 In 1998, he left Oslo to join the International History Department at the LSE, where he also worked in the LSE Asia Research Centre before becoming Head of Department in 2003.While at LSE, Westad set up LSE IDEAS, the LSE's centre for international affairs, diplomacy and strategy, together with Professor Michael Cox in 2008.Westad speaks and writes in a number of languages, including his native Norwegian, English, French, German, Mandarin and Russian.