Content Type: Video - CIAO Search Results

1. Empire Salon | William Smith | Oct 14 2020

Author:: William Smith
Publication Date:: 12-2026
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: The Center for the Study of Statesmanship, Catholic University
Abstract:: William Smith, a distinguished former student of Committee Board member Claes Ryn, has written an insightful book on the realistic and restrained foreign policy tradition of the United States. Smith highlights the great Harvard scholar, Irving Babbitt, with his clear understanding of the crooked timber of man -- especially when acting collectively -- which reduces moral inhibitions against violence. James Madison explained in Federalist 55, “Had every Athenian citizen been a Socrates; every Athenian assembly would still have been a mob.”
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Imperialism, and Democracy
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

2. Ilham Tohti: Jailed for Fighting for Dialogue, Ethnic Harmony and Rule of Law

Author:: Jewher Tohti, Marie Holzman, Dilnur Reyhan, Teng Biao, Enver Can, and Magdalena Slezáková
Publication Date:: 01-2026
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Vaclav Havel Library
Abstract:: Six of the 13 laureates of the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize to date are currently in prison, including Professor Ilham Tohti. He is a well-known Uyghur intellectual from China and the laureate of the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize for 2019. For over 20 years, he has been engaged in promoting dialogue and mutual understanding between Uyghurs and the Chinese authorities. As a result, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in a two-day show trial in 2014. His family has not heard from him since 2017, when he was denied contact with both them and his lawyers. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Ilham Tohti’s arrest, the Václav Havel Library organized a commemorative and advocacy event with the participation of his daughter Jewher, who lives in exile and has been actively involved in efforts to secure her father’s release. The somber 12th anniversary of his unjust imprisonment was marked at the Václav Havel Library by French sinologist, journalist, and writer Marie Holzman; senior researcher at the Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences and president of the European Uyghur Institute Dilnur Reyhan; Chinese lawyer and political activist Teng Biao—who, as a member of the Weiquan Lawyers (Rights Defence Network) in China, was a finalist for the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize in 2013—and Ilham Tohti’s tireless defender and president of the Ilham Tohti Initiative, Enver Can. The discussion was moderated by Magdalena Slezáková, foreign desk editor at Deník N.
Topic:: Human Rights, Repression, Advocacy, Uyghurs, Ilham Tohti, Dialogue, and Rule of Law
Political Geography:: China and Asia

3. Virtual Briefing Series | Trump and the Middle East: A new beginning or business as usual?

Author:: Kenneth Pollack and Brian Katulis
Publication Date:: 01-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: President-elect Donald Trump’s second term coincides with radical changes in the Middle East. Trump has promised lasting peace in the region, but what does his vision for peace look like? This on-the-record briefing featured Dr. Kenneth Pollack, Vice President for Policy at the Middle East Institute (MEI), in his first event since joining MEI. Dr. Pollack twice served on the National Security Council and began his career as a military analyst at the CIA. The briefing also featured Brian Katulis, Senior Fellow for US Foreign Policy at MEI. Katulis’ career has also included time at the National Security Council as well as the US Departments of State and Defense. Our experts discussed the new administration’s policy toward the Middle East and its main players, the Trump team’s role in securing a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and the potential for the agreement to endure, what to expect from Trump 2.0 vis-à-vis Iran, as well as the prospects for Trump to expand the Abraham Accords.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Donald Trump, and 2023 Gaza War
Political Geography:: Middle East

4. Virtual Briefing Series | Gaza’s Future: Its Neighbors and Trump Weigh In

Author:: Eyal Hulata and Mirette Mabrouk
Publication Date:: 02-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: President Donald Trump has apparently been pushing Egypt and Jordan to absorb the displaced Gazan population amid Arab opposition to his proposal. Trump also vowed to discuss the issue with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his upcoming visit to Washington, DC. How realistic is this idea? And what’s at stake for both Palestinians and the security architecture of the broader region? This on-the-record briefing will feature Eyal Hulata, former head of Israel’s National Security Council (NSC). Hulata is also Senior International Fellow at The Foundation for Defense of Democracies. The briefing will also feature Mirette Mabrouk, Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute. Our experts will discuss Trump’s leverage regarding aid, the Palestinian reaction, Amman’s and Cairo’s political considerations, potential regional security implications, and how the fate of Gazan refugees may affect the longer-term resilience of Israel’s peace treaties with Jordan and Egypt.
Topic:: Displacement, Ethnic Cleansing, Donald Trump, and 2023 Gaza War
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Gaza, Egypt, and Jordan

5. Barbara A. Leaf on US Leadership and Engagement in the Middle East

Author:: Brian Katulis and Barbara A. Leaf
Publication Date:: 02-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: Middle East Focus Presents: ’Taking the Edge Off the Middle East’ with Brian Katulis. A series of casual conversations with leading policy professionals on the most important happenings in the Middle East today - hosted by MEI’s Senior Fellow Brian Katulis. Barbara A. Leaf is a seasoned diplomat and expert on the Middle East, having served as the US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs and held key positions in US embassies across the region. In this episode, Barbara joins Brian to discuss the array of “black swan” events currently unfolding in the Middle East, and how the second Trump administration may respond to these challenges. They discuss the broader implications of these developments for US foreign policy, national security, and regional stability.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Leadership, Engagement, and Donald Trump
Political Geography:: Middle East, North America, and United States of America

6. The Two Faces of American Freedom with Aziz Rana (Episode 28)

Author:: Aziz Rana and Sahar Aziz
Publication Date:: 02-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: Let’s take stock of the American experience within the global history of colonialism – specifically by examining the intertwined relationship in U.S. constitutional practice between internal accounts of freedom and external projects of power and expansion. This episode reinterprets American political traditions from the colonial period to modern times by placing race, immigration, and national security in the context of shifting notions of empire and citizenship. Host Sahar Aziz (https://saharazizlaw.com/) addresses these issues with “The Two Faces of American Freedom (https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978...) ” author and Boston College Law Professor Aziz Rana (https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/schools/law...) .
Topic:: National Security, Race, History, Immigration, Constitution, and Domestic Politics
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

7. Displacement and Erasure in Palestine: The Politics of Hope with Noa Shaindlinger

Author:: Noa Shaindlinger
Publication Date:: 02-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: The lecture explores the ways in which Palestinians negotiate physical and symbolic erasures by producing their own archives and historical narratives. With a focus on the city of Jaffa and its displaced Palestinian population, Professor Noa Shaindlinger argues that the Israeli state ‘buried’ histories of mass expulsions and spatial appropriations.
Topic:: History, Displacement, Settler Colonialism, Palestinians, Erasure, and Hope
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, and Palestine

8. Islamophobia, Race and Global Politics with Nazia Kazi (Episode 27)

Author:: Nazia Kazi and Sahar Aziz
Publication Date:: 02-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: This week’s episode offers a powerful introduction to the scope of Islamophobia in the United States. The legacy of Barack Obama and the mainstream media’s typically negative portrayals of Muslims offer incisive examples into the vast impact of Islamophobia – connected to the long history of racism – both within the borders of the United States, and as a matter of foreign policy and global politics. Host Sahar Aziz (https://saharazizlaw.com/) addresses these issues with “Islamophobia, Race and Global Politics (https://www.amazon.com/Islamophobia-R...) ” author and Stockton University Professor Nazia Kazi (https://drnaziakazi.com/) .
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Race, Islamophobia, and Global Politics
Political Geography:: Global Focus and United States of America

9. Hate Crimes, Terrorism and the Framing of White Supremacist Violence with Shirin Sinnar (Episode 26)

Author:: Shirin Sinnar and Sahar Aziz
Publication Date:: 01-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: In the face of pervasive racial violence in American society, the effort to address and subdue white supremacist extremism has been underserved by the framing of “hate crimes,” and the movement to re-frame these events as domestic terrorism, as these terms do not meet the heavy task of eliminating the perpetuation of institutional oppression.
Topic:: Security, Terrorism, White Supremacy, Racism, Hate Crimes, and Domestic Terrorism
Political Geography:: United States of America and North America

