Does undermining the security of women undermine the security of the nation-states in which they live? Micro- and macro-analysis says yes, but ofttimes the causal mechanisms underlying that linkage are left vague. Valerie Hudson, professor of international relations and and director of Program on Women, Peace and Security at Texas A & M, will offer three case studies—abnormal and contrived sex ratios favoring males, brideprice, and polygyny—that show how the subordination and oppression of women produces instability for the nation-state and consequences for international relations.

Xi Jinping is promoting a new development path as the US tries to pull away from its decades-long engagement policy. Will it work? Financial Times journalist Lucy Hornby will explore what Xi's new era means for China, and for the rest of the world.  

Protests and violence has ravaged India ever since the passing of the Citizenship Amendment Act in early 2019, with no indication of stopping anytime soon. The contentious bill restricts the acquisition of citizenships of Muslims from neighboring countries, a move from the ruling BJP government has made to “protect religious minorities.” However, critics have called it a right-wing act intended for religious persecution. To break down this complicated issue, join us and Professor Aseema Sinha in a discussion on what these legislative acts and protests mean for India’s democratic present and future, as well as how we can understand student and women’s participation in the protests. Professor Sinha is an alum of Jawaharlal University, one of the hubs of student protest, and has a unique perspective that we hope will engage all who attend.

Due to the marketization reform, entry to the WTO and the “low human rights disadvantage,” China has become the second-largest economy. But contrary to what most had presumed and predicted, the market economy and rapid growth didn’t lead China to transform into an open society. Instead, argues Biao Teng, Grove Human Rights Scholar at Hunter College, the Chinese Communist Party has tightened its one-party rule and utilized its political-economic-technological power to establish an unprecedented high-tech totalitarian system, which has been the biggest threat to global human rights and democracy.

Why do generals give up their political power? What factors determine their place under the new regime? What challenges do democracy advocates face in the wake of military rule? Following a discussion of these general questions, Zoltan Barany, Frank C. Erwin, Jr. Centennial Professor in the government department at the University of Texas, Austin, will turn to Burma/Myanmar and its unique experience with military rule, which in turn, helps explain the struggles – political, economic, ethno-religious – the country has faced in its transition efforts toward democracy.

It is hard to be an optimist about democracy today. Indeed, many believe that democracy is in crisis, if not inevitable decline, and that "illiberal" democracies like Hungary or some form of authoritarianism, as exists in Russia or China, is the wave of the future. Sheri Berman, professor of political science at Barnard College, Columbia University, asserts that assessing the current state of democracy requires looking beyond our immediate situation and thinking carefully about how democracy has historically developed. By reviewing democracy's backstory, particularly in Europe, Berman will pull out some lessons to better understand what is going on in the world today.

The Claremont International Relations Society invited Professor Bