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Four students - all currently taught in PAIS - formed the University's Cyber 9/12 Student Challenge Team on 26/27 February. This two-day cyber policy competition was organised by the Atlantic Council for students across the globe to compete in developing national security policy recommendations tackling a fictional cyber catastrophe.

The Student Challenge rounds took place in Washington DC, Geneva, Sydney, New York and London - the latter at the top of the BT tower. Sixteen universities entered teams in the London round which featured a variety of challenges and tests. The 91¸£Àû team leader was Sarah Mainwaring and the other team members were Sophie Davies, Sophie Cowling and Emily Bassett. Day One featured policy briefing and Day Two featured an extended "Cyber Crisis Sim".

Congratulations to the 91¸£Àû team who won the prize for best performance in the "Cyber Crisis Sim."

Drs Charlotte Heath-Kelly and Steve Kettell recently gave TEDx talks, for , on the theme of conflict.

Dr Heath-Kelly's talk, The Motivation of Terrorism, explored the motivations of terrorism, as identified through Charlotte's interviews with members of EOKA (a terrorist organization based in Cyprus).

Dr Kettell's talk, The Necessity of Secularism, addressed the role religion plays in warfare and will question society’s habit of hastily blaming religion for conflict.

An article by Columba Achilleos-Sarll, a PAIS PhD student, has been short-listed for the 2017 Feminist and Women’s Studies Association’s Annual Student Essay Competition.

The article, entitled, 'Reconceptualising Foreign Policy as Gendered, Sexualised and Racialised: Towards a Postcolonial Feminist Foreign Policy (Analysis)', can be downloaded for free here:

On 22nd January 2018 we held our annual Students’ Question Time event, which follows on from our main Question Time held in October, when we invite politicians and policy makers to discuss topical issues. The panel members were students from PAIS, PPE, Economics, Economic and History, with the debate being moderated by Chair Dr Claudia Rei.

The topics tackled by our student panelists ranged from whether social media was the root cause for intolerance to other cultures and religions, the rise of populism on both sides of the Atlantic and its effect on neo-liberal world order and whether the UK government should withdraw Trump's invitation for a state visit.

Claudi Rei, the Chair, has summed up the event:

"Engaging topics and fruitful discussion on issues of interest to students ranging from the economics of social media to international politics"

The National Student Survey (NSS) is now open at the link below. In partnership with our students, we have built the department together. Thank you! We’d love your feedback on the three or four years you have spent with us.

Why else complete the survey?

• Treat Yourself – each online participant will receive £5 Eating at 91¸£Àû credit, as a thank you
•  Help Someone Else – for each response, PAIS will donate £5 to the 91¸£Àû Cancer Research Centre, our finalists chosen charity
• Shape the Department - your feedback will help shape the future of the PAIS department

It will take just 5 minutes to complete. Your feedback matters and makes a huge difference as shown on our page.

Please remember the £5 credit only applies to those who complete online so please complete early to ensure you do not lose out.

Simply send your confirmation email – after completing the survey - to NSS-Promotion@warwick.ac.uk to receive your £5.

The results are highly visible, often reported in the media and used by prospective students to help make their university choices. Their high profile has delivered positive, progressive change for PAIS students.

Last year PAIS achieved 94% for overall satisfaction. In recent years PAIS has often had the highest participation rate across the University.