10. What Lies Ahead for Syria: A Conversation with Dr. Omar Dahi (Episode 25)

Author:: Omar Dahi and Sahar Aziz
Publication Date:: 01-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: A complex array of domestic, regional, and international factors contributed to the rise of Hafez Al Assad as president of Syria in 1970 and the ultimate demise of his son, Bashar Al Assad on December 8, 2024 – thirteen years after the Syrian people unsuccessfully rose up peacefully as part of the regional phenomena commonly referred to as the Arab Spring. Located at the center of geopolitical competition between Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, the nation of Syria will continue to play an instrumental role in regional politics, which in turn impacts U.S. interests in the oil-rich Middle East.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Geopolitics, Arab Spring, Syrian War, Bashar al-Assad, Post-Conflict, and Regional Politics
Political Geography:: Middle East and Syria

11. ICC Investigation of Biden Administration Officials for Aiding Israeli War Crimes with Sarah Leah Whitson

Author:: Sarah Whitson and Sahar Aziz
Publication Date:: 05-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: In January of 2025, the human rights organization, Democracy in the Arab World Now (DAWN) (https://dawnmena.org/) , made a formal request with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate former U.S. officials President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin for their accessorial roles in aiding and abetting, as well as intentionally contributing to, Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. With the support of ICC-registered lawyers and other war crimes experts, the submission details a pattern of deliberate and purposeful decisions by these officials to provide military, political, and public support to facilitate Israeli crimes in Gaza; this support included at least $17.9 billion of weapons transfers, intelligence sharing, targeting assistance, diplomatic protection, and official endorsement of Israeli crimes, despite knowledge of how such support had and would substantially enable grave abuses. Join host Sahar Aziz (https://saharazizlaw.com/) in conversation with Sarah Leah Whitson (https://dawnmena.org/experts/sarah-le...) , executive director of DAWN, about the key facts and law supporting the request for the International Criminal Court to investigate Biden officials for aiding and abetting Israeli War Crimes in Gaza.
Topic:: International Law, War Crimes, International Criminal Court (ICC), and Joe Biden
Political Geography:: Israel, Palestine, Gaza, and United States of America

12. Coming Out as Dalit: A Memoir of Surviving India's Caste System with Yashica Dutt

Author:: Yashica Dutt
Publication Date:: 04-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: Born into a “formerly untouchable manual-scavenging family in small-town India,” Yashica Dutt was taught from a young age to not appear “Dalit looking.” Although prejudice against Dalits, who compose 25% of the population, has been illegal since 1950, caste-ism in India is alive and well. Blending her personal history with extensive research and reporting, Dutt provides an incriminating analysis of caste’s influence in India over everything from entertainment to judicial systems and how this discrimination has carried over to US institutions.
Topic:: Minorities, Discrimination, Institutions, Judiciary, and Caste
Political Geography:: South Asia, India, and United States of America

13. Race and Empire: Legal Theory Within, Through and Across National Borders with Asli Bali

Author:: Asli Bâli and Sahar Aziz
Publication Date:: 04-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: In the Global South, the possibility of a post-imperial reality self-determined by former subjects of the empire has been undermined by the dominant Western narrative that centers “humanitarian initiatives, politics of counterterrorism, and migration control”. Host Sahar Aziz (https://saharazizlaw.com/) will speak with expert, advocate and Law Professor Dr. Asli U. Bali to deconstruct the mainstream narrative that portrays the international system and its dominant actors as benevolent agents of humanitarianism in regions like Libya.
Topic:: Imperialism, Race, Global South, Self-Determination, International System, and Post-Colonial
Political Geography:: Global Focus and United States of America

14. Silencing Dissent:The Islamophobia Industry's Assault on Academic Freedom

Author:: Mobashra Tazamal and Nader Hashemi
Publication Date:: 04-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: The few academic centers in the United States focused on combating Islamophobia are under attack by special interest groups and politicians opposed to equality of speech, knowledge production, and rights for Muslims. Experts will discuss the origins and harms arising from the Islamophobia industry's assault on academic freedom.
Topic:: Freedom of Expression, Islamophobia, Knowledge Production, Academic Freedom, and Muslims
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

15. Post-Colonial Legality and Human Rights with Abdullahi An-Naim (Episode 31)

Author:: Abdullahi An-Naim and Sahar Aziz
Publication Date:: 04-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: Autonomy and self-determination for all individuals cannot be realized and sustained unless true within every person. Enslavement and dehumanization remain true of citizens of imperial nations so long as they remain true for colonized peoples. This week’s episode explores the contradictions between stated commitments to human rights and actions in Western and post-colonial societies. Host Sahar Aziz (https://saharazizlaw.com/) addresses these issues with Emory University School of Law Professor Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im (https://law.emory.edu/faculty/faculty...) .
Topic:: Human Rights, Imperialism, Self-Determination, and Post-Colonial
Political Geography:: Global Focus

16. The Last Plantation: Racism and Resistance in the Halls of Congress with James Jones (3/25/25)

Author:: James Jones
Publication Date:: 03-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: Federal lawmakers, congressional employees, and political journalists have labeled Congress the "Last Plantation." Professor James Jones examines the careers, experiences, and activism of Black congressional staffers, demonstrating how lawmakers have maintained a racialized workplace.
Topic:: Domestic Politics, Racism, and Congress
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

17. Race, Women and the Global War on Terror with Sherene Razack (Episode 30)

Author:: Sherene Razack
Publication Date:: 03-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: This episode of the Race and Rights podcast features Professor Sherene Razack (https://gender.ucla.edu/person/sheren...) discuss how racialized Muslim bodies and gender are constructed by global white supremacy that produces and sustains networks, affinities and ideas in the so-called Global War on Terror. Sherene Razack (https://gender.ucla.edu/person/sheren...) is a Distinguished Professor and the Penny Kanner Endowed Chair in Women’s Studies at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and author of the Nothing Has to Make Sense: Upholding White Supremacy through Anti-Muslim Racism (https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/nothing...) (University of Minnesota 2022).
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Race, Women, Islamophobia, War on Terror, and White Supremacy
Political Geography:: Global Focus and United States of America

18. The Question of Palestine and Zionism’s Internal Debates After 1948 with Dr. Zachary Foster

Author:: Zachary Foster
Publication Date:: 03-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: A Teach In focused on the debates between the Zionist right and the Zionist left, Israel's Judaization programs, and its policies of displacement, land confiscation and Jewish supremacy in historic Palestine.
Topic:: Zionism, Displacement, Settler Colonialism, Right-Wing Politics, and Judaization
Political Geography:: Middle East and Palestine

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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

30. 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

31. 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

32. 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

33. 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

34. 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

35. 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

36. 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

37. 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

38. How to Replace 'First Past the Post'

Author:: Jess Garland, Rainbow Murray, Stephen Gethins, and Stijn van Kessel
Publication Date:: 04-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:: In 1918, Parliament came within hours of abolishing First Past the Post. The system only survived because the two Houses disagreed on the system that should replace it. With the Bill on the brink of collapse, the question was postponed – a reprieve that has lasted for 107 years. In a recent YouGov poll, only 23% of respondents backed First Past the Post. But what might replace it? Different countries use a dizzying array of different systems, which are designed to do different things. Some are ‘proportional’, others ‘preferential’. Some would expand the range of parties, while others might shrink them. Do we want our electoral system to give us strong governments or strong parliaments? Do we want more or fewer regional parties, independent candidates, extremist parties or coalitions? In this event, co-hosted with Unlock Democracy, the Electoral Reform Society and Make Votes Matter, the Mile End Institute presented different electoral systems as used in France, New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland and the Netherlands. Dr Jess Garland (ERS), Professor Rainbow Murray (QMUL), Stephen Gethins MP and Professor Stijn van Kessel (QMUL) debated their strengths and weaknesses; what they can and can’t achieve; and how they work in practice.
Topic:: Government, Elections, and Political Parties
Political Geography:: United Kingdom

