religion and Politics Series Alastair Crooke joins us to explore the rationale of Islamist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah and how understanding them could be the key to political solutions.

Vijay Rana - Editor of BBC Hindi Service; Editor of NRI radio; Dr. Gareth Price - Head of the Asia Programme at Chatham House; Expert in Indian and Pakistani Relations. Join the ICU-PPS for the third and final meeting of its Emerging Economies Series where we discuss the recent terror attacks in Mumbai and examine them in their domestic, regional and global context.

Speakers: Chris Doyle - Director, Council for Arab and British Understanding (CAABU), Eric Lee - Founding Editor of LabourStart and The New International Review and Husam Zomlot - Senior Political Advisor for the Palestinian Diplomatic Mission to the UK. Join the ICU-PPS as we discuss the situation in Gaza. This will be a panel discussion centered around various themes put to the panel, followed by an audience questions.

Speakers: Hugo De-Burgh - Author of China: Friend or Foe?; Professor of Journalism and Director of the China Media Centre at the University of Westminster and Dr. Kerry Brown - Senior Fellow, Asia Programme at Chatham House. Lecturer, Writer and Consultant on China. Join ICU-PPS for the first meeting of its Emerging Economies Series where we discuss China, and specifically: its poltical system in comparison to western democracy, its economic rise and its impact on the world and the political and media boundaries in which its citizens live

Speakers: Prof. George Philip - Professor and Reader in Latin American Politics at LSE; Specialist in Venezuela and Dr. Colin Lewis - Reader in Latin American Economic History @ The LSE; Ssecialist in Brazil and Social Policy. "The New Power Politics at Play" - with a focus on Venezuela and President Hugo Chavez

The most senior member of the Democratic Party of America in the UK - DAUK Chairman Bill Barnard - discusses some important issues surrounding the win for Obama in the USA and what it means for the USA and its policies.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad, 4th Prime Minister of Malaysia, joins us to discuss why he feels the war on Iraq is an unjust war and why it makes a strong case for criminalising the very act of war.

Dr. James Smith, the CEO of the Aegis Trust, Dr. Nigel Eltringham, Lecturer in Anthropology of the University of Sussex and John Gorski of the British Army Royal Engineers discuss genocide prevention and intervention.