一直以来，人们都认為现代科技只能从西方传播到东方。然而，这次曼彻斯特中国研究院举办的圆桌论坛将目光聚集在了摩拜单车进驻英国的经歷上，该活动聚集了各界精英学者和权威人士在曼彻斯特大学一起讨论&濒诲辩耻辞;中国创新&谤诲辩耻辞;的话题。

早在2001年，曼彻斯特大学经济学名誉教授吉姆&尘颈诲诲辞迟;奥尼尔阁下首次提出&濒诲辩耻辞;金砖四国BRIC&谤诲辩耻辞;理论，预测巴西、俄罗斯、印度和中国将成為未来经济强国。 2015年，习近平主席访英开啟了中英关係的&濒诲辩耻辞;黄金时代&谤诲辩耻辞;，曼彻斯特与中国的联繫也愈发紧密、愈发频繁。

曼彻斯特大学最近成立的中国研究院，得到香港商人、慈善家和曼大名誉博士李啟鸿先生的慷慨捐赠，该研究院由李啟鸿博士和曼彻斯特大学校长南希爵士Dame Nancy Rothwell正式啟动。这笔捐赠将继续致力於促进英中两国关係发展，以及两国人民的相互理解，着重在世界领先的科学研究、社区拓展活动以及在曼彻斯特和中国的公开讲座上。与此同时，该笔捐赠还将在全英最大的大学博物馆&尘诲补蝉丑;&尘诲补蝉丑;曼彻斯特博物馆内建立一个全新的&濒诲辩耻辞;李啟鸿中国文化长廊&谤诲辩耻辞;，展出古代青铜雕塑、玉雕以及丝织品等文物。

曼彻斯特中国研究院院长、曼彻斯特大学中国政治专业教授Peter Gries葛小伟表示：&濒诲辩耻辞;感谢李啟鸿博士的慷慨捐赠与他的远见，让曼彻斯特中国研究院能够将英中双方的学者、公司、政府与民眾聚集在一起，充分发挥英中双边关係的潜力。此项捐赠也将会把曼彻斯特推向中国研究的最前沿。&谤诲辩耻辞;

&濒诲辩耻辞;将摩拜单车作為我们第一次圆桌论坛的主题是具有代表意义的，它很好地展示了中国人民和英国人民是如何共同合作，并带来显着效益的。&谤诲辩耻辞;

圆桌会议由曼彻斯特大学商学院科学与技术政策管理高级讲师Andrew James博士主持，活动还邀请到了摩拜单车欧洲区发展总监Steve Pyer，曼彻斯特英中协会执行董事Rhys Whalley，以及曼彻斯特大学商学院银行业高级讲师、社会责任与参与专业负责人Ismail Ertürk。

活动参与者还欣赏了由曼大教授、诺贝尔奖获得者－诺沃肖洛爵士受中国与石墨烯啟发创作的中国水彩画展。

曼彻斯特大学校长南希爵士还表示：&濒诲辩耻辞;摩拜单车进驻曼彻斯特、曼彻斯特中国研究院的建立都是这座城市以及大学和中国联繫不断加强的一系列成果之一。2015年，我们在大学校园接待了习近平主席，今年年初我与英国首相特蕾莎&尘颈诲诲辞迟;梅访华团一起前往中国，这不仅彰显了曼彻斯特大学在研究和创新领域的全球领导地位，还认同了曼彻斯特大学在英中关係中发挥的长期作用。曼彻斯特中国研究院的开啟标誌着曼彻斯特与中国的关係进入了一个全新的阶段。&谤诲辩耻辞;

早在2001年，曼彻斯特大学经济学名誉教授吉姆&尘颈诲诲辞迟;奥尼尔阁下首次提出&濒诲辩耻辞;金砖四国叠搁滨颁&谤诲辩耻辞;理论，预测巴西、俄罗斯、印度和中国将成为未来经济强国。2015年，习近平主席访英开启了中英关系的&濒诲辩耻辞;黄金时代&谤诲辩耻辞;，曼彻斯特与中国的联系也愈发紧密、愈发频繁。

曼彻斯特大学最近成立的中国研究院，得到香港商人、慈善家和曼大名誉博士李启鸿先生的慷慨捐赠，该研究院由李启鸿博士和曼彻斯特大学校长南希爵士Dame Nancy Rothwell正式启动。这笔捐赠将继续致力于促进英中两国关系发展，以及两国人民的相互理解，着重在世界领先的科学研究、社区拓展活动以及在曼彻斯特和中国的公开讲座上。与此同时，该笔捐赠还将在全英最大的大学博物馆——曼彻斯特博物馆内建立一个全新的“李启鸿中国文化长廊”，展出古代青铜雕塑、玉雕以及丝织品等文物。

曼彻斯特中国研究院院长、曼彻斯特大学中国政治专业教授Peter Gries葛小伟表示：“感谢李启鸿博士的慷慨捐赠与他的远见，让曼彻斯特中国研究院能够将英中双方的学者、公司、政府与民众聚集在一起，充分发挥英中双边关系的潜力。此项捐赠也将会把曼彻斯特推向中国研究的最前沿。”

&濒诲辩耻辞;将摩拜单车作为我们第一次圆桌论坛的主题是具有代表意义的，它很好地展示了中国人民和英国人民是如何共同合作，并带来显着效益的。&谤诲辩耻辞;

圆桌会议由曼彻斯特大学商学院科学与技术政策管理高级讲师Andrew James博士主持，活动还邀请到了摩拜单车欧洲区发展总监Steve Pyer，曼彻斯特英中协会执行董事Rhys Whalley，以及曼彻斯特大学商学院银行业高级讲师、社会责任与参与专业负责人Ismail Ertürk。

活动参与者还欣赏了由曼大教授、诺贝尔奖获得者－诺沃肖洛爵士受中国与石墨烯启发创作的中国水彩画展。

曼彻斯特大学校长南希爵士还表示：&濒诲辩耻辞;摩拜单车进驻曼彻斯特、曼彻斯特中国研究院的建立都是这座城市以及大学和中国联系不断加强的一系列成果之一。2015年，我们在大学校园接待了习近平主席，今年年初我与英国首相特蕾莎&尘颈诲诲辞迟;梅访华团一起前往中国，这不仅彰显了曼彻斯特大学在研究和创新领域的全球领导地位，还认同了曼彻斯特大学在英中关系中发挥的长期作用。曼彻斯特中国研究院的开启标志着曼彻斯特与中国的关系进入了一个全新的阶段。&谤诲辩耻辞;

, and ,

Unusually for a large UN climate conference, the didn’t finish with any late-night haggling. Progress, in the form of various commitments and pledges, is best described as .

Ahead of the conference, we made five suggestions of . They were: ditch fossil fuels entirely, pledge more aggressive emissions cuts, a big increase in climate funds for developing countries, rapid agreement on rules for implementing the Paris Agreement and that “fantasy technologies” that take carbon out of the atmosphere would be exposed as wishful thinking.

We’ll look at how the conference did against our five proposed metrics, discuss “what next” for the UN’s climate process ahead of next year’s meeting, and then suggest five other things to keep a climate-related eye on.

1. Enough with the oil, coal and gas already

Well, there was fun news when the sole US event saw an executive from coal giant Peabody argue for “clean coal”. The audience and many then walked out.

The major headline was the launch of the “, led by the UK and Canada, with pledges by Mexico, New Zealand, Denmark and Angola, among others – 20 countries in all. This alliance pledged to phase out all coal-fired electricity (except that with Carbon Capture and Storage), although without a clear target date. Sceptics rightly point out that and will continue to burn other fossil fuels.

This last point stuck in the craw of Friends of the Earth UK, who pointed out that the UK is simultaneously giving the green light to fracking, a whole new fossil fuel industry which, despite the gas industry’s claims, is .

2. Sharpen the teeth of the pledges

Didn’t happen (that sound is the authors sighing smugly but wearily). The issue “flared up”, and was defused with a promise of a .

3. Show us the money

Also didn’t happen. Indeed, climate finance caused such conflict that things and cause the talks to collapse entirely. The poorer countries wanted to know what they will get and when (to help with planning). According to a Guardian report, the richer countries professed that they were .

4. Clarify the rules

This also didn’t happen (there’s a pattern emerging, no?). There is now what characterises as a

skeleton: a set of headings relating to how action on emissions is reported and monitored. Nations have also fleshed this out with suggested detailed texts, but these are often contradictory and will need to be resolved next year.

There will now be to make sure the Paris rule book gets finished on time.

5. Fantasy technologies are exposed as delusions

Nope. While the Powering Past Coal people pledged, were held over a three-day period. Meanwhile other issues, such as oceans, adaptation, and loss and damage have “.

Can the world really power past coal? Rudmer Zwerver / shutterstock

What next?

Everyone has their own opinions on , in the lead up to COP24 in Poland.

There will be the “Talanoa dialogue” – named after a traditional word used in Fiji and the Pacific to reflect a – around how everyone is doing on their long-term commitments. Meanwhile, next September will see the launch of an on what would need to be done to limit global warming to 1.5℃ (hint: change some laws – primarily laws of physics).

Five things to watch for in the coming year

But there is life beyond the official UNFCCC process. Here are five things to watch for:

a) Will US states and cities put their money where their mouths are? As part of “”, 20 US states, more than 50 of its largest cities and more than 60 of its biggest businesses . If this materialises, it could negate Trump’s “fossil fuels forever” strategy.

b) What happens with the EU? The German chancellor, Angela Merkel – criticised by George Monbiot as “” due to a series of industry-friendly interventions – has to reform the much-criticised EU Emissions Trading Scheme. At the same time, European strategy may be compromised – not only by Brexit, but by the vacuum of a of German leadership. Meanwhile, will the score big wins?

c) China (of course) The Chinese didn’t make on their own emissions trading scheme at Bonn, but . Meanwhile, an is pushing for no new coal plants to be approved, alongside a . China, it seems, is .

d) Coal’s death spiral With encouragement from , more from coal, , with renewables increasing their market share (from a very low baseline). The announcements from the Powering Past Coal Alliance might help nudge this further.

e) Physical impacts Emissions , after a reported plateau. The Arctic faster than , and the .

So we can no doubt expect to see more articles which ask how we can make the most of things if indeed “” to save the world from climate change.

, PhD Candidate, Sustainable Consumption Institute, and , Professor of International Politics,

This article was originally published on . Read the .

The decision of former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond to front a weekly political chat show on Russian international channel RT has been across the British political and media mainstream. Why would a prominent Western politician risk his reputation by colluding with what many believe to be an propaganda instrument of the Kremlin?

RT’s interest in Salmond is easy enough to fathom. The channel has been sympathetic to Scottish independence, of which Salmond remains a leading proponent. You might expect Putin to back anything that undermines the UK, of course. Hence Sputnik, another state-owned Russian news outlet, an Edinburgh office.

Arguably, RT is more focused on the UK after to register as a foreign agent. The Alex Salmond Show was unveiled soon after , which is a means of extending reach ahead of Russia’s World Cup next year. RT also seems to have a following in Scotland, with pro-independence youth making up a significant proportion of its Twitter followers.

Editorial power

Salmond has been guaranteed full editorial independence, making the show with his own company and not in-house at RT. He he has appeared on RT several times and was once very critical of Russia’s actions in Syria. RT often publicises the full independence it grants star presenters, as a point of difference with the likes of the BBC. is another example and is made by the host’s production company.

The channel formerly known as Russia Today has definitely evolved since its 2005 launch, partly in response to worsening relations between Russia and the West. Having launched to project a positive Russia to the world, it morphed into the channel of choice for those hostile to perceived US hegemony, then became a propaganda weapon for the Russian state in the “information war” that following the 2014 Ukraine crisis.

On the whole, however, RT is a mixed bag. It has broadcast some crude, misleading – and – material as news. Some shows are so biased as to be an affront to the intellect. Yet other stories really do provide alternative perspectives on important events. RT’s Yemen coverage has been impressive, for example, while large parts of the Western media have turned a blind eye to the conflict.

It is therefore simplistic to characterise RT merely as a tool of Kremlin propaganda, with chief executive Margarita Simonyan dutifully carrying out endless instructions from Vladimir Putin. For one thing, Kremlin narratives must be made suitable for the foreign environments in which RT operates. This means ignoring some Kremlin positions and even contradicting others – RT’s of gay culture during the Sochi Olympics was a case in point.

Presenters such as Oksana Boiko, Larry King and George Galloway have strong independent personalities and are never going to be state operatives. Others, including and Martyn Andrews, have been unafraid to contradict Putin in the past (though in 2015). The further from senior management, the more likely it is that the “Kremlin narrative” will be transformed.

Donald Trump on Larry King’s show. RT

Meanwhile, a earlier this year was probably wrong to conflate RT’s output with the “hackers”, “trolls” and “bots” who interfered in US and French elections (the Western media their impact in any case). The report’s credibility was undermined by drawing on material from 2009.

