Mr John Kampfner

Date: 30 November 2009 (Monday)
Time: 3.00 pm to 4.30 pm (Registration begins at 2.45 pm) 
Venue: Seminar Room 2-1, level 2, Manasseh Meyer Building, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (Location Map)
Dress Code: Office Attire

You are cordially invited to this Seminar.

Why is it that so many people around the world appear willing to give up freedoms in return for either security or prosperity? For the past 60 years it had been assumed that capitalism was intertwined with liberal democracy, that the two not just thrived together but needed each other to survive. But what happens when both are undermined? Governments around the world -- whether they fall into the authoritarian or the democratic camp -- have drawn up a new pact with their peoples. These are its terms: repression is selective, confined to those who openly challenge the status quo, who publicly go out of their way to 'cause trouble'. The number of people who fall into that category is actually very few. The rest of the population can enjoy freedom to travel, to live more or less as they wish, and to make and spend their money. This is the difference between public freedoms and private freedoms. We choose different freedoms we are prepared to cede. We all do it. Freedom for Sale will set a new agenda. Mixing narrative from different countries around the world, it breaks new ground in revealing the extent to which the old assumptions and securities have died. It will crucially ask why so many intelligent and ambitious citizens around the world, particularly among the young, seemed prepared to sacrifice freedom of the press and freedom of speech in their quest for wealth. A new world order may well be upon us, and in this gripping and devastating book John Kampfner reveals how it may just be too late to stop it.

John Kampfner was Editor of the New Statesman from 2005-2008. He was the British Society of Magazine Editors Current Affairs Editor of the Year in 2006.

John is currently working on his new book, on global wealth and its assault on democracy, which will be published by Simon & Schuster next year. His previous books include the critically acclaimed and best selling 'Blair's Wars', an account of the former prime minister's militaristic hubris.

John has presented several documentaries for BBC television and radio. In 2002 he won the Foreign Press Association award for Film of the Year and Journalist of the Year for his two-parter on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, called 'The Ugly War'. His film 'War Spin', exposing the propaganda behind the rescue of Jessica Lynch, received considerable publicity in the US and UK.

John is a regular pundit for all channels on politics and foreign affairs.

More about John can be found at http://www.jkampfner.net/prof.html 

If you have any queries, please contact Ms Jessamine Soo at tel: 6516 8382 or via email: