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22. Syria and Seismic Shifts in Middle East Politics with Bassam Haddad (Episode 29)
- Author:
- Sahar Aziz and Bassam Haddad
- Publication Date:
- 03-2025
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
- Abstract:
- Syria's complex history and politics led to the overthrow of Bashar Al Assad on December 8, 2024 – as unexpected as the Arab Spring revolutions that gripped the Middle East thirteen years earlier. Located at the center of regional competition, the nation of Syria will continue to experience foreign intervention from its neighbors, as well as the United States. Meanwhile, the millions of Syrian refugees outside the country are gradually returning to rebuild their homeland. Host Sahar Aziz (https://law.rutgers.edu/bio/sa1356) speaks with Professor Bassam Haddad (https://schar.gmu.edu/profiles/bhaddad) about the origins of Syria’s uprising in 2011 that culminated in the overthrow of the Assad regime in 2024, the current uncertainty of Syria in regional politics, and what to expect in U.S. Middle East policy under the second Trump administration.
- Topic:
- Syrian War, Foreign Interference, Bashar al-Assad, and Regional Politics
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Syria
23. In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story with Dr. Ghada Karmi
- Author:
- Ghada Karmi
- Publication Date:
- 03-2025
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
- Abstract:
- Ghada Karmi speaks about the loss of her home in Jerusalem when she was a child, and what a life in exile has meant for someone longing to turn back the clock and return to that time and place. Running through her story are themes of displacement, loss of belonging, and a split identity - familiar to all those who have been evicted from their homeland.
- Topic:
- Displacement, Identity, Belonging, Exile, and Palestinians
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Palestine, and Jerusalem
24. 50-30: From the Fall of Saigon to U.S. Political Participation
- Author:
- Duy Linh Tu, Lan Cao, and Hoi Trinh
- Publication Date:
- 04-2025
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- Duy Linh Tu, Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor of Professional Practice at the Columbia Journalism School, moderates a discussion with Lan Cao of the Chapman University School of Law and Hoi Trinh, Executive Director, Vietnamese Overseas Initiative for Conscience Empowerment, that traces the arc of Vietnamese American political engagement over the past 50 years. Co-hosted by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and the Columbia Journalism School, this program was part of the three-day series "50-30: From War to Peace in Vietnam and the United States," held at Columbia University from April 30 – May 2, 2025.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Bilateral Relations, Vietnam War, and Political Engagement
- Political Geography:
- Vietnam, North America, Southeast Asia, and United States of America
25. 50-30: New Histories of the Republic of Vietnam and the South Vietnamese Diaspora
- Author:
- Edward Miller, Mai Elliott, Sean Fear, and Adrienne Le
- Publication Date:
- 04-2025
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- The Weatherhead East Asian Institute (WEAI) launches its three-day series of programs commemorating the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War and the 30th anniversary of U.S.-Vietnam reconciliation with a panel discussion chaired by WEAI Director Lien-Hang Nguyen. Participants include: Moderator: Edward Miller, Dartmouth College Speakers: Mai Elliott, Pomona College (emeritus) Sean Fear, Leeds University Adrienne Le, Columbia University Lien-Hang Nguyen; John Phan, Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures; and Duy Linh Tu, Professor of Professional Practice in the Faculty of Journalism, Graduate School of Journalism, all deliver opening remarks prior to the panel. (The panel begins at 10:50.) Co-hosted by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and the Columbia Journalism School, this program was part of the three-day series "50-30: From War to Peace in Vietnam and the United States," held at Columbia University from April 30 – May 2, 2025.
- Topic:
- Diaspora, History, and Vietnam War
- Political Geography:
- Vietnam, Southeast Asia, and South Vietnam
26. 50-30: Lessons from the U.S.-Vietnam Reconciliation: Roadmap for the World
- Author:
- Wafaa El-Sadr, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Paige Arthur, Dany Dinh Quy, and Adam Tooze
- Publication Date:
- 05-2025
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- Commemorating 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War and the 30th anniversary of the U.S.-Vietnam rapprochement, members of Columbia Global and Vietnam's former representative at the United Nations reflect on potential lessons for the rest of the world in the two countries' gradual reconciliation. Chair: Wafaa El-Sadr, Executive Vice President of Columbia Global Moderator: Jean-Marie Guehenno, Director of the Kent Global Leadership Program on Conflict Resolution, SIPA Speakers: Paige Arthur, Director of Global Programming, Columbia Global Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, former Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the United Nations Adam Tooze, Chair of the Committee on Global Thought; Director of the European Institute; Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Professor of History Hosted by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and co-sponsored by Columbia Global, this program was part of the three-day series "50-30: From War to Peace in Vietnam and the United States," held at Columbia University from April 30 through May 2, 2025.