39. The Political Economy of Starmer's Labour

Author:: Colm Murphy, Sam Freedman, Morgan Jones, Theo Bertram, and Kate Alexander Shaw
Publication Date:: 03-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:: The first eight months of the new Labour government have been tumultuous, and nowhere more than in the politics of economics. Rachel Reeves has hiked taxes and increased borrowing, but her Treasury are also in tense negotiations with other departments over spending constraints. The Bank of England is trying to cut interest rates, but in a volatile market environment highly sensitive to developments across the Atlantic. The Government has already made itself vocal enemies ranging from tractor-driving farmers to child poverty campaigners, and businesses, trade unions, and lobbyists are currently battling to shape its policies on workers rights, planning reform, oilfields and airport expansions. What have we learned about Labour's economic policies? Do they have a coherent strategy? How united is the Labour Party and what are the emerging tensions? What would a successful economic strategy look like, given the UK's longstanding weaknesses of underinvestment and regional inequality and newer dangers like trade wars and recessionary risk? In this Mile End Institute webinar, Dr Colm Murphy, Sam Freedman (author of Britain's biggest politics Substack), the political writer Morgan Jones, former Number 10 advisor Dr Theo Bertram, and the economist Dr Kate Alexander Shaw explore the political economy of Keir Starmer's Labour Party.
Topic:: Political Economy, Political Parties, Labour Party, and Keir Starmer
Political Geography:: United Kingdom and Europe

40. The Third Hennessy Lecture: Baroness Sayeeda Warsi

Author:: Sayeeda Warsi
Publication Date:: 02-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:: Baroness Sayeeda Warsi was the first Muslim to serve in a British Cabinet, during the coalition government of 2010-15. A former party Chair, Foreign Office minister and Minister for Faith and Communities, she is now a non-aligned peer and has become one of Britain's leading commentators on Islam and Islamophobia. She is a prominent voice against anti-Muslim racism, and the author of two celebrated books on the role of Islam in modern Britain: The Enemy Within: A Tale of Muslim Britain and Muslims Don't Matter. In the third of the Mile End Institute's new series of distinguished "Hennessy Lectures", to mark our 10th anniversary, Baroness Warsi reflected on her life and career as a Muslim woman born in Yorkshire, who practised as a lawyer before becoming a minister and member of the House of Lords, and offered "the anatomy of a prejudice" in British society today.
Topic:: Politics, Muslims, and House of Lords
Political Geography:: Britain and Europe

41. The Future of the 'Special Relationship'

Author:: Kim Darroch and Evie Aspinall
Publication Date:: 02-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:: Since Winston Churchill first coined the term in 1946, successive American Presidents and Prime Ministers have hailed the ‘Special Relationship’ between the United Kingdom and the United States. For over 80 years, the exceptionally close political, diplomatic, economic, military and intelligence relationship between the two countries has endured changes of government, the end of the Cold War, the ‘War on Terror’, and globalisation. In the week that Donald Trump returned to the White House, the former British Ambassador to the United States, Kim Darroch, the Director of the British Foreign Policy Group, Evie Aspinall, and Dr James Ellison explored the future of Anglo-American relations. With tariffs looming and Elon Musk waging war on the Starmer government, they asked how should Britain handle this relationship - and explored the challenges it will face over the coming years.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Politics, Bilateral Relations, Tariffs, and Transatlantic Relations
Political Geography:: United Kingdom, Europe, North America, and United States of America

42. The Conservative Party in Opposition

Author:: Tim Bale, Nigel Fletcher, Lee David Evans, and Mercy Muroki
Publication Date:: 01-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:: As Kemi Badenoch began her tenure as Leader of the Conservative Party and the Leader of His Majesty's Official Opposition, Prof Tim Bale was joined by Dr Nigel Fletcher, Lee David Evans and Mercy Muroki to explore her approach to leadership and what her Shadow Cabinet appointments tell us about the future of Conservative policy. After the most successful electoral force in British history suffered the worst defeat in its 200-year existence, our expert panel of academics, historians and political commentators considered how the new Conservative leader might approach the challenges and dilemmas of Opposition.
Topic:: Elections, Domestic Politics, Political Parties, and Conservative Party
Political Geography:: Britain and Europe

43. Displacement and Erasure in Palestine: The Politics of Hope

Author:: Noa Shaindlinger
Publication Date:: 02-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: The lecture explores the ways in which Palestinians negotiate physical and symbolic erasures by producing their own archives and historical narratives. With a focus on the city of Jaffa and its displaced Palestinian population, Professor Noa Shaindlinger argues that the Israeli state ‘buried’ histories of mass expulsions and spatial appropriations.
Topic:: Human Rights, International Law, and Justice
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, and Palestine

44. Through Protest to Reform: Euromaidan and Decentralization in Ukraine (10/03/2025)

Author:: Anastasiia Vlasenko and Petro Jacyk
Publication Date:: 10-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: The Harriman Institute
Abstract:: What happens when mass protests don’t just demand change, but actually reshape the way power works on the ground? This talk dives into that question through the story of Ukraine’s Euromaidan movement and the sweeping decentralization reform that followed. In the wake of Euromaidan, Ukraine undertook one of its most ambitious transformations: transferring authority, budgets, and decision-making from the central government to local communities. But here is the twist: different places embraced this reform at very different speeds. Why? And what did protest have to do with it? Drawing on rich local-level data, this study uncovers a fascinating paradox: communities touched by protest often moved more slowly to adopt decentralization. However, once they did, they used it more effectively. The protest areas developed polycentric, multivoice decision-making structures that made early reform harder, but later implementation stronger, more competitive, and more participatory. From budget battles to e-democracy initiatives, this research shows how protest can leave behind more than memories. It can build the skills, networks, and civic muscle needed to turn reforms into real functioning democracy. Whether you are interested in Ukrainian politics, the afterlife of protest movements, or the mechanics of grassroots democracy, this talk offers fresh insight into how collective action can rewrite the rules of governance from the bottom up.
Topic:: Governance, Reform, Protests, Decentralization, and Euromaidan Revolution
Political Geography:: Europe and Ukraine

45. Pop-Propaganda: How the Kremlin Markets Its War Like Netflix and Coca-Cola (09/30/2025)

Author:: Andrew Ryvkin and Elise Giuliano
Publication Date:: 09-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: The Harriman Institute
Abstract:: How does a government sell war, repression, or the curbing of freedoms to millions of people in the age of attention economy? If you think Russian propaganda is just burly TV hosts threatening to drown the Eastern Seaboard and millions of bots on X, then you haven’t been paying attention. In today’s Russia, the boundaries between entertainment and propaganda have all but disappeared. The Kremlin’s disinformation machine is no longer built only on bureaucracy and censorship—it operates like a modern media conglomerate, blending state messaging with digital marketing, social media influencers, and Netflix (yes, the Kremlin has its own streaming platform). Modern propaganda is memes, influencers, and sophisticated campaigns to market government initiatives in ways that resemble consumer brands. Drawing on his experience as both a Kremlin propagandist and a journalist covering Russia for The Atlantic and Air Mail, Andrew Ryvkin will show how propaganda is packaged and spread, and what can we do to counter it.
Topic:: Media, Propaganda, Disinformation, Entertainment, Consumer Behavior, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:: Russia and Eurasia

46. 10 Years of Observing US-Russia Relations (09/18/2025)

Author:: Timothy Frye, Samuel Greene, Nina Khrushcheva, Maria Snegovaya, Joshua Tucker, and Alexander Cooley
Publication Date:: 09-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: The Harriman Institute
Abstract:: Please join the New York University Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia and Harriman Institute at Columbia University for the concluding event in the New York-Russia Public Policy series, held in person at NYU. This panel of four distinguished researchers and commentators on Russia will reflect on a decade of observing U.S.-Russia relations, how the two countries represent their relations and understand their interests, and the challenges inherent in communicating the many nuances of these relationships. Our panelists will also speculate on what we are likely to see in the next decade to come.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, National Security, Bilateral Relations, and Democracy
Political Geography:: Russia, Eurasia, North America, and United States of America

47. Reclaiming Trust: Inga Springe on the Role of Independent Media in the Baltics

Author:: Masha Udensiva-Brenner and Inga Springe
Publication Date:: 10-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: The Harriman Institute
Abstract:: Harriman Magazine editor Masha Udensiva-Brenner interviews Latvian investigative journalist Inga Springe of Re:Baltica about the rise and fall of the newspaper Diena, Latvia's journey to join NATO and the EU, and how investigative journalism addresses corruption and Russian influence in the Baltic region.
Topic:: NATO, Corruption, European Union, Media, Journalism, and Foreign Influence
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, Eurasia, Latvia, and Baltic States

