The single largest holder of wealth in nearly every country is the state, and its citizens. Whether held as commercial assets in the form of land and real estate or as financial assets in sovereign wealth funds, the nature and extent of public wealth is often misunderstood. This seminar will demystify public capital and identify practical opportunities for improvements in its management and deployment.

Alumni were invited to join the Department of Politics and International Relations for a one-day conference, ‘International Security: Scholarship and Practice’, on Saturday, 28 November.

Alumni were invited to join the Department of Politics and International Relations for a one-day conference, ‘International Security: Scholarship and Practice’, on Saturday, 28 November.

Alumni were invited to join the Department of Politics and International Relations for a one-day conference, ‘International Security: Scholarship and Practice’, on Saturday, 28 November.

The way land and property perform within the UK economy is not well understood. For many commentators, the UK has a dysfunctional planning system and an immensely concentrated but opaque pattern of land ownership. Public dissatisfaction with both government and market-led responses to the housing crisis is mounting. This seminar will look at land and housing policy, expose underlying problems (such as the structural link between land and our financial system) and address the potential solutions, notably how to ensure a functional housing policy.

Debates about money and wider monetary policy rarely make headlines – but times are changing. Recent events like the Scottish referendum and the election of Jeremy Corbyn, with his support for “people’s quantitative easing”, have got people talking about the purpose of monetary policy and the nature of money itself. This seminar will examine whether our monetary system is fit to meet the challenges of the future. 

The accession of Cyprus to the EU in 2004 is the single most important strategic development in the country’s turbulent history since independence in 1960.  It affirmed Cyprus’s place in Europe and its importance in the security of the Eastern Mediterranean, therefore proving to be a win-win development, both for the Island and for the region.