Please note that we would never turn members away for financial reasons, should you have any worries about ticket prices, please get in touch. 

You can read the full biographies of our speakers below, and can book in at the bottom of the page.

Moderator Prof Michael Cox joined the International Relations Department at LSE in 2002, where, with Odd Arne Westad, he helped set up the Cold War Studies Centre in 2004, followed in 2008 by the establishment of LSE IDEAS.  He has also held senior positions at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, The Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies in Canberra, LUISS Rome, and at the Catholic University of Milan where he is currently a Visiting Professor. He has also played a major role in the wider field of IR, serving as Chair of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), and on the National Committees of both the British International Studies Association (BISA) and the Irish Committee for International Affairs.

Panellist and WS Member Diana Shaw Clark is a dual American/UK national, who has spent 25 years organising Americans living abroad in support of Democratic Party candidates for federal office in the United States. Shaw Clark is a founding member and until recently, a member of the Board of J Street, which lobbies for policies in support of Israel and against the Occupation. Shaw Clark was lead fundraiser abroad for Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign and was appointed by President Obama to a four-year term on the Council of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. Shaw Clark currently sits on the Advisory Committee for the Forward, the largest single source of news for and pertaining to, Jews in America. She belongs to Jewish Voters for Harris-Walz, established the Drop in Centre for asylum seekers at West London Synagogue and is co-founding director of Westminster Synagogue’s Our Open Kitchen, which provides asylum seekers housed in hotels a place to prepare food for themselves and their families. She is at present, a trainee chaplain at Guy’s and St. Thomas’s NHS Trust.

Panellist Larry Kramer has been President and Vice Chancellor of the London School of Economics and Political Science 1 April 2024. Larry spent most of his career in the academy, most recently as the 15th Dean of Stanford Law School, a position he assumed in 2004. During his tenure, he spearheaded significant educational reforms. He pioneered a new model of multidisciplinary legal studies, while growing the clinical education program, incorporating a public service ethos, and enlarging the physical campus. Previously, Larry researched and taught at the University of Chicago, the University of Michigan, and New York University, where he served as Associate Dean for Research and Academics and Russell D. Niles Professor of Law. Larry’s teaching and scholarly interests include American legal history, constitutional law, federalism, separation of powers, the federal courts, conflict of laws, and civil procedure. He is the author of numerous articles and books, including The People Themselves: Popular Constitutionalism and Judicial Review.

Panellist Jonathan Paris is a national security and political analyst and former fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.  He is currently Senior Fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies on Terrorism (CAST) and Senior Advisor Emeritus at the Chertoff Group where he shares his expertise on the Middle East, U.S.-China relations, transatlantic relations, international security, non-proliferation and counterterrorism.  He appears regularly on Sky News and Al Arabiya and has been quoted in The New York Times and other publications. He also lectures on the Middle East, U.S. and world geopolitics, state and non-state terrorism, and long-term global trends. Jonathan is a graduate of Yale University and Stanford Law School and lives in London.

Panellist Tobias Benn, graduated magna cum laude with Highest Honors in History from Harvard College, with a secondary concentration in Classics. He co-founded the Harvard College Project on Intellectual Vitality and has served as an intern in both the U.S. Department of State and UK Parliament. His academic work, recognized with several prestigious awards, focuses on U.S. history, diplomacy, and classical thought.