Western drift

So you need a of RT to make sense of why someone like Salmond would work with it. Salmond’s show is a marriage of convenience between two opportunistic agents. It is also an indication of how the ideological landscape has reconfigured over the past two decades – as Western power ebbs to China. Brexit may be the dying gasp of Great Britain, clinging to its image as an imperial power capable of thriving alone; meanwhile, the rise of Scottish nationalism merely confirms the danger of the UK fragmenting.

It should also be said that Putin’s paranoid aggression on the international stage is Russia’s own version of the last imperial gasp. In this sense, the alliance of Salmond and RT is entirely logical: two antagonists seeking to dismantle the British state for different reasons.

The outrage in the UK at RT’s opportunism overlooks the growing global market for alternative output created by worldwide : the growing hostility in many parts of the world to Western superiority, to journalistic objectivity and impartiality, to parliamentary democracy, to Western capitalist monopolies.

Salmond, having exhibited open contempt for of the BBC and the London establishment against Scottish nationalism in the past, is clearly confident his RT show will not be met with the same outrage throughout Scotland – albeit current first minister Nicola Sturgeon a different view. All the same, imagine how far removed attitudes are likely to be in Latin America or India or the Middle East.

In the end, Salmond’s initiative is a gamble. Whether British politicians should appear on RT cannot be answered simply. It’s one thing to appear on Worlds Apart, where Boiko conducts interviews in an open and often vicious debate. It’s quite another to appear on RT “flagship show” Cross-Talk, where real debate is usually a pretence and Putin’s critics are outnumbered by his supporters.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and the many other politicians from mainstream British political parties who have appeared on RT presumably consider that the importance of the issues they are appearing to talk about outweigh the risks of being seen to legitimise Putin. Equally, for others, the particular means that is RT will never justify such an end.

Salmond has in the past proved an astute reader of the political runes. RT represents for him a platform for indulging his career and promoting the causes he believes in.

It is therefore premature to conclude that Salmond’s latest venture marks his decline into irrelevance and disrepute. What it means for RT, and for the so-called information war is rather less clear – and perhaps still more intriguing.

, Professor Of Russian Studies, and , Sir William Mather Professor of Russian Studies,

This article was originally published on . Read the .

During the early years of the Cold War, the Soviet Union made a great push to reach out to the developing world, and particularly to the Middle East and Asia. It established particularly close ties with Nasser’s Egypt and later with Syria, but didn’t do so well with others; the Chinese leadership in particular whether the USSR really empathised with the Global South and its anti-colonial struggle. Russia, it argued, was essentially a former colonial power, or at the very least a white European country incapable of understanding the developing world’s problems.

Moscow duly tried to prove the opposite by cultivating its own “eastern” identity. It sent its “easterners” on conspicuous missions abroad: Armenians and Azerbaijanis worked in solidarity committees and friendship societies, while Uzbeks and Tajiks served as ambassadors in the Middle East or played a key role as soldiers during the invasion of Afghanistan.

These plans to win over Middle Eastern and Asian allies were rendered moot when the USSR crumbled. But today, Russia’s push to claim an eastern identity seems to be underway once again – and nowhere more so than in Syria.

As media attention has shifted to efforts to oust the so-called Islamic State from its Syrian stronghold, Raqqa, the Syrian regime is struggling to govern the areas of Syria it has recaptured with the help of Russia and other backers. Particularly troublesome is Aleppo, the country’s largest city and former business hub, which was brought back under Damascus’s full control in December 2016. Enter Russia, whose help has already turned the tide in the Syrian regimes’s favour.

Russian military police are now helping to beef up security in Aleppo and other areas. They are drawn in part from the Russian Northern Caucasus, in particular from the predominantly Muslim republics of Chechnya and Ingushetia. In December 2016, a Chechen battalion was to Aleppo, returning from its tour in March 2017; in February 2017, sent a group of soldiers to provide security to Russian military facilities. Finally, in April, another detachment of Chechen troops boarded a plane to Syria, deemed to stay there .

To listen to the state-backed media, this would seem like proof that Russia’s “eastern” identity is as self-assured as ever. Outlets such as RT stress that these military policemen are particularly welcomed in Syria, where they are supposedly greeted as fellow Sunni Muslims, while claim that they can more easily empathise and communicate with the local community.

While there might be some truth to these claims, there are rather “harder” interests behind Russia’s Syrian strategy – both on the side of the federal government in Moscow and on the side of the Caucasian republics involved.

Quid pro quo

The Syrian conflict is not overly popular in Russia. Ever since Russian troops directly intervened, at home has been huge, with every effort made to portray the intervention as a humanitarian and anti-terrorist mission. But at best, the Russian public is largely uninterested – and apathy could quickly sour into outright opposition if a significant number of Russian lives were lost on the ground.

Sending military forces from the peripheral republics minimises this risk. Most Russians see the republics and their populations as a huge social, political, and economic burden; if Chechen or Ingush lives were lost, this would hardly have an effect on public opinion in Moscow or St. Petersburg.

The republics also have something special to offer: experienced troops who have operated before in theatres characterised by terrorist threats and are particularly well prepared for the Syrian arena. On top of this, as political scientist Aleksey Makarkin told Russian business channel , both Chechnya and Ingushetia are desperate to attract and keep Russia’s attention. Being among the poorest republics, they badly need central government support, especially since the Kremlin has increasingly .

But there’s something else going on, too – and Chechnya in particular has specific interests in mind.

Playing it safe

As Russian newspaper reported, it seems the Chechen government’s military strategy includes an element of retribution: the soldiers it’s sending to the Middle East to join the pro-regime effort are drawn from families who have already seen a member leave to fight on the other side.

One military commander seemed to back this up in an ambiguous TV interview: while highlighting the and multi-faith identity of his troops, he also stressed that they were sent to Syria to .

In effect, the republic has its own small foreign policy, and so long as it sticks mostly to Moscow’s line, both parties have something to gain: Russia can use Chechnya’s semi-independent operations to open a second to the wider Middle East, while Chechnya can strengthen its position vis-a-vis the central government and Middle Eastern countries, and its status among disdainful Russians. In one recent PR stunt, Chechen diplomacy helped to a Russian girl held by Turkish authorities after she attempted to cross into Syria.

Whether all this will pay off for Russia, its republics, and Syria remains to be seen. While Russian military police might have strengthened security for now, Aleppo is still under the sway of various militias and paramilitaries, who’ve filled the void left by regular armed forces when they moved on to Syria’s other front lines. The Damascus government is to crack down on these groups, but they remain a problem.

The Russian discourse around these police missions bears a remarkable resemblance to the Soviet Union’s approach to the Middle East, including its exploitation of Soviet Muslims to pursue its goals there. As in the past, rather than an exuberant embrace of an eastern identity, this is a political manoeuvre.

In contrast to Soviet times, however, the republics are pursuing their own agendas much more openly, especially Chechnya, which genuinely fosters a Muslim identity under the leadership of . Still, for Russia as a whole and for Chechnya in particular, what looks like a geopolitical play for other countries’ sympathies or mere identity politics is in fact a matter of dicey domestic considerations.

, Visiting scholar in Russian Studies,

This article was originally published on . Read the .

A recent University of Manchester graduate is dealing with the challenges posed by the influx of refugees and migrants into Europe by helping countries ensure they have adequate supplies.

The University of Manchester, The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders/ MSF) will come together to discuss attacks on medical facilities in conflict zones.

The humanitarian summit follows attacks on hospitals in Syria and Yemen and the USA admission, last month, over the bombing of a facility in Kunduz, Afghanistan.

A debate, entitled Aid Under Fire, will take place on Wednesday, November 11, from 5.30pm to 7.30pm at The University of Manchester.

The University’s Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) works with the ICRC and MSF, NGOs and government to rigorously research and influence humanitarian response and policy on a global scale. HCRI staff also work on the frontline of disaster response.

Professor Bertrand Taithe, Executive Director of the HCRI at The University of Manchester, said: “Whether tactical or strategic the destruction of a hospital is undoubtedly in violation of the Geneva Convention and can be classified as a war crime. It is the oldest war crime in the book.

“Humanitarian aid is under fire. The recent bombings of hospitals in Syria and Yemen and the US admission over Kunduz, in Afghanistan, bring a renewed urgency to the need to address this problem on a global scale. The University of Manchester will host the only meeting in the UK of these vitally important organisations to discuss this pressing topic in the hope of shaping a response.”  

The following people will take part in the debate:

• Prof Bertrand Taithe, HCRI Executive Director
• Bruno Jochum, Médecins Sans Frontières
• Markus Geisser, International Committee of the Red Cross
• Dr Rony Brauman, MSF President 1982-1994, HCRI Director
• Martin Browne, Associate Researcher 91直播 International Law Centre

To arrange an interview with one of the speakers, journalists should contact the Media Relations Team. Members of the public can attend to register via .

As each day brings a new dimension to Europe’s catastrophic refugee crisis, The University of Manchester is able to offer considerable expert analysis on the crisis and the international community’s reaction to it.

The speakers below are experienced communicators, well used to providing quick and accessible commentary, explanation and opinion to the public. They cover various aspects of the crisis including migration, asylum, immigration, international development, international law and politics.

Experts on migration, asylum and immigration

• Dr Jonathan Darling is a Senior Lecturer in Human Geography who can offer expert views on European migration and asylum, managing the migrant crisis in Calais, and possible solutions to the crisis that address the wider issue of refugee resettlement in Europe.
  jonathan.darling@manchester.ac.uk
• Professor Alice Bloch is an expert on undocumented migration, asylum policy and integration. She has done research exploring barriers to the labour market for refugees in Britain and exploring the lives and experiences of young undocumented migrants in England. She is also able to talk about what motivates undocumented migration, migrant routes into the UK and survival strategies in an increasingly punitive environment. alice.bloch@manchester.ac.uk
• Dr Bridget Byrne is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology interested in race and ethnicity in Britain and migration and citizenship. Her book Making Citizens: public rituals and personal journeys to citizenship was published in 2014.
  bridget.byrne@manchester.ac.uk

International development experts

• Mukesh Kapila, CBE, is a Professor of global health and humanitarian affairs. After a career in medicine and public health, Professor Kapila held senior roles with the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Overseas Development Administration and was a Special Adviser to the UN in Afghanistan and to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, before becoming the Head of the UN in Sudan. He is a veteran of humanitarian crises and ethnic cleansing in Iraq, Rwanda, Srebrenica, Afghanistan, Iraq and Sierra Leone.
  mukesh.kapila@manchester.ac.uk
• Dr Tanja Müller is a Senior Lecturer in International Development and one focus of her work is contemporary refugee populations and the quest for global citizenship. She can offer views on the European asylum system and possible political solutions to the current crisis; visual politics and media representations of asylum and migration issues; and wider geopolitical dynamics and the securitization of international development policies. She can also offer expertise on Eritrea, one of the countries in the limelight in the current crisis.
  Tanja.Mueller@manchester.ac.uk

Political experts

• Dr Rob Ford is a political sociologist with expertise in immigration, migration and refugee politics, voting behaviour and support for the extreme right. He’s one of the country’s leading experts on Ukip and a regular commentator in the media.
  rob.ford@manchester.ac.uk
• Dr Maria Sobolewska is a Senior Lecturer in Politics interested in the political integration of immigrants and representation of ethnic minorities in Britain, public perceptions of integration, and the production and framing of public opinion of British Muslims as well as the political parties' responses to diversity and immigration.
  maria.sobolewska@manchester.ac.uk
• Dr James Pattison is a Senior Lecturer in Politics who has written widely on humanitarian intervention, the responsibility to protect, and the ethics of war. His book, Humanitarian Intervention and the Responsibility to Protect: Who Should Intervene?, was published by Oxford University Press in 2010.
  james.pattison@manchester.ac.uk

International law

• Jean d'Aspremont is a Professor of International Law who is an expert on the use of force, collective security, statehood and democracy. He acted as counsel before the International Court of Justice and as an expert for constitutional bodies in Arab countries in transition following the Arab Spring.
  jean.daspremont@manchester.ac.uk
• Iain Scobbie is a Professor of International Law who has an interest in international humanitarian law, international adjudication, the role of the International Court of Justice, and the theory of international law.
  iain.scobbie@manchester.ac.uk.

From 14-16 September The University of Manchester’s Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute and Save the Children’s Humanitarian Affairs Team are hosting a conference officially associated to the World Humanitarian Summit. It is also formally linked to the International Humanitarian Studies Association.

The International Conference: A Quest for Humanitarian Effectiveness? will reflect on the evolution and consequence of existing approaches to understanding and improving humanitarian effectiveness.  It will contribute to reflections leading to the first World Humanitarian Summit (which will be held in Istanbul on 26 and 27 May 2016). The conference will build an academic and practitioner network and use and #effectiveness

The University of Manchester is strengthening its commitment to addressing global poverty and inequality by creating a dedicated research and teaching institute – the largest of its kind in Europe.

In early 2016 will unite the strengths of the current Institute for Development and Policy Management and the Brooks World Poverty Institute, building on more than 60 years of expertise in the field of development studies within the University.