48. Yulia Navalnaya in the Václav Havel Library

Author:: Yulia Navalnaya and Ondřej Kundra
Publication Date:: 12-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Vaclav Havel Library
Abstract:: In her first live interview in the Czech Republic, Yulia Navalnaya spoke with Ondřej Kundra, a journalist from Respekt, about the book Patriot (Universum, 2025), which is about the life and work of her husband, Alexei Navalny, a leader of the Russian opposition, who was brutally murdered by Putin's regime. The debate between Navalnaya and Kundra touches on some of the most difficult moments of Julia and Alexei’s lives, but also delves into Alexei’s childhood, his entrance into public life and politics, and his fight for a free Russia.
Topic:: Repression, Vladimir Putin, Opposition, and Alexei Navalny
Political Geography:: Russia

49. From Glasnost to Crackdown: Ann Cooper on Covering the Fall of the USSR and What Came After

Author:: Masha Udensiva-Brenner and Ann Cooper
Publication Date:: 10-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: The Harriman Institute
Abstract:: Harriman Magazine editor Masha Udensiva-Brenner interviews editor-in-chief Ann Cooper about her experiences covering the end of the Soviet Union for NPR; how we might reframe that period; and some of the articles in the 2025 issue of Harriman Magazine.
Topic:: History, Journalism, Soviet Union, National Public Radio (NPR), and Glasnost
Political Geography:: Europe, Eurasia, and Soviet Union

50. The Showman: An Interview With President Zelensky’s Wartime Biographer

Author:: Simon Shuster
Publication Date:: 10-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: The Harriman Institute
Abstract:: Time Magazine Senior Correspondent Simon Shuster discusses his book on Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and the first year of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine; the current state of affairs; and some of the historical context that brought us here.
Topic:: Journalism, Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia-Ukraine War, and History
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Ukraine

51. Václav Havel European Dialogues - Human rights and values in international affairs

Author:: Michael Ignatieff, Martin Palouš, Jiri Pehe, and Jacques Rupnik
Publication Date:: 11-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Vaclav Havel Library
Abstract:: In the aftermath of 1989, Vaclav Havel thought that human rights, democratic values and foreign policy could advance hand in hand. Today the dominant trend seems, on the contrary, to favour power politics at the expense of Havel’s legacy. The language of human rights, spoken in the past by dissidents, and still used today by lawyers and advocates for victims’ groups, is rarely shared by diplomats and the wider public. In an international arena marked by brutal conflict and war, human rights discourse seems increasingly inadequate. What is left of Havel’s legacy is the possibility to formulate a foreign policy that does not ignore the defence of human rights. The Vaclav Havel Library, in cooperation with the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University and supported by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, invited Michael Ignatieff, politician, academic and author, to address the issue of human rights in international affairs. He discussed this topic with Martin Palouš, Jiri Pehe and Jacques Rupnik, who chaired the event.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Human Rights, International Affairs, European Union, and Democracy
Political Geography:: Europe

52. Turkey, Far and Near

Author:: Zuzana Kutišová, Mesut Özcan, Veysel Ok, and Tereza Engelová
Publication Date:: 10-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Vaclav Havel Library
Abstract:: After a century of building a secular state and having recent hopes for EU membership, Turkey, our ally, embarked on a path of harsh repression against political opposition and civil society. Unless it was hit by an earthquake, or we were heading for its beaches, we took virtually zero interest in Turkey. Ready to convince us that this had been a mistake, and that it had been important to monitor the country and keep it as close to Europe as possible, especially in that turbulent world, were Zuzana Kutišová, a PhD student in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at Charles University in Prague, and, remotely, Prof. Burak Bilgehan Özpek, a political scientist at TOBB University of Economics and Technology and a respected expert on Turkish politics and foreign policy, and Veysel Ok, a lawyer for many journalists in Turkey and Co-Director of the Media and Law Studies Association. It was moderated by Tereza Engelová, journalist and documentary filmmaker.
Topic:: Civil Society, European Union, Domestic Politics, and Regional Politics
Political Geography:: Europe, Turkey, and Middle East

53. The Fragility of Democracy | Interview with the Georgian first female president Salome Zourabichvili

Author:: Salomé Zourabichvili and Tomáš Sedláček
Publication Date:: 04-2025
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Vaclav Havel Library
Abstract:: Salome Zourabichvili, a Georgian politician and the first female president of her country, is set to visit the Czech Republic at the invitation of the Václav Havel Library and of Pavel Fischer, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security of the Senate of the Czech Parliament. Following parliamentary elections in Georgia in October 2024, the pro-Western president said the result had been manipulated by Russia, pledging to remain in office until new elections were held. However, MPs from the ruling Georgian Dream party, which has a majority in parliament after October’s elections, installed Mikheil Kavelashvili as the country’s new president. The director of the Václav Havel Library, Tomáš Sedláček, conducted an interview with Salome Zourabichvili on recent developments in the country, the backsliding of democracy and Georgia’s geopolitical importance at the Václav Havel Library on Wednesday 9 April 2025.
Topic:: Politics, Elections, Democracy, Democratic Backsliding, and Foreign Influence
Political Geography:: Russia, Eurasia, Caucasus, and Georgia

54. Emile Bustani Middle East Seminar: Gaza: ‘Can Anyone Hear Us?’

Author:: Sara Roy
Publication Date:: 04-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:: The Emile Bustani Middle East Seminar: “Gaza: ‘Can Anyone Hear Us?’" Dr. Sara Roy, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University
Topic:: Human Rights and Armed Conflict
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and Gaza

55. Starr Forum: China: The Rise and Fall of the EAST

Author:: Yasheng Huang and Will Knight
Publication Date:: 04-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:: Speaker: Yasheng Huang, Epoch Foundation Professor of Global Economics and Management, MIT Sloan School of Management, and faculty director of the MIT-China Program at the Center for International Studies. Discussant: Will Knight, senior writer, Wired magazine, covers artificial intelligence and other emerging technology. He was previously a senior editor at MIT Technology Review, where he wrote about fundamental advances in AI and China’s AI boom.
Topic:: Science and Technology, Geopolitics, and Autocracy
Political Geography:: China and Asia

56. Mapping exile: Bridging knowledge and advocating for scholars at risk

Author:: Pascale Laborier
Publication Date:: 03-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:: About the speaker: Pascale Laborier is a professor of political science at Paris Nanterre whose research over the past decade has focused on the history of scholars in exile. Some of her recent scholarship has focused on refugee scholars from Uruguay and Chile during the dictatorships. She is one of the founders of PAUSE, a French organization with private and government funding that helps refugee scholars in France find university jobs and funds them for their first year of teaching. Together with an artist-photographer she has created an exposition on these themes that will be shown at MIT in April. The exposition has been shown in Germany, France, and Belgium and currently in Uruguay and Chile.
Topic:: Refugees, Advocacy, Exile, and Scholars
Political Geography:: Global Focus

57. Dying Abroad: The Political Afterlives of Migration in Europe

Author:: Osman Balkan
Publication Date:: 02-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:: On any given day, the remains of countless deceased migrants are shipped around the world to be buried in ancestral soils. Others are laid to rest in countries of settlement, sometimes in cemeteries established for religious and ethnic minorities, where available. For immigrants and their descendants, perennial questions about the meaning of home and homeland take on a particular gravitas in death. When the boundaries of a nation and its members are contested, burial decisions are political acts. Building on multi-sited fieldwork in Berlin and Istanbul – where the author worked as an undertaker – Dying Abroad offers a moving and powerful account of migrants' end-of-life dilemmas, vividly illustrating how they are connected to ongoing political struggles over the stakes of citizenship, belonging, and collective identity in contemporary Europe.
Topic:: Migration, Refugees, Identity, and Death
Political Geography:: Europe

