Where does the EU enlargement stand?

Wednesday 29 January 2025 1 hour online

Enlargement has long been considered as the most successful foreign policy of the European Union (EU) and a powerful driver of political, economic and social reform in the countries aiming to join the EU. However, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Kyiv’s application for EU membership, it also acquired broader geostrategic significance. 

Watch this online discussion to assess the obstacles and the opportunities facing the EU enlargement agenda in a challenging and volatile strategic context.

Meet our speakers and chair:

Dr Steven Blockmans, Senior Fellow, International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS) Tallinn; Associate Senior Research Fellow, Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS); and Visiting Professor at the College of Europe (Bruges and Natolin)

Dr Heather Grabbe, Senior Fellow, Bruegel; Visiting Professor at University College London and KU Leuven

Professor Kataryna Wolczuk, Professor of East European Politics, Centre for Russian, European and Eurasian Studies (CREES), School of Government, University of Birmingham; Associate Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House; Senior Professorial Fellow, European Neighbourhood Chair, College of Europe Natolin

Chair and moderator:

Dr Teona Giuashvili, DINAM Fellow in the Department of International Relations at LSE

Watch the video

The Cost of Borders

Thursday 23 January 2025 90 minutes

Millions of displaced people attempt journeys across borders in pursuit of asylum. Though seeking asylum is a right sanctioned by international law, people on the move are often cast as rule-breakers and criminals. They are in turn forced to make incredible sacrifices — emotionally, physically, and financially — which differ at intersections of inequalities like race, gender, or physical ability.

In her new project, The Cost of Borders, Heba Gowayed, author of the award winning book Refuge, uses a multi-method approach drawing on ethnographic observations, interviews, and quantitative data on human mobility and state expenditures to ask what are the costs of borders? Focusing on the frontiers between Global North and South, Dr Gowayed examines borders as a series of transactions that are always costly and often deadly.

Meet our speakers and chair:

Dr Heba Gowayed, Associate Professor of Sociology at CUNY Hunter College.

Discussant:

Dr Tarsis Brito, IRD Fellow, Department of International Relations at LSE

Chair and Discussant:

Dr Stephanie Schwartz, Assistant Professor in the Department of International Relations at LSE

Find out more about this event

Listen to the podcast (apologies for poor quality recording)

Read the student blogger report

One Picture, One Thousand Words: pictorial storytelling in China's foreign policy

Wednesday 22 January 2025 90 minutes

How do images shape power? This event dives into the visual strategies that influence foreign policy and global perceptions, with a particular focus on China.

By examining visualities as both a theoretical lens and a methodological tool, the discussion explores how visualities inform social and political research. Hosting a discussion from leading experts, the event uncovers whose realities are constructed and conveyed to the world—and how these narratives reshape global politics.

Meet our speakers and chair:

Professor William A Callahan, Professor of Political Science, Singapore Management University

Professor Florian Schneider, Professor of Modern China at Leiden University

Chair:

Dr Giulia Sciorati, LSE Fellow in the Department of International Relations at LSE.

Find out more about this event

Listen to the podcast

Read the student blogger report