The new Institute will play a major role in supporting the University’s and aims to create and share knowledge to inform and influence policy makers, organisations and corporations, so that they can make positive changes for people living in poverty. More than 45 academics and up to 100 PhD students will become part of the new Institute, driving progress towards addressing global inequalities, one of The University of Manchester’s five flagship research beacons. It will be jointly led by Professors Uma Kothari and David Hulme.

The Global Development Institute will focus on promoting social justice through its world-class, interdisciplinary research building on the University’s reputation for development studies, having been ranked 1st for impact and 2nd for quality in the , and 3rd overall in the QS World University Rankings.

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, the University’s President and Vice-Chancellor, said: “Tackling global poverty and inequality remains one of the most urgent challenges of our age. The Global Development Institute will spearhead our efforts to make a positive difference to many lives though our research and teaching.”  

“With just days to go before the UN meets in New York for the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals, our academics within this new Institute will be using their vast knowledge and experience to ensure they’re as effective as possible for people living in poverty.”

The University’s strong credentials in the international development arena can be traced back to the 1950s when it introduced courses in public administration for overseas students. Most of these were civil servants undertaking an eight month course, which encompassed development planning and administrative practice.

From the 1980s, there was a shift towards formal diplomas and master’s degrees and staff became active as consultants for a number of government and non-government agencies. In 1987, the department was re-established as the Institute for Development Policy and Management.

The Brooks World Poverty Institute was founded in 2006 with generous support from the Rory and Elizabeth Brooks Foundation. It was established as an international centre of excellence to create and share knowledge to combat poverty throughout the world.

This year Dr Brooks was awarded to the Brooks World Poverty Institute at The University of Manchester. The University is grateful for the Foundation’s on-going support for the Global Development Institute.

91直播 will present to the United Nations this week on its ground-breaking work to improve the lives of older people.

Dr Tine Buffel, of The University of Manchester, will join a panel at the UN in New York to present research around ageing in cities.

The University’s 91直播 Institute for Collaborative Research on Ageing (MICRA) has spearheaded a unique project in which older residents, aged between 58 and 74-years-old, were trained as co-researchers to work alongside sociologists exploring the ‘age-friendliness’ of cities.

Today Dr Buffel will present their work, delivered with partners across the city, as part of a three-day UN summit on protecting the human rights and dignity of older people.

Dr Buffel, a research fellow at MICRA at The University of Manchester, said: ‘The age-friendly approach is increasingly recognised as a model which promotes the right to a good old age. This is a fantastic opportunity to present 91直播’s innovative research and practice across the city council, the University and local communities to a global audience. Our experience is that training older people as co-researchers is effective in gaining a deeper understanding of the issues that older people themselves view as important. We want older people to feel that the city belongs to them as much as anyone else – and we believe the age-friendly approach is effective in doing this and can be replicated across neighbourhoods.

91直播 became the first UK city to be recognised as ‘age-friendly’ by the World Health Organisation in 2010. University of Manchester researchers predict that in 15 years time, a quarter of the world’s population living in cities will be over-60.

Notes for editors

Dr Buffel will present at 3pm local time in New York.

Find more details about MICRA’s work on age friendly cities and a link to a short (1.24min) video here:

Media enquiries to:

Deborah Linton
Media Relations Officer
Faculty of Humanities
The University of Manchester
Email: deborah.linton@manchester.ac.uk
Tel: 0161 275 8257, 07789 948 783

"The nuclear deal between Iran and the 5+1 group is a historic moment for the Islamic Republic. Its leaders have chosen constructive engagement with the West over additional autarky emerging from further expansion of the Iranian nuclear programme.

“The deal struck in Vienna marks a return to the spirit of 1988, when many of the figures involved in the present negotiations decided, despite much internal opposition, to bring the war against Iraq to an end and accept the UN Resolution 598. International mediation has once again been successful to deliver détente between Iran and the West, with major benefits, particularly economic, for both."

Notes for editors

Dr Randjbar-Daemi is available for interview and can be contacted on 07983 021014. View his bio .

Media enquiries to:

Kath Paddison
Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 275 0790
Mob: 07990 550050
Email: kath.paddison@manchester.ac.uk

Responding to today's agreement between Greece and the Eurozone, Professor Dimitris Papadimitriou, Professor of Politics at The University of Manchester and expert on Greek politics, said: 

"Today's agreement does not fully resolve all outstanding questions over Greece's long term future in the Eurozone, but does provide both sides time to hammer out a detailed blueprint for the next three years. The level of austerity imposed on Greece will create a political earthquake in Athens and the unity of the governing coalition will come under serious pressure. Greece is likely to experience a significant realignment of its party political landscape. 

"For the Eurozone itself this is a pivotal moment. German economic orthodoxy has come under criticism, but was not defeated. The abrasive tactics of the German finance minister are increasingly seen as a problem. On the other hand, the role of the French President has been instrumental in overcoming the impasse. The Commission President  has also raised his profile as an honest broker. What has become apparent during the past few months is that the rifts over the future direction of the Eurozone are likely to intensify".

Notes for editors

Professor Papadimitriou is available for interview. View his bio .

Media enquiries to:

Deborah Linton
Media Relations Officer
Faculty of Humanities
The University of Manchester
Email: deborah.linton@manchester.ac.uk
Tel: 07789 948 783 

And it seems they never really fell out of favour with political historians agreeing that petitioning goes as far back as ancient Egypt.

The latest research on this historic form of democracy will be put under the spotlight by some of the world’s leading experts at The University of Manchester next week (June 29/30). This is due to a growing academic interest in the history of petitioning and the rise of e-petitioning. 

The European symposium is being hosted by the Cultures of Politics Research Group based at the University and will unveil new research in the field including the important role it has in political mobilisation within local communities.

Among the speakers will be Dr Henry Miller who is a lecturer in Nineteenth-Century British History. He said: “The aim is for this research to contribute to current contemporary debates about political participation and disengagement.  During the symposium we will examine how ordinary people made use of petitions in the past – they are a universal phenomenon, used across countries and periods and by all groups of people.”

According to Dr Miller petitioning was central to many of the major political and social movements before democracy. He said: “When the UK Parliament abolished slavery in Britain’s Caribbean colonies in 1833, it was largely due to the pressure of petitions.

“Also the campaign for women’s suffrage was initiated in Britain by a petition in 1866 and the 1848 French Revolution was sparked by an attempt to present a petition in the legislature.”

The ‘golden age’ of petitioning in the UK was the 19th century, when thousands of petitions, containing millions of signatures, were sent to the House of Commons every year.

“Petitioning really took off in the medieval period”, said Dr Miller, “and by the time of the English Civil War in the 1640s, it was firmly established.

“Petitions could be about anything, and were often about mundane local or individual grievances. But they could also be about issues of national and international importance, such as the economy, peace and war, democratic reforms, religion, and social policy.”

Dr Miller continued: “The interesting thing is that despite the lack of success that often occasioned petitions, people still petitioned. This was because petitioning had other advantages: it encouraged political participation and mobilisation through public meetings and put issues on the political agenda, even if authority resisted the petitioners’ demands.

“Whether successful or not, the evidence suggests that authorities often took petitions seriously and listened to them, even if they disagreed with the petitioners demands.”

The symposium is supported by The University of Manchester, 91直播 Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence and the Social History Society.

Notes for editors

Any journalists wishing to attend the Symposium or to arrange an interview should contact the Media Relations Office.

Media enquiries to:

Kath Paddison
Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 275 0790
Mob: 07990 550050
Email: kath.paddison@manchester.ac.uk

Since 1998, 26 June has become an occasion to commemorate the historic treaty, in which nations agreed to eradicate torture, investigate and punish perpetrators, and provide redress to victims.

Dr Emilie Combaz is an expert on the issue of torture and on the international fight against torture through activism, law and diplomacy. She is a political scientist with the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute at The University of Manchester.

Dr Combaz said: “Notable positive developments have taken place over the past 40 years, although torture and ill-treatment remain widely practised around the world today. We now have good evidence on what works against torture at national and international levels. Good laws are important but not enough. It is also essential to have real accountability, independent control over places where people are deprived of freedom, and policies that ensure respect for human integrity.”

During her work Dr Combaz has shown how international bodies, for example at the UN, have condemned cases of torture, stopped some ongoing abuse, and contributed to preventing torture altogether in a range of countries on all continents.

She said: “Victims can rebuild themselves after torture. Under international human rights law, States have an obligation to provide redress and reparation to victims. Listening to victims’ experiences is also important to understand why torture is so widely practiced.”

Dr Katia Chornik, from the University’s Music Department, is the first music scholar to investigate the relationships between music and torture in Chile under Pinochet (1973-1990). She has conducted ethnographic work with both victims and perpetrators of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment (CID) in some of the 1,132 centres for political detention established by the Pinochet regime.

Her research has revealed harrowing details of how Pinochet’s torturers used music to torment their victims. Dr Chornik said: “Pinochet’s system used music as a form and soundtrack to torture, to indoctrinate detainees and as a form of punishment.

“Tortured prisoners used music to cope with the reality of not knowing if they were going to live or die. Music brought prisoners together because it was a way to deal with their terrible suffering, to remember others who were executed or made disappear, and to record day-to-day living.”

Chile is one of several countries that have signed the UN Convention against Torture yet have still not updated their internal legislation in this respect. This, for Dr Chornik, is a major obstacle against the eradication of torture in Chile, including the use of music to inflict physical and psychological damage.

Dr Chornik has conceptualised, created and directed the online archive Cantos Cautivos [Captive Songs], of songs composed, performed and listened to in torture contexts in Chile. The project is a collaboration between Dr Chornik and the Chilean Museum of Memory and Human Rights, and can be accessed at www.cantoscautivos.cl (in Spanish only).

Notes for editors

Interviews are available upon request via the Media Relations Office.
 

Media enquiries to:

Kath Paddison
Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 275 0790
Mob: 07990 550050
Email: kath.paddison@manchester.ac.uk

The award-winning project which supports artists and communities living in sites of conflict around the globe, celebrated its tenth anniversary with a special evening in London hosted by Sandie Shaw, Martyn Ware (Heaven 17) and Professor James Thompson.

On the night there were performances from the Mercury Music Prize winners: Young Fathers + Jon McClure (Reverend and The Makers) and the UK godfather of hip-hop Rodney P and MC Fallacy.

In Place of War Co-director Ruth Daniel, said: “The event was an incredible success which really helped raise the profile of In Place of War across the UK, with a room full of musicians, supporters and cultural producers.

“The endorsement of so many high profile musicians is testament to how strong and important the work is on the ground across the world. Having Mercury Music Prize Winners, Young Fathers, headlining the event was just a fantastic finale.”

In Place of War mobilises, empowers and connects artists and creative communities in sites of war, revolution and conflict, through the arts. The project supports artists and creative communities living in sites of conflict to build powerful networks, create social change through creativity and demonstrate the value of the arts to public space, public life and public debate.

It has developed a ground-breaking creative entrepreneurial programme which is certified by the University and is being delivered for free to local young people in communities in some of the most under-resourced parts of the world.

Ruth Daniel said: “In these communities, with little access to education, offering a free creative entrepreneurial programme with the certification of The University can provide transformative opportunities for up to 5,000 young people in each community every year.”

Alongside this programme, the project is currently working to develop four cultural spaces in challenging environments with little access to the creative arts: in Makokoba, the oldest township in Zimbabwe; in both Kisangani and Bukavu, in the middle of war-affected DR Congo; and Rocinha, the largest favela in Rio de Janeiro. The development of these spaces is directly influenced by successful international examples of cultural spaces that have transformed communities in Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia.

In Place of War is recruiting support that will enable the project to develop and secure the required spaces (including building works, security, and decoration), support local staff costs for the coordination of the spaces, and to ship equipment to the locations. The project has already collected over £200,000 of music, studio and film equipment from musicians, TV studios and The University of Manchester.

Notes for editors

A short film about In Place or War can be viewed .  

Professor Davies was appointed as the first female Chief Medical Officer in 2010, a role which sees her act as the government’s principal medical adviser and the professional head of all directors of public health in local government.

Since taking on the role she has led global action to fight the trend of infections becoming resistant to antibiotics, a trend which in the UK is estimated to kill around 10m people a year globally by 2050.

Speaking to the 800-strong audience she said: “We are in danger of losing modern medicine...

“Antimicrobial resistance is on the government’s risk register along with terrorism, flu pandemics and climate change.  It’s an equivalent threat.”

In her address, she highlighted the complex use of antibiotics in meat production, where antibiotics can be used to compensate for poor hygiene and overuse among the human population.

She also addressed the problem of no new classes of antibiotics marketed that were developed after 1987.  “It is a market issue,” she said. “We expect antibiotics to be cheap yet we only take them on average once a year, so there’s no profit to be made in developing new ones.”

One such initiative has seen the Prime Minister commission University of Manchester honorary professor, Jim O’Neill to look at the reasons for market failure and propose ways that Governments globally could stimulate R&D.

