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1. tarr Forum: Iran and the Struggle for 'Normalcy': Woman, Life, Freedom

Publication Date:
01-2023
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 16, 2022, in government custody sparked what is commonly referred to as the "hijab protests" but the uprising is about much more, including such themes as agency, women rights, human rights, democracy, political freedoms, due process and justice. This panel investigates how women are at the forefront of resistance to the "Resistance State" in the struggle for "normalcy."
Topic:
Gender Issues, Feminism, Equality, and Activism
Political Geography:
Iran and Middle East

2. Refugees Revitalizing Emptied Spain

Publication Date:
02-2023
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Susan Akram is a Clinical Professor at the Boston University School of Law and the Director of the International Human Rights Clinic. Her research and publications focus on immigration, asylum, refugee, forced migration, and human and civil rights issues, with an interest in the Middle East, the Arab, and Muslim world. She is currently leading the "Refugees Revitalizing Emptied Spain" project, which would place refugees and asylum seekers in municipalities that are struggling to survive in the face of massive population loss, as young people move to larger cities in search of economic opportunities.
Topic:
Immigration, Refugees, Asylum, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Europe and Spain

3. Starr Forum: Ukraine and Russia One Year On: The Domestic Impact of the War

Publication Date:
03-2023
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Ukraine and Russia One Year On: The Domestic Impact of the War
Topic:
Defense Policy, Military Strategy, Governance, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Ukraine

4. Enhancing the Benefits of Human Mobility through Development Interventions

Publication Date:
03-2023
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
During each academic year, the Committee sponsors a seminar series on international migration, The Myron Weiner Seminar Series on International Migration, held at MIT's Center for International Studies. The seminars explore factors affecting international population movements and their impact upon sending and receiving countries and relations among them.
Topic:
Development, Migration, Displacement, and Mobility
Political Geography:
Global Focus

5. Crossing the Divide: Rural to Urban Migration in Developing Countries

Publication Date:
03-2023
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Robert E.B. Lucas is Professor of Economics at Boston University. His research has focused largely, though not exclusively, on developing countries. Most of the contributions are empirical with a few theory papers, encompassing international and internal migration, employment and human resources, income distribution and inter-generational inequality, international trade and industry, sharecropping, and the environment. His publications include seven books, the most recent of which are Migration and Development: The Role for Development Aid (2019) and Crossing the Divide: Rural to Urban Migration in Developing Countries (2021).
Topic:
Development, Migration, Governance, Urban, and Rural
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6. Starr Forum: Republics of Myth: National Narratives and the US-Iran Conflict

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Why does the rift between the US and Iran persist? A new book by CIS scholars sheds new light on this longstanding conflict.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Bilateral Relations, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Iran, Middle East, North America, and United States of America

7. Design to Live: Everyday Inventions from a Refugee Camp

Publication Date:
04-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Panel discussion with experts :: Part of the Myron Weiner Seminar Series on International Migration Panelists: Azra Akšamija, an artist and architectural historian, is Director and Founder of the MIT Future Heritage Lab (FHL) and Associate Professor in the MIT Department of Architecture and the Program in Art, Culture, and Technology. Raafat Majzoub, an architect, artist, and writer, is Director of The Khan: The Arab Association for Prototyping Cultural Practices and Editor-in-Chief of the Dongola Architecture Series. Melina Philippou, an architect and urbanist, is Program Director of the MIT Future Heritage Lab, founder of Trapezui: Marble Objecthoods and Associate at the Department of City Planning, Ministry of Interior in Cyprus. Moderator: John Tirman is the executive director and a principal research scientist at MIT's Center for International Studies. Tirman is author, or coauthor and editor, of fourteen books on international affairs, including, Dream Chasers: Immigration and the American Backlash (MIT Press, 2015) and The Deaths of Others: The Fate of Civilians in America’s Wars (Oxford University Press, 2011). About the book, Design to Live: Everyday Inventions from a Refugee Camp: The power of art and design to create a life worth living: designs, inventions, and artworks from the Azraq Refugee Camp in Jordan. This book shows how refugees use art and design to transform their living environments, restoring humanity within circumstances that seem aimed at depriving them of it. Featuring more than twenty projects created by Syrian refugees at the Azraq Refugee Camp in Jordan, Design to Live offers a new way of understanding design as a subversive worldmaking practice and as tool for reclaiming agency in conditions of forced displacement. The projects—including a vertical garden, an arrangement necessitated by regulations that forbid planting on the ground; a front hall, fashioned to protect privacy; a baby swing, made from recycled school desks; and a chess set, carved from broomsticks—showcase the discrepancy between standardized humanitarian design and the real sociocultural needs of refugees.
Topic:
Arts, Culture, Refugees, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

