LSE IDEAS

In Conversation with H.E. Federico Bianchi di Montano Antilia, EU Ambassador to Guinea-Bissau: A Two-Part Special Event - From West Africa to Digital Diplomacy

🗓️ Thursday 25 June 2026, 17 – 18:30

Join H.E. Federico Bianchi di Montano Antilia, EU Ambassador to Guinea‑Bissau, for a two‑day conversation that links complex regional realities with the tools of modern diplomacy.

⬇️Register Here

In Conversation with H.E. Federico Bianchi di Montano Antilia, EU Ambassador to Guinea-Bissau: A Two-Part Special Event - From West Africa to Digital Diplomacy Join H.E. Federico Bianchi di Montano Antilia, EU Ambassador to Guinea‑Bissau, for a two‑day conversation that links complex regional realities with the tools of modern diplomacy. Designed for UK and international students of foreign relations based in London, as well as foreign policy analysts ...

🛥️CRUISING: Exploring climate change through storytelling | LSE Festival

This event brings together theatre and social science to explore one of the most urgent topics of our time, building on LSE IDEAS’ Geopolitics of Climate Change series.
Bringing storytelling into dialogue with research, this event invites audiences to consider how culture shapes public engagement with climate change, and what new forms of conversation and action might be possible.

Event Outline:
- 45-minute performance of Cruising (Edinburgh Fringe 2026 show)
- 45-minute panel discussion and Q&A with leading experts on climate change and the creative team

📆 Friday 19 June 2026 | 6pm - 7.30pm
🎤 Prof. Chris Alden, Dr. Giulia Grillo, Katrina Bennett

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Cruising | Romantic comedy performance and panel 6:30pm Fri 19 Jun | Katrina Bennet, Dr Giulia Grillo, Davy Roderick, Clare Stenning | Ticket required

Chinese analysts often interpret Donald Trump’s approach to China through the lens of Cold War rivalry and ideological competition. But does that framework actually capture how Trump understands U.S.–China relations?

In this new China Dialogues piece, Sean Nottoli argues that Trump’s China policy is better understood through transactional realism, economic leverage, trade, technology, and strategic competition than through a democracy-versus-communism framework.
The mismatch matters. If Beijing reads Washington’s actions as part of a long-term ideological struggle, while Washington sees them as pragmatic tools of bargaining, the risk of miscalculation rises. Sustained dialogue, Track II exchanges, and clearer diplomatic signalling may therefore be essential to managing competition.

🔗 Read the full piece on LSE IDEAS’ China Dialogues blog:

Beyond Ideology: What Chinese Officials Misread About Trump Chinese analysts often read Trump through a Cold War lens, but his China policy is better understood as transactional and strategic.

🛥️CRUISING: Exploring climate change through storytelling | LSE Festival

This event brings together theatre and social science to explore one of the most urgent topics of our time, building on LSE IDEAS’ Geopolitics of Climate Change series.

Bringing storytelling into dialogue with research, this event invites audiences to consider how culture shapes public engagement with climate change, and what new forms of conversation and action might be possible.

📆 Friday 19 June 2026 | 6pm - 7.30pm
🎤 Prof. Chris Alden, Dr. Giulia Grillo, Katrina Bennett

⬇️Read More

Cruising | Romantic comedy performance and panel 6:30pm Fri 19 Jun | Katrina Bennet, Dr Giulia Grillo, Davy Roderick, Clare Stenning | Ticket required

🎧In Conversation with H.E. Federico Bianchi di Montano Antilia, EU Ambassador to Guinea-Bissau: A Two-Part Special Event - From West Africa to Digital Diplomacy

Catch up on Part One of this two-day event, where H.E. Federico Bianchi di Montano Antilia, EU Ambassador to Guinea‑Bissau, links complex regional realities with the tools of modern diplomacy. Designed for UK and international students of foreign relations based in London, as well as foreign policy analysts interested in West African dynamics, the event pairs frontline political and security analysis of West Africa with a hands‑on exploration of digital diplomacy – why both matter now more than ever following regional and global instability, rise of Foreign-led mis and disinformation, and the end of the post-war multilateral order.

⬇️Listen Here

www.lse.ac.uk

🛥️CRUISING: Exploring climate change through storytelling | LSE Festival

This event brings together theatre and social science to explore one of the most urgent topics of our time, building on LSE IDEAS’ Geopolitics of Climate Change series.

The evening will feature a rehearsed reading of Dreambite Collective’s Cruising, a sizzling romantic comedy about climate activism and civil disobedience. The performance will be followed by a panel discussion with leading experts on climate change and members of the creative team. Together, they will reflect on the themes raised in the play, including climate change as a geopolitical and security challenge, the ethics and effectiveness of protest, responsibility and sacrifice (personal, political, and collective) in responding to the climate crisis and how storytelling and culture shape public engagement with planetary risk.

Bringing storytelling into dialogue with research, this event invites audiences to consider how culture shapes public engagement with climate change, and what new forms of conversation and action might be possible.

📆 Friday 19 June 2026 | 6pm - 7.30pm

⬇️Read More

Cruising | Romantic comedy performance and panel 6:30pm Fri 19 Jun | Katrina Bennet, Dr Giulia Grillo, Davy Roderick, Clare Stenning | Ticket required

📝Who owns Latin America’s green hydrogen transition?

In this new China Dialogues piece, Gustavo Cardozo examines how China’s expanding role in the region’s hydrogen sector goes far beyond trade and investment. Through electrolysers, proprietary telemetry systems, state-backed financing, and emerging technical standards, Beijing may be helping to create long-term infrastructure lock-in before the regulatory debate has fully begun.

The piece compares Chile’s stronger European market anchor with the greater exposure of Brazil and Argentina, and argues that the question of green hydrogen is also a question of sovereignty, standards, and strategic autonomy.

🔗 Read more on LSE IDEAS’s China Dialogues blog

Who Owns Latin America’s Green Hydrogen Transition? China’s role in Latin America’s green hydrogen sector raises urgent questions about standards, infrastructure lock-in, and energy sovereignty.

🗓️ LSE hosts First Ladies and Gentlemen for high-level diplomacy training

On 14 May 2026, LSE hosted the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen Global Platform for high level special training in diplomacy, bringing together First Ladies and Gentlemen from seven countries for a structured, expert-led programme on the role of soft power in contemporary diplomacy.

The training brought together First Ladies and Gentlemen from seven countries: Olena Zelenska (Ukraine), Doris Schmidauer (Austria), Aleš Musar (Slovenia), Marjolijne Frieden (Luxembourg), Armanda Begaj (Albania), Tamara Vučić (Serbia) and Eva Pavlová (the Czech Republic).

Olena Zelenska, First Lady of Ukraine​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​, commented: “Even amid a full-scale war, Ukraine is not stepping back from its role on the international stage — it is expanding it. The training at the London School of Economics is yet another demonstration that a Ukrainian initiative is setting the standard: bringing together First Ladies and Gentlemen from across the world, shaping the agenda in soft power and diplomacy — and doing so in partnership with one of the most prestigious universities in the world.”

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https://www.lse.ac.uk/news/lse-hosts-first-ladies-and-gentlemen-for-high-level-diplomacy-training