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Begin New Search Topic Governance Content Type Video

31. Book Talk. Architectures of Violence by Kate Ferguson

Publication Date:
01-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
The Harriman Institute
Abstract:
Paramilitary or irregular units have been involved in practically every case of identity-based mass violence in the modern world, but detailed analysis of these dynamics is rare. Through exploring the case of former Yugoslavia, Kate Ferguson exposes the relationships between paramilitaries, state commands, local communities, and organised crime present in modern mass atrocities, from Rwanda and Darfur to Syria and Myanmar. Visible paramilitary participation masks the continued dominance of the state in violent crises. Political elites benefit from using unconventional forces to fulfil ambitions that violate international law—and international policy responses are hindered when responsibility for violence is ambiguous. Ferguson’s inquiry into these overlooked dynamics of mass violence unveils substantial loopholes in current atrocity prevention architecture.
Topic:
Crime, Governance, Conflict, Violence, and Paramilitary
Political Geography:
Global Focus

32. Crisis in Kazakhstan: Protests, Regime Stability, and Regional Security

Publication Date:
01-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
The Harriman Institute
Abstract:
How did the protests erupt and how will recent events influence government policy? Who is in charge? Will Kazakhstan’s foreign policy orientation change? And what is the significance of the CSTO’s intervention? Our expert panelists will address these and other questions, as well as ponder what the future holds for the country widely considered as Central Asia’s economic engine.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Economics, Governance, and Protests
Political Geography:
Central Asia, Kazakhstan, and Asia

33. Book Talk. Stalin's Millennials: Nostalgia, Trauma, and Nationalism

Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
The Harriman Institute
Abstract:
Stalin’s Millennials examines Joseph Stalin’s increasing popularity in the post-Soviet space, and analyzes how his image, and the nostalgia it evokes, is manipulated and exploited for political gain. The author argues that, in addition to the evil dictator and the Georgian comrade, there is a third portrayal of Stalin—the one projected by the generation that saw the tail end of the USSR, the post-Soviet millennials. This book is not a biography of one of the most controversial historical figures of the past century. Rather, through a combination of sociopolitical commentary and autobiographical elements that are uncommon in monographs of this kind, the attempt is to explore how Joseph Stalin’s complex legacies and the conflicting cult of his irreconcilable tripartite of personalities still loom over the region as a whole, including Russia and, perhaps to an even deeper extent, Koba’s native land—now the independent Republic of Georgia, caught between its unreconciled Soviet past and the potential future within the European Union.
Topic:
Nationalism, Governance, Leadership, Trauma, and Memory
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Soviet Union, and Georgia

34. Radomir Konstantinović’s The Philosophy of Parochialism

Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
The Harriman Institute
Abstract:
The Philosophy of Parochialism is Radomir Konstantinović’s (1928–2011) most celebrated and reviled book. First published in Belgrade as Filosofija palanke in 1969, it attracted keen attention and controversy through its unsparing critique of Serbian and any other nationalism in Yugoslavia and beyond. The book was prophetic, seeming to anticipate not only the bloody disintegration of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, but also the totalitarian turn in politics across the globe in the first decades of the new century. With this translation, English-speaking audiences can at last discover one of the most original writers of eastern European late modernism, and gain an important and original perspective into contemporary politics and culture in the West and beyond. This is a book that seems to age in reverse, as its meanings become deeper and more universal with the passage of time. Konstantinović’s book resists easy classification, mixing classical, Montaigne-like essay, prose poetry, novel, and literary history. The word “philosophy” in the book’s title refers to the solitary activity of reflection and critical thinking, and is also paradoxical: according to the author, a defining characteristic of parochialism is precisely its intolerance toward this kind of self-reflexivity. In Konstantinović’s analysis, parochialism is not a simply a characteristic of a geographical region or a cultural, political, and historical formation—these are all just manifestations of the parochial spirit as the spirit of insularity. His book illuminates the current moment, in which insularity undergirds not only ethnic and national divisions, but also dictates the very structure of everyday life, and where individuals can easily find themselves locked in an echo chamber of social media. The Philosophy of Parochialism can help us understand better not only the dead ends of ethnic nationalism and other atavistic ideologies, but also of those cultural forces such as digital technologies that have been built on the promise of overcoming those ideologies.
Topic:
Fragile/Failed State, Governance, Philosophy, State Building, and Modernization
Political Geography:
Kosovo, Yugoslavia, Serbia, and Montenegro

35. Lecture: The Evolution of the Civic Space in Modern African Democracy

Author:
Idayat Hassan and Kwame Karikari
Publication Date:
11-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Ghana Center for Democratic Development
Abstract:
Over the last decade, the world has witnessed a decline in democracy and the closing of civic spaces – the bedrock of democratic society through which citizens and civil society organizations are able to organize, participate and communicate without hindrance. These two phenomena have dominated conversations on various platforms globally and have intensified since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Democratic backsliding and shrinking civic space in our part of the world represent a major setback for the region and its people. This lecture seeks to deliberate on these evolving issues and offer practical recommendations aimed at influencing urgent interventions that will help halt democratic backsliding and the closing of democratic civic spaces.
Topic:
Civil Society, Governance, Democracy, COVID-19, and Democratic Backsliding
Political Geography:
Africa and Ghana

36. 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

37. 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

38. 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

39. 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

40. 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