8. Starr Forum: The Collapse of the Soviet Empire and the seeds of the new European war

Publication Date:
04-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Vladislav Zubok is professor of international history, with expertise on the Cold War, the Soviet Union, Stalinism, and Russia’s intellectual history in the 20th century. His most recent books are Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union (2021), The Idea of Russia: The Life and Work of Dmitry Likhachev (2017), Dmitry Likhachev. The Life and the Century (in Russian, 2016) A Failed Empire: the Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev (2007) and Zhivago’s Children: the Last Russian Intelligentsia (2009). Co-chairs: Carol Saivetz is a senior advisor in the MIT Security Studies Program. She is the author and contributing co-editor of books and articles on Soviet and now Russian foreign policy issues. Elizabeth Wood is professor of history at MIT. She is the author most recently of Roots of Russia’s War in Ukraine. She is co-director of the MISTI MIT Russia Program, coordinator of Russian studies, and adviser to the Russian Language Program.
Topic:
Cold War, Governance, Leadership, Conflict, and Empire
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Soviet Union

9. MIT X TAU Series: #TheAfricaWeWant

Publication Date:
04-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
The seventh webinar in a seven-part series focused on various aspects of sustainable development in Africa.
Topic:
Development, Governance, Sustainability, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Africa

10. MIT X TAU Series: Africa’s Cultural Force

Publication Date:
04-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
The sixth webinar in a seven-part series focused on various aspects of sustainable development in Africa.
Topic:
Development, International Cooperation, Governance, and Sustainability
Political Geography:
Africa

11. Starr Forum: Governing the Unpredictable: Disasters, the State, and Futures

Publication Date:
04-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
The main emphasis is the State's (mostly US, but some international angles) role in disaster management and the discrepancies between perception, legal frameworks, expectations and aspirations, as well as what that means moving into an anthropocenic era of more frequent, perhaps constant, crisis.
Topic:
Governance, Leadership, Crisis Management, and Statehood
Political Geography:
Global Focus

12. MIT X TAU Series: What Kinds of Future Leaders Does Africa Need?

Publication Date:
04-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
The fifth webinar in a seven-part series focused on various aspects of sustainable development in Africa. Featuring: Peris Nyaboe Bosire - co-founder of FarmDrive Peris Bosire is passionate about inclusive financial systems and economic mobility. Her goal is to build meaningful technology platforms and digital financial services to drive capital where it’s needed most. She is a computer scientist with successful experience in using technology to innovate and distribute high-impact, scalable solutions. Peris is the co-founder of FarmDrive, a technology company that applies data science and finance to build software that increases access to meaningful financial services. FarmDrive’s mission is to transform every smallholder farmer (SHF) and agriculture value chain SME in Africa into a sustainable and profitable business. FarmDrive’s big bet is to increase the flow of capital to the agriculture sector in Africa, especially to smallholder farmers and SMEs working in the agriculture value chain. Peris has led FarmDrive through exciting product rollouts and strategic partnerships. A notable achievement is a partnership with the largest telecommunication company in East Africa (Safaricom) to roll out DigiFarm, a neobank for farmers. FarmDrive’s work has led to a digital registry of over 1 million smallholder farmers in Kenya and unlocked a loan portfolio of over $40 million dollars so far in loans to farmers and small businesses across Kenya. FarmDrive’s clients include but are not limited to mobile network operators such as Safaricom, commercial banks, micro-finance banks, saccos and cooperatives, non-bank financial service providers such as One Acre Fund, agricultural insurance providers and processors.​ As the CEO of her venture, Peris spends her time implementing strategies to build a sustainable, transformative business that meets the needs and aspirations of clients and organizing the 1’s and 0’s to achieve this. She is a champion of financial inclusion and youth employment and has been supporting other entities such as The Mastercard Foundation to create inclusive youth engagement strategies for different countries in Africa. Peris has a First Class Honours B.Sc. Computer Science degree from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. She is a 2023 Sloan School of Management MBA candidate.
Topic:
Development, Governance, Leadership, and Regionalism
Political Geography:
Africa

13. MIT X TAU Series: Africa’s New Models for Education

Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
The fourth webinar in a seven-part series focused on various aspects of sustainable development in Africa.
Topic:
Development, Science and Technology, Infrastructure, and Sustainability
Political Geography:
Africa

14. The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes Religious Freedom

Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Sahar Aziz: Kleh Visiting Distinguished Professor of Law, Boston University School of Law
Topic:
Religion, Discrimination, Racism, and Freedom of Religion
Political Geography:
Global Focus

15. MIT X TAU Series: Africa’s Growth Prospects

Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
The third webinar in a seven-part series focused on various aspects of sustainable development in Africa.
Topic:
Development, Infrastructure, Governance, and Sustainability
Political Geography:
Africa

16. MIT X TAU Series: Africa's Information Technologies

Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
The second webinar in a seven-part series focused on various aspects of sustainable development in Africa.
Topic:
Development, Infrastructure, Governance, and Sustainability
Political Geography:
Africa

17. MIT X TAU Series: Africa’s Innovation in Education

Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
The first webinar in a seven-part series focused on various aspects of sustainable development in Africa.
Topic:
Development, Education, Governance, Innovation, and Sustainability
Political Geography:
Africa

18. Starr Forum: The Future of US - China Relations

Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Moderator: Taylor Fravel is Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science and Director of the MIT Security Studies Program (SSP). He studies international relations, with a focus on international security, China, and East Asia. Panelists: Eric Heginbotham is a principal research scientist at MIT’s Center for International Studies (CIS) and SSP. He is a specialist in Asian security issues. Before joining MIT, he was a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, where he led research projects on China, Japan, and regional security issues. Ketian Vivian Zhang is an assistant professor of international Security in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. She studies rising powers, coercion, economic statecraft, and maritime disputes in international relations and social movements in comparative politics, with a regional focus on China and East Asia. Ali Wyne is a senior analyst with Eurasia Group's Global Macro practice, where he focuses on US-China relations and great-power competition. He is the author of a forthcoming book, America's Great-Power Opportunity: Revitalizing US Foreign Policy to Meet the Challenges of Strategic Competition.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Bilateral Relations, Hegemony, Strategic Competition, Rivalry, and Strategic Interests
Political Geography:
China, Asia, North America, and United States of America

19. Starr Forum: Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump

Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
A book talk with Spencer Ackerman, national-security correspondent. A union of journalism and intellectual history, Reign of Terror is a pathbreaking and definitive book with the power to transform how America understands its national security policies and their catastrophic impact on its civic life.
Topic:
Security, National Security, Terrorism, Counter-terrorism, Surveillance, Civil Rights, and Police State
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

20. Immigrant entrepreneurship in startup cities — what works in which context?

Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Migrants are often considered to be ‘natural entrepreneurs’. This notion is based on a presumed inclination to take risks, an openness to new experiences, and a higher willingness to adapt than their local counterparts. Migrants found more businesses relative to the local population in many countries, despite facing additional challenges in the startup process. To support them in overcoming these challenges and to leverage their entrepreneurial potential, more and more organizations create targeted offers for this group of entrepreneurs — particularly in cities with vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems. Increasingly, these ‘newcomer entrepreneurs’ find that their particular needs are better recognised and taken into account. Despite this, it is still unclear which interventions actually work for which target group, and in which context. Which role do the different stakeholders and systemic mechanisms in the local entrepreneurial ecosystem play?
Topic:
Economics, Entrepreneurship, Business, and Immigrants
Political Geography:
Global Focus

21. Starr Forum: Autocracy’s Assault on Press Freedom

Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Experts discuss the threat to free media in Central and Eastern Europe and what it means for the West
Topic:
Media, Journalism, Freedom of Press, and Autocracy
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, and Central Europe

