Global Strategy - blog

Associated with some themes of this blog, I just came across this video...

Consider LSE's slogan: rerum cognoscere causas ("to know the causes of things", ripped from Virgil, I suppose). It makes a direct claim favouring causal explanation. Another matter, however, more rooted in the Anglo-American tradition is the tendency to embrace methodological individualism (individuals matter).

Auguste Comte memorial lecture was given today by Prof. Philippe Van Parijs. The topic was interestingly ‘European Democracy and the Language Question'. Despite democracy being interesting and all, what appeared to me to be the most striking insight of his talk was the whole discussion around European Union, unified (political) decision-making bodies and the apparent question of lingua franca. Van Parijs is also originally from Belgium, a country struggling with severe problems of identity, language and governance, so he also has some additional weight in his words.

Facing the "need" to bailout the country's Finance Industry as well as Auto Industry, politicians and industrymen in the US are puzzled over an important question: To which direction one should next take the industry corporations, as the bailout monies effectively give the government control over them ? This debate is -- for sure -- interesting also to other national governments which are struggling with their own finance and other industries (such as that of Finland with its pulp & paper industry).

Manuel Castells gave his public lecture at LSE already some time ago. Nevertheless, his message was topical then, is today and will be in the coming year as well. He concentrated on the growth and importance of the Internet as the infrastructure of the information society and its implications to the personal freedom people that have the access to it enjoy. Only the emergence of mobile telecommunication has grown faster than the availability of the world-wide network. Despite the prevalence of the ‘net' (or because of), human fears are common in the every-day discussions of the matter. He pointed out some facts about it.

The academic world is often considered to be isolated from the real world. However, now that the world is struggling with an unprecedented financial crisis, one must (at last) pay attention to the role that academic theories may have in the real-world developments.

The presentation was given by Prof. Robert Shiller the other day. Chaired by the director of the LSE, Howard Davies, this very topical and interesting public lecture may have practical consequences as well.