DARA ORENSTEIN, George Washington University September 11, 2023, 5:00-6:00pm Vita Nova, Scripps College RSVP HERE It seems safe to say that the Twin Towers stand for globalism. Ever since they fell on the morning of September 11, 2001, they have endured as something much larger than local landmarks. Whether abstracted on magazine covers, sanctified in street […]
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in an unprecedented alignment of international actors supporting accountability processes. And the atrocities committed in Ukraine have been extensively documented. But achieving accountability through international mechanisms like the International Criminal Court is more challenging than it seems. Drawing on his recent experience as a policy advisor in the Pentagon, […]
Boccaccio's character Madonna Filippa brilliantly defends herself in court against an adultery charge—and dodges a cruel capital punishment. Readers have long assumed that since medieval Italian women had no place in court, Filippa's story must be an ironic parody. This presentation inserts Boccaccio's heroine into her historical context of medieval northern Italy, where several women […]
Dr. Tom Smith is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in German at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. His research focused on queer approaches to contemporary Germany. He was selected as an AHRC/BBC New Generation Thinker in 2019 and regularly presents his work on BBC Radio. Event will include refreshments, book raffle, music and dancing.
As the United States cobbles together a coalition to undo Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, six US officers are trapped in Iraq with intelligence that could ruin Operation Desert Storm if it is obtained by the brutal Iraqi dictator. Desperate, the CIA asks Poland, a longtime Cold War foe famed for its excellent spies, for […]
We know a lot about Angela Merkel as a leader in international politics; we know much less about how the first woman chancellor saw herself and acted as a woman leader. This talk, based on a volume co-edited by Prof. Lang with Prof. Petra Ahrens (Tampere University, Finland) and Prof. Phillip Ayoub (University College London) […]
We typically assume that the international system is made up of states, which we say function as black boxes in pursuit of their physical security and power. In this model, foreign policy does not change, even when domestic politics and priorities evolve. Why then has the transatlantic relationship run hot and cold over the past […]
Traditional models of the welfare state are bounded by place or nationality: social protection is conceived as something that we are eligible for based on where we live and what passport we may carry. This talk, based on a co-authored book by Prof. Dobbs with Prof. Peggy Levitt (Wellesley), Ken Sun (Villanova) and Ruxandra Paul […]
For the first time in nearly two centuries, one ethnic group now constitutes an absolute majority of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s population: the Bosniaks. It is an unlikely development given that, scarcely thirty years ago, they were targeted for extermination and expulsion by Serbia’s Slobodan Milošević. Even as the Bosniak community fought to survive these atrocities, […]
THIS EVENT HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED FROM JANUARY 22 TO MARCH 6. Climate action is increasingly intertwined with geopolitical risk — even among transatlantic allies. Both the US and EU are implementing landmark climate agendas laced with green industrial policies like subsidies and carbon tariffs that have raised concerns over competitiveness and trade fairness. Recent US-EU […]
Recent years have witnessed significant concern about democratic backsliding. Resulting from the actions of duly elected governments, the incremental deteriorations of democratic institutions, rules, and norms have affected democracies around the globe, including some of the oldest in the world. Dr. Schneider will discuss the current challenges to democracy, with a focus on the international […]
Since the U.S. Congress has been dithering over providing funds to assist Ukraine, the European Union and NATO alliance have stepped forward. While the EU is looking for ways to pay Ukraine out of frozen Russian assets, NATO countries have found 800,000 rounds of ammunition that they are looking to purchase for Ukraine's fight against […]
Giorgia Meloni is Italy’s first female prime minister and its furthest-right political leader since the fall of Italian Fascism. She is also a widely-noted enthusiast of JRR Tolkien’s fantasy epic, The Lord of the Rings, even going so far as to cosplay as a hobbit during her youth. This talk explores the complicated relationship between […]
About the speaker: Jonas Oehman is one of the founders of the Lithuanian non-profit Blue/Yellow. The organization has since 2014 provided non-lethal aid to the Armed Forces of Ukraine for almost 90 million USD. Jonas will talk about the war in Ukraine, the support provided by non-state actors to Ukrainian defenses, and his perception of […]