22. Starr Forum: The Russian-Ukrainian Conflict: A prologue to WWIII or another frozen conflict?

Publication Date:
01-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Dmitry Gorenburg is a senior research scientist at CNA, where he has worked since 2000. Dr. Gorenburg is an associate at the Harvard University Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. His research interests include security issues in the former Soviet Union, Russian military reform, Russian foreign policy, and ethnic politics and identity. Olga Oliker is the program director for Europe and Central Asia at the International Crisis Group. Her research interests include foreign and security policies of Russia, Ukraine, and the Central Asian and Caucasian successor states to the Soviet Union, domestic politics in these countries, US policy towards the region, and nuclear weapon strategy and arms control. She received her PhD from the MIT Department of Political Science. Serhii Plokhii is the Mykhailo S. Hrushevs'kyi Professor of Ukrainian History and director of the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University. His research interests include the intellectual, cultural, and international history of Eastern Europe, with an emphasis on Ukraine. Carol Saivetz is a senior advisor in the MIT Security Studies Program. She is a research associate at Harvard’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies and the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. Dr Saivetz is the author and contributing co-editor of books and articles on Soviet and now Russian foreign policy issues, including an assessment of the “reset,” Russian policies toward the other Soviet successor states, and current US-Russian relations. Elizabeth Wood is professor of history at MIT. She is the author most recently of Roots of Russia’s War in Ukraine (Woodrow Wilson Center and Columbia University Press, 2016). She is co-director of the MIT Russia Program, coordinator of Russian studies, and adviser to the Russian Language Program.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, War, Military Strategy, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Ukraine

23. Starr Forum: #ViralPotentials: How South Asian Women Use TikTok

Publication Date:
06-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Working class women are using TikTok to express themselves. The app is also an avenue for fun or financial gain. Women across the region are using TikTok for activism, teaching, and learning. On this panel, academics, journalists, and activists from South Asia discuss how women have expanded their possibilities using TikTok, as well as the limitations the app poses.
Topic:
Mass Media, Social Media, TikTok, and Activism
Political Geography:
South Asia and Asia

25. tarr Forum: An Update on Russia's War Against Ukraine

Publication Date:
10-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
What is the status of Russia's invasion of Ukraine?
Topic:
Defense Policy, Military Strategy, Conflict, Strategic Interests, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Ukraine

26. Starr Forum: Xi Jinping's Third Term: Challenges for the United States

Publication Date:
11-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
What are the implications of Xi Jinping's third term on US-China relations?
Topic:
Hegemony, Strategic Competition, Rivalry, and Competition
Political Geography:
China, Asia, North America, and United States of America

27. Starr Forum: Energy as a Weapon of War: Russia, Ukraine and Europe in Challenging Times

Publication Date:
12-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
How has Russia weaponized energy in this war? What have been the effects? How have Europeans responded to this weaponization of energy and what may be their responses this winter?
Topic:
Defense Policy, Energy Policy, Military Strategy, European Union, Strategic Interests, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Ukraine

28. Starr Forum: The Future of US-Russian Relations: More of the Same or Something Different?

Publication Date:
11-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Barry Posen is Ford International Professor of Political Science, MIT. His current research examines whether the diffusion of power away from the United States can best be understood as the emergence of a multipolar structure of power, and if so, how the United States should navigate this change. His most recent book is Restraint: A New Foundation for US Grand Strategy.
Topic:
Security, Diplomacy, Bilateral Relations, Conflict, and Rivalry
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, North America, and United States of America

29. Starr Forum: The Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter

Publication Date:
11-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Jimmy Carter’s one-term presidency is often labeled a failure; indeed, many Americans view Carter as the only ex-president to have used the White House as a stepping-stone to greater achievements. But in retrospect the Carter political odyssey is a rich and human story, marked by both formidable accomplishments and painful political adversity. In this deeply researched, brilliantly written account, Kai Bird expertly unfolds the Carter saga as a tragic tipping point in American history. Drawing on interviews with Carter and members of his administration and recently declassified documents on Israel, the Iranian revolution and the 1980 October Surprise, Bird delivers a profound, clear-eyed evaluation of a leader whose legacy has been deeply misunderstood.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Governance, Leadership, and Conflict
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

30. Starr Forum: Navalny: Putin’s Nemesis, Russia’s Future?

Publication Date:
10-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Navalny makes sense of this divisive character, revealing the contradictions of a man who is the second most important political figure in Russia—even when behind bars. In order to understand modern Russia, you need to understand Alexei Navalny.
Topic:
Authoritarianism, Domestic Politics, Political Prisoners, and Opposition
Political Geography:
Russia and Europe