As part of her role, Professor Davies has sought to address the problem, creating new strategies in the UK and with the World Health Organization and lobbying government to fund more research into the issue. 

Dame Sally concluded her speech by encouraging everyone to play their part: “How many people can put their hands on their hearts and say their infection prevention is perfect?

“This is an important issue because when it comes to antibiotics, what we’ve got is what we’ve got.”

See by members of the audience who tweeted on the night.

Dame Sally has written a blog post about this issue for . Click to read it.

Notes for editors

Dame Sally gained her medical degree in 1972 from and was previously a consultant haematologist and professor of haemoglobinopathies at Imperial College London. She developed the National Institute for Health Research and is a member of the World Health Organization Global Advisory Committee on Health Research.

The Cockcroft Rutherford lecture is an annual event for to The University of Manchester in honour of two of , Sir John Cockcroft and Lord Ernest Rutherford. Previous speakers have included Professors , , and, Astronomer Royal, Lord Martin Rees. 

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You can also click to read the full report and watch an exclusive video interview with Dame Sally.

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Notes for editors

• Register to receive news releases
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Media enquiries to:
Jamie Brown
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The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 2758383
Email: jamie.brown@manchester.ac.uk

The exhibition entitled ‘Syria: Reaching Out to Children and Parents of War’ has been put together by University psychologists and Watan humanitarian workers who are working with families in Turkey and Syria and in 91直播 to help them cope with their traumatic experiences.

The event, at , Hulme, 4-6 June, will feature drawings, and activities for children and adults such as Arabic calligraphy as well as traditional music and a film made with parents who have fled Syria about their parenting journey from before the conflict, during the conflict to now in the UK.  

The event is all put together with the help of Manchester’s Syrian community. Children attending the event with their families will have the chance to draw and paint pictures and write letters and send them to children displaced by the Syrian conflict.

It coincides with the UN’s (4 June).

from the University’s is helping to put the event together.  She said: “The children we work with in Turkey and across the border in Syria are often deeply traumatised. Their parents and caregivers play a key role in protecting them from psychological distress, but parenting in such extraordinarily challenging circumstances is extremely difficult and stressful.”

“This exhibition is about helping others to understand the ways in which children and parents are experiencing the Syrian conflict and highlighting the urgent need for interventions that support parents in looking after themselves and their children to improve their mental wellbeing and chances for a better future.”

The exhibition, which is funded by a ISSF Public Engagement Grant, is part of a wider project being carried out by the team to help build parenting strategies to enhance mental health among families affected by the war.

The event will feature the launch of a film and a crowd-funding campaign, money from which will be used to continue to reach families living through the Syrian conflict with parenting support and evaluate the benefit it provides families.

, who leads at The University of Manchester said: "We need to work on different ways of making families aware of the best ways of helping their children through the enormous changes they experience."

, from The University of Manchester who is based in the UK and working on the research project with aid workers on the ground near the Turkish-Syria border, said: “The exhibition highlights the enormous challenges faced by those caring for children in the Syrian conflict, but also ways that we can help support parents to protect themselves and their children from further psychological distress.”

“One mother told us, ‘They cry at night, they scream a lot while they are sleeping. They are very angry. They have so many unanswered questions that I do not know how to answer.’

“With more money and greater awareness that this event will bring, we can start to help more families with children in this terrible situation.”

'Syria: Reaching Out to Children and Parents of War’ is open Thursday 4 and Friday 5 June, 12 - 8 pm and Saturday 6 June 10 am - 4 pm and includes children’s activities on all three days. A drinks reception will be held on 4 of June between 5-8 pm including traditional Syrian sweets and pastries and live traditional Middle Eastern music.

Notes for editors

• Register to receive news releases
• Follow The University of Manchester Media Relations Team on
• The latest media videos are on
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• For other social media, visit our .

Media enquiries to:
Jamie Brown
Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 2758383
Email: jamie.brown@manchester.ac.uk

91直播’s Roma– who have so far suffered a lack of spokesmanship – are now being given a voice.

Academics from The University of Manchester are leading a European Commission funded project in partnership with 91直播 City Council to help the city’s Roma population to gain access to services, education and employment, and to combat the public’s negative perceptions of them.

The team worked alongside 91直播’s Roma to set up a community group aimed at providing advice and support and help them to take the lead on initiatives to give the community a public voice.

Project Coordinator Professor Yaron Matras said: “Unlike other immigrant and ethnic minority communities the Roma have so far lacked community representation. The main aim of our outreach work is to release Roma from being dependent on others and to encourage self-reliance.

“The presence of Roma migrants from Romania on the streets of major western European cities has triggered fierce public debates. We have worked to investigate the experiences, motivations, and ambitions of Roma migrants from Romania who have recently moved to Italy, France, Spain, and the UK, and the effect of migration on their own lives and on the lives of relations left behind in the home communities in Romania.”

The community group is being launched in partnership with 91直播 City Council, the Big Life Group, and the University of Manchester’s Romani Project.

It will receive support from the European Roma and Travellers Forum, an organisation that represents the Roma at the Council of Europe.

MACC – 91直播’s local voluntary and community sector support organisation – and TS4SE Cooperative have also provided advice for the formation of the group.

Ramona Constantin, one of the group’s founders, said:

“We have many young people in our community who are talented and motivated. One of our goals is to help them identify opportunities to develop their skills. “

Afzal Khan MEP said:

“The Roma are Europe’s largest minority. They continue to suffer exclusion and discrimination. The community group is an excellent initiative. It will help make 91直播 a model for the integration and participation of Roma in the European Union”.

Fay Selvan, Chief Executive of the Big Life Group, said:

“Our organisation has been supporting training and capacity building in the Roma community for several years now, and are looking forward to working together with Roma Voices of Manchester to continue this work.”

Dr Julian Skyrme, Director of Social Responsibility at The University of Manchester, said:

“The MigRom project is an excellent example of how our world-leading research is making a difference in our most local communities. Our expertise on languages and culture has been used to successfully engage local Roma communities, build their capacity and help to enhance cohesion and integration in specific parts of our city”

Notes for editors

Kath Paddison
Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 275 0790
Mob: 07990 550050
Email: kath.paddison@manchester.ac.uk

She said: “When boats are left to drown because of a lack resources at sea, this is not mere negligence.

“In the forthcoming British election, anti-immigration themes feature among most major parties. British political engagement to the deaths in the Mediterranean is almost absent. This makes ‘us’ silent accomplices of what might one day be called the greatest crime in the post-second-world-war-world by future historians.

“The humanitarian catastrophe and mass murder of refugees at sea is ultimately a direct consequence of EU politics – even if actual deaths are also caused by smugglers who in the past have locked refugees in below deck or thrown them overboard.

“The European Charter for Human Rights promises protection to those who flee war and persecution. But this promise has become hollow.”

Read Dr Müller’s full Policy@Mcr blog .

Dr Tanja Müller .

Notes for editors

Media enquiries to:

Deborah Linton
Media Relations Officer
Faculty of Humanities
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 275 8257, 07789 948 783
Email: deborah.linton@manchester.ac.uk

Being active in a church or other religious group is a good way for ethnic minorities to develop friendships with white people, research has found – but this does not work for Muslims.

Yinxuan Huang, of The University of Manchester, was due to tell the British Sociological Association’s annual conference in Glasgow today that the religious activities of Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and black Christians made it more likely that they had a close friend who was white.

An analysis of 29,016 survey responses from non-white people found that those who were active in their church, temple or synagogue were between 8% and 12% more likely to have a close white British friend than those who were not religious. The exception was active Muslims, whose religious activities did not bring them white friends. 

Mr Huang also found that second generation immigrants were up to 18% more likely to have a close white friend than others. However, this again did not apply to Muslims.

Giving the results of his PhD research to the conference, Mr Huang said that he found that active participation in religious activity, such as attending services, organising events or mentoring others, was necessary to have an effect – those who were spiritual without taking part were not more likely to have white friends.

Mr Huang found that only education made Muslims more likely to have a close white friend: those with degrees were 17% more likely, the largest rise among all the groups with degrees.

Mr Huang said: “For all non-white believers excepting Muslims, religious community participation is linked to greater connectedness with the white majority.”

He said that Muslims were “not succeeding in breaking through the barrier in bonding with the white majority. The inherent socioeconomic disadvantages and the emerging Islamophobia narrative in the public life tend to bind British Muslims closer to each other and to inhibit their contacts with the white majority.”

He was due to tell the conference that “religion may create boundaries between ‘us’ and ‘them’ in a multicultural society. In Western Europe, this narrative has come into vogue in the politics of migration with the emergence of Islamophobia, the increasing visibility of far-right politicians who appear hostile to immigrants, and shocking events such as the murder of Lee Rigby and recent shootings in France.

“Much of the focus has been on the dark side of religion in integration, whereas how religious engagement could contribute positively to a multicultural society has received little attention.

“For many ethnic minorities, religious groups and organisations are among the very few institutions that are easily accessed and trusted. Co-religionists who share similar norms and values are keen to help each other regardless of different cultural backgrounds, and entering a place of worship does not require the same experiences, language skills, or even social status, as joining many other types of civic organisation.

 “Religious involvement also provides the foundation for wider civic and economic participation, because participation in formal services and church activities effectively generates opportunities for participants to establish contacts with other people both within and beyond their faith communities.”

Notes for editors

Tony Trueman
British Sociological Association
Tel: 07964 023392
tony.trueman@britsoc.org.uk

1. Mr Huang used responses to the 2007-2011 Citizenship Survey for his analysis.
In his analysis Hindus and Sikhs were considered together due to a small sample.
2. The British Sociological Association’s annual conference takes place at Glasgow Caledonian University from 15 to 17 April 2015. Around 800 research presentations are given.
3. The British Sociological Association’s charitable aim is to promote sociology. The BSA is a Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered in England and Wales. Company Number: 3890729. Registered Charity Number 1080235
 

Professor James Pattison from the School of Social Sciences will discuss whether it is ever morally acceptable to arm rebel fighters even when the rebels are engaged in ‘unjust’ wars.

And he will also question whether it is ever acceptable for states to supply arms to others states during civil wars – this issue is currently being mooted in relation to the current situation in Ukraine.

Professor Pattison said: “Despite its frequency and political importance there has been very little engagement with the ethical issues surrounding the arming of rebels. My new research aims to bridge this gap.

“My study hopes to untangle this knotty issue and address quite controversial moral themes such as the rights and wrongs of arming rebel fighters who might not be fighting a ‘just war’ whilst acknowledging that arming rebels is prohibited according to international law. A recent example is the Arab Spring when various states supplied arms to the rebel movements in Libya and Syria.

“The key point is that we should be very sceptical about the case for arming rebels and states. Despite the appearance of being able to help, it often makes things much worse”, said Professor Pattison.

The gathering is the first of two debates on the ethics of war with the second (27 March) focussing on the alternatives to war (or ‘soft war’), including economic sanctions, diplomacy, nonviolent resistance, cyber war, propaganda and ‘lawfare’.

This workshop brings together some leading just war theorists and political philosophers to consider both specific alternatives and the alternatives as a whole.

Notes for editors

Professor James Pattison is available for interview via the Media Relations Office.

He has written widely on humanitarian intervention, the responsibility to protect, and the ethics of war. His new paper which considers the relation between these two arguments and its application for ‘Just War Theory’ is part of a book he is currently writing.

Media enquiries to:

Kath Paddison
Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 275 0790
Mob: 07990 550050
Email: kath.paddison@manchester.ac.uk

Academics from the 91直播 International Law Centre, which is part of the University, are calling on leading law and policy experts from Europe and the Middle East to produce guidelines on how justice should be administered in non-international armed conflicts, especially when the State has collapsed completely or is absent.

Working with Lawyers for Justice in Libya and the Syrian Legal Development Programme, the 91直播 International Law Centre is hosting a workshop aimed at developing guidelines on justice for war-torn countries.

Jean d’Aspremont and Iain Scobbie are Professors of Public International Law and Directors of the 91直播 International Law Centre. Professor Scobbie said: “Many areas of the world are currently being torn apart by non-international asymmetric armed conflicts between governments and non-State armed groups. Some of these territories such as Syria, Iraq and Ukraine are no longer completely under governmental control and in these circumstances the ability of courts to function effectively is all too often precarious.”  

Professor d’Aspremont continued: “The result is that justice is denied to the civilian population: crimes go unpunished, contracts remain unenforced, and injuries are not compensated. There is a pressing need to reflect on how justice may be carried out in territories where no government is in effective control.” 

During the workshop Professors d’Aspremont and Scobbie and their colleagues will identify and discuss standards aimed at guaranteeing the delivery of justice and the security of courts countries overridden by civil conflict. 

Professor d'Aspremont said: “This workshop will be the first step in a process which is aimed at producing guidelines, drawing on existing best practice and informed by human rights and international humanitarian law, which will strengthen the role of justice and the judicial process in times of civil conflict. The 91直播 International Law Centre aims to be a key player in this debate.”

