YOUNG PROFESSIONALS IN FOREIGN POLICY
Prof. Rob Singh
Professor of Politics, Birkbeck College & co-author of 'After Bush: The Case for Continuity in American Foreign Policy'
'What Bush Got Right'
Wednesday 22 Oct | 6:30 -7:30 pm
Location: House of Commons, Committee Room 21, London SW1A 0AA
RSVP:  Jennifer.Goldstein@ypfp.org

A short biography for Prof Singh follows:
Professor Rob Singh
Rob Singh is Professor of Politics at Birkbeck College, University of London, where he teaches the MSc in American Politics. He takes particular interest in US foreign policy, the politics of cultural value conflict, law and public policy. He occasionally lectures at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the National School of Government and the Defence Academy.
 
Prof. Singh's most recent book  'After Bush: The Case For Continuity in American Foreign Policy' (co-authored with Timothy Lynch) was praised by Ivo Daalder as 'an important contribution to the literature on American foreign policy' and by Richard Perle as 'demolish[ing] a great many of the dozens of myths and misconceptions that have become the conventional wisdom about the Bush administration's response to terrorism, the decision to go into Iraq and the thinking and influence of neoconservatives'.
 
Prof. Singh has contributed to several books, including  The Rise of Anti-Americanism (2005), and is the co-editor of The Bush Doctrine and the War on Terrorism: Global Consequences, Global Responses (2006) & editor of Governing America: The Politics of a Divided Democracy (2003).
 
Before coming to Birkbeck, he held fixed term College Lectureships at Oriel, Christ Church and Queen's College, Oxford, and permanent Lectureships in Politics at Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Edinburgh.  He was educated at Christ Church and Nuffield College, both University of Oxford, from where he graduated with a first class BA Honours degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and a DPhil in Politics. He also spent a year as a visiting graduate student at Yale University
 
 

YOUNG PROFESSIONALS IN FOREIGN POLICY

& YOUNG DIPLOMATS IN LONDON

Lord Malloch-Brown
Minister for the Africa, Asia & the UN, Foreign & Commonwealth Office

'Britain & the United Nations'
9 July| 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Location: The Mall Room

The Foreign Press Association, 11 Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y 5AJ
RSVP to sarah.feurey@ypfp.org
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Lord Malloch-Brown
 

Mark Malloch-Brown was appointed the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN in June 2007 and attends meetings of the Cabinet.

'Foreign Policy: A Battle between Realpolitik & Ideology'

Mark Urban 

Diplomatic Editor, Newsnight

Wednesday 7 May| 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Location: Boothroyd Room, Portcullis House, Houses of Parliament

RSVP required to sarah.feurey@ypfp.org
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Mark Urban

Mark Urban is a journalist, author and broadcaster, who is currently Diplomatic Editor of the BBC's flagship current affairs programme Newsnight. He was previously Middle East correspondent for BBC News, a general reporter for Newsnight and Defence correspondent of The Independent newspaper.

Lord Hurd

Douglas Hurd has had a distinguished career in British politics,  having served as Foreign Secretary in both the Major and the Thatcher Governments. During 23 years in Parliament he also served as Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. 

During his time as Foreign Secretary (1989 -1995),  he oversaw Britain's diplomatic responses to the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the USSR, as well as the first Gulf War.

One of the defining features of Hurd's tenure as Foreign Secretary was the British reaction to the conflict in the Balkans.  During the war in Bosnia, Hurd was seen as a leading voice among European 

The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) and Young Professionals in Foreign Policy (YPFP) are pleased to invite you to a panel discussion supported by NATO on:

“Afghanistan – A Way Forward”

October 30, 2007 6.30 – 8 p.m.

Violence in Afghanistan has been on the rise in 2007 and there is a danger that Afghans are becoming increasingly disillusioned with a state-building process that has failed to deliver the peace dividend they were promised. For many Afghans, their security situation since the fall of the Taliban has not improved. Whether it is predatory warlords, the Taliban-led insurgency, the burgeoning narcotics trade, corruption at various government levels, or general criminality, the threats to the security and stability of Afghanistan are manifold. Overcoming these challenges is the daunting task the international community in support of the Afghan government face if Afghanistan is to emerge as a stable state. NATO is by no means the only actor with large responsibilities in this regard although its efforts to create a secure and stable environment for reconstruction and development to take place are vital.

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   YOUNG PROFESSIONALS IN FOREIGN POLICY

        'Europe in the world '
  on the EU's evolving foreign policy role

with Jim Murphy MP, Minister of State ( Europe)

  Tuesday, 23 October | 7:00pm - 8:00pm
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Mr Murphy is the Labour Member of Parliament for East Renfrewshire, and was asked by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to serve as Minister of State for Europe in June 2007.  In this role, he covers the UK's relations with every European nation, the European Union, NATO, Russia, and the nations of the Black Sea region and Central Asia.  Mr Murphy will make a presentation and lead a discussion on the EU's evolving foreign policy role.   A short biography of Mr Murphy is enclosed below.  

Jim Murphy MP  

   Mr Murray is Director of the Centre for Social Cohesion, and author of the critically acclaimed Neoconservatism: Why We Need It.  He is the youngest published biographer in history, and appears regularly on British and international media outlets.   The Centre for Social Cohesion was founded to address the diminishing sense of community in Britain, and recently released a widely publicised report, Hate on the State: How British libraries encourage Islamic extremism.  Mr Murray will make a presentation and lead a discussion on the future of neoconservative thinking in foreign policy.    A short biography of Mr Murray is enclosed below.

The recent cyber-attacks on Estonia heighten the possibility of computers being deployed as weapons to disrupt economic activity and the provision of basic government services. The coordinated nature of the attack and the spectre that it raised of the possibility of an Al Qaeda-type group replicating it, present security planners with a new threat paradigm. This new threat can come in many different formats, from state directed, to non-state sabotage, to industry facing new forms of robbery. The complexity of a security space that spans both the real and virtual worlds suggests that for NATO to play a role in this field, it might have to adapt yet again - how is the Alliance to face and prepare for this new threat?

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YOUNG PROFESSIONALS IN FOREIGN POLICY

“Could NATO survive the development of effective European cooperation in security and foreign policy?”

with Lord William Wallace of Saltaire 

Liberal Democrats House of Lords Foreign Affairs spokesman