Past

Events

Recent Events

December

'In Trump's world, is there room for multilateralism?' with Lord Malloch-Brown

4th December 2025: 5:00pm   Registration Required   Live Stream
Oxford Martin School & Online

The last year has been marked by a dramatic turn away from multilateral cooperation towards the assertion of national interest. Many attribute this directly to the re-election of President Trump, and while he is the most prominent spokesman and catalyst for this change, the talk will trace how the US move away from multilateral cooperation began much earlier. This shift is also not limited to the US, as other countries also focus on the promotion of national interest over international solidarity.

'Integrating epilepsy into maternal health systems: lessons from Nepal and global insights' with Deepesha Silpakar

1st December 2025: 5:00pm   Registration Required   Live Stream
Oxford Martin School & Online

Epilepsy affects over 50 million people worldwide, yet women of reproductive age, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, continue to face multiple barriers to care during pregnancy. In Nepal, these challenges highlight the urgent need to integrate epilepsy into maternal and reproductive health systems to ensure safer pregnancies and better long-term outcomes.

November

Kim Darroch & Kathy Harvey in conversation: 'Navigating the chaos: Trump, Putin, the rise of populism and the end of the rules-based international order'

26th November 2025: 5:00pm   Registration Required   Live Stream
Oxford Martin School & Online

Kathy Harvey will be in conversation with Kim Darroch, former British Ambassador to the European Union, National Security Adviser and Ambassador to the United States, about the new disorder and its consequences for governments and businesses.

‘Globalisation, global change and emerging infectious diseases’ with Prof John Drake

18th November 2025: 5:00pm   Registration Required   Live Stream
Oxford Martin School & Online

In this Pandemic Sciences Institute & Oxford Martin School talk, Professor Drake will trace the historical record of major 20th and 21st Century pandemics, highlighting how global forces such as economic integration, urbanisation and climate disruption shape the emergence and spread of novel pathogens.

James Martin Memorial Lecture: 'Environment, health, society and economics in the new era of geopolitics' with Lord Hague

12th November 2025: 5:00pm   Registration Required   Live Stream
The Sheldonian Theatre and Online

We welcome the Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Lord Hague, who will give this year's James Martin Memorial Lecture on the occasion of the School's 20th anniversary.

Panel Discussion: 'The nature of post-Western order' with Prof Amitav Acharya

10th November 2025: 5:00pm   Registration Required   Live Stream
Oxford Martin School & Online

Join us for a roundtable discussion with Professor Amitav Acharya, Professor Faisal Devji, and Professor Andrew Hurrell, chaired by Professor Louise Fawcett.

Book talk - 'Portals to a New Reality' with Prof Vlatko Vedral

6th November 2025: 5:00pm   Registration Required   Live Stream
Oxford Martin School & Online

In his new book 'Portals to a New Reality', Prof Vlatko Vedral argues that we are on the brink of a new revolution in physics. In this talk, he will describe a number of key thought experiments that test the foundations of physics, namely the interface between quantum physics and general relativity.

'The energy transition: too little/too late or a new hope?' with Alan Haywood

5th November 2025: 5:00pm   Registration Required   Live Stream
Oxford Martin School & Online

With the impacts of climate change becoming ever more evident and challenging – can we “transition away from fossil fuels”, and create a new energy system which meets the many and divergent needs of the global population?

October

Book talk - 'Roadkill: Unveiling The True Cost Of Our Toxic Relationship With Cars' with Prof Henrietta Moore and Arthur Kay

30th October 2025: 5:00pm   Registration Required   Live Stream
Oxford Martin School & Online

Join Professor Dame Henrietta L. Moore and Arthur Kay for a provocative discussion on how our dependence on cars has shaped not only our cities and infrastructure, but our economies, health, and freedoms. Based on the ideas explored in their new work, this talk will interrogate the hidden costs of car-centric development and propose bold, systems-level alternatives to rethink how we move, live, and thrive in a climate-constrained world.

'Feeding the world while preserving earth's liveability: the biofuel barrier' with Prof David Tilman

22nd October 2025: 5:00pm   Registration Required   Live Stream
Oxford Martin School & Online

The two fastest-growing global uses of food crops are their conversion into biofuels and their use as livestock feeds. These trends are accelerating the risks of species extinctions, of agriculturally-driven climate change, and of agricultural water and air pollution. Biofuel production from food crops also directly decreases the availability of food for the world’s 700 million malnourished people, and may cause further harm to the world’s poor by impacting food prices.

Book talk - 'How Progress Ends: Technology, Innovation, And The Fate Of Nations' with Prof Carl Benedikt Frey

15th October 2025: 5:00pm   Registration Required   Live Stream
Oxford Martin School & Online

In How Progress Ends, Carl Benedikt Frey challenges the conventional belief that economic and technological progress is inevitable. For most of human history, stagnation was the norm, and even today progress and prosperity in the world’s largest, most advanced economies—the United States and China—have fallen short of expectations. To appreciate why we cannot depend on any AI-fueled great leap forward, Frey offers a remarkable and fascinating journey across the globe, spanning the past 1,000 years, to explain why some societies flourish and others fail in the wake of rapid technological change.

'The calculus of calories: food environments and body weight regulation' with Dr Kevin Hall

1st October 2025: 5:00pm   Registration Required   Live Stream
Oxford Martin School & Online

Increased prevalence of obesity isn't due to a lack of willpower - body weight is biologically regulated in ways that make it difficult to lose weight and keep it off.

June

Book talk - 'How To Think About AI: A Guide For The Perplexed' with Prof Richard Susskind

16th June 2025: 5:00pm   Registration Required   Live Stream
Oxford Martin School & Online

In recent years, and certainly since the launch of ChatGPT, there has been massive public and professional interest in Artificial Intelligence. But people are confused about what AI is, what it can and cannot do, what is yet to come, and whether AI is good or bad for humanity and civilisation - whether it will provide solutions to mankind's major challenges or become our gravest existential threat. There is also confusion about how we should regulate AI and where we should draw moral boundaries on its use.

'The Blair black hole in global climate policy: international trade of zero-carbon goods' with Prof Ross Garnaut

16th June 2025: 12:30pm   Registration Required   Live Stream
Oxford Martin School & Online

The Tony Blair Institute of Global Change recently published an article asserting that reducing emissions was difficult and would fail unless we expanded use of technologies that are expensive and a challenge to living standards. This is reminiscent of nineteenth century economist William Stanley Jevons’ in “The Coal Question”, warning of the limits that finite coal resources placed on British prosperity. The hole in both visions is the absence of international trade.

'Time to reset : ending the self-deception in Africa-Europe relations' with Prof Carlos Lopes

12th June 2025: 5:00pm   Registration Required   Live Stream
Oxford Martin School & Online

The illusions that have long defined Africa-Europe relations are not just outdated—they are, Professor Carlos Lopes argues, actively harmful. As Africa repositions itself within a rapidly changing global order, clinging to legacy narratives only deepens inequality and missed opportunities.