Notes for editors

Professors Jean d'Aspremont and Iain Scobbie are available for interview and can be contacted via the Media Relations Office.

Media enquiries to:

Kath Paddison
Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 275 0790
Mob: 07990 550050
Email: kath.paddison@manchester.ac.uk

Christabel Pankhurst was a first-class Law graduate of The University of Manchester, but was barred from the legal profession on account of her gender. Instead, she was forced to use her learning for her own defence, and that of her suffragette sisters, in their many legendary struggles against a law that denied women the vote in the early 20th century.

In establishing an annual lecture in Pankhurst's name - three years before the centenary of the Representation of the People Act and the votes for women so-hard-won - the University's  plans to remember, and rekindle, the radical and feminist heritage of the Pankhust sisters, at a time when Baroness Brenda Hale, who spent many years teaching at 91直播, still remains the first and only woman in Britain's highest court. 
 
"Much has been achieved in women’s struggles for their basic human rights the world over," says Chakrabarti, "yet there is so much more still to be done."

In this inaugural lecture, Chakrabarti will reflect on what Pankhurst's generation of law students and freedom-fighters might think‎ of the mixed performance in gaining equal rights for women of her own generation.

Ahead of the lecture, Shami Chakrabarti shares her thoughts on the future of human rights on the , and on feminism, which she dubbs 'the F-word', on  (1h 11m in / link expires 27/03/15).

• Tuesday 27 Jan - From Humanitarian Relief to Holocaust Rescue: A Young American in Vichy France.
• Wednesday 28 Jan - Why Did They Kill? Revisiting the Perpetrators
• Thursday 29 Jan - Holocaust History and Survivor Testimony: The Case of the Starachowice Factory Slave Labour Camps

You can find out more about the Bogdanow Lectures at the .

Professor Bogdanow, who died in July 2013 aged 86, fled from the horrors of Nazi Germany in 1939 as an 11-year-old child. She was one of the 10,000 Jewish children rescued by the UK in a mission known as the Kindertransport.

The academic was an only child, who was taken in by a Quaker family in Denton. Professor Bogdanow was one of the few Kindertransport children whose parents survived, between them, the appalling concentration camps of Dachau, Wulzberg and Bergen-Belsen and the ghetto of Theresienstadt. She was reunited with her mother in 91直播 during the 1950s.

After receiving distinctions in seven out of eight subjects at Fairfield High School for Girls, she was awarded three entrance scholarships to The 91直播 University in 1945 where she studied French.She went on to spend much of her career at the University as postgraduate student, lecturer, reader and professor, to become one of the world’s foremost scholars in her field – literature on King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

“There is much progress, but a lot is still to be done," he said after meeting with the President of Sierra Leone, and senior leaders of the international presence there including the UK Department for International Development, Ministry of Defence, World Health Organisation, United Nations, and Red Cross.

He was travelling with the  (IMC), a leading humanitarian health organisation, and one of the earliest responders to the crisis. Touring the IMC Ebola Treatment Centres deep in the countryside of Sierra Leone and Liberia, he said, “Panic, ignorance, and prejudice is what this virus survives on. To control it, we must be scientifically informed, and coolly calculating.”

He paid tribute to local communities and health workers who have borne the brunt. He applauded the doctors, nurses, and laboratory scientists from the UK National Health Service, and from hospitals in the United States and other countries working there, saying: “Their professionalism and meticulous daily work at the frontline of the epidemic is indeed helping to turn the tide.”

“Although we are now chasing Ebola instead of Ebola chasing us, there can be no faltering," says Professor Kapila.

“This epidemic is yet another wake-up call to do better to reduce poverty, improve heath and education and, above all else, bring decent governance in such countries.”

Professor Kapila was a UK Government adviser deeply engaged in Sierra Leone and Liberia more than 20 years ago during the civil wars there. Returning for the first time since then, he reflected: “What happened to all the international post-conflict aid that was poured in? Can we learn the right lessons now?

“What direction we take now – as Ebola recedes – is vitally important not just for West Africa but also for the rest of the world. As we have learnt from AIDS, SARS, Avian flu, and now Ebola, such conditions know no boundaries,” he said.

Professor Kapila is a leading humanitarian and health expert who has held leadership positions in the UN, World Health Organization, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and UK Department for International Development.

He teaches on the postgraduate course in  and undergraduate degree courses in . He is also part of the 91直播 Academic Health Sciences Centre () Global Health Theme, a partnership between the University and six NHS Trusts in Greater 91直播, where he advises on global health development and how health workers can support medics coping with natural and humanitarian disasters overseas.

Another University academic, Dr Amy Hughes, has been leading NHS volunteers in Sierra Leone. Read about her recent award from the Prime Minister .

A digital archive documenting music from the torture chambers, concentration camps and prisons of the former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet is available to the public for the first time.

The online ‘torture soundtrack’, launching on 8 January 2015, is called Cantos Cautivos (Captive Songs) and includes songs written, sung and listened to in political detention – and the stories behind them. 

It is the brainchild of - who herself is from Chile - a researcher at The University of Manchester’s Music Department and the first scholar to investigate music under political detention in Chile. 

When Pinochet seized power in 1973, the majority of the almost 40,000 political opponents imprisoned in over 1,000 detention centres suffered gruesome physical and psychological torture. Some of Pinochet’s torture practices employed music and relate to CIA techniques.

Prisoners often used music as a means to cope with the harsh conditions and the uncertainty of not knowing if they would live or die. Survivors are being encouraged to upload their stories and songs to the Captive Songs website. 

Some of the material on the archive are songs penned by the prisoners themselves, and in some cases recorded clandestinely in a concentration camp, like El puntúo (Cheeky Devil) and El suertúo (Lucky Devil) – all of the recordings are available to listen to.

Other stories deal with songs from the outside world. Some refer to songs sung as part of Christmas and New Year celebrations, including the traditional African-American anthem We Shall Overcome, the Ode to Joy from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and El cigarrito by Víctor Jara, the most famous musician killed by the Pinochet regime in a detention centre. 

Other titles include the renaissance Spanish madrigal De los álamos vengo, madre, the Ukranian anarchist anthem Makhnovtchina, Answer Me (popularised by the US singer Frankie Laine), Run Run se fue pa’l norte by Violeta Parra (founder of the New Song movement) and many well-known Latin American songs.

On the site the public can also read accounts of music being used as a form of torture by Pinochet’s agents, such as forced singing of the Chilean National Anthem and Zamba para no morir (popularised by the Argentine icon Mercedes Sosa).

The archive will be launched at during an event featuring live music performed by former inmates including a choir originally founded in a detention centre and other musicians who composed and performed extensively whilst imprisoned.

Dr Chornik, whose work is funded by (one of the largest all-subject providers of research funding in the UK), says it is really important that the public contribute to the archive. 

She said: “It’s been over 40 years since the onset of the dictatorship, so the time to collect this valuable material is very limited indeed. I make an urgent appeal to witnesses scattered around the world to share their experiences in detention via the Captive Songs archive.

“I anticipate that Cantos Cautivos will grow rapidly after its launch and in the forthcoming years. It is the only archive of this kind that relates to Latin America. Only a handful of online resources on music in detention from all historical and geographical contexts currently exist.”

One of the contributors is Dr Luis Cifuentes who wrote and performed music extensively whilst in detention. In the 1980s he went on to complete a PhD at The University of Manchester. 

He said: “This archive is of great importance because it reflects not only a very rich cultural heritage but also the ways in which the victims used their own cultural identity to overcome horrific moments”.

Notes for editors

Dr Katia Chornik is available for interview in English or Spanish and can be contacted at katia.chornik@manchester.ac.uk.
Numerous images and English translations many of the song lyrics are available to the media via Dr Chornik.
The archive can be viewed at
include inmates’ accounts, lyrics and audio.
Information on the Museum of Memory is available in English at .

Media enquiries to:

Kath Paddison
Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester
Mob: 07990 550050
Email: kath.paddison@manchester.ac.uk

Lecturer in Politics at the University of Manchester, Gabriel Siles-Brügge, has given evidence to Parliament on the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the European Union and the United States.

Dr Siles-Brügge appeared before the Business, Innovation and Skills select committee of MPs in the House of Commons as part of their inquiry into the impact of the TTIP on the UK economy.

Dr Siles-Brügge is author of The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and the Role of Computable General Equilibrium Modelling: An Exercise in ‘Managing Fictional Expectations’, published in the journal, New Political Economy with co-author Ferdi De Ville of Ghent University.

Appearing before the committee of MPs on Tuesday 16 December, he offered his assessment of the economic modelling being used to sell the agreement by supporters (including Prime Minister David Cameron) finding that it exaggerates the likely gains of a partnership while downplaying potential costs.

He was also asked for his view on the  Investor-state Dispute Settlement aspect of an agreement, which he argued was both constrictive and unnecessary for the developed legal systems involved.

Dr Siles-Brügge used the opportunity to urge for greater transparency in talks and to sustain interest in trade issues even after TTIP. 

Dr Siles-Brügge's paper is available in open access .

Notes for editors

Media enquiries to:

Deborah Linton
Media Relations Officer
Faculty of Humanities
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 275 8257, 07789 948783
Email: deborah.linton@manchester.ac.uk

Chris Davies (Lib Dem MEP, 1999-2014), Gary Titley (Labour Party MEP, 1989-2009);  Michael Welsh (Conservative MEP, 1979-1994) will discuss what the future holds for Britain and the EU
 
The event is hosted by the University’s Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence and the European Movement.
 
It will be chaired by Professor Dimitris Papadimitriou, Director of the JMCE. He said: “Since David Cameron promised  an in/out referendum on British membership of the European Union last year, Europe has never been far from the headlines.
 
“If the Conservative Party wins a majority at the next general election, they will hold the poll after a period of renegotiation with the EU.
 
“Our distinguished panel, who have for many years been at the centre of European politics, will debate how these issues play out in Europe and its relationship to Britain.
 
“The event is free and anyone is welcome to join us.”

Notes for editors

Visit
 
The debate, called “What future for Britain and the EU: a panel discussion”  is on 11 December 2014,  from 18:00-20:00 at  University Place, Room 4.205
 
Media interviews are available on the day
 
For media enquiries contact:
Mike Addelman
Communications and Marketing Manager
British Election 91直播
University of Manchester
0161 306 6901
07717 881567
Visit www.britishelectionstudy.com
Follow us on Twitter @BESResearch
 

She is an expert on protests, elections, activism and good governance in Ukraine and she is currently conducting large surveys of protest participants in Kyiv, Ukraine, as part of her ongoing Ukrainian Protest Project.

“One year after the beginning of the EuroMaidan (November 21, 2013) Ukrainians have witnessed the unfolding of, mass-violence against peaceful protesters, a historic capital quenched in a wall of fire, the fleeing of repressive yet democratically elected President, the invasion and annexation of the Crimean peninsula, the eruption of foreign state sponsored conflict in a significant portion of two far eastern oblasts (provinces) and a serious economic crisis. And yet, even confronted with these difficulties most protesters were able to remain peaceful, the country was able to coordinate two relatively successful elections in the space of six months. 

“While the conflict in the Donbass is not over, if anything else the Ukrainian electorate and their elected leaders has demonstrated that they are strong, resourceful and capable of withstand several simultaneous crises.
 

“The two central uncertainties that remain are whether and how Russia will continue to fuel the conflict in the east and to what end, and how the newly elected Parliament and President (October 26) will be able to incorporate the diverse electoral groups in Ukraine. 
 

“Although it is true that Ukraine is country where regional identities remain strong – BUT so does a strong level of civic identity. If the politicians in Kyiv are able to tap in to this civic patriotism and not resort to small or large nationalism or other reactionary then they will be able to unite the road. While the road ahead is surely not easy, Ukrainians has demonstrated their democratic resilience and   united (with the strong support of the EU and NATO allies) they will be able to get to the democratic and stable end, even if this road does seem longer than ever."

Notes for editors

Dr Olga Onuch can be contacted at olga.onuch@manchester.ac.uk or by phone on 07788 280715 - contact by email is likely to prompt a quicker response.

Dr Onuch recently discussed her research at the , UK Houses of Parliament (by invitation of John Whittingdale OBE MP, The British-Ukraine All-Party Parliamentary Group, The Henry Jackson Society and Ukraine Crisis Media Centre).

For more information about Dr Onuch visit

Media enquiries to:
Kath Paddison
Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester

Tel: 0161 275 0790
Mob: 07990 550050
Email: kath.paddison@manchester.ac.uk

University of Manchester academic responds to David Cameron’s comments on a proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the EU and US
 
Responding to Prime Minister David Cameron’s comments on the proposed EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) at the closure of the G20 summit, lecturer in politics at The University of Manchester and critic of TTIP, Gabriel Siles-Brügge said:
 
“It’s crucial that we challenge the economic figures produced by such advocates of the TTIP as David Cameron. These are based on economic models that make a number of unrealistic assumptions about the degree to which TTIP will reduce barriers to trade. As such, they both vastly exaggerate the positive benefits of the agreement and disguise the potential downsides of the TTIP that are far less easy to measure. This could include, for example, the potential to dilute standards in areas such as the regulation of chemicals or food safety.”

