The panellists were Mr Aleksander Kwasniewski former President of Poland, Dr Javier Solana former NATO Secretary General and EU high Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy and Dr Gwendolyn Sasse, Nuffield College, Oxford. The discussion was moderated by the Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Lord Patten.

On 14 March 2014 the Russian and Eurasian Studies Centre at St Antonys College organised the 2014 Elliott Lecture: Ukraine and its Place in the World.

Sir Martin Davidson KCMG, CEO of the British Council, examines the UKs soft power capacity: its ability to make its national presence felt throughits powers of cultural attraction rather than its economic muscle and military might. In a rapidly changing international environment, achieving its foreign policy goals will require all of the UK's creativity, wit and innovation. Does the UK have what it takes?

Stuart White, Director of the Public Policy Unit, DPIR

On Tuesday 25 February, from 13:00 to 17:00, the Department of Politics and International Relations hosted an event on the subject of Academic Blogging: Political Analysis in the Digital Age in the Lecture Theatre of Manor Road Building.

Discussion and summing up (Stuart White)

Niki Seth-Smith and Stuart White: launch of the Democratic Wealth e-book by openDemocracy and Politics in Spires

[Download eBook]

What do we know about audiences, readership and patterns of use of political analysis on-line?

Chair: Blake Ewing (Graduate Editor, Politics in Spires, DPIR)

Andrew Sparrow The rise of the Guardian Politics Blog, (Editor, Guardian Politics Blog)

Chris Prosser Uses of analytics data (Deputy Graduate Editor, Politics in Spires, DPIR) [Download presentation]

Exploring the phenomena of blogging – motivations and consequences – with UK academic blogs producers

Chair: Katharine Brooks (Deputy Graduate Editor, Politics in Spires, DPIR)            

Presentations and first Round Table

Blake Ewing (Graduate Editor, Politics in Spires, DPIR)

Analyses of the wider effects: what is at stake in contributing academic analysis on-line?

Chair: Katharine Brooks (Deputy Graduate Editor, Politics in Spires, DPIR)

William Dutton - Get Ready to Meet the Fifth Estate – how networked individuals and institutions are reshaping academe (Oxford Internet Institute) [Download presentation]

A book Discussion on Professor Jan Zielonka's new book Is the EU Doomed? (Publication date April 2014) took place on 11 February 2014, with discussants Edward Lucas (The Economist), Kalypso Nicolaïdis (St Antonys College, Oxford), and Andreas Gross (Swiss MP and Head of Socialist Group, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe). The discussion was chaired by Othon Anastasakis (St Antonys College, Oxford).

The European Union is in crisis. Crippled by economic problems, political brinkmanship, and institutional rigidity, the EU faces an increasingly uncertain future.