Author: LSE IDEAS
LSE IDEAS is a foreign policy think tank at the London School of Economics and Political Science. IDEAS was founded as a think tank for Diplomacy and Strategy in February 2008, succeeding the Cold War Studies Centre founded in 2004. The Chair is Professor Michael Cox and its Directors are Professor Christopher Coker and Professor Christopher Alden. The 2018 and 2017 Global Go To Think Tank Index run by the University of Pennsylvania's Think Tank and Civil Societies Program ranked LSE IDEAS as the number one European university-affiliated think tank, and the number two university-affiliated think tank in the world.
IDEAS runs seven research projects, hosts public and private events (43 in 2017-2018), and publishes analyses of international affairs. From 2017 to 2018, it released 75 publications and held 43 fellowships and scholarships. In addition, IDEAS houses the LSE Executive MSc International Strategy and Diplomacy, a program designed to enhance the strategic vision of mid-career professionals.
Related Posts
Why Greenland is the New Front in the U.S.–China Resource Rivalry
By Lukas Fiala After a showcase of U.S. military might in Venezuela, the longstanding back-and-forth about a potential U.S. intervention in Greenland continues apace. With President Trump announcing earlier this week that the U.S. would acquire Greenland “one way or ...
A Venezuelan living in Colombia waves a Venezuelan flag and a U.S. flag at Plaza de Bolivar to celebrate after U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. has struck Venezuela and captured its President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, in Bogota, Colombia, January 3, 2026. REUTERS/Andres Galeano
By Ron Bousso President Donald Trump plans to import previously sanctioned Venezuelan oil into the U.S., tearing up the global energy playbook and underscoring the seriousness of the administration’s ambition to dominate the Western Hemisphere. China may be ...
What the U.S. Strategy Debate Gets Wrong About China
By Lukas Fiala Over the last week, all of us have pored over the latest U.S. National Security Strategy. As many have pointed out, one of the most striking developments is the shift towards recognising the Western Hemisphere as a primary ...
At African Studies Gathering, Critiques of China Grow Louder… And More African
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 Some of North America’s (and perhaps the world’s) leading Africanists gathered last week in Atlanta for the African Studies Association’s Annual Meeting. As ever, China loomed large on the agenda. What was new, however, was not ...
An Exhibition of ‘Civilizations’ in Beijing, and the Narrative China Is Quietly Writing
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 The Where Civilizations Meet exhibition at Beijing’s National Museum of China drew to a close this month. Showcasing artifacts from member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, it was, at least on the surface, a celebration ...
It’s Time to Reflect on China’s Global Economic Role (Again)
By Lukas FIala Whenever the AidData team at William & Mary publishes one of their landmark reports, it’s time for us to sit down, read and think. And with the publication of their latest findings this week, they’ve given us a ...
A Post-American Shift Complicates Growth Strategies for the Global South
by Lukas Fiala and Chris Alden From the BRICS to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), members of recently expanding international fora are quick to point to a multipolar order as a hopeful imaginary of post-Western internationalism.
UN Celebrates Chinese Peacekeepers in South Sudan Even as Questions Linger Over What Was Achieved
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 When seven hundred members of China’s 11th Peacekeeping Infantry Battalion were awarded the United Nations Peace Medal of Honour in Juba on 23 October 2025, Chinese media celebrated. State broadcaster Xinhua framed the event as proof of ...
U.S.-China Summit Demonstrates Who Matters in International Politics and Why That’s a Problem
By Lukas Fiala Who needs Michael Myers this Halloween when a look at this year’s major headlines should send shivers down the spine of even a seasoned observer of international relations? Amidst all the mayhem, the apparent deal between the U.S. ...
Afghanistan, Pakistan and (the Limitations of) China’s Neighborhood Engagement
By Lukas Fiala and Saniya Kulkarni The recent escalation between Afghanistan and Pakistan has demonstrated once more the potential for instability in China’s neighborhood. With both sides reaching an initial truce on Wednesday after a series of strikes, Beijing is ...
China’s Global Initiatives: More Questions, Fewer Answers
By Lukas Fiala With the Xiangshan Forum, Beijing’s premier security summit, having taken place in September, I’ve been wondering about the state of the Global Security Initiative (GSI). It is common knowledge that it’s rather difficult to understand the implementation of ...
Trump’s Attack on Multilateralism Leaves Xi Poised to Fill the Void
By Lukas Fiala U.S. President Donald Trump’s page turner of a speech at the UN General Assembly this week was many things, but certainly no homage to the United Nations. Exhibiting the president’s well-known skepticism of multilateralism and rejection of globalism, ...
Future-Gazing China’s Global Governance Initiative
By Lukas Fiala At China’s SCO summit earlier this month, Xi launched yet another one of his signature foreign policy-oriented projects: the Global Governance Initiative (GGI). Adding an umbrella framing to the existing alphabet soup of GSI, GDI, GCI and ...
Tianjin Summit in Review: The Winner Takes It All (But Not Much)
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 “We should continue to unequivocally oppose hegemonism and power politics, practice true multilateralism,” Xi declared in Tianjin last week. Yet for many of the leaders in the room, multilateralism appears to chiefly mean “more of me” ...