Talks
On the media: Digital election 2010
What difference will social media make to the election in 2010? How will news organisations and political parties make use of the web and what difference will the use of social media make to the traditions of reporting an election?
South Africa twenty years after Mandela walked to freedom
Twenty years after the release of Nelson Mandela the Frontline Club will be looking at how South Africa today compares with the hopes and dreams of that day in 1990 when he walked free after 27 years in prison.
FULLY BOOKED Understanding the Taliban
A new autobiography by Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef throws extraordinary light on the nature of the Taliban.
Alex Strick van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn, co-editors of My Life with the Taliban will be at the Frontline Club to discuss the nature of the Taliban and if there are any grounds for reconciliation and negotiated settlement.
CANCELLED Book Talk: Vietnam, Russia and Freedom
Book Talk is a new monthly Frontline event that will feature a selection of authors talking about their work. Promising fascinating discussion, this month’s Book Talk will feature Bill Hayton, Vietnam; Rising Dragon; John Kampfner, Freedom For Sale: How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty; Alan Philps and John Lahutsky, The Boy from Baby House 10. Moderated by Claire Armitstead, Guardian literary editor.
First Wednesday: Haiti
Paddy O’Connell of BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House will be in the chair for another of our First Wednesday discussions. First Wednesdays are an opportunity to debate with experts and commentators on a wide range of issues from domestic politics to international affairs, climate change and economics.
In the Picture with David Hoffman: War on Photography
British photographer David Hoffman, who specialises in coverage of protest and has dedicated his career to documenting racial and social conflict, policing and social exclusion, will focus on the war being waged on photography through oppressive policing and privacy laws that limit press freedom.
Frontline Club Networking Party and future of news debate
How will the news industry survive the new decade? How will we pay for content in the 2010s and will we pay for it all?
Join us for a unique debate on the future of news media and help answer these questions and more at one of the Frontline Club’s popular networking parties.
The Frontline Club’s networking parties are a unique opportunity for current members, new associate members and invited guests to mingle in the Frontline Club’s Forum and Club bar over drinks served courtesy of Chivas Regal and Beefeater Gin between 7pm and 9pm.
An opportunity to enjoy the atmosphere of the Frontline Club, learn about its activities and join the community.
Randa Habib: The Inside Story of Jordan’s Royal Family
Randa Habib will be discussing her new book Hussein and Abdullah: Inside the Jordanian Royal Family with Hosam El Sokkari, head of BBC Arabic.
POSTPONED: Reactive Talk: Haiti past, present and future
This discussion will now take place as part of the First Wednesday event on February 3. In the days since the earthquake struck reports from Haiti have focused on the country’s status as the poorest in the Western hemisphere. But how did Haiti come to be so poverty-stricken and its state so weak […]
Special Event: Mark Sedwill, Ambassador to Afghanistan in conversation
View in iTunes Mark Sedwill, Ambassador to Afghanistan since April 2009, will be at the Frontline Club for a special event ahead of the London Conference on Afghanistan which begins on 28 January. A unique opportunity to hear the British Ambassador in Kabul discuss the future of Afghanistan and what can be achieved at the […]
Barack Obama’s foreign policy one year on
In the second of our events to mark the first year of Barack Obama’s presidency we will be examining his foreign policy.
What has the 44th President delivered in practice when it comes to Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran and the War on Terror declared by his predecessor?
Clive Stafford Smith: Barack Obama and Guantanamo Bay
Shortly after his inauguration, Barack Obama signed an order to close Guantanamo Bay by January 2010. But fierce opposition from members of Congress has meant that the deadline will be missed. Clive Stafford Smith, founder and director of Reprieve, will be at the Frontline Club to examine President Barack Obama’s record on Guantanamo Bay as well as the detention facilities at Bagram and Abu Ghraib.
On the Media: The Appliance of Science
Download this episode View in iTunes The leaking of the notorious ‘Climategate’ emails just before the Copenhagen global warming summit, the resignation of Professor David Nutt as chairman of the government’s drugs advisory panel: two events that demonstrate how politicised science has become. With so much confusion about such important and complex issues as the […]
Sudan: Winning the Peace?
Five years after the Sudanese government and Sudan’s People’s Liberation Army signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to end decades of war, the country is preparing to hold its first multi-party elections in April. Join us to discuss the impact of the CPA and to examine the prospects for free and fair elections. With: The Most Rev. Daniel Deng, Archbishop of Sudan; Paul Molong Akaro, deputy head of mission for the government of Southern Sudan Liaison office to the UK; Osman Hummaida, human rights activist and executive director of the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies
Richard Cockett, Africa editor of The Economist.
POSTPONED Special Event: Lasantha Wickrematunga Memorial
One year after his murder on 8 January 2009, the Frontline Club will pay tribute to the life and work of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickramatunga and examine the impact of his death on Sri Lanka’s independent media in a country that Reporters Sans Frontiers now ranks worse than Russia for press freedom.
First Wednesday
Paddy O’Connell of BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House will be in the chair for another of our First Wednesday discussions. First Wednesdays are an opportunity to debate with experts and commentators on a wide range of issues from domestic politics to international affairs, climate change and economics.
Rena Effendi’s journey along the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline
Award-winning photographer Rena Effendi will be at the Frontline Club to discuss her new book Pipe Dreams – A chronicle of lives along the pipeline, that examines the reality behind the corporate image in a country transformed by the discovery of oil.