58. MIT reflects on COP28

Author:: MIT Center for International Studies
Publication Date:: 01-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:: This is the Zoom recording of the COP28 debrief and reflections event held on January 17th at the MIT Center for International Studies. Professional captioning will be added soon. Approximately 30 members of the MIT community were among the 100,000 attendees at COP28. While there were some major takeaways from the conference that have already been shared in the media and more that will continue to be published into the new year, much of the progress happened on a smaller scale in meetings and side events. Some attendees gathered to debrief and learn about some of the specific interests and goals that members of the MIT delegation had in attending the COP, and the value that they gained from participating.
Topic:: Climate Change, Environment, Conference, Sustainability, and Conference of the Parties (COP)
Political Geography:: Global Focus

59. Conservatism and the Climate Crisis

Author:: Sam Hall, Pilita Clark, Rachel Coxcoon, and Robert Saunders
Publication Date:: 06-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:: The climate crisis poses new challenges to all parties and traditions, and will require the intellectual resources of both right and left to meet it effectively. In this event in May 2024, the Mile End Institute brought together Sam Hall (Director of the Conservative Environment Network), Pilita Clark (leading environmental journalist), Rachel Coxcoon (Director of ClimateGuide) and Dr Robert Saunders to explore what Conservatism can contribute to the climate debate. They explored the Conservative Party's record in government, the place of the environment in the Conservative tradition, and the challenges facing Conservative environmentalists at a time of growing political polarisation.
Topic:: Climate Change, Environment, Politics, Conservatism, Crisis Management, and Polarization
Political Geography:: United Kingdom and Europe

60. Remembering John Smith: His Legacy and Lessons

Author:: Robert Saunders, David Ward, Richard Johnson, and Dame Pauline Green
Publication Date:: 05-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:: The night before John Smith QC died in May 1994, he spoke at the Park Lane Hotel to raise money for the Labour Party's campaign for the next general election. To the 500 people in attendance, Smith remarked that 'the opportunity to serve our country—that is all we ask'. 30 years on from his death, Smith is often recalled as one of the 'best Prime Ministers we never had' and is still viewed with affection by many people regardless of their political views. However, in his own party, John Smith's legacy has often been more contentious. For supporters of the 'New Labour' project pursued by his successor, John Smith - as David Miliband told the Mile End Institute in May 2022 - failed to 'understand that in 1992 the electorate told us, in no uncertain terms, that they wanted a different offer from Labour'. On Thursday 9 May 2024, the Mile End Institute marked the 30th anniversary of John Smith's death by inviting a distinguished panel of historians and eyewitnesses to consider John Smith's legacy and lessons for the Labour Party today. Chaired by Dr Robert Saunders, it featured David Ward (John Smith's Head of Policy and Adviser from 1988 to 1994), Dr Richard Johnson (Senior Lecturer at QMUL), and Dame Pauline Green (former Chair of the Party of European Socialists).
Topic:: Politics, History, Labour Party, and John Smith
Political Geography:: United Kingdom and Europe

61. Bad Chaps, Jews and the Failure of British Decency: Antisemitism in Historical Perspective

Author:: Simon Schama
Publication Date:: 05-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:: Sir Simon Schama is one of the most distinguished historians of our time. As a writer, broadcaster, columnist and art-critic, his books and documentaries have covered an extraordinary range of subjects, stretching from the histories of art, slavery and public health to Romanticism, baseball and the American future. His award-winning books include Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution (1989), Landscape and Memory (1995), Rough Crossings (2005) and Foreign Bodies: Pandemics, Vaccines and the Health of Nations (2023). He has written three volumes on the History of Britain and two volumes on The Story of the Jews, both of which have been made into BBC TV series. He is currently Professor of Art History and History at the University of Columbia, and was knighted in 2018 for ‘services to history’. On Friday 8 March 2024, Sir Simon drew on his long expertise in British and Jewish history to deliver the first in a new series of distinguished 'Hennessy Lectures', celebrating the life of the historian and cross-bench peer Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield. In this inaugural lecture at ‪@QMUL‬Sir Simon explored ‘Bad Chaps, Jews and the Failure of British Decency: Antisemitism in Historical Perspective’.
Topic:: History, Jews, and Antisemitism
Political Geography:: United Kingdom and Europe

62. Yvette Cooper MP: Remembering John Smith

Author:: Yvette Cooper
Publication Date:: 05-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:: On Thursday 9 May 2024, the Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper MP came to ‪@QMUL‬to give a keynote lecture in memory of the late ‪@labourparty‬, John Smith. 30 years on from Smith's untimely death, Cooper reflected on working for him before the 1992 election and his legacy on devolution to Scotland and Wales, the creation of the Minimum Wage, Freedom of Information, and the lessons of his leadership for the Labour Party today.
Topic:: History, Domestic Politics, Political Parties, and Labour Party
Political Geography:: United Kingdom and Europe

63. A History of British Elections with Iain Dale

Author:: Robert Saunders, Iain Dale, Philip Cowley, and Jennifer Davey
Publication Date:: 04-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:: On Wednesday 10 April 2024, the Mile End Institute celebrated the launch of Iain Dale's new book, British General Election Campaigns, 1830-2019. Featuring an essay on every general election since 1830, the book ranges across every aspect of electoral history: from landslides and hung parliaments to corruption, electoral violence and the birth of the modern campaign. With a cast ranging from William Gladstone and Sir Robert Peel to Margaret Thatcher and Boris Johnson, it explores how elections are won and lost, how they have changed over time, and what lessons can be drawn for the present.
Topic:: History, Elections, and Domestic Politics
Political Geography:: Britain, United Kingdom, and Europe

64. In Conversation with Sir David Lidington

Author:: David Lidington
Publication Date:: 04-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:: On Tuesday 26 March, the Mile End Institute welcomed the former Conservative MP and Cabinet minister, Sir David Lidington, to @QMUL. Sir David was elected as the Conservative MP for Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire from 1992 and retired from the House of Commons at the 2019 general election. In addition to being the longest-serving Minister for Europe, occupying the post throughout David Cameron's premiership, Sir David served as the Leader of the House of Commons, Secretary of State for Justice, and Minister for the Cabinet Office in Theresa May's administration. As Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster between January 2018 and July 2019, Sir David was widely recognised to be Theresa May's de facto Deputy Prime Minister. In a wide-ranging conversation with Dr Robert Saunders five years on from the collapse of Theresa May's Withdrawal Agreement, Sir David reflected on his early life in London, working as Douglas Hurd's special adviser at the Home Office and the Foreign Office during Margaret Thatcher and John Major's governments, and the start of his own parliamentary career after 1992. They also explored his work in government after 2010, the Brexit debate which dominated his last three years in Parliament, and the state of the Conservative Party today.
Topic:: Elections, Domestic Politics, and Conservative Party
Political Geography:: Britain, United Kingdom, and Europe

65. The Inaugural Hennessy Lecture: Sir Simon Schama

Author:: Simon Schama and Emma Griffin
Publication Date:: 03-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:: Sir Simon Schama is one of the most distinguished historians of our time. As a writer, broadcaster, columnist and art-critic, his books and documentaries have covered an extraordinary range of subjects, stretching from the histories of art, slavery and public health to Romanticism, baseball and the American future. His award-winning books include Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution (1989), Landscape and Memory (1995), Rough Crossings (2005) and Foreign Bodies: Pandemics, Vaccines and the Health of Nations (2023). He has written three volumes on the History of Britain and two volumes on The Story of the Jews, both of which have been made into BBC TV series. He is currently Professor of Art History and History at the University of Columbia, and was knighted in 2018 for ‘services to history’. On Friday 8 March 2024, Sir Simon drew on his long expertise in British and Jewish history to deliver the first in a new series of distinguished 'Hennessy Lectures', celebrating the life of the historian and cross-bench peer Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield. In this inaugural lecture at ‪@QMUL‬, hosted by Professor Emma Griffin (Head of ‪@qmulschoolofhistory4447‬ and President of the Royal Historical Society), Sir Simon explored ‘Bad Chaps, Jews and the Failure of British Decency: Antisemitism in Historical Perspective’.
Topic:: History, Jews, and Peter Hennessy
Political Geography:: United Kingdom and Europe