- Topic:
- Diplomacy, Bilateral Relations, Reconciliation, Vietnam War, and Rapprochement
- Political Geography:
- Vietnam, North America, Southeast Asia, and United States of America
27. 50-30: Conversations Left Unsettled — Healing the Wounds of War in Vietnam Through the Arts
- Author:
- Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai and Tony Bui
- Publication Date:
- 05-2025
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, this conversation among poet Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai; photographer Peter Steinhauer; and film director Tony Bui explores how the arts can reassess troubled legacies, foster dialogue, and build bridges for new generations. Speakers: Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, poet and author Peter Steinhauer, photographer Moderator: Tony Bui, filmmaker; Artist in Residence, Weatherhead East Asian Institute; Adjunct Professor, School of the Arts This program was part of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute's three-day series "50-30: From War to Peace in Vietnam and the United States," held at Columbia University from April 30 through May 2, 2025.
- Topic:
- Arts, Reconciliation, Vietnam War, and Dialogue
- Political Geography:
- Vietnam and Southeast Asia
28. Exhibitionist Japan: The Spectacle of Modern Development
- Author:
- Angus Lockyer
- Publication Date:
- 04-2025
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- On April 13, Osaka opened its third and Japan's sixth international exhibition, or expo. This talk draws on a new book to sketch how the latest exhibition emerges from more than a century and a half of exhibitionism, which has included over 1,000 expos in Japan. This history offers a useful, corrective lens on standard accounts of both spectacle and modern Japanese development. Angus Lockyer has taught Japanese, East Asian, and global history in North Carolina and London. "Exhibitionist Japan: The Spectacle of Modern Development" was published by Cambridge University Press earlier this year. "Japan: A History in Objects," based on the collection of the British Museum, will come out in 2026. Lockyer currently lives in Rhode Island and teaches at RISD. Hosted by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute.
- Topic:
- Development, History, and Museums
- Political Geography:
- Japan and Asia
29. Precarious Geographies: Migrant Labor in China’s Network Production
- Author:
- Na Fu
- Publication Date:
- 03-2025
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- As industrial production decentralizes, rural China has become a new hub for networked manufacturing, blurring the boundaries between factory and home. Migrant workers are returning to their hometowns to set up workshop-style facilities, driven by labor shortages, infrastructure improvements, and digital connectivity. Na Fu's study examines how mobility, once seen as a path to opportunity, now reinforces labor precarity, reshaping spatial and economic relations under China’s evolving network production system. Na Fu holds a Ph.D. in Politics from the New School for Social Research and is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at China Initiative at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. Her research explores the intersections of digital labor, political economy, and smart production, focusing on how technological advancements reinforce social inequities and drive resource extraction in industrial transformations. This event is hosted by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute.
- Topic:
- Economics, Manufacturing, Migrant Workers, and Production
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
30. Left to Live and Die: Resource Security and the Biopolitics of Land Stockpiling in China
- Author:
- Ross Doll
- Publication Date:
- 02-2025
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- February 27, 2025 — Beginning in 2007 the Chinese state used liberalizing policy and funding to encourage the expansion of large-scale grain farming. Despite this support, many of the new farms have financially struggled and folded. Drawing on Foucauldian biopolitics and resource security literature, Ross Doll argues that with modernized agriculture the state primarily sought to create not commercial farms but redundant farming infrastructure, which it needed to buffer its growing reliance on food imports while abiding by the global trade regulations needed to sustain its urban export manufacturing economy. Ross Doll is a lecturer in the UC-Berkeley Blum Center for Developing Economies. He researches agrarian change in Asia drawing on political ecology, cultural geography, and resilience ecology. Based on longterm ethnography, his current research considers the origins and influence of contemporary state-led agricultural modernization in the Yangzi Delta region of China, focusing on food security, landscape, and rural politics. Dr. Doll teaches courses on the geographies of natural resources, global and Asian development, and global poverty. He holds a PhD in Geography and a MA in China Studies from the University of Washington. This event is hosted by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and co-sponsored by China Center for Social Policy.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Manufacturing, Imports, Farming, Biopolitics, Political Ecology, and Resources
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
31. From the Country to the City, Life Today in Chengdu
- Author:
- Ning Yuan
- Publication Date:
- 02-2025
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- Ning Yuan is the author of several widely circulated works of fiction, owns a bookstore in Chengdu, has a clothing line made of natural fibers, and has led in the redevelopment of a village in Sichuan that was devastated by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Ning Yuan will introduce her various activities as described above and relate them to her observations on Chinese society, especially in Chengdu and environs.