Addressing public concern over the NHS and perceived risks of privatisation as a result of TTIP, he added:
“The assurances given by the UK government do not tell the full story. Making commitments in the area of health services as part of the TTIP may make it difficult for future governments to undo the marketisation of the NHS undertaken through the Health and Social Care Act, which would become enshrined in an international agreement.”
 
David Cameron yesterday told the press that there had been an agreement between G20 leaders  to accelerate drawn out negotiations on TTIP which he described as "good for Britain, good for jobs, good for growth, and good for the British economy". He dismissed threats to the NHS as “nonsense”.
 
Estimates predict that the TTIP deal will generate an extra €119 billion GDP annually for the EU, or €545 for each family of four, by 2027 – figures that Gabriel deems ‘optimistic and misleading’.

Notes for editors

Notes to editors:
Gabriel is available for interview and can be contacted at gabriel.siles-brugge@manchester.ac.uk or, by phone, on 0161 306 6945.
Gabriel is a lecturer in politics at The University of Manchester. He has consulted for the World Development Movement and advised other NGOs campaigning against TTIP.

Media enquiries to:
Deborah Linton
Media Relations Officer
Faculty of Humanities
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 275 8257, 07789 948 783
Email: deborah.linton@manchester.ac.uk

Stefan Bouzarovski, Professor of Geography at The University of Manchester, has contributed to a major new report from the UK Energy Research Centre.

The research suggests that gas could play an important role as a ‘bridging fuel’ to a low-carbon economy, but warns that it won’t be long before gas becomes part of the problem rather than the solution.

The research combines the latest energy system modelling techniques with analysis of UK gas security to assess future demand. To prevent global temperatures rising above 2oC, the research suggests that further gas use will be needed in the short term to replace coal and complement the increases in low-carbon energy sources that must also occur.

However, this is dependent on gas use beginning to fall in the late 2020s and early 2030s, with any major role beyond 2035 requiring the widespread use of carbon capture and storage. There is also significant geographical diversity in the role that gas can play in addressing climate change; with a very limited use in some regions and an extended and strong role in others.

Prof Bouzarovski contributed to ‘The UK’s Global Gas Challenge’ - one of two companion papers attached to the research. He explained: “My contribution to the report mainly focused on the role of EU energy governance in influencing developments in the UK. It transpired that the UK benefits from a diverse gas supply, thanks to the variety of import options and the presence of an active trading hub. However, the UK is closely tied to the gas sectors of other countries in the EU, as well as the emergence of a common energy market in Europe.
 
“The growing economic, infrastructural and political integration of the European gas sector means that the UK will have to engage with EU energy policy to a greater extent than has been the case to date. This is further highlighted by the likelihood that the UK will increasingly depend on gas imports from or via the continent in the future.”

The modelling part of the research was led by Dr Christophe McGlade of UCL who added: “Gas could play an important role in tackling climate change over the next 10 to 20 years. But its role varies across the world, and advocacy of gas as a transition fuel needs a convincing narrative as to how global coal consumption can be curtailed and be replaced by low-carbon energy sources.”

Changing global demand patterns and uncertainty in the long-term prospects for gas may limit the investment required in new infrastructure. This could increase uncertainty and expose countries like the UK to price volatility in international gas markets.

In just over a decade the UK has gone from being self-sufficient in gas to importing about half of the natural gas that it consumes, researchers  found.

To date the UK has shown resilience to international supply constraints, such as the Russia-Ukraine crisis and conflict in the Middle East. Stress tests have shown that the UK can draw additional supplies from Norway and the global LNG market. However, as domestic production declines, the UK’s reliance on Norwegian gas will grow. Existing Norwegian fields will begin to decline in the 2020’s and the UK may have to access its gas via the continental market. This may undermine UK energy security.

Instead of banking on shale, UKERC recommends rapidly expanding investment in alternative low-carbon energy sources and investing in more gas storage, which would help protect consumers against short-term supply disruption and price rises.
 

Notes for editors

Media enquiries to:

Deborah Linton
Media Relations Officer
Faculty of Humanities
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 275 8257, 07789 948 783
Email: deborah.linton@manchester.ac.uk

spoke about her organisation’s ongoing effort to treat Ebola victims and the broader context of stigma of health workers, and the international response to the crisis, in front of a crowded audience of students and members of the public.

“Ebola is a disease which preys upon compassion,” she said, quoting the words of a Sierra Leonian colleague who had talked about the way it is transmitted between family members who try to comfort each other. “That’s just about the most devastating thing I’ve heard during this crisis.”

Alongside her on the panel of experts was Professor of Global Health and Humanitarian Affairs , Mukesh Kapila CBE, who was concerned about the legacy the outbreak will leave.  “This outbreak will be controlled,” he said. “But the effects on the politics, societies and economies will last much longer.”

Debate on the night also ranged around the wider health issues in West Africa, Vickie pointed out that there was nowhere in the country a woman could go to have a caesarean section and that all of the countries affected had fragile health systems which weren’t able to cope with the sudden outbreak of Ebola.

The event was co-organised by the University’s . Its Deputy Director, was also on the panel on the night and has worked in some of the world’s worst disaster areas. His charity is currently helping to train UK volunteers to head to Africa to tackle the ongoing crisis. 

His experience was that: “In disasters it is easy to feel overwhelmed, but that breeds a feeling of hopelessness.  With early and fairly simple treatments, we can bring down the mortality rate to 50 percent – a great improvement from where we are now.”

One of the final points of the debate was raised by a West African member of the audience who spoke about stigma of Africans in the West as a result of the outbreak.

Vickie added reports she’d received about the way in which MSF staff have been abused on the internet and how people refuse to touch them once they’ve returned from treating victims. 

Anthropologist of the University of Exeter talked about the difficulty of changing burial customs among communities which traditionally wash their dead.  She talked of the need for: “balance between bio security and the very important desire to mourn the dead in the right way.”

Throughout the event all of the panellists raised the issue of what to do after the outbreak is contained to restore and improve healthcare infrastructure and society as a whole.

In these countries, it’s going to take years just to get back to where we were before the outbreak, which was far from ideal,” said Vickie.

Notes for editors

The event was organised between the University’s , Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute and .

For media enquiries:

Jamie Brown
Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 2758383
Email: jamie.brown@manchester.ac.uk

Ibrahim Olabi, a Masters student at The University of Manchester’s School of Law, has produced a series of radio and video clips as part of a wider campaign on the importance of Syrians helping to facilitate international aid operations.

The new clips are part of a package of clips aimed at reinforcing some of the main principles of International Humanitarian Law which are being distributed via local Syrian radio and TV stations covering Aleppo, Idlib, Hama's suburbs, and Al-Hasaka.

The other clips focus on the prevention of child soldiers, the prevention of the use of indiscriminate weapons, the danger of mines, the prevention of perfidy, and the protection of property.

In 2013, whilst studying as a law undergraduate at the University, Olabi founded to promote legal education which will help the Syrian people set the foundations for a future Syria.

It operates as a non-aligned, non- governmental organisation working in non-state controlled areas of Syria. The team consists of researchers, lawyers, on-the-ground trainers and human rights advocates.

Olabi said: “It is difficult to enforce rules and laws because of the rebels' weak chain of command. That said, opposition commanders have recently begun making more public statements regarding international law, an indication that they are increasingly aware of their obligations.”

When Olabi set up the programme he drew from a number of sources to compile a curriculum including the Geneva Conventions and Islamic law. He also consulted with human rights groups such as UNICEF, Amnesty International and Geneva Call. Additionally, he consulted with his law professors including Professor Scobbie, who teaches Public International Law at The University of Manchester and is on the Advisory Board of The Syrian Legal Development Programme.

Professor Scobbie said: “Ibrahim is an incredible individual who is driven to make a difference on the battlefield in Syria. His desire has always been to use his intellect and expertise to make a difference in his homeland. It is impossible to quantify or put into words the impressive achievement and passion that he has shown by setting up The Syrian Legal Development Programme.”

When Olabi set up the programme he consulted with the group Lawyers for Justice in Libya. He explained that this was because they faced a similar challenge in that country's 2011 war.

The Syrian Legal Development Programme has now expanded to include a verity of human rights and rule of law programmes.  In June 2014, Ibrahim was awarded the Distinguished Achievement Award: Undergraduate Student of the Year as an acknowledgement for founding the Syrian Legal Development Programme.

Notes for editors

Interview and filming requests can be made through the University’s press office. 

Media enquiries to:

Kath Paddison
Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 275 0790
Mob: 07990 550050
Email: kath.paddison@manchester.ac.uk

Cosmidou, who is the Director-General of Directorate-General for Interpretation and Conferences at the European Parliament, is visiting The School of Arts, Languages and Cultures from 29 to 31 October 2014.

Initially Cosmidou will be meeting staff and students to discuss the University’s conference interpreter training. The visit builds on the School’s existing link with The European Parliament which is one of the biggest employers of conference interpreters in the world.

Last year, a group of MA Conference Interpreting students visited the European Parliament where they were given the opportunity to hone their skills in a variety of meetings. During the visit the students received feedback from staff interpreters on their performance. A group of students subsequently returned to Brussels to take part in a Europe-wide competition, with one student winning second prize.

Later during Cosmidou’s visit to the University, she is giving a presentation at the International Postgraduate Conference in Translation and Interpreting being held in 91直播 entitled “A Multilingual Parliament and Universities: partners in pursuit of interpreting excellence”. Dr Ebru Diriker, Professor of Translation and Interpreting Studies at Bogazici University, Istanbul, and an Honorary Research Fellow at 91直播, will also be part of the visit.

The visit will culminate in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the European Parliament and the University, establishing a framework for future cooperation.

The School of Arts, Languages and Cultures has previously welcomed speakers from the interpreting service to take part in careers events. 

Notes for editors

For media enquiries please contact: Anne-Marie Nugnes, Marketing & Communications Officer, School of Arts, Languages and Cultures, 0161 275 8322 or or Kath Paddison, Media Relations Officer, The University of Manchester, 0161 275 0790.

That’s according to new research from The University of Manchester’s School of Law which examined the role and impact of the Bribery Act 2010 on controlling foreign bribery by UK commercial organisations in foreign jurisdictions.

Dr Nicholas Lord said: “Although the UK now has the most wide-ranging anti-corruption legislation in the world that is considered to be the global ‘gold-standard’, historical legal traditions complicate the current efforts of our law enforcement authorities to criminally prosecute corporations involved in foreign bribery.”

The research for Dr Lord’s new book, Regulating Corporate Bribery in International Business, involved speaking to police investigators, prosecutors, lawyers, corporate compliance officers, country experts, and representatives of anti-corruption organisations. The aim was to examine the mixture of law enforcement and self-regulatory tools that are being used to control foreign corporate bribery.

According to Dr Lord the bribes can take the form of anything from billions of pounds of cash payments, shopping trips, tickets for sports events, to prostitution or job offers.

He said: “Such bribes have significant social, economic, political and environmental harms particularly in those developing countries where major corruption tends to be directed but responding to cases of foreign bribery is incredibly complex.”

“There have been no prosecutions of corporations involved in foreign bribery under the new Act. To some extent this was to be expected as corporate bribery is inherently clandestine and offences are often not detected until some time after the event. This means that many current cases are still being dealt with under prior legislation and furthermore, investigations are very time-consuming and can take years.”

The main finding of the research is that criminal law enforcement is hindered by several practical and pragmatic but also ideological and normative obstacles. For example, Dr Lord argues that the UK has horrendously bad corporate criminal liability laws that remain preoccupied with the ‘identification principle’.

He continued: “In other words, it needs to be proven that someone on the board of directors knew of the bribery but given the complex organisational and decision-making structures of large corporations, demonstrating this is problematic. Consequently, as things stand, the UK’s enforcement response has largely involved the use of non-criminal and civil sanctioning for the criminal actions of corporations.

“This invokes questions around transparency, social fairness and the concept of ‘justice’ itself as such responses may communicate a message of ‘affordable risk’ for business and reinforce the differential treatment of ‘white-collar’ and ‘blue-collar’ offenders.

“But, despite the rhetoric of politicians and prosecutors, there is little prospect the situation will change.”

Notes for editors

Dr Lord is available for interview.

Regulating Corporate Bribery in International Business was published by Ashgate in September 2014. More details: http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781409470557

For further information please contact Kath Paddison, Media Relations Officer, The University of Manchester, 0161 275 0790 or kath.paddison@manchester.ac.uk

91直播 Art Gallery will present The Sensory War 1914-2014, a major group exhibition marking the Centenary of the First World War that will explore how artists have communicated the impact of military conflict on the body, mind, environment and human senses between 1914 and 2014.

The exhibition, which was co-curated by historian from The University of Manchester, examines how artists from 1914 onwards depicted the devastating impact of new military technologies utilised in a century of conflict beginning with the First World War.