31. Starr Forum: US, Afghanistan, 9/11: Finished or Unfinished Business?

Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Chair: Barry Posen, Ford International Professor of Political Science, MIT. He studies US grand strategy and national security policy. His most recent book is Restraint: A New Foundation for US Grand Strategy. Panelists: Juan Cole, Richard P Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History, University of Michigan. He is an expert on the modern Middle East, Muslim South Asia, and social and intellectual history. His most recent book is Muhammad: Prophet of Peace Amid the Clash of Empires. Carol Saivetz, Senior Advisor, MIT Security Studies Program. She is an expert on Soviet and now Russian foreign policy issues; and on topics ranging from energy politics in the Caspian and Black Sea regions, questions of stability in Central Asia, to Russian policy toward Iran. Vanda Felbab-Brown, Senior Fellow, Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology, Brookings. She is the director of the Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors and the co-director of the Africa Security Initiative. She recently co-authored The fate of women’s rights in Afghanistan. She received her PhD from MIT.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Military Strategy, Counter-terrorism, State Building, and Intervention
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Middle East, North America, and United States of America

32. Responses to 9-11: The United States, Europe, and the Middle East

Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Reflections on the One-Year Anniversary of 9/11
Topic:
Defense Policy, Terrorism, Military Strategy, and Counter-terrorism
Political Geography:
Europe, Middle East, North America, and United States of America

33. Starr Forum: The Haitian Constitutional Crisis and the International Community

Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
What role has the international community played in Haiti’s struggle to achieve a stable constitutional and democratic order since the end of the Duvalier era in 1986 and the promulgation of the 1987 Constitution? In this Starr Forum, four leading experts on Haitian domestic and international politics discuss Haiti’s extended constitutional crisis and consider what steps (if any) the international community can take at the current time to help restore to Haitians a government that serves the needs of the vast majority.
Topic:
Governance, Constitution, State Formation, and Political Crisis
Political Geography:
Latin America, Caribbean, Haiti, and North America

34. Starr Forum: Israelis and Palestinians: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Experts discuss the current conflict between Israelis and Palestinians while also providing the historical context and a potential path forward.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Military Strategy, Territorial Disputes, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, and Palestine

35. Starr Forum: Myanmar and South Asia: Democratization, Authoritarianism, and Refugees

Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
On Friday, May 14, 20201, experts explored the current crisis, including: the historical and regional perspectives on resolution; the democratization and current protests; and the history and current situation of India and Burmese refugees.
Topic:
Governance, Authoritarianism, Democracy, Refugee Crisis, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Asia and Myanmar

36. MIT X TAU Series: Africa’s Future Governmen

Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
The eleventh webinar in an eleven-part series focused on various aspects of sustainable development in Africa.
Topic:
Development, Governance, State Building, and Sustainability
Political Geography:
Africa

37. MIT X TAU Series: Africa’s Agricultural Reinvention with Sara Menker

Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
The tenth webinar in an eleven-part series focused on various aspects of sustainable development in Africa.
Topic:
Agriculture, Development, Innovation, Sustainability, and Farming
Political Geography:
Africa

38. MIT X TAU Series: Africa’s Innovation in Education

Publication Date:
04-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
The ninth webinar in an eleven-part series focused on various aspects of sustainable development in Africa.
Topic:
Development, Governance, Innovation, and Sustainability
Political Geography:
Africa

39. Attack of the Drones: Ethical, Legal and Strategic Implications of UAV Use

Author:
Lena Simone Andrews
Publication Date:
02-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
The United States has dramatically increased the development, acquisition, and use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). As these systems have grown, a chorus of skeptics has raised questions about the tactical, ethical, and strategic implications of this technology.
Topic:
Science and Technology, Military Strategy, Drones, and Innovation
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

40. Debating US Interests in Syria's Civil War

Author:
Brian Haggerty
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
In the aftermath of a chemical attack in the suburbs of Damascus on August 21, President Obama's threat to launch a limited cruise missile strike to "deter and degrade" Syrian President Bashar al-Asad's chemical weapons capability has once again thrust U.S. Syria policy to the forefront of national debate.
Topic:
Civil War, Military Strategy, Hegemony, and Military Intervention
Political Geography:
Middle East, Syria, North America, and United States of America

41. Nobody's Century: The American Proposal in Post-Imperial Times

Author:
Chas W. Freeman Jr.
Publication Date:
09-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
We are entering a novel period in our history–one in which the United States will be both fiscally constrained and also unable to call the shots in many places around the globe. Let me try to set the stage for your discussions by raising some difficult questions for you to ponder.
Topic:
International Relations, Globalization, Hegemony, and World System
Political Geography:
North America, Global Focus, and United States of America