66. Reforming the Centre of Government

Author:: Caroline Slocock and Ray Shostak
Publication Date:: 03-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:: Ahead of a potential change of government in the United Kingdom during this year, this webinar examines the reform of the centre of government across the world. Chaired by Professor Patrick Diamond, this webinar saw Professor Ray Shostak, Martin Alessandro, and Caroline Slocock explore the lessons that could be learned by British policy practitioners. In every government, the centre of government performs a set of crucial functions: the institutions and units working at the centre provide managerial direction and coherence to the complex governing machinery, not least in accelerating the delivery of priority objectives. In the UK, the operation in Number 10 Downing Street has become the focus of much attention in recent years with its leadership and oversight role increasingly questioned. Over the last decade, crises, and shocks - including global pandemics, climate hazards, economic crises, technological developments, and global conflicts - have enhanced the value of anticipatory governance and foresight, cross-ministerial planning and policy design, alongside real-time performance monitoring and intervention all provided through the centre of government.
Topic:: Government, Reform, Crisis Management, and Institutions
Political Geography:: United Kingdom and Europe

67. Who Governs? 50 years since the February 1974 election

Author:: Robert Saunders
Publication Date:: 03-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:: 50 years ago this month, Prime Minister Edward Heath called a general election. With severe economic problems including the quadrupling of oil prices, a particularly fierce miners’ strike and the introduction of a three-day week, Heath addressed the nation, telling the electorate that they had to choose between ‘a strong Government which has clear authority for the future to take decisions which will be needed’ and one that ‘abandons the struggle against rising prices under pressure from one particularly powerful group of workers’. The result was a monumental moment in British political history – the first hung parliament since 1929 – and, arguably, as Alan Bancroft suggests, consigned the ‘post-war settlement’ to the ‘intensive care unit, ultimately leading to its demise in 1979’. To mark this significant anniversary, the Edward Heath Academic Forum – a new academic network to encourage study of the politics of the 1970s, and Heath’s contribution to British, European, and global politics – held its first public event at Queen Mary University of London. Dr Robert Saunders as well as Lord Butler (Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, 1972-74) and Lord McNally (Political Advisor to James Callaghan, 1974-76, and Head of Political Office at 10 Downing Street, 1976-79) revisit the campaign, the Conservatives’ struggle to sustain the focus on ‘Who Governs?’, Heath’s efforts to form a coalition with the Liberals, and the eventual formation of a minority Labour government.
Topic:: Economics, Elections, Domestic Politics, Prime Minister, and Edward Heath
Political Geography:: United Kingdom and North America

68. 'An Insane Miracle': 100 years of since the first Labour government

Author:: Carolyn Quinn, Jon Cruddas, David Torrance, Jane Ridley, and Richard Johnson
Publication Date:: 02-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:: On 22 January 1924, the United Kingdom experienced what The Annual Register described as ‘a revolution as profound as that associated with the Reform Act of 1832’ – the formation of the first Labour government. After an inconclusive general election in December 1923, the King invited Ramsay MacDonald to become Prime Minister. For the leader of the so-called ‘Wild Men’ – who had helped to found the Labour Representation Committee in 1900 and been the fledgling party’s leader for a little over a year – the formation of his minority administration was ‘an insane miracle’. While the government was defeated just over nine months later, at a general election in October 1924, it proved to the country and the wider movement that the Labour Party was willing and able to govern. To mark the centenary of MacDonald’s appointment, the Mile End Institute assembled a stellar panel of experts on Labour politics, the constitution, and interwar Britain. In addition to Jon Cruddas MP and Dr David Torrance - whose new books A Century of Labour and The Wild Men had just been published - we were joined by Professor Jane Ridley (the author of George V: Never a Dull Moment) and Dr Richard Johnson. In this fascinating discussion chaired by the journalist and former host of Radio 4’s Westminster Hour, Carolyn Quinn, the panel reflected on King George V's decision to call for MacDonald rather than the governing Conservative or Liberal parties, the changing makeup of the Labour Party and its relationship with the Crown, and the MacDonald administration's political and legislative achievements. With a general election approaching, the panel also considered what lessons, if any, MacDonald’s minority administration offers to future Labour governments.
Topic:: Reform, Elections, Domestic Politics, and Labour Party
Political Geography:: United Kingdom and Europe

69. The Case for the Centre Right: In Conversation with David Gauke

Author:: David Gauke
Publication Date:: 01-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:: In recent years, as the authors of this major important collection of essays argue, the landscape of British politics has fundamentally changed. The Conservative Party in particular has undergone a profound transformation. Centre-right values that steered British politics for decades - internationalism, respect for the rule of law, fiscal responsibility, belief in our institutions - were cast aside in the wake of the Brexit referendum to the detriment of the UK's prosperity, electoral trust, and the long-term fortunes of the Conservative Party. In this event, the ‪@mileendinstitute4300‬ welcomed the former Conservative MP and Lord Chancellor, David Gauke, to ‪@QMUL‬ to talk about his new book, The Case for the Centre Right. Published in September 2023, this collection of essays features contributions from Michael Heseltine, Rory Stewart, and Amber Rudd, and has been described as a 'classic indictment of the deceptions of populism' by the former Prime Minister, Sir John Major. Hosted by Professor Tim Bale, this event also featured Andrew, Lord Cooper of Windrush, who contributed a chapter on the realignment of British politics since 2016.
Topic:: Domestic Politics, Political Parties, Conservative Party, and Center Right
Political Geography:: United Kingdom and Europe

70. The Downing Street Declaration: Thirty Years On

Author:: Martyn Frampton and Eleanor Williams
Publication Date:: 01-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:: On 15 December 1993, the governments of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland signed the Downing Street Declaration: a "charter for peace and reconciliation" that sought "to remove the causes of conflict, to overcome the legacy of history and to heal the divisions" in Northern Ireland. Signed by John Major and Albert Reynolds, the Downing Street Declaration asserted the principle of self-determination for the North of Ireland. The UK government disclaimed any "selfish strategic or economic interest in Northern Ireland" and promised to facilitate a united Ireland if that was the wish of the majority. The Irish government recognised that "it would be wrong to attempt to impose a united Ireland, in the absence of the freely given consent of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland", and that any settlement must "respect the democratic dignity and the civil rights and religious liberties of both communities" . The result was a landmark moment in the peace process, with consequences that continue to this day. This webinar, held in December 2023, looks back at the making of the Downing Street Declaration and assesses its legacy for the peace process. It brings together two specialists in Irish history, Professor Martyn Frampton (QMUL) and Dr Eleanor Williams (Oxford), in conversation with Dr Robert Saunders, to explore a landmark moment in British and Irish history, and to reflect on the lessons thirty years after it was agreed.
Topic:: Domestic Politics, Peace, Reconciliation, Peace Process, and Downing Street Declaration
Political Geography:: United Kingdom, Europe, Ireland, and Northern Ireland

71. A Strategy for Countering the Houthi Threat at Sea

Author:: Bilal Y. Saab, Nancy Youssef, and Kevin Donegan
Publication Date:: 02-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: For the first time in four decades, a core US interest — freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce — is increasingly at risk in the Middle East region. By enabling the Yemeni Houthis to attack international vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden with armed drones and sophisticated anti-ship missiles, Iran, as it did in the Gulf in the late 1980s, is causing tremendous harm to commercial activity in one of the world’s most crucial waterways. In a memorandum entitled “A Strategy for Countering the Houthi Threat at Sea” and addressed to US President Joe Biden, the Middle East Institute’s Defense and Security Program members Bilal Y. Saab, Kevin Donegan, Mick Mulroy, Sam Mundy, and Joseph L. Votel offer recommendations for the United States on how to effectively degrade the capabilities of the Houthis and protect international shipping in regional waters. To discuss in greater detail the Defense and Security Program’s proposed strategy and the likely future trajectory and implications of the US campaign against the Houthis, MEI is pleased to host Bilal Y. Saab and Kevin Donegan.
Topic:: Security, Non State Actors, Houthis, Shipping, and Commerce
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, Yemen, Palestine, and Red Sea

72. China’s Role in the Middle East

Author:: John Calabrese and Yun Sun
Publication Date:: 02-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: The Middle East Institute (MEI) hosted an on-the-record briefing to discuss China’s role in the Middle East amid rising regional tensions and growing threats to both international security and the global economy.
Topic:: Security, Foreign Policy, International Security, and Economy
Political Geography:: China, Middle East, and Asia