The show will bring together a range of leading artists including Henry Lamb, CRW Nevinson, Paul Nash, Otto Dix, Nancy Spero, Richard Mosse, Omer Fast and will also feature works by the hibakusha; survivors of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima which were created in the 1970s and are being shown in the UK for the first time. Presented across two floors at 91直播 Art Gallery, The Sensory War will be one of the most ambitious shows to be staged at the gallery to date.

The First World War involved a profound re-configuration of sensory experience and perception through the invention of devastating military technologies, which destroyed human lives and altered the environment beyond recognition. Its legacy has continued and evolved through even more radical forms of destruction over the last hundred years. Throughout the century, artists have struggled to understand the true effect of modern technological warfare. While military and press photography have brought a new capacity to coldly document such lethal displays, artists found a different way of seeing.

91直播 Art Gallery has a nationally important collection of art of the First World War, which was assembled by its first director, Lawrence Haward. Taking their rich collection as the starting point, this show will comprise both historic and contemporary art from the UK, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, the United States, Canada, Japan, Vietnam, New Zealand, Algeria, Ireland, Iran, Israel and Palestine.

The Sensory War will explore the responses of a range of artists over the past century to the sensory effects of warfare through a series of themes. Militarising Bodies, Manufacturing War will explore artist’s reactions to the industrialised process of militarisation and the effect of noise in the urban environment. It will include work by artists such as CRW Nevinson who depicted scenes from the First World War using the aggressive, Modern visual style of Vorticism. Pain and Succour will explore how artists responded to the treatment of soldiers on the front line and will include Henry Lamb’s ‘Advance Dressing Station on the Struma’ from 91直播 Art Gallery’s collection exhibited with Henry Tonk’s ‘An Advanced Dressing Station in France’ from the Imperial War Museum for the first time. Rupture and Rehabilitation will look at how art was employed not only to record the treatment of soldiers in hospitals but also how it reflected on the new medical advances of plastic surgery and facial reconstruction.

Exploring this theme, the exhibition will present all 12 plates of Cologne New Objectivist, Heinrich Hoerle’s ‘Die Krüppelmappe’ (The Cripple Portfolio) alongside his oil painting ‘Three Invalids’. Seen together in the UK for the first time, these works record Hoerle’s tender but also bitter reflections on the ruined bodies of war from a German perspective. Also in this section will be a series of delicate drawings of disabled soldiers recovering in hospital by French female artist Rosine Cahen. Shocking the Senses will look at the experience of shell shock and will include works such as Pietro Morando’s Goyaesque studies depicting the appalling tortures that took place inside prisoner of war camps during the First World War.

Key themes for the exhibition will also include Bombing, Burning and Distant War exploring the effects on the ground of military conflict. As part of this section Omer Fast’s video work ‘5,000 feet is the Best’ will be on show which explores the terror of drone strikes for the victims and the psychological impact on soldiers in recent conflicts of piloting drones from a distant location on another continent. The Embodied Ruin: Natural and Material Environments will look at how artists such as Paul Nash and William Orpen used landscapes destroyed by conflict such as Flanders as a metaphor for the fate of the soldiers who fought there. Chemical War and Toxic Imaginations includes work that has been inspired by gas warfare since the First World War. Within this section, Sophie Jodoin’s haunting drawings of faces wearing gas masks will be on show, which depict a distorted human physiognomy. Haunted Ghostlands: Loss, Resilience and Memory will explore the after-effects of military conflict and will present a powerful work by emerging artist Katie Davies entitled ‘The Separation Line’ exploring the aftermath of the war in Afghanistan by documenting the military repatriation funeral processions through British town, Royal Wootton Bassett.

The Sensory War 1914-2014 is presented in partnership with the Whitworth Art Gallery and the Centre for the Cultural History of War at The University of Manchester. It is curated by Dr Ana Carden-Coyne, Co-Director of the Centre for the Cultural History of War at the University of Manchester; David Morris, Head of Collections, Whitworth Art Gallery; and Tim Wilcox, Principal Curator, Exhibitions at 91直播 Art Gallery.

Maria Balshaw, Director of the Whitworth Art Gallery, The University of Manchester and 91直播 City Galleries said: “The Centenary of the First World War is such a profound event and we are honoured to mark this historic occasion with the exhibition, The Sensory War 1914-2014. Curated in partnership with the Whitworth Art Gallery and the Centre for the Cultural History of War at the University of Manchester, we are pleased that this exhibition will be one of Manchester Art Gallery’s largest survey shows to date and will bring together the diverse artistic responses to war and conflict over the past century.” 

Notes for editors

Artists to be featured include: Kader Attia, David Bomberg, Muirhead Bone, Nina Berman, Frank Brangwyn, Rosine Cahen, George Clausen, John Copley, Katie Davies, Dinh Q Le, Otto Dix, Omer Fast, Tomer Ganihar, Colin Gill, Douglas Gordon, Archibald Standish Hartrick, work by hibakusha survivors, Heinrich Hoerle, Peter Howson, John Keane, Eric Kennington, Laura Knight, Kathe Kollwitz, Henry Lamb, Georges Leroux, Wyndham Lewis, John Hobson Lobley, Walter Monnington, Pietro Morando, Luc Albert Moreau, Richard Mosse, Paul Nash, CRW Nevinson, Simon Norfolk, William Orpen, Charles Pears, Eric Ravilious, Christian Rohlfs, William Rothenstein, Baktash Sarang, Colin Self, Richard Serra, Claude Shepperson, Nancy Spero, Ian Strang, Alfred Reginald Thomson, Henry Tonks, Leon Underwood, Edward Wadsworth, Harold Sandys Williamson, Doris Zinkeisen 

In recent years, private military and security companies have been used to bolster state troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Though supposed to cut the costs of war, both financially and personally, new research has revealed a number of moral problems that arise from their use, and that regulating the industry may miss the point entirely.

Dr James Pattison suggests that private contractors are more likely to be motivated by financial gain than regular soldiers, and are often viewed by the public as mercenaries. This can make it harder to win the hearts and minds of the local population, which is crucial in certain operations.  Also, unlike soldiers, private contractors are free to select the wars in which they fight, raising issues of democratic control, as the armed forces follow orders set by an elected government, whilst private companies do not.

Often acting outside of full governmental oversight and ineffectively regulated by international law, criticism of private security companies has mainly focussed on the involvement of contractors in the violation of civilians’ human rights. Attempts have been made in recent times to improve the accountability of the industry, however Dr Pattison argues that these attempts do not and cannot address the deep moral problems that come with fighting wars in this way.

“There is a general perception in neoliberal countries such as the US and UK that privatising will save money,” says Dr Pattison, Senior Lecturer in Politics at The University of Manchester. “Using these private companies instead of deploying more troops costs less because you don't have to pay for people's pensions, and you only have to pay them while they are at war. States also prefer to bolster their armed forces with private security contractors, because it is difficult to significantly increase your presence in a region without more regular soldiers coming back in body-bags, which has a whole host of political costs.”

Dr Pattison’s findings, based on research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, are explored in his book The Morality of Private War, which identifies a number of moral problems raised by the use of private security companies in war zones.

Governments employ private military and security companies to provide a number of services, including the training of troops and security forces, the provision of transportation and logistics, and the protection of state officials. However, when governments employ private contractors it circumvents many of the constitutional and parliamentary constraints that are normally placed on them when deciding to send troops into action, such as a debate in parliament. Using contractors therefore gives governments further scope to start wars covertly, or to extend the size of state involvement without public debate beforehand.

“If states can employ private security companies to circumvent some of the constraints of international law, then it makes it easier for them to go to war. This could make wars more likely, and potentially make them last longer in the future,” says Dr Pattison.

Efforts have been made to increase regulation of the industry, however Dr Pattison believes that although these efforts and initiatives have had some positive impact, they have done little to address the more basic issue of whether it is morally acceptable to use private military forces.

“There have been moves to develop the international code of conduct which is a form of self-regulation in the industry, but I think that is basically just window dressing and has a potential for legitimating the industry.

“The ethical problems associated with use of private security companies are not simply contingent on the lack of regulation. They are deeper in that they cannot be addressed by regulation alone. Ultimately, their use should be eschewed, given the significant ethical concerns.”

Notes for editors

This release is based on the findings from ‘The Morality of Private War' funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and carried out by Dr James Pattison at 91直播 University.

The research considered six central issues: 

• If and when individual contractors can permissibly use and assist military force; 
• Private contractors' liability to attack; 
• The legitimacy of states that employ PMSCs; 
• Whether military services should be viewed as a public good; 
• The possibility of using PMSCs to augment the international community's capacity to undertake humanitarian intervention; 
• The use of PMSCs by humanitarian organisations to protect their personnel and infrastructure in the field.

A University of Manchester professor has helped to organise a group of NHS medical professionals to travel to Gaza to help treat hundreds of those affected by the crisis.

Notes for editors

For inquiries about The University of Manchester / the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute, please call Alison Barbuti on 0161 275 8383 or email

The relationship between church, state and the international crisis facing welfare finance is the root cause of why some countries are friendlier to same-sex couples than others, says a University of Manchester researcher.

Professor Angie Wilson’s findings, based on an analysis of ten countries, are published in her new book this month, ahead of the US Supreme Court’s judgement on gay marriage this week.

According to Professor Wilson, the court's nine justices are unlikely to proclaim a national right to same-sex marriage, differing widely from the attitudes of policy makers in Western Europe.

In her book, ‘Why Europe is Lesbian and Gay friendly and why America never will be’, published by Suny Press, she argues there is a gap in how we understand the advancement of gay rights across different countries.

Well organised gay and lesbian movements, political action, changes in social attitudes and human rights legislation, have all contributed to policy changes in gay friendly Europe, she says.

But more fundamental is the ‘Political economy of care’: the intersection of state, market, religious and family relations.

She will be giving a prestigious TED talk on the topic, online next month.

She said: “My research asks how is it that so many European countries have policies that protect citizens from discrimination based on sexual orientation and recognize same-sex couples, when many American states do not?

“The historical involvement of Christian churches, particularly in post-World War II welfare settlements, and the resulting political economy of care in each country, is unique. However, one common factor is the interpretation of ‘the family’.

“In many US States – especially in the South- religiosity is high, and Christian churches, rather than the state, are primary providers of social welfare, health and other services.

“This represents a huge financial investment in the traditional family and the church as the two key providers of services.

“If socially conservative religions lose their investment in service provision, they lose the political power to define morality and much of their political influence.”

She added: “As European countries are facing austerity, redefining the traditional family to encompass and gay and lesbian people makes financial sense for states: families are far cheaper than the state at providing welfare.

“For those countries where religiosity is lower, this is going to be easier. In America, where religiosity is high and there is little federal support for welfare, it is going to be harder.”

Professor Wilson’s work can help explain policy development in countries such as:

• Russia. Recently passed law banning gay 'propaganda' is indicative of unfriendly policies to gay and lesbian people. This must be seen in the context of growing religiosity, investment in welfare from the Christian right and lack of dependable state welfare.
• France. Recently allowed its first gay marriage. Despite the love of the traditional family, France’s increasing secularism and established welfare system has created this policy opportunity.
• Britain.  Same-sex marriage law and an impressive contemporary history of policy expansion. Brown and Blair both redefined the family, as Cameron is continuing this trend. At least part of the reasoning behind this was the need for a larger population to be defined as ‘family’ and therefore responsible financially for care – thus saving the state money.
• Spain .Legalises same sex marriages even though it is Catholic country. Explained by more women in work, migration into the cities which weakened Spain’s dependence on the extended family to meet welfare needs. This created a momentous policy opportunity for well organized activists.
• Italy. Less friendly to gay and lesbian people, explained by historic investment of the Catholic Church in direct care provision.
• America. High religiosity and little national welfare reinforces the power of the Christian Right in many ‘red states’. Churches are key providers of welfare for individual states and thus have great power to define the family according to their morality. Those individual states with significant investment in welfare are the exact ones with laws more inclusive of gay and lesbian couples.

Notes for editors

Professor Wilson is available for comment

Futher information is available

For media enquires contact:

Mike Addelman
Press Officer
Faculty of Humanities
The University of Manchester
0161 275 0790
07717 881567
Michael.addelman@manchester.ac.uk
 

Writing in a special edition of Nature Reports Climate Change, published to coincide with the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Prof Kevin Anderson and two co-authors say that by 2060 temperatures could be 4°C higher than the pre-industrial level – double the current target of 2°C adopted by the UK and other governments.

They also warn that weak climate change agreements could see an even higher rise by the end of the century, adding that on-going negotiations offer little to suggest there is the collective will to meet the mitigation challenge

Prof Anderson writes: “As we approach the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century and emissions continue to increase, keeping below 2°C with any reasonable probability will be possible only with urgent and stringent mitigation measures.

“In practice, this will necessitate almost immediate emissions reductions by rich nations, followed soon after by reductions from developing nations.

“As the challenge of keeping below 2°C increases, the likelihood of reaching higher temperatures becomes correspondingly larger.

