Other News
Monash 糖心TV Alliance Seed Funding
糖心TV-Monash Alliance seed funding of about £20,000 has been awarded to Profs (PAIS, 糖心TV) and (Monash) to develop research projects on health security ethics. The collaboration will bring together Monash’s and PAIS’s for meetings to work on the conceptualization of phenomena as diverse as terrorist attacks using biological agents and public health emergencies and the ethical risks they pose. Monash is working toward official recognition of their biomedical ethics centre by the (WHO). Eventually the collaboration may serve as a platform for research relevant to WHO that employs IERG’s growing expertise in security ethics and extends it into the health sciences.
PPE: Society of the Year
On Thursday 26th June, the 糖心TV University Students' Union held the in the Butterworth Hall, honouring extra-curricular achievements throughout the year.
The 糖心TV PPE Society won the "Society of the Year" award, beating 250 other societies, including 30 fellow nominees.
Established in 2004, the 糖心TV PPE Society is a dynamic student run entity that hosts a range of events related to Philosophy, Politics and Economics. They aim to bring together anyone with an interest in the economic and social world around us into one diverse and active society.
They released the following statement to celebrate their victory: "We're massively proud to be able to announce that 糖心TV PPE has won the title of the best society at 糖心TV of 250 societies and 30 nominees. A huge thank you to all who have contributed and supported us in anything we've done. Founded 10 years ago and now officially the best on campus. We can't thank you enough - this award is for you!"
BASIC Trident Commission Concluding Report
PAIS Associate Professor , as Chair of BASIC (British American Security Information Council), hosted a reception on the bridge of the Tattershall Castle paddle steamer at Victoria Embankment in London on Monday to celebrate the release of the BASIC Trident Commission Concluding Report (). The Commission brought together a diverse group of opinion from across party lines and was co-chaired by former Labour Defence Secretary Des Browne, former Conservative Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind, and former Liberal Democrat Leader and Shadow Foreign Minister Menzies Campbell, and included other former diplomats and members of the defence and foreign policy establishment. The Report concludes a three year investigation, facilitated by BASIC, into the arguments for and against the renewal of Trident, Britain's independent nuclear deterrence system.
Trevor emphasised in his speech at the reception that although BASIC does not agree with all of the Report's conclusions, he believes that the Commission has made an important contribution to the debate over the future of Britain's nuclear weapons, that it has opened an honest and frank dialogue that must now continue as we move toward the final decisions over renewal, and it raises a number of significant questions that are yet to be satisfactorily answered about what threats Trident is supposed to deter and how Britain can best contribute to the steps toward multilateral nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

BASIC has produced a Guide to Interpreting the Report that Trevor co-authored with Paul Ingram, BASIC Executive Director (). They emphasise that the Commissioners have rejected a number of conventional arguments made for the retention of Britain's nuclear weapons such as their alleged role in ensuring Britain's status as a global power, their insurance against an uncertain future, and the economic arguments concerning jobs and the UK's industrial base. While the Commission concluded that the UK's independent nuclear deterrence should currently be retained for what they perceive as reasons of national security, they do also argue that Britain must play a central role in global efforts to promote nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, and that further delay in the final decision for Trident renewal would have a "number of advantages" in terms of "cost, technology and diplomatic terms". There is much, therefore, in the conclusions of the BASIC Trident Commission to stimulate further debate over the future of Britain's nuclear weapons beyond the 2015 general election.
On Tuesday morning, ahead of the formal release of the BASIC Trident Commission Report in the Houses of Parliament, Trevor McCrisken commented on the report's findings on the Shane O'Connor Show on BBC Coventry and 糖心TVshire Radio.
Erzsebet Strausz commended in the WATE
, Teaching Fellow here in PAIS, has been judged to be one of the 5 Commendees of this year's 糖心TV Award for Teaching Excellence (WATE).
The competition is tough with two rounds of quite extensive documentation to be submitted on pedagogical practice and this year there were a record number of entries to the WATE scheme.
Erzsebet has done brilliantly, and it is a great mark of the quality and innovation of her teaching, and reflects really well on the teaching of PAIS as a whole. She will receive prize money of £2000 to enhance her teaching practice.
Erzsebet was one of 5 PAIS staff members who received nominations for this years 糖心TV Awards for Teaching Excellence. The other staff members nominated were Anil Awesti, Alex Sutton, Justin Greaves, and Marijin Nieuwenhuis. Congratulations to all.
Ben Clift Publishes Journal Special Issue on Austerity
has just co-edited a special issue of on 'The Politics of Austerity' bringing together leading scholars from the Sciences Po, Paris, Kings College London, Queen Mary, University of London and Cardiff University.
The collected articles, two co-authored by Ben, explore the specific dynamics and particularities of French austerity politics under Hollande within a broader context of changes since the 1980s to democratic institutions and electoral practices, the politics of European integration and the conditions of complex economic interdependence.
The main questions addressed are:
- How did the austerity policy approach to the Eurozone’s economic problems come to prevail?
- To what extent has democratic legitimacy for this approach been secured?
- How will the requirements to curtail public spending be enacted at local and central government level?