Date: Wednesday 14th May 2008, 9.30-3.30pm

Venue: Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), Whitehall, London SW1A 2ET

Confirmed speakers include:

• Boris Nemtsov, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Russia
• Ed Lucas, The Economist and Author of 'The New Cold War: How the Kremlin Menaces Both Russia and the West'
• David Clark, Chair, The Russia Foundation
• Akhmed Zakaev, Prime Minister, Resistance Government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
• Tony Wood, Writer & Author
• Andrei Piontkovsky, Executive Director, Centre for Strategic Studies, Moscow

Taking place only days after Dimitry Medvedev formally takes over as President of the Russia Federation, this Chechnya Peace Forum and Foreign Policy Centre event will focus on what is happening in Russia today. Please see the invitation below for further details of speakers and a draft programme for the day. A confirmed programme will be issued to registrants ahead of the event. A buffet lunch will be provided.

If you would like to attend, please RSVP to Geoff Duggan on tel: 020 7149 3705 or email your acceptance to: info@chechnyapeaceforum.com. Please include your name and organisation, as well as your contact details.

• Download the invitation

Edited by Alan Johnson

Price: £9.95 + £2 p&p (UK) / US$45.00 (overseas)

This book brings together a series of conversations about the dilemmas of progressive foreign policy after 9/11. Democratiya editor Alan Johnson talks to Jean Bethke Elshtain, Martin Shaw, Kanan Makiya, Paul Berman, David Held, Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Ladan Boroumand, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Joshua Muravchik and Mary Kaldor.

Alan Johnson is founder and editor of Democratiya, and Professor of Democratic Theory and Practice at Edge Hill University. He is the co-author of the Euston Manifesto, a founder member of Labour Friends of Iraq, and an advisory editor of Engage Journal. He is the co-editor of Leadership and Social Movements and the co-author (with Abdullah Muhsin) of Hadi Never Died: Hadi Saleh and the Iraqi Trade Unions.

To order:

Send a cheque for £11.95 (for UK orders) made payable to 'The Foreign Policy Centre' or an international money order for US$45 (for overseas orders) to: The Foreign Policy Centre (Book Orders), Suite 14, 2nd Floor, 23-28 Penn Street, London N1 5DL, UK. Make clear you are ordering 'Global Politics After 9/11' and include your full postal address.

• Order Online using Paypal (via Democratiya)
• Download The Democratiya Interviews (1.36 megabyte PDF)

For more information about events recently hosted or co-hosted by the Foreign Policy Centre, please see below and our Events page at: www.fpc.org.uk/events

In association with Coca-Cola Great Britain

Date: Wednesday 7th May 2008, 3-5pm

Speakers:

•Salvatore Gabola, Director of Global Stakeholder Relations, The Coca-Cola Company

•Liza Lort-Phillips, Associate Director, Corporate Citizenship

•Graham Baxter, Director,Responsible Business Solutions International Business Leaders Forum(IBLF)

•Sumi Dhanarajan, Co-head,Private Sector Team, Policy Department Oxfam

The Foreign Policy Centre, in association with Coca-Cola Great Britain, presented the third seminar in the 'CSR in Emerging Markets' series on Wed 7 May at Portcullis House. The seminar examined CSR in emerging markets with a focus on marketplace practices, including issues such as consumer relations, ethical trade and responsible investment, and wealth creation. The speakers explored these themes from both business and civil society perspectives.

This event was held in association with Coca-Cola Great Britain

Date: Thursday 8 May, 4.00-6.00pm

Keynote Speaker: Hon Dimeji Bankole, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Federal Republic of Nigeria

Discussant: Femi Longe, Co-founder, Africa++ (a network that helps people in the diaspora connect with Africa's development)

Chair: Hugh Bayley MP, Member of the International Development Select Committee and Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group on Africa

In a public lecture hosted by the Foreign Policy Centre in partnership with the African Foundation for Development (AFFORD), the Hon Dimeji Bankole, Speaker of the House of Representatives, explored the future of governance and democracy promotion in Nigeria.

While Nigeria is Africa's most populous country, it is by far the continent's largest fledgling democracy. The 2007 presidential and legislative elections were widely perceived to be the most flawed in the country's history. Initially, when President Umaru Yar'Adua was nominated by his predecessor, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, there was much speculation that Obasanjo intended to retain the reins of power using the somewhat anonymous governor of Katsina State as an instrument to advance his own political agenda. Today however, Yar'Adua is increasingly regarded as an enthusiastic supporter of 'better government' as a vehicle for tackling the structural constraints that are impeding Nigeria's development, such as the chronic power crisis.

Questions that were explored during this event included: Is President Yar'Adua simply seeking to build his own legitimacy? Can the Nigerian National Assembly effectively shape legislation and adequately monitor and challenge the executive on behalf of the Nigerian people? Is the Nigerian government being distracted from the business of pursuing an ambitious reform agenda? Does democracy have a future in the Nigerian political power struggle?