- Topic:
- Development, Rural, and Cities
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
32. Public Expectations of Government Responses to Security Contingencies Around Japan
- Author:
- Satoshi Machidori, Harukata Takenaka, Amy Catalinac, and Kenneth McElwain
- Publication Date:
- 01-2025
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- In this workshop, scholars Satoshi Machidori and Harukata Takenaka speak on Japanese public attitudes toward possible geopolitical contingencies in the light of changing international environment in East Asia. Their new, large-scale survey experiment examines voter assessments of possible government responses to security crises, including a possible Taiwan contingency. The report also analyzes how perceptions of shared ethnicity may affect public reactions to a hypothetical threat from a democratic regime, expanding the research on the relationship between ethnicity and democratic peace. This research is part of a multi-year study project by ROLES (Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology Open Laboratory for Emergence Strategies, University of Tokyo). Speakers: Satoshi Machidori, Professor of Political Science, Graduate School of Law, Kyoto University, Japan Harukata Takenaka, Professor, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies = GRIPS, Japan Discussant: Amy Catalinac, Associate Professor of Politics, NYU Moderator: Kenneth Mori McElwain, Visiting Professor of Political Science, Department of Political Science, Columbia University Hosted by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and co-sponsored by China and the World Program and APEC Study Center.
- Topic:
- Security, Public Opinion, Geopolitics, and Ethnicity
- Political Geography:
- Japan and Asia
33. Ronnie C. Chan: The Past, Present, and Future of U.S.-China Relations
- Author:
- Ronnie C. Chan and Lien-Hang Nguyen
- Publication Date:
- 12-2025
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- December 2, 2024 — Ronnie C. Chan, Honorary Chair of Hang Lung Properties and Chair Emeritus of the Asia Society, speaks with Lien-Hang Nguyen, Director of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University, about the implications of the 2024 U.S. presidential election for the future of U.S.-China relations and global stability. Columbia University Interim President Katrina Armstrong and University Professor Jeffrey Sachs contribute introductory remarks.
- Topic:
- Bilateral Relations, Elections, and Political stability
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, North America, and United States of America
34. Starr Forum: The US and the World Under Trump: The First 100 Days
- Author:
- Juliette N. Kayyem and Kori Schake
- Publication Date:
- 04-2025
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- MIT Center for International Studies
- Abstract:
- Starr Forum: The US and the World Under Trump: The First 100 Days: Wednesday, April 16th, 2025. Juliette Kayyem and Kori Schake analyzed President Trump’s first 100 days in office and what this means for our nation and the world. Speakers: Juliette Kayyem is the faculty chair of the Homeland Security and Security and Global Health Projects at Harvard University and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She also serves as a senior national security analyst for CNN where she has been described as CNN’s “go to” for disasters. A contributing writer to The Atlantic, Professor Kayyem has a weekly security segment on NPR’s Boston station WGBH. Her most recent book, "The Devil Never Sleeps: Learning to Live in an Age of Disasters," was described in a New Yorker profile as an “engagingly urgent blueprint for rethinking our approach to disaster preparedness and response.” She served as President Obama’s assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs at the Department of Homeland Security. Kori Schake leads the foreign and defense policy team at the American Enterprise Institute. She is the author of "Safe Passage: the Transition from British to American Hegemony," and a contributing writer at the Atlantic, War on the Rocks, and Bloomberg. Before joining AEI, Dr. Schake was the deputy director-general of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. She has had a distinguished career in government, working at the US State Department, the US Department of Defense, and the National Security Council at the White House. She has also taught at Stanford, West Point, Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, National Defense University, and the University of Maryland. She has written additional books, including "America vs the West: Can the Liberal World Order Be Preserved?" and is coeditor, along with former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, of “Warriors & Citizens: American Views of Our Military.” Moderator: Evan Lieberman is the Total Professor of Political Science and Contemporary Africa and the director of the MIT Center for International Studies. He conducts research on the political-economy of development, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. He studies the democratic politics of governing ethnically and racially diverse societies, including the challenges of public health, climate adaptation, and ensuring respect for human dignity. Lieberman is the author, most recently, of "Until We Have Won Our Liberty: South Africa after Apartheid."
