2026-03-17
1 小时 25 分钟Welcome to the LSE events podcast by the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Get ready to hear from some of the most influential international figures in the social sciences.
Okay, good evening, everyone.
It is a pleasure for me to welcome you all to this event on the geopolitical implications of the Israel-U.S.-Iran war,
hosted by the Middle East Centre at LSE.
My name is Katerina Dallacora.
I'm the Director of the Middle East Centre and a member of the International Relations Department here at LSE.
So we have an hour and a half at our disposal
and it will be evenly split between presentations by our speakers and Q&A with the audience.
We will be taking photographs during the event and it will be recorded but there's no live streaming.
We're not expecting a file drill.
If a fire alarm sounds, please take the stairs and proceed to the nearest assembly point,
which is Sheffield Street, outside the Sor Suisse-Hoc Student Centre.
So let me say a few words that will frame the discussion and introduce the speakers.
Now, this is a bit ironic, but I thought I would try to sort of be a bit provocative.
Let's start with a comment.
The comment is that the discipline of international relations, not the subject but the study of it,
is currently experiencing an existential threat, a victim of its own success in widening its remit.
But, unfortunately, current developments in world politics remind us that if IR did not exist, it would have to be invented.
The discipline of international relations was forged in fire, literally, in that its root concern was war.