“At the worst end of the scale, with continued intensive fossil fuel use, temperatures could rise 4°C by the 2070s, or even as early as 2060 if there are strong positive feedbacks in the carbon cycle.”

The article concludes: “Ongoing climate negotiations offer little to suggest that sufficient collective will currently exists to meet this mitigation challenge.

“Yet aiming to reduce emissions to keep the average temperature below 2°C remains a crucial political objective.

“To try and possibly fail at achieving this goal is better than to renounce the effort, as the larger the gap between the 2°C target and the final temperature change, the more catastrophic the consequences.”

The full article can be viewed at

Notes for editors

Professor Kevin Anderson is Research Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, based at The University of Manchester.

Co-authors are Mark New from the School of Geography and Environment at the University of Oxford and Diana Liverman of the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford and the Institute of the Environment at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

If you wish to speak to Prof Anderson please contact Alex Waddington, Media Relations Officer, The University of Manchester, 1016 275 8387 or 07717 881569.

The former foreign secretary and EU special envoy has been invited to give the Doubleday Lecture on behalf of The University of Manchester’s Medical School and also to help support MAHSC – a partnership between the NHS and the University – as it announces its new global health focus.

Lord Owen is expected to speak about how access to and the delivery of healthcare is a product of politics and economics, and he will endorse 91直播’s role as a champion of global health, which is illustrated by its response to natural disasters, complex emergencies and the delivery of humanitarian assistance over the last 25 years.

Professor Ian Jacobs, MAHSC Director and Vice President of The University of Manchester, will introduce Lord Owen. He says we face multiple global health issues and, at times, potential conflicts. “We have sophisticated healthcare but huge divides of delivery between the wealthy and the poor, major advances in medical research but often poor translation to the patient. 91直播, however, combines excellence in academia, clinical service delivery, research management and education and is, I believe, well placed to lead the way in bridging those divides.”

Professor Tony Redmond, who has been appointed by MAHSC to head up its global health initiative, has an impressive track record of involvement in international emergency medical assistance, spanning over two decades -most recently when he headed up a medical team in China following the 2008 earthquakes and again in 2010 with the Haiti earthquake.

He believes that as improved communications and travel have increased people’s mobility, health education must now be seen in a global context. “Hospitals need to be equipped to treat diseases not traditionally seen in the UK, and requires the training for healthcare staff to identify them. Countries need to work together to share solutions to common problems, “he explains.

Afterwards, Professor Ashley Woodcock OBE will give the address as the newly elected President of the 91直播 Medical Society. His work has already earned him huge recognition in environmental campaigning, and his research on CFCs was highlighted in the presentation, which earned the Nobel Prize for Al Gore for his work on climate change in 2007.  “We need to take the lessons we learned from successful ozone layer protection and apply them to climate change.  Prevention is always much better than cure.”

Programme:

1.30 pm:  Registration

2.00 pm:  Doubleday Lecture organised by the University of 91直播 Medical School to be given by Lord Owen

3.00 pm:  Tea break

3.30 pm:  Future humanitarian crises: Challenges for practice, policy and public health. Professor Frederick “Skip” M Burkle, Jr (Senior Fellow & Scientist, the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard School of Public Health and Senior Associate and Research Scientist, the Centre for Refugees & Disaster Response, Johns Hopkins University Medical Institutes).

4.00 pm: Global health and the role of a global pharmaceutical Company Mr Ramil Burden (VP and Special Adviser to the CEO, GlaxoSmith Kline).

4.30 pm: Global health; what happens in a medical emergency: Professor Tony Redmond OBE (Co-Director of the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute, Hospital Dean at Salford Royal NHS FT and Professor of International Emergency Medicine at 91直播 Medical School).

5.00 pm: Coffee Break

5.30 pm Annual General Meeting of the 91直播 Medical Society followed by the PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS of Professor Ashley Woodcock OBE (Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the North West Lung Centre, UHSM, and Head of School of Translational Medicine, The University of Manchester), who will consider Global health; the impact of the Environment.

Notes for editors

91直播 Medical Society was formed in 1834 for the "cultivation and promotion of medicine and all related sciences". An aim continued today through a series of scientific meetings and symposia focused on continual professional development for medical professionals and for those working in professions allied to medicine. The Society consists of 10 Sections: Anaesthesia, Imaging, Medicine, Odontology, Paediatrics, Pathology, Psychiatry, Public Health, Primary Care and Surgery.

The 91直播 Academic Health Science Centre (MAHSC) was formally established in July 2008 to underpin the development of Greater 91直播 as a world leader in health research. A federation, which interconnects 91直播’s existing research activity and research partnerships, offers huge potential and opportunities and will generate health benefits, economic development, enterprise, innovation and wealth creation in Greater 91直播 and the wider North West. Our vision is to be a leading global centre for the delivery of innovative applied health research and education into healthcare.

MAHSC is based on a federal model and is the first AHSC in the UK to cover the full spectrum of care: acute, specialist, mental health, primary care and commissioning. 

The Dr Edwin Doubleday Fund provides support for people entering the medical profession by encouraging interest in the non-technical elements of medical practice that present some of the greatest challenges to individuals at the start of their careers. These elements include the disparity between politically desirable aspects of a public health service and what it is practicable to deliver, the maintenance of humanitarian values in increasingly ethically complex aspects of medical innovation and the differences in attitude to illness and treatment between religious and cultural groups.

The joint meeting of the 91直播 Medical Society and The University of Manchester Medical School, will take place inTheatre B, Roscoe Building, Brunswick Street, The University of Manchester M13 9PL, on Wednesday, October 26.

Media enquiries to:

Susan Osborne 

Tel: 0161 291 4972
Mobile: 07836 229208

A University of Manchester historian has uncovered evidence which shows how a defensive alliance against England between Scotland and France might never have formally ended – potentially making it the longest in history.

In a paper to be published next year, Dr Siobhan Talbott argues the Franco-Scottish Auld Alliance of 1295 survived centuries of enmity and war between Britain and France – even after the Act of Union was signed in 1707. Trade, she says, is a major reason for its longevity.

The prevailing view of historians that Scotland sided with the English, moving away from her friendship with France after 1560, when the country converted to Protestantism, is also disputed by Dr Talbott.

J. Macpherson, published in Scottish Field in 1967, says Dr Talbott, showed that France refused to accept Westminster’s abrogation of the Scottish side of the Auld Alliance in 1906, following the Entente Cordiale between Britain and France. By French law, a Scotsman born before 1907 still possesses the full rights and privileges of Franco-Scottish nationality.

The 716-year-old citizenship and trading privileges enjoyed by Scots in France, she suggests, are possibly intact today.

Dr Talbott said: “It’s going to be difficult to prove conclusively that Auld Alliance of 1295 is the longest in history - but there is strong evidence to suggest that this could indeed be the case.

“If we accept 1906 as an 'end date', this would make the Auld Alliance 611 years old, compared to 638 years for what many regard as world’s oldest alliance between England and Portugal.

“However, when Charles de Gaulle spoke in Edinburgh in June 1942, he stated that the Auld Alliance was 'the oldest alliance in the world'.”

Previously, historians have argued the 1560 Treaty of Edinburgh, along with Scotland’s conversion to Protestantism, ended the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France.

But not so according to Dr Talbott: some French troops remained in Scotland and there is no reference to ending the Alliance in the text.

Even during the eighteenth century – after the Act of Union was signed – Scotland and France continued to have an active and close relationship, based on the historic Auld Alliance.

Trade flourished between the two countries, even though France was Catholic and Scotland Protestant.

Scottish merchants paid less or no customs at some French ports, whereas some ports would not trade with the English at all.

The Scots exported a range of goods including coal, wool and animal skins to France.

And French exports included salt, wine, luxury cloth, musical instruments, furniture, beds and spectacles.

Despite some difficulties for Protestant Scots, there were well established communities in Bordeaux, Paris and La Rochelle throughout the seventeenth century.

Dr Talbott said: “It has been previously recognised that trade continued to take place between the two countries in the eighteenth century.

“But by examining merchants’ records from the period, I can now say that it was much more extensive than realised, and that it continued despite conflict such as war which many historians have maintained prevented it.

She added: “Scots saw their country as an independent entity throughout  the eighteenth century, even after the Union of the Scottish and English monarchies in 1603 and the Union of their parliaments in 1707 -  and other European nations regarded them like that too.

“This might explain why Scots seem to have more of a notion of independence than the English, who appear to more readily see themselves as 'British' - and it will be interesting to see if the results of the 2011 Census and the proposed 2014 referendum on Scottish Independence reflects this.”
 
Dr Talbott’s research has been awarded the prestigious 2011 Pollard Prize by the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, for the best seminar given by a scholar within one year of completing their PhD.

Notes for editors

The paper by Dr Talbott will be published in the journal Historical Research and is entitled: ‘If you were hier you could gaine what you please, for there is many English and severall Scots that you might deall with’: British Commercial Interests on the French Atlantic Coast, c. 1560-1713'.

It will be published in the IHR's journal, Historical Research next year.

'Beyond ‘the antiseptic realm of theoretical economic models’: New Perspectives on Franco-Scottish Commerce and the Auld Alliance in the Long Seventeenth Century' is being published later this year in the Journal of Scottish Historical Research, 31:2 (November 2011). It won the Economic and Social History Society of Scotland's Research Essay Prize for 2009.
 
The research was carried out in national and regional archives of France, USA and UK.

Dr Talbott is available for interview

For media enquires contact:

Mike Addelman
Press Officer
Faculty of Humanities
The University of Manchester
0161 275 0790
07717 881567
Michael.addelman@manchester.ac.uk

The press - and 1980 Thatcher Government - unfairly criticised the trade union movement over its support for the newly formed Polish Solidarity Trade Union, according to the most detailed analysis of the period ever carried out.

Professor Stefan Berger, from The University of Manchester, says an initial slowness to react gave way to strong political and practical support  - often behind the scenes- for Lech Walesa’s fledgling union by his UK counterparts.

The findings, a chapter in a new book published this month, emerge on the thirtieth anniversary of the tumultuous events which captivated the world in 1980.

“This research will force many historians and commentators- myself included -  to revise their opinions of the part the unions played in supporting Solidarnosc during the 1980s,” said Professor Berger.

“Though the picture is complicated, we should applaud the enormous efforts of the majority of British Trade Unionists.

“It’s fair to say the almost unanimous hostility to the unions by the press and politicians at that time was misplaced and did not reveal the true picture.

“The TUC even held talks with the Thatcher government over how best to co-ordinate reactions to the imposition of martial law in Poland in 1980.

“The Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington, actually counselled caution stressing  how unstable the situation in Poland was.”

However, not all unionists were supportive: prominent individuals and their unions  -such as Arthur Scargill and Bob Crow -  were critical of Solidarnosc.

Another prominent doubter, says Professor Berger, was Tony Benn, who noted in his diary that Labour and the TUC in supporting Solidarity were ‘supporting Polish Thatcherism’.

The TUC also had the tricky task of distancing itself from Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan-  their ideological enemies - who were vocal supporters of the Polish Union.

Prof Berger said: “At times, the TUC were cautious, but that was down to a desire to avoid a second Cold War and avoid intra-union tensions.

“But this should not deflect attention away from the basic fact that it remained, from beginning to end, committed to the values of free trade unionism.

“Solidarnosc’s Catholicism and nationalism also came in for a lot of criticism though from the same British left wingers who supported the cause of Catholic nationalism in Northern Ireland.

“When Walesa visited the TUC in December 1989, he singled out the unlikely combination of the government of Margaret Thatcher and the TUC as vital allies – and this should not be forgotten.”

Measures taken by the Unions to help the Poles included:

• Behind the scenes, the TUC tried to use its contacts with official East European trade unions as a bargaining chip to support Solidarnosc. It also continually lobbied the Polish ambassador in London.
• A TUC support fund, raising tens of thousands of pounds for the Poles.
• Between 1981 and 1983, the TUC sent thirteen lorries of food, about 200 tons, which was distributed by the Polish Church Charity Commission.
• Sending office equipment, printing and duplicating machinery and paper.
• Training Solidarnosc officials.
• Making numerous declarations condemning the imposition of martial law and offering support for the Poles.
• The TUC broke off relations with the some Communist Trade Unions in Eastern Europe, in protest of their support for the imposition of martial law in Poland.
• Organising public demonstrations.
• Twinning arrangements between British unions and Solidarnosc regions.

Notes for editors

Solidarity with Solidarity: Western European Trade Unions and the Polish Crisis, 1980-1982 is published by Lexington Books.

Professor Berger is available for comment.

An electronic copy of the chapter is available.

Archival material used from sources including:
The Labour Party Archive held at The People's History Museum in 91直播
Papers of the Trades Union Congress  at Warwick University
National Newspaper archives
TUC Library, London
London Polish Club

For media enquires contact:

Mike Addelman
Media Relations
Faculty of Humanities
The University of Manchester
0161 275 0790
07717 881567
Michael.addelman@manchester.ac.uk