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, Domestic Politics, Public Health, and Donald Trump
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
35. What’s next for Ukraine and Europe? A conversation with Dmytro Kuleba
- Author:
- Dmytro Kuleba, Carol Saivetz, and Elizabeth Wood
- Publication Date:
- 04-2025
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- MIT Center for International Studies
- Abstract:
- What’s next for Ukraine and Europe? A conversation with Dmytro Kuleba, former foreign minister of Ukraine: Tuesday, April 8th, 2025. Speaker: Dmytro Kuleba is a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and served as the foreign minister of Ukraine from March 2020-September 2024. Prior to that, he was deputy prime minister on matters of European relations from August 2019 to March 2020. He is internationally recognized as one of the most influential diplomats of his generation and a global champion for democracy, freedom, and resilience. Discussants: Carol Saivetz is a senior advisor in the MIT Security Studies Program at the Center for International Studies (CIS). She is the author and contributing co-editor of books and articles on Soviet and now Russian foreign policy issues. Elizabeth Wood is Ford International Professor of History at MIT. She is the author most recently of Roots of Russia’s War in Ukraine as well as articles on Vladimir Putin, the political cult of WWII, right-wing populism in Russia and Turkey, and US-Russian Partnerships in Science. She is director of the MIT-Ukraine Program at CIS.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, Armed Conflict, Regional Security, and Russia-Ukraine War
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Ukraine
36. Starr Forum: Sudan Under Fire
- Author:
- Mai Hassan, Cameron Hudson, Kholood Khair, and Ahmed Kodouda
- Publication Date:
- 04-2025
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- MIT Center for International Studies
- Abstract:
- Starr Forum: Sudan Under Fire: Monday, April 7th, 2025. As we enter year three of civil war, experts discussed the global crisis that has been too often ignored. Moderator: Mai Hassan is an associate professor of political science at MIT and the faculty director of the MIT-Africa Program at the Center for International Studies. Her work examines topics that span across authoritarian regimes, bureaucracy and public administration, and contentious politics. Speakers: Cameron Hudson is a senior fellow in the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Prior to multiple other academic posts, Cameron served in the US government, including as an intelligence analyst in the Africa Directorate at the Central Intelligence Agency. Kholood Khair is the founder and director of Confluence Advisory, a 'think and do tank' formerly based in Khartoum that works on three priority policy areas: peace and security, economy, and governance. She is currently at Yale University as a visiting fellow. Ahmed Kodouda is a policy, advocacy, and communication specialist. He has an extensive background in conflict and post conflict settings and experience working with and consulting for governmental and NGOs around the world, including in Sudan, Afghanistan, and Kenya.
- Topic:
- Security, Civil War, International Security, and Humanitarian Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Sudan
37. Vulnerabilities and Resilience of Electrical Grids in Wartime: Lessons from Ukraine
- Author:
- Volodymyr Kudrytskyi and Mariana Budjeryn
- Publication Date:
- 03-2025
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- MIT Center for International Studies
- Abstract:
- Vulnerabilities and Resilience of Electrical Grids in Wartime: Lessons from Ukraine: Tuesday, March 11, 2025. The Russian assault on Ukraine’s electrical generating capacity and transmission grid as part of its full-scale war against Ukraine, is unprecedented in the history of warfare. Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the former CEO of Ukraine’s electric grid operator Ukrenergo, discussed the challenges of securing Ukraine’s energy system throughout the war, lessons for mitigating grid vulnerabilities, and prospects for rebuilding a more resilient energy system in Ukraine and Europe. Speaker: Volodymyr Kudrytskyi served as the CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of the Ukrainian Transmission System Operator Ukrenergo from February 2020 until September 2024. Under his leadership, Ukraine’s electrical grid has undergone preparations for synchronization with the power system of Continental Europe ENTSO-E and emergency synchronization with ENTSO-E in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. From February 24, 2022, Mr. Kudrytskyi and his team at Ukrenergo managed the Ukrainian power grid through unprecedented Russian attacks against Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. Previously, Mr. Kudrytskyi held leadership roles in key Ukrainian energy sector companies, including Naftogaz and Ukrtransnafta. Mr. Kudrytskyi holds a degree in international finance from Kyiv National Economic University. Moderator: Mariana Budjeryn is the author of Inheriting the Bomb: The Collapse of the USSR and the Nuclear Disarmament of Ukraine (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2023) and a winner of the 2024 William E. Colby Military Writers’ Award, the first female in the award’s 25-year history. Dr. Budjeryn is a member of the Committee on International Security and Arms Control of the National Academies of Sciences and a senior nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution.