The photographer will discuss her journey along the the 1,700 km oil pipeline through her native Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey and the stories she collected along the way of people and their struggle against poverty.
Reflections: Allan Little
In association with the BBC College of Journalism, the Frontline Club is bringing top journalists who are expert in their field and craft, to talk about the stories and the journalism that shaped their careers.
In the second of this inspiring new series Vin Ray, director of the BBC College of Journalism, will be in conversation with BBC special correspondent Allan Little.
FULLY BOOKED Londongrad: From Russia With Cash
Mark Hollingsworth, and Stewart Lansley will be at the Frontline Club to talk about their investigation into the extraordinary lifestyles of the Russian oligarchs who built vast personal fortunes in Russia and moved to the UK following the dissolution of the Soviet Union to spend them, aided by generous tax laws. What have been the consequences of this move of the super-rich to the capital and of Britain’s remarkable compliance in the transfer of wealth from Russia?
FULLY BOOKED Avi Shlaim in conversation with Shlomo Sand
Avi Shlaim, professor of international relations at Oxford will be in conversation with Shlomo Sand, professor of contemporary history at Tel Aviv University, at the Frontline Club for a seminal evening of discussion.
Avi Shlaim’s new book, Israel and Palestine focuses on the causes and consequences of the Israeli-Palestine conflict, while Shlomo Sand’s international best-seller The Invention of the Jewish People unravels the mythologised history of the Jewish people.
1989: The fall of the Berlin Wall
To mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, journalists who witnessed the events of 9 November 1989 will be at the Frontline Club to discuss their experiences and the impact of that night on world history.
With: Ann Leslie, of the Daily Mail who for much of her career has been the paper’s foreign corresponent; Glen Oglaza, Sky News political correspondent; Peter Millar, author of 1989 The Berlin Wall: My Part in Its Downfall.
First Wednesday: Democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq – what went wrong?
What do the troubled elections in Afghanistan and the continuing violence in Iraq teach us about the West’s attempt to import democracy around the world?
In his book Democracy Kills: What’s So Good About Having The Vote BBC foreign correspondent Humphrey Hawksley criticises Western governments for their failure to draw up detailed plans for after the overthrow of the Taliban in Afghanistan and of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. With a panel of experts Humphrey Hawksley will examine the record of the West’s democratic mission and ask if there can be a transition from dictatorship to democracy without bloodshed.
Afghanistan Perspectives
The Frontline Club is bringing together five experts who will discuss their perspectives on Afghanistan, a country at the centre of the world’s attention. Gretchen Peters author of Seeds of Terror: How Heroin is bankrolling the Taliban and Al Qaeda,
based on hundreds of interviews with Taliban fighters, smugglers, and law enforcement and intelligence agents. The […]
Mexico’s Dirty War
In 1974, Rosendo Radilla Pacheco disappeared at a military checkpoint in southern Mexico. As a prominent activist and mayor, Rosendo fought for access to health and education in Atoyac in the state of Guerrero – a region historically plagued by hardship and neglected by authorities.
Inside the Kingdom: Secrets of Filming and Reporting in Saudi Arabia
Robert Lacey author of Inside the Kingdom, Kieran Baker co producer of Rehab for Terrorists and Lubna Hussein, anchor of Bridges a weekly political chat show on Saudi TV will be at the Frontline Club to discuss the realities of working as a professional reporter or filmmaker inside Saudi Arabia.
There will also be a screening of the acclaimed PBS film Rehab for Terrorists.
Publishers and Writers Networking Party
The Frontline Club is holding its third networking party – this time dedicated to the world of publishing. If you are involved in any aspect of book or magazine publishing, want to meet other people in the industry and join the debate about the impact of new media and technology then sign up now.
Insight with Zainab Salbi
Zainab Salbi will be at the Frontline Club to talk about her remarkable life growing up in Saddam Hussein’s household, her escape from an abusive arranged marriage and Women for Women International, the organisation she set up that has helped more than 153,000 women in nine countries including Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq.
On the Media: Can international coverage survive the digital age?
The UK’s public service broadcasting system remains the biggest provider of programmes about the wider world.
But it is a system that faces momentous upheavals in years to come.
What are the risks for international coverage as broadcasters respond?
With Phil Harding, journalist and media consultant; Deborah Rayner, CNN’s managing editor for Europe and Africa and Ed Braman, series sditor of Channel 4’s Unreported World and executive producer, Quicksilver Media documentaries.
Emmanuel Jal: from child soldier to rap artist
From child soldier in Sudan to rap musician, Emmanuel Jal has used music to speak out against the injustice and terror that he escaped and many continue to encounter in their lives. He will be at the Frontline Club to perform and to talk about his life from child soldier to successful artist and his continued fight to help children in Sudan.
Media Talk: Murder for honour’s sake
Over 5,000 girls and women are killed each year by male relatives in the belief that it will purge a family of shame brought on it by the behaviour of a sister, daughter, wife or mother.
Award-winning journalist Rana Husseini and author of the acclaimed Murder in the Name of Honour, will be at the Frontline Club to discuss the full scale of murders carried out for “crimes” that include adultery, being raped or chewing gum and laughing in the street. She will be joined by: Ramita Navaï, a reporter for Channel 4’s Unreported World; Nazir Afzal OBE, director of legal services, CPS London and the foremost criminal justice practitioner on the issue of honour crime and Liesl Gerntholtz, director of the women’s rights division at Human Rights Watch.
The event will be moderated by Samira Ahmed, presenter and correspondent for Channel 4 News.