ThinkLONG
The Oxford Martin School Blog
Entries by Theme: Ethics & Governance
Latest
In Syria, the US ‘red line’ continues to shift
It takes more than rising civilian death tolls to prompt Western intervention in Syria writes Jennifer Welsh. Israeli air strikes on Syria in recent days have brought the varying interests of outside actors in this long-simmering conflict int... Read More »
Kenya’s hopes for justice in the hands of the accused
Dr Serena Sharma has been conducting a case study on the Kenyan elections as part of her work helping to prevent atrocity crimes. In the shadow of violence following the 2007 Kenyan elections, she comments on the tensions arising from Kenya’... Read More »
Nano: avoiding toxic shock
How do you regulate for the unknown? In the field of nanotechnology this has become a crucial question. We can currently buy on the open market a variety of products using silver nanoparticles…but scientists have recently discovered the tox... Read More »
Climate control
As a lad poring over his ‘Boys’ Book of Science', Professor Steve Rayner, Co-Director of the Oxford Geoengineering Programme, was thrilled by the technological optimism which gave rise to visions of futuristic looking cities under ... Read More »
Medical ethics on trial
How do you balance the risks and benefits from trialling a new drug? After all, the people with the most to gain from a successful new vaccine for HIV or Hepatitis C are often those who are most vulnerable in the first place. Clinical trials are e... Read More »
Robot Wars
Imagine you are a sentry patrolling in Afghanistan. There is an explosion and a group of people run towards you. One is a man carrying a gun. The others are frightened women with young children. Are they all running for safety? Is ther... Read More »
Walk the line
Imagine a world where we could correct climate change with a scientific procedure; we could fight cancer using nanoparticles to target malignant cells; we could comfortably feed our growing population with disease and drought resistant crops; we c... Read More »
Leave the Short Term at the Door
It was a daunting gathering: one of the most senior economic ministers of China, former Presidents of the European Central Bank and the UK's Royal Society, India's inspiring techno-entrepreneur behind its Unique Identification project, for... Read More »
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A new era for food
The modern era has been plagued with acute pessimism around our ability to feed our world sustainably. Here is a sprint through some of the future challenges and opportunities we face. Calling the situation complex would be an understatement. ... Read More »
Mass Demonstrations – a new challenge for humanitarian action?
If humanitarian agencies have been preoccupied with intra-state wars in the last twenty-five years, might they now have to refocus and respond to humanitarian needs around mass demonstrations? The rise in mass protests against dictators, mining co... Read More »
Geoengineering Research: Walking on thin ice
Calls for geoengineering research in the open environment must be resisted until we have adequate governance in place. We are walking on thin ice – physically and metaphorically. This year the extent of arctic sea ice minimum has been sh... Read More »
War and computers: autonomy, responsibility and modern targeting systems
In 2012, the German car maker Audi ran an advert in a number of British newspapers. The new Audi A6 model, the advert tells us, can make up to two thousand decisions in a second. Fortunately, however, potential buyers, the advert reassures its rea... Read More »
- Adam Stones
- Alexander Leveringhaus
- Alison Stibbe
- Andrew Pontzen
- Caspar Henderson
- Clare Heywood
- David Rodin
- Devi Sridhar
- Eric Beinhocker
- Gilles Giacca
- Gillian Petrokofsky
- Guy Houlsby
- Hein de Haas
- Hugo Slim
- Ian Goldin
- James Marrow
- Javier Lezaun
- Jennifer Welsh
- Julia Banfield
- Julian Savulescu
- Justin Bishop
- Kazem Rahimi
- Lucy Crittenden
- Maria Villares Varela
- Marian Dawkins
- Mathias Czaika
- Megan Lynagh
- Myles Allen
- Natalie Day
- Nigel Moore
- Oliver Bakewell
- Peter Taylor
- Phil Renforth
- Quentin Sattentau
- Rafaela Hillerbrand
- Richard Branson
- Richard Reschen
- Richard Willden
- Serena Sharma
- Sophie Hackford
- Steve Rayner
- Stuart Armstrong
- Sunetra Gupta
- Susan Curran
- Takafumi Nishino
- Tim Kruger
- Toby Ord
- Tom Aubrey-Fletcher