- Topic:
- Electricity, Resilience, Vulnerability, and Russia-Ukraine War
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Ukraine
38. Starr Forum: Syria and the Middle East: What’s Next?
- Author:
- Marwa Daoudy, Rana Khoury, and Richard Nielsen
- Publication Date:
- 03-2025
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- MIT Center for International Studies
- Abstract:
- Starr Forum: Syria and the Middle East: What’s Next?: Tuesday, February 25th, 2025. A conversation with leading experts on Syria and the Middle East as they explore the hopes and challenges of a post-Assad regime. Speakers: Marwa Daoudy is an associate professor of international relations at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service (SFS) and the Seif Ghobash Chair in Arab Studies at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS). Her research and teaching focus on critical and human security studies, environmental and climate security, climate justice, water politics, negotiation theory, peace negotiations, and Middle East politics. Rana Khoury is an assistant professor of political science and a faculty member of the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her expertise includes comparative and international politics, with a focus on nonviolent conflict processes including activism, displacement, and humanitarian response. Her geographic focus is on the Middle East, especially the Levant. Moderator: Richard Nielsen is an associate professor of political science at MIT and the faculty director of the MIT-Arab World Program at the Center for International Studies. He studies and teaches on Middle East politics, international relations, religion, gender, political violence, quantitative methodology, and interpretive methodology.
- Topic:
- Syrian War, Bashar al-Assad, and Political Transition
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Syria
39. GR&P Seminar: US-China Science Cooperation and Chinese American Scientists in the Trump 2.0 Era
- Author:
- Yasheng Huang, Gang Chen, David Goldston, and Mihaela Papa
- Publication Date:
- 02-2025
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- MIT Center for International Studies
- Abstract:
- Global Research & Policy Seminar: US-China Science Cooperation and Chinese American Scientists in the Trump 2.0 Era: Tuesday, February 11, 2025. As the new Trump administration shapes its China policies, how is the United States navigating scientific collaboration with China? What are the implications for Chinese American and China-focused scientists? Two Chinese American MIT faculty members and the Director of the MIT Washington Office shared their insights on the opportunities and challenges of advancing scientific progress in the context of an increasingly complex and contested US-China relationship. Speakers: Yasheng Huang, Epoch Foundation Professor of Global Economics and Management, MIT Sloan; Faculty Director MIT-China Program Gang Chen, Carl Richard Soderberg Professor of Power Engineering, MechE; Director, Pappalardo Micro and Nano Engineering Laboratories David Goldston, Director, MIT Washington Office Moderator: Mihaela Papa, Director of Research and Principal Research Scientist, MIT Center for International Studies
- Topic:
- Science and Technology, Bilateral Relations, Donald Trump, and Collaboration
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, North America, and United States of America
40. Politics, AI and the Future of the University
- Author:
- Tim Clement-Jones
- Publication Date:
- 06-2025
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
- Abstract:
- In the latest in the Mile End Institute's 'In Conversation’ series, we were joined by the former Lawyer and Liberal Democrat spokesperson on Science, Innovation and Technology, Tim Clement-Jones CBE. Lord Clement-Jones is a Liberal Democrat peer, an expert in AI and the digital economy and an educationalist. He joined the House of Lords in 1998 and is now one of the country’s leading authorities on the creative industries. He has been a key figure in legislative discussions of AI and emerging technologies, and published his book, Living with the Algorithm in 2024. Having just completed his final term as Chair of Queen Mary’s Council, Lord Clement-Jones was in conversation with Professor Elke Schwarz about his early life, his political career, his experience of university management and the challenge of AI.
- Topic:
- Education, Politics, Science and Technology, Digital Economy, Artificial Intelligence, and Universities
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus