The Big Picture as an Approach to the Study of International Relations

Professor Barry Buzan is back on the LSE campus on Thursday 29 October, for a panel discussion that doubles as a book launch. The book is The Big Picture as an Approach to the Study of International Relations: Thinking With and Beyond Barry Buzan, published by Cambridge University Press this year and edited by Rita Floyd and Laust Schouenborg. It's a collection of reflections on Buzan's intellectual legacy and his contribution to IR theory, so the evening is as much about looking back at where he's come from as it is about where the field goes from here.

Buzan is one of Europe's most prolific international relations scholars. He's an Emeritus Professor of International Relations at LSE, formerly the Montague Burton Professor, a Senior Fellow at LSE Ideas, and a Fellow of the British Academy. Over several decades, he's put out more than twenty-five books and nearly one hundred and fifty articles and chapters. His work has reshaped how people think about international security, the English School, world history, and global international society, all through what's come to be known as his 'big picture' approach.

On the night, he's joined on the panel by Professor Rita Floyd, Dr Laust Schouenborg, and Professor Ayse Zarakol, with Professor Robert Falkner chairing. The session is part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2026, which runs from 17 October to 7 November, and it falls in the 99th year of LSE's Department of International Relations — one of the oldest and largest in the world, which will celebrate its centenary throughout 2027.

The discussion runs from 6.30pm to 8pm on the LSE campus in London, with the specific venue to be confirmed for ticketholders. If you can't make it in person, it's also being streamed via LSE Live.