Discussion
First Wednesday
After the summer break First Wednesday will take place on the second Wednesday of the month. But, as always, we will be bringing together an informed panel to discuss the story of the moment in a public meeting hosted by Paddy O’Connell of BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House.
FULLY BOOKED Stumbling Over Truth: The inside story of the sexed-up dossier, Hutton and the BBC
It has been ten years since the publication of the “September Dossier”, part of an ongoing investigation by the government into weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The following year, on 29 May, the then BBC defence correspondent Andrew Gilligan reported on Radio 4’s Today programme that he had been told by an unnamed source […]
What will Lord Justice Leveson conclude about the future of the British press?
As hearings come to a close and Lord Justice Leveson begins his report we will be holding a special event in association with Index on Censorship to discuss what we have learned and the key issues Leveson will be tackling in his report.
#FCBBCA: In conversation with Yosri Fouda – Egypt after Mubarak
Renowned Arab journalist Yosri Fouda will be discussing the events that led him to this conclusion in the wake of President Hosni Mubarak’s downfall and discussing how the Egyptian people have responded to the life sentence handed down to Mubarak for complicity in the deaths of protesters and their expectations following the presidential elections.
FULLY BOOKED #FCBBCA: In conversation with Yosri Fouda – Egypt after Mubarak
Renowned Arab journalist Yosri Fouda will be joining us in conversation with senior BBC presenter and special correspondent Lyse Doucet for this special event, post elections we will be asking what lies ahead for the people of Egypt and its new leader.
Diaries of the Syrian revolution with Samar Yazbek
As killings continue and Syria’s future remains in the balance we will be joined by Syrian novelist and journalist Samar Yazbek who will be reflecting on her experience of the uprising and her hopes for her country.
THIRD PARTY SCREENING: Why did Chut Wutty die? Logging and killings in Cambodia and beyond
THIRD PARTY EVENT ORGANISED BY GLOBAL WITNESS
On April 26th, Cambodian anti-logging activist Chut Wutty was killed by military police near one of the protected areas he was monitoring. The shooting was one of the most shocking episodes in the fierce battle to save the country’s forests from destruction by powerful, corrupt elites who have accumulated vast wealth from their plunder while the people remain devastatingly poor.
Insight with Maajid Nawaz: My Journey from Islamist Extremism to a Democratic Awakening
Having journeyed into and out of Islamic extremism Maajid Nawaz remains a Muslim but is a leading critic of his former Islamist ideological dogma. He will be joining us to discuss this journey and the work he now does educating young people about democracy, undoing everything he had once been prepared to die for.
In conversation with Hamid Dabashi: The Arab Spring – The End of Postcolonialism
Renowned author and academic Hamid Dabashi will be joining us to share his reflections on the Arab Spring that challenge current thinking about ‘the Middle East’ and propose a re-imagining the moral map of the region.
The challenges ahead for Egypt’s first democratically elected president
Report by Jonathan Couturier Mohammed Mursi has become Egypt’s first democratically elected president – but while he may have been chosen as the people’s representative, the country still has to contend with the powerful Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), who may thwart any attempt at change. The panel was divided over Mursi’s ability […]
First Wednesday
Join us with Paddy O’Connell of BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House and a panel of experts, commentators and journalists to discuss the top story of the moment. This monthly event gives you the opportunity to hear from and question those with an informed knowledge of the issue.
The subject of debate will be announced on Monday, 25 June.
FULLY BOOKED First Wednesday: What does the result of Egypt’s Presidential election mean for the country and the region?
Join us with a panel of experts to examine the challenges Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohammed Mursi will face at home and abroad and whether he will keep to his promise of being a leader for all Egyptians.
Mexico’s drugs war and the challenges facing its new President
Since Mexican President Felipe Calderon initiated a large scale crackdown on drug cartels in 2006 funded by millions of dollars in US military aid, the death toll in the country is believed to have reached 50,000 or more. Join us to discuss the different forces at play in this long and bloody war and if the efforts of the US and Mexican governments to break up and destroy the drug cartels can succeed.
FULLY BOOKED Reflections with John Pilger
In association with BBC College of Journalism
Renowned investigative journalist, author and documentary film-maker John Pilger will be joining us in conversation with broadcaster, journalist and writer Charles Glass to look back on half a century of reporting from around the world.
Cyber snooping: A threat to freedom or a necessary safeguard?
External event held at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, 21 Abermarle St, London W1S 4BS.
How much freedom should the police and intelligence agencies be given to monitor cyber activity? Is cyber surveillance a threat to the public’s civil liberties or necessary to keep them safe? Join us to discuss whether a balance can be struck?
FULLY BOOKED Cyber snooping: A threat to freedom or a necessary safeguard?
This event will take place at the Frontline Club, 13 Norfolk Place, W2 1JG.
How much freedom should the police and intelligence agencies be given to monitor cyber activity? Is cyber surveillance a threat to the public’s civil liberties or necessary to keep them safe? Join us to discuss whether a balance can be struck?
Who can prevent an Afghan civil war?
Posted by Nigel Wilson In a week that’s seen three “green on blue” attacks in Afghanistan, a divided panel came together to unpick the finer details of the country’s impending challenges. With foreign troops preparing to leave in 2014, the spectre looming over Afghanistan is a return to civil war. The expert panel debated whether […]
Can the Afghan National Army prevent civil war?
Chatham House rule applies to this event.
In 2014 America’s longest war will be over but what will become of the Afghan people? Join us as we ask whether the Afghan National Army can to keep the country from civil war or whether it is destined to see a similar scenario to what followed the Soviet withdrawal in 1989.
Four Horsemen – The Debate
Revealing the fundamental flaws in the economic system, new documentary Four Horsemen argues that although change has never been more urgently needed the conditions for it have never been more favourable. Join us with the film’s director Ross Ashcroft, co-author of the accompanying book Four Horsemen: The Survival Manual, Mark Braund, contributors and others to map out the argument for change.
FULLY BOOKED Insight with Nick Fraser – Why Documentaries Matter
Editor of BBC Storyville Nick Fraser will be discussing the evolution of documentary, its defining nature and the future for this form of storytelling.
Fifteen months and 15,000 dead: Syria’s tipping point?
By Merryn Johnson In a bloody coincidence with Frontline’s First Wednesday talk about the divisive issue of international intervention in Syria, yet another massacre of women, children, civilians has been charged at the Assad regime. Less than a fortnight after the Houla massacre in the Homs province of Syria, in which 108 people were killed, opposition […]
FULLY BOOKED First Wednesday: Syria – Is this the tipping point?
Again Syria hits our front pages but will the massacre of more than 100 men, women and children in Houla be the final straw for the international community?
What are the options on the table for the international community, the Assad regime and the opposition forces? Join us as we ask whether the deepening crisis in Syria is reaching a tipping point.
India Rising?
By Nigel Wilson A lively audience gathered at the Frontline Club as a distinguished panel grappled with the factors driving change in India. Leaving the country’s recent growth wobble aside, the panellists unravelled the economic revolution that has thrust India to the front of the global stage. The discussion began on a positive note as […]
India Rising: An entrepreneurial revolution?
Join us to discuss the rise of India and what the future might hold for he world’s largest democracy with a population of over 1.21 billion people.
Sri Lanka: reconciliation and justice
By Rosie Scammell View event here. View in iTunes Epitomising the troubled state of Sri Lanka post-conflict, an impassioned panel spent Wednesday night disputing the truth. Facing an equally ardent audience, they proved that the country has a long way to go before reconciliation will become a reality. Chaired by BBC Hardtalk’s Stephen Sackur – who […]
FULLY BOOKED Sri Lanka: reconciliation and justice
Nearly three years after the end of the 26-year civil war in Sri Lanka that reportedly left an estimated 80,000-100,000 dead, questions are still arising about alleged war crimes and how they will be addressed.
Join us at the Frontline Club to discuss the impact of Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields and the situation today in Sri Lanka.
#FCBBCA with Timothy Garton Ash: Is it time for a global conversation on free speech?
As westerners face greater surveillance in the name of security, including threats of increased controls in the wake of the August 2011 riots, we will be joined by Timothy Garton Ash and a respected panel of experts to discuss what the historian and commentator has set out as the first principle of free speech: That all human beings must be free and able to express themselves, and to receive and impart information and ideas, regardless of frontiers.
Is it time to create a new global code that governs freedom of speech? We will be discussing this vital issue and examining what such a code would include.
First Wednesday: The press, politicians and power – What will we learn from Leveson?
The relationship between the press and politicians is what is now under scrutiny at the Leveson Inquiry and the long awaited testimony from Rupert and James Murdoch has unearthed a relationship that paints an uncomfortable picture for the government.
Following these latest revelations, hosted by BBC Radio 4’s Paddy O’Connell, we will be examining what we have heard and what the ramifications will be for politicians and the press.
FULLY BOOKED In conversation with Lindsey Hilsum: Libya in the Time of Revolution
Channel 4 News’ international editor Lindsey Hilsum will be joining us in conversation with BBC Arabic presenter Rasha Qandeel to discuss Libya and her new book charting the country’s history from the beginnings of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime to the dictator’s squalid end.
A criminal fate in North Korea
By Rosie Scammell Shin Dong-Hyuk is the only known person born in a North Korean prison camp to escape. On Tuesday night he told a packed audience that they must help the 200,000 remaining: “The first thing that I remember being told by the prison guard was that we were supposed to be dead a […]