Audio section
THE HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT with Professor AVI SHLAIM.
The Gaza war and the recent Israeli elections have shown the continuing intractable nature of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the challenges that face the new Obama administration in the search for peace in the Middle East.
Avi Shlaim is Professor of International Relations at Oxford. He has written extensively on the Arab-Israeli conflict and is a frequent contributor to the newspapers as well as commentating on radio and television on Middle Eastern affairs. He will discuss the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict as the background to an understanding of the current situation in the Middle East.
Capitulation, capitulation, capitulation: the UK government's relationship with the City of London with John Christensen
The current crisis exposes weaknesses in a development strategy that puts financial services at the heart of Britain's political economy. But the City of London depends heavily on its role as a major tax haven in its own right.
John Christensen, Director and International Coordinator of the Tax Justice Network, explains how the UK has led the world in de-regulating financial services, in promoting tax havens, and in resisting moves to strengthen international cooperation. Having become the victim of its own follies, the UK urgently needs a new development strategy, but how can any government - progressive or otherwise - resist the strongest political lobby in the world?