73. What’s next for Pakistan after election shock?

Author:: Tamkinet Karim, Syed Mohammed Ali, and Alistair Taylor
Publication Date:: 02-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: On this week's episode Tamkinet Karim, Syed Mohammad Ali, and Alistair Taylor discuss the results of Pakistan’s Feb. 8 elections and where things might be headed moving forward. Over the past two years, Pakistan has gone through a particularly turbulent period, following the removal of Imran Khan’s government in a no-confidence vote in April 2022 — a time marked by political instability, intense polarization, a worsening economic crisis, and growing threats to internal security.
Topic:: Security, Politics, Elections, Polarization, Economic Crisis, and Instability
Political Geography:: Pakistan and South Asia

74. The Invasion of Rafah

Author:: Eran Etzion and Mirette F. Mabrouk
Publication Date:: 02-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: The Middle East Institute hosted an on-the-record briefing on the impending ground invasion of Rafah, one of the last remaining safe zones for civilians in Gaza, and Egypt's preparations to secure and fortify its border ahead of the operation.
Topic:: War, Borders, Civilians, and Invasion
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Gaza, Egypt, and Rafah

75. US Military Action in the Middle East

Author:: Joseph Votel and Gerald Feierstein
Publication Date:: 02-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: The Middle East Institute (MEI) hosted an on-the-record briefing to discuss US military action against the Houthis and other militant groups throughout the region.
Topic:: Non State Actors, Houthis, Shipping, and Military
Political Geography:: Middle East, North America, and United States of America

76. Spotlight on US Syria policy

Author:: Charles Lister and Alistair Taylor
Publication Date:: 02-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: On this week's episode, Director of MEI's Syria and Countering Terrorism & Extremism Programs Charles Lister and MEI Editor-In-Chief Alistair Taylor talk about US policy toward Syria. The deadly Jan. 28 drone attack on a US military outpost in northeastern Jordan, near the borders with Syria and Iraq, has drawn renewed attention to the US military presence in the area. This comes against a backdrop of regional conflict and escalation.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Syrian War, Escalation, and Military
Political Geography:: Middle East, Syria, North America, and United States of America

77. Iranian Proxies in Iraq and Syria

Author:: Charles Lister and Douglas London
Publication Date:: 02-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: The Middle East Institute (MEI) hosted an on-the-record briefing to discuss Iran’s proxy network throughout Syria and Iraq.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Non State Actors, Armed Forces, and Proxy Groups
Political Geography:: Iraq, Iran, Middle East, and Syria

78. Iran’s 1979 revolution and its resonance today

Author:: Alex Vatanka and Alistair Taylor
Publication Date:: 02-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: On this week's episode, MEI Iran Program Director Alex Vatanka, MEI Non-resident Scholar Andrew Scott Cooper, and MEI Editor-In-Chief Alistair Taylor discuss the Iranian Revolution of 1979. A seminal event in the history of the modern Middle East, the revolution transformed Iran and its impact continues to reverberate across the region today, nearly five decades on.
Topic:: History, Geopolitics, and Iranian Revolution
Political Geography:: Iran and Middle East

79. How Safe is Eastern Mediterranean Gas?

Author:: Colby Connelly, Gregory Brew, and Karen Young
Publication Date:: 01-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: The Middle East Institute (MEI) hosted an on-the-record briefing to discuss the security of offshore gas fields in the Eastern Mediterranean, and the state of the international gas market given the ongoing tension and conflict in the Middle East.
Topic:: Security, Markets, Gas, and Conflict
Political Geography:: Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean

80. Ties Between Hostile Actors in the Red Sea

Author:: Mirette F. Mabrouk, Guled Ahmed, and Thomas Halvorsen
Publication Date:: 01-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: The Middle East Institute (MEI) hosted an on-the-record briefing to discuss the ways in which the Houthis, Al Shebab, Somali pirates, and others are collaborating to undermine maritime security and limit the free flow of commerce in the Red Sea.
Topic:: Security, Non State Actors, Maritime, Al Shabaab, Houthis, and Commerce
Political Geography:: Middle East, Yemen, and Red Sea

81. The Gaza War's Regional Reverberations

Author:: Randa Slim and Alistair Taylor
Publication Date:: 01-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: On this week's episode, President and CEO of the Middle East Institute Paul Salem and Director of MEI’s Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues Program Randa Slim speak to MEI's Editor-in-Chief Alistair Taylor about growing concerns over the potential for large-scale regional escalation as the Gaza war continues. *Note: This episode was recorded before drone attacks that killed US soldiers in Jordan on 1/28. *
Topic:: Non State Actors, Conflict, Escalation, and Regional Politics
Political Geography:: Iran, Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and Gaza

82. Bahraini Artists Across Borders

Author:: Marwa Al Khalifa, Mashael Alsaie, and Jaafar Al Oraibi
Publication Date:: 01-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: The Middle East Institute Arts and Culture Center invites you to a panel conversation about the arts in Bahrain with three artists featured in its current exhibition, The Sea of Life: Modern and Contemporary Art from The Kingdom of Bahrain. The panel is part of the ongoing programming around the exhibition, which runs until March 26, 2024.https://youtu.be/yVusVFiYmbo?si=hFNLCpbgB6cDWt9v Marwa Al Khalifa, Mashael Alsaie and Jaafar Al Oraibi will discuss their work, the vision that drives their practice and how their art is part of a conversation that is shaping Bahrain's local arts scene, pushing its boundaries and exploring new artistic expressions. The Sea of Life features fourteen artists spanning different generations and art forms exploring their connection to their natural and built environment through painting, photography, sculpture, video and installation, co-curated by Bahrain-based Hayfa Aljishi and MEI Arts and Culture Center Director Lyne Sneige.
Topic:: Arts, Culture, and Borders
Political Geography:: Middle East and Bahrain

83. Escalation on the Israel-Lebanon Front

Author:: Paul Salem and Randa Slim
Publication Date:: 01-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: The Middle East Institute (MEI) hosted an on-the-record briefing to discuss the highly volatile situation between Israel and Hezbollah across the Israeli-Lebanese border.
Topic:: Security, Non State Actors, Hezbollah, and Armed Conflict
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Gaza, and Lebanon

84. Antisemitism and Islamophobia in the US political discourse on Israel/Palestine

Author:: Sahar Aziz and Mitchell Plitnick
Publication Date:: 01-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: Sahar Aziz and Mitchell Plitnick discuss their study "Presumptively Antisemitic: Islamophobic Tropes in the Palestine Israel Discourse" with MEI's Palestine and Palestinian-Israeli Affairs Program Director Khaled Elgindy.
Topic:: Politics, Islamophobia, Anti-Semitism, and Discourse
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Gaza, North America, and United States of America

85. Houthi Shipping Attacks in the Red Sea

Author:: Kevin Donegan and Sam Mundy
Publication Date:: 01-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: The Middle East Institute (MEI) hosted an on-the-record briefing to discuss the Houthis’ escalatory military activity in the Red Sea and what it means for the future security of merchant vessels in this key waterway.
Topic:: Security, Violence, Houthis, and Shipping
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Gaza, and Red Sea

86. Expert Voices: Geopolitical Implications of the Ethiopia-Somaliland Partnership

Author:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Publication Date:: 01-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: Expert Voices: Geopolitical Implications of the Ethiopia-Somaliland Partnership
Topic:: Partnerships, Geopolitics, and Regional Politics
Political Geography:: Africa, Ethiopia, and Somaliland

87. Episode 6: The 100 Years' War on Palestine

Author:: Sahar Aziz and Rashid Khalidi
Publication Date:: 04-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: This episode delves into one hundred years of colonial war on the Palestinians, waged first by the Zionist movement and then Israel, while backed by Britain and the United States, the great powers of the age. Host Sahar Aziz (https://saharazizlaw.com/ ) and this week’s guest, historian and distinguished Columbia University Professor Rashid Khalidi, will discuss the origins and consequences of this non stop aggression against the Palestinians – which is also the subject of his latest book: ”The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017.
Topic:: History, Zionism, Colonialism, and Palestinians
Political Geography:: Britain, Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and United States of America