42. Multilateral Imposition: An Immodest Proposal for the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Author:
Michael Barnett
Publication Date:
07-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Which is more likely in the next five years: that the Israelis and Palestinians negotiate a peace agreement or that they continue a “status quo” that turns into an accidental suicide pact? The safe bet is suicide.
Topic:
Territorial Disputes, Conflict, Peace, and Regionalism
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, and Palestine

43. Iraq's Three Civil Wars

Author:
Juan Cole
Publication Date:
02-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
All war situations are a little bit opaque, but from reading the Iraqi press in Arabic, I conclude that there are three major struggles for power of a political and violent sort. What’s striking is how little relevant the United States is. It is a superpower, and it is militarily occupying the country, but it appears most frequently to be in the position of going to the parties and saying, “Hey, guys, cut it out. Make nice. Please.” It’s odd that it should be so powerless in some ways, but let me explain. Then, there’s a war for Baghdad. This is the one that Americans tend to know about because the U.S. troops are in Baghdad, and so it’s being fought all around our guys, and we are drawn into it from time to time. The American public, when it thinks about this war, mainly thinks about attacks on U.S. troops, which are part of that war because the U.S. troops were seen by the Sunni Arabs as adjuncts to the Shiite paramilitaries, and they have really functioned that way. Most American observers of Iraq wouldn’t say that the U.S. is an enabler of the Mahdi Army and the Badr Corps paramilitaries of these Shiite fundamentalist parties, but you could make the case that, functionally speaking, that’s how it’s worked out. The U.S. has mainly taken on the remnants of the Ba’ath party, the Salafi jihadis, and other Sunni groups, and has tried to disarm them, tried to kill them, and has opened a space for the Shiite paramilitaries to claim territory and engage in ethnic cleansing and gain territory and power. So that battle between the Sunni Arabs and the Shiite Arabs is going on in Baghdad, is going on in the hinterlands of Baghdad, up to the northeast to Diyala Province, and then south to Babil and so forth. And finally, as if all that weren’t enough, there is a war in the north for control of Kirkuk, which used to be called by Saddam “Ta’mim Province”. Kirkuk Province has the city of Kirkuk in it and very productive oil fields, in the old days at least. Kirkuk is not part of the Kurdistan Regional Authority, which was created by melding three northern provinces together into a super province; however, the Kurdistan Regional Authority wishes to annex Kirkuk to the authority. Regional governments are super-provinces or provincial confederations. Try to imagine what happened—Iraq had 18 provinces in the old days, but it now has 15 provinces and one regional authority. It would be as though Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana got together, erased their state borders, elected a joint parliament and a prime minister, and then told the Federal leaders in Washington that if they would like to communicate with any of those states, they need to go through the regional prime minister, and by the way, we’re not sending any more money to Washington. And don’t even think about keeping federal troops on our soil. So, this is what the Kurds have done. They’ve erased the provincial boundaries that created one Kurdistan government that had -- it has its own military. They’re giving out visas independent of Baghdad. They’re inviting companies in to explore for oil independent of Baghdad. They’re the Taiwan of the Middle East. They’re an independent country. They just don’t say that they are because it would cause a war.
Topic:
Civil War, Religion, Military Strategy, Conflict, and Destabilization
Political Geography:
Iraq and Middle East

44. A Solution for the US–Iran Nuclear Standoff

Author:
William Luers, Thomas R. Pickering, and Jim Walsh
Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
The recent National Intelligence Estimate’s conclusion that Tehran stopped its efforts to develop nuclear weap- ons in 2003, together with the significant drop in Iranian activity in Iraq, has created favorable conditions for the US to hold direct talks with Iran on its nuclear program. The Bush administration should act on this opportunity, if for no other reason than that its current position is growing weaker, and without such an initiative, Iran will continue its efforts to produce nuclear fuel that might, in the future, be used to build nuclear weapons. Currently, Iran has approximately three thousand centrifuges, which it has used to produce small test batches of uranium that has been enriched to a low level (which cannot be used for nuclear weapons). Until now, Iranian engineers have not successfully operated a centrifuge cas- cade (a collection of centrifuges working together) at full capacity—which, as a practical matter, would be needed to enrich nuclear fuel to the level necessary either to establish an effective nuclear energy program or to manufacture nuclear weapons. But the Iranian government has declared its ambition to build more than 50,000 centrifuges, and recent reports also suggest that Tehran is testing a modified “P-2” centrifuge, a more advanced version of its existing centrifuge technology, which can produce a larger volume of enriched uranium. We propose that Iran’s efforts to produce enriched uranium and other related nuclear activities be conducted on a multilateral basis, that is to say jointly managed and operated on Iranian soil by a consortium including Iran and other governments. This proposal provides a realistic, work- able solution to the US–Iranian nuclear standoff. Turning Iran’s sensitive nuclear activities into a multinational program will reduce the risk of proliferation and create the basis for a broader discussion not only of our disagreements but of our common interests as well.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Nuclear Weapons, Military Strategy, and Peace
Political Geography:
Iran, Middle East, North America, and United States of America

45. Wilson and the Founders: The Roots of Liberal Foreign Policy

Author:
Ted Widmer
Publication Date:
04-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
We can’t do much better than reclaiming the Declaration of Independence as a fundamental foreign policy document in American history. We have a tendency to read it in a simplistic way, and to think of it only as a sort of airy declaration of what were then human rights, and a declaration of separation from England. But, in fact, the founders had a fairly well-articulated sense of what they were doing with foreign policy, and a fairly revolutionary sense of their foreign policy. So I’m quite interested in how Woodrow Wilson rediscovers the founders and makes them relevant for his time. This thinking about Wilson began for me about ten years ago when I came to be a speechwriter in the second term of Bill Clinton’s presidency. I was quite interested in which presidents were considered historically interesting to Clinton and quickly figured out it was John F. Kennedy, obviously, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. a little less obviously, and Teddy Roosevelt, who was a huge influence on Bill Clinton, and always has been. It was a time in the 1990s when a lot of very favorable books were coming out about Teddy Roosevelt, and it was an attractive time to be thinking about him. At the same time, I felt Wilson was completely ignored. I don’t remember Clinton ever talking about Wilson. In the collected speeches of Bill Clinton—it’s something like eighteen very fat volumes, the man enjoys speaking—if we looked up Wilson, I’m sure we could find a few references, but very few.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, International Cooperation, Military Strategy, and Liberalism
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

46. Wilson, Bush, and the Evolution of Liberal Foreign Policy

Author:
Tony Smith
Publication Date:
04-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
The first subject to discuss in considering the future of the liberal inter- nationalist agenda is the importance of the democratization project to the definition of Wilsonianism. The second is the meaning of multilat- eralism. In the first case, Thomas Knock and Anne-Marie Slaughter argue in a forthcoming volume that democratization was never an important part of Wilsonianism; that, instead, multilateralism is the key to liberal interna- tionalism. On the basis of this argument, they come to the conclusion that the Bush Doctrine is not in the Wilsonian tradition. In my contribution to this volume,1 I object to this denigration of the place of democracy in liberal internationalism as being fundamentally illogical. Accordingly, I find the Bush Doctrine easily identifiable as Wilsonian. I argue for the centrality of democracy to the Wilsonian project because it seems clear that the microfoundations for a regime in society are critical to the ability of those states that participate in multilateral organizations to do so effectively. That is, in order to function effectively, ultimately to provide for a peaceful world order, a multilateral organization needs to be dominated by democratic states, known for their rule-abiding behavior, their transparency, predictability, and accountability. Wilson wanted the League of Nations to be a League under the control of democracies and concerned with expanding this form of government,2 but then in late February 1919 at Versailles, he abandoned that idea. From a liberal internationalist perspective, the result of the League’s character was that it was undermined not only by the failure of the United States to join, but also by the role played in it by autocratic states. It is worth adding that in his drafts of the Pan American Union some three years earlier, Wilson had also looked forward to a community of American states based on the consent of the governed. In a word, a world of peace was necessarily a world dominated by what today is often called “market democracies,” a type of social, economic, and political order that Wilson argued was fundamentally different from and better than any alternative order. In such an order the place of democratic governments was central.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Military Strategy, Leadership, and Liberalism
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

47. Good and Bad News on Global Development

Author:
Dani Rodrik
Publication Date:
04-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Istart with some good news, because there is, I think, a lot of good news in the world of development. Then I want to present what I think is essentially a paradox. The paradox, to put it very crudely, is that while economic development is working, development policy is not. Let me start with the good news. If you look at the total number of people who live on below $1 a day and look at the trend, between 1981 and 2001, what you see is basically that there are now roughly 400 million fewer people who live below the $1-a-day line. So there actually has been not just a relative reduction in the number of the absolute poor; there has actually been an absolute reduction in the number of the absolute poor. This is in a period when, of course, the population of the developing world has increased quite significantly. In terms of the somewhat higher poverty line, which is the $2-a-day line, the number of poor people below that threshold has actually increased somewhat, but it is still the case that relative to the population of the developing world, it has come down. That is basically good news. In this period, there has been, in fact, significant poverty reduction around the world. But if you look at where that has come from, it is also the case that much of it has actu- ally been localized. China alone accounts for the full 400 million-person reduction in absolute poverty when measured by the $1-a-day line. If you take China out, basically, in the rest of the world, some countries have had an increased number of poor people, others have had a decline.
Topic:
Development, Poverty, Inequality, and Population Growth
Political Geography:
Global Focus

48. Wilson’s Radical Vision for Global Governance

Author:
Erez Manela
Publication Date:
04-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
In recent years, Woodrow Wilson has returned to feature promi- nently in the public discourse on the role of the United States in the world. For students of U.S. foreign relations, this is hardly a sur- prising development. Wilson was responsible for articulating a vision of the U.S. role in the world—usually described as “liberal interna- tionalism”—that has remained, despite well-known flaws and scores of critics over the years, dominant in shaping American rhetoric and self-image, if not always policies, vis-à-vis the rest of the world. Competing foreign policy postures, such as isolationism or “national interest” realism, have surely been influential in particular eras and contexts. But they have failed to match the ideological and popular appeal of liberal internationalism, which has echoed so compellingly the most basic ideas many Americans hold about who they are, what their country is about, and what it should stand for in the world.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Governance, Leadership, and Liberalism
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

49. Much ado about nothing: the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Author:
Anat Biletzki
Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
One could say that we have been in the midst of some sort of peace process since the 1991 Madrid conference. Erstwhile movers and shakers can, in fact, point to earlier attempts at peace-making—clandestine efforts at give-and-take, less or more secret track-2 initiatives, various collaborations (between teachers, students, doctors, lawyers, et al, from “both sides”)—that have had sporadic success and perhaps even some achievements. But the starting point of a grand-scale peace process, one with official authorities of Israel and Palestine, can be pinpointed in Madrid. Then fol- lowed the Oslo 1 and 2 accords, the Wye River Memorandum, the Taba Summit, the Road Map to Peace, and finally the Annapolis Conference. Each of these housed almost an identical set of ceremonies, rituals, icons, and discourse (and several identical players as well). Almost all had the expected preliminary (honest?) deliberations, the requisite early (prefabricated?) suspense, the accompaniment of (objective?) third-party American pressure, the moments of (manufactured?) crisis, and the final fanfare regarding an (historic?) announcement.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Military Strategy, Peace, and Territory
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, and Palestine

50. Pakistan's Governance Imperative

Author:
Paula A. Newberg
Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
After the kind of year that no country ever wants, with its government in crisis, repression replacing even the most remote notion of good government, political assassination, and terror stand- ing in the wings, Pakistan elected a new parliament in February. Led initially by a coalition of three parties previously deemed out- casts by President Pervez Musharraf, its cabinet of familiar political faces quickly agreed in principle, and at least in public, on a compel- ling and daunting political agenda. It reversed some emergency rul- ings, negotiated a hasty truce with insurgents living in the conten- tious tribal agency of Waziristan—and then broke down on divisive issues left to them by Musharraf. Domestic politics and foreign policy alike are now fair game for ambitious politicians long removed from power. This isn’t the first time that civilians have inherited the detritus of a mili- tary-led state, and past success has been elusive at best. Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gillani therefore faces not only the problems created by Musharraf ’s national security state, but also the accumulation of decades of mangled constitutions, mixed civil-military law, weakened state institutions and fragmented political parties. Today’s refreshing, if cautious good will nonetheless reflects a political order that was fragile and complex before Musharraf ’s 1999 coup d’etat, and remains so now. The recent blur of pronouncements, plans and policies reflects this history as it touches on Pakistan’s perennially sensitive topics: jumbled electoral rules, imbalances between provincial powers and central government authority, political corruptions long deemed acceptable, and a testy relationship between parliament and the president. Parliament is understandably keen to replace the opacity of Musharraf ’s tenure with a transparency that matches Pakistan’s avid, 21st century media, and in so doing, cement the coalition’s public image.
Topic:
Governance, Democracy, Leadership, and Political Crisis
Political Geography:
Pakistan and Middle East