The International Affairs Forum is a non-partisan association founded to encourage engagement with global issues. The Forum was established at Leeds University where preliminary work began in late 2005. The International Affairs Forum began hosting public events in January 2007. The organisation’s aim is to promote political engagement through the open exchange of competing ideas on international affairs.

We believe that by exposing our members to different perspectives we allow them to come to their own conclusions from a truly informed position.

We examine a range of areas including journalism, business, civil society, medical, economic and legal issues as well foreign, defence and diplomatic policy. We look at the practicalities and morality of perspectives and seek to inform and impassion our membership.

We provide our members with a variety of means through which to interact with the topics we cover:

Events
Our events aim to be both challenging and enjoyable; focused on issues of the moment and discussed by speakers whose views are easily identifiable whether representing or challenging popular culture.

Lecture series
Our most popular and well established program is our lecture series which sees the International Affairs Forum host visiting speakers at the University of Leeds to present their viewpoint. Our speakers are sourced from all areas of public life. We try to bring only those who are exciting and will provoke genuine interest and curiosity from our membership and the wider public. We do not limit ourselves to issues that are in the popular media. We feel it is crucial to present our members with issues from the less reported world as well as those currently in the spotlight.

Seminar series
Thanks to the success of our lecture program we are preparing to launch a seminar series at the start of the coming academic year. This series will cover in greater depth issues from the lecture program as well as giving scope to the members who wish to discuss other topics.

Open discussions
As an extension of the discussions which follow Forum events the International Affairs Forum is creating a discussion page on our website. We hope through this to facilitate ongoing discussion amongst our members allowing them to deepen their understanding of the topics we cover.

Social events
The Forum is predominantly for intellectual engagement. However we do encourage discussion in relaxed and informal conditions. We are in the process of drawing up a social calendar for the coming academic year.

One off events
Our comprehensive program has worked well at fostering the learning environment. However we are continually trying to provoke interest in others who are not globally aware. One of the ways is through a series of one off events. These will include elements of comedy, performance, art, sport and music. We are also organising group trips to relevant institutions. The Forum tries to sustain the interest generated by our events in order to encourage members to deepen their own personal knowledge.

Published material
We publish material from our membership as well as external organisations. This offers outside writers a chance to communicate directly with a young and open minded audience whilst also allowing our members to have their work published alongside recognised figures in the field. All work should be of professional quality. Research expeditions For those interested in deepening their understanding of issues explored by the International Affairs Forum we provide practical assistance for research expeditions. Since the forum’s inception interested members have conducted research for the purpose of contributing material to the Forum’s publications. The International Affairs Forum facilitates these trips through contacts, sponsorship and publication of material.

For any further information regarding the IAF please email

info@iaforum.org.uk