88. International Humanitarian Law and the Crisis in Gaza with Kenneth Roth

Author:: Kenneth Roth
Publication Date:: 04-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: The conflict in Gaza has understandably given rise to profound emotions and antipathies, with pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian camps at odds. Kenneth Roth, the former long-time executive director of Human Rights Watch, will look at the conflict from a pro-civilian perspective through the lens of international humanitarian law.
Topic:: Civilians, Humanitarian Crisis, International Humanitarian Law (IHL), and Armed Conflict
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and Gaza

89. Teach In on Political Zionism with Dr. Zachary Foster

Author:: Zachary Foster
Publication Date:: 04-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: Dr. Zachary Foster will deliver a presentation about the origins, history, and contemporary consequences of political Zionism.
Topic:: Politics, History, and Zionism
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, and Palestine

90. Assessing the Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza with Dr. Tariq Haddad

Author:: Tariq Haddad
Publication Date:: 03-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: Palestinian American cardiologist Dr. Tariq Haddad, who lost more than 100 family members since October 7 2023, will discuss the grave humanitarian impact of Israel’s bombing campaign, mass starvation practices, and total blockade of Gaza.
Topic:: Human Rights, Humanitarian Crisis, Blockade, and Starvation
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and Gaza

91. Origins and Outcomes of U S Defense Policy Toward Israel with Josh Paul

Author:: Josh Paul
Publication Date:: 03-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: The United States describes its commitment to support Israel as “iron clad” to the extent that our nation is providing diplomatic and military support while Israel conducts what the ICJ has described as a “plausible genocide” in Gaza. Former U.S. State Department official, Josh Paul, will examine how U.S. security and defense policy undermines American interests abroad and its most fundamental values at home.
Topic:: Security, Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, Diplomacy, Genocide, Strategic Interests, and Military Aid
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Gaza, North America, and United States of America

92. Episode 04: Exporting the War on Terror: Islamophobia in Asia

Author:: Sahar Aziz and Khaled A. Beydoun
Publication Date:: 03-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: Host Sahar Aziz and Arizona State University Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law Professor Khaled Beydoun discuss the latest legal and political developments in the troubling rise of global Islamophobia in India, China, and other Asian countries. The conversation is informed by Professor Beydoun’s new book The New Crusades: Islamophobia and the Global War on Muslims.
Topic:: Politics, Law, Discrimination, Islamophobia, War on Terror, and Muslims
Political Geography:: China, India, and Asia

93. Episode 03: Shining a Light on New Jersey’s Secret State Intelligence System

Author:: Sahar Aziz, Michael German, Ayah Zaki, and Dillon Reisman
Publication Date:: 03-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: Civil liberties are vulnerable to infringement in large part due to the post-9/11 expansion of a government surveillance apparatus. Join us as we examine the threats to civil liberties and rights posed by Fusion Centers, as highlighted in the Center for Security, Race and Rights’ groundbreaking report Shining a Light on New Jersey's Secret Intelligence System. Host Sahar Aziz addresses these issues with Brennan Center for Justice law enforcement expert Michael German, CAIR New Jersey staff attorney Ayah Zaki, and ACLU of New Jersey attorney Dillon Reisman.
Topic:: Intelligence, Law Enforcement, Surveillance, and Civil Liberties
Political Geography:: North America, New Jersey, and United States of America

94. Neither Settler Nor Native:The Making and Unmaking of Permanent Minorities with Mahmood Mamdani

Author:: Mahmood Mamdani
Publication Date:: 03-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: Professor Mahmood Mamdani examines how the colonial state and the nation-state have been mutually constructed through the politicization of a religious or ethnic majority at the expense of an equally manufactured minority. He proffers that political violence demands political solutions: not criminal justice for perpetrators but a rethinking of the political community for all survivors—victims, perpetrators, bystanders, beneficiaries—based on common residence and the commitment to build a common future without the permanent political identities of settler and native.
Topic:: Political Violence, Minorities, Colonialism, State, Identity, Settlers, and Natives
Political Geography:: Global Focus

95. A Discussion with Omar Shakir: Gaza, Genocide, and International Law

Author:: Omar Shakir
Publication Date:: 02-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: A discussion about Gaza, genocide, and international law with Omar Shakir, the Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch.
Topic:: Genocide, Human Rights, International Law, and Armed Conflict
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and Gaza

96. Episode 02: Consistent Partiality: U.S. Foreign Policy on Palestine-Israel

Author:: Sahar Aziz, Peter Beinart, and Sarah Whitson
Publication Date:: 02-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: Although the Biden administration talks about supporting democracy and human rights, it has maintained unconditional US support for Israel even as human rights organizations label it an apartheid state. What are the political and ideological foundations of America’s hostility to Palestinian freedom? And what would it take to change them? Does the US’s unconditional support for Israel serve America’s national interests? Host Sahar Aziz addresses these questions with Professor Peter Beinart and human rights attorney Sarah Leah Whitson.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Apartheid, Human Rights, Politics, Democracy, and Ideology
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, Palestine, North America, and United States of America

97. Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine with Professor Noura Erakat

Author:: Noura Erakat
Publication Date:: 02-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: Justice for Some offers a new approach to understanding the Palestinian struggle for freedom, told through the power and control of international law. Focusing on key junctures across a century-long arc —from the Balfour Declaration in 1917 to present-day wars in Gaza- the book shows how the strategic deployment of law has shaped current conditions. Over the past century, the law has done more to advance Israel's interests than the Palestinians'. But this outcome was never inevitable. Law is politics, and its meaning and application depend on the political intervention of states and people alike. Within the law, change is possible. International law can serve the cause of freedom when it is mobilized in support of a political movement. Presenting the promise and risk of international law, Justice for Some calls for renewed action and attention to the Question of Palestine.
Topic:: International Law, Politics, History, Political Movements, Palestinians, and Book Talk
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, and Palestine

98. Episode 01: Except for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics

Author:: Mark Lamont Hill and Mitchell Plitnick
Publication Date:: 02-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: Scholar Marc Lamont Hill and Israel-Palestine expert Mitchell Plitnick spotlight how holding fast to one-sided and unwaveringly pro-Israel policies reflects the truth-bending grip of authoritarianism on both Israel and the United States. 'Except for Palestine' deftly argues that progressives and liberals who oppose regressive policies on immigration, racial justice, gender equality, LGBTQ rights, and other issues must extend these core principles to the oppression of Palestinians.
Topic:: Human Rights, Politics, Authoritarianism, Inequality, LGBT+, Liberalism, Progressivism, Gender, Palestinians, and Racial Justice
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, Palestine, North America, and United States of America

99. Episode 7: The Racial Muslim

Author:: Sahar Aziz and Deborah Amos
Publication Date:: 05-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: Religious bigotry in the U.S. racializes Muslims and Arabs – particularly those in immigrant communities. This week’s episode tackles an ongoing trend where racism quashes religious freedom. Host Sahar Aziz and longtime war correspondent and Princeton journalism Professor Deborah Amos discuss the groundbreaking phenomenon of “The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes Religious Freedom” through an historical and comparative approach that demonstrates how race and religion intersect.
Topic:: Islam, Race, Religion, Immigrants, and Freedom of Religion
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

100. Legacies of the Vietnam War - Napalm Girl: After the Dragons Left

Author:: Phan Thi Kim Phuc, Nick Ut, Fox Butterfield, and Tony Bui
Publication Date:: 04-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:: A discussion featuring Kim Phuc, the focal point of one of the most iconic photographs of the 20th century, captured on June 8, 1972, in Trang Bang, Vietnam. On this day, a napalm attack led to a moment frozen in time by photographer Nick Ut, showcasing the tragic human cost of war. Together with Kim Phuc, we will explore the enduring legacy and significance of this photograph, examining its impact on public perception of war, its role in shaping anti-war movements, and its continued relevance in today's global discourse on peace and reconciliation. The panel will give different perspectives on the power of imagery in historical memory and the journey of healing and advocacy that followed one of history's most turbulent periods.
Topic:: Public Opinion, Media, Conflict, Vietnam War, and Photojournalism
Political Geography:: Vietnam and Southeast Asia

Search

Search Constraints

Search Results

Refine your search

Topic

Political Geography

Content Type

Publishing Institution

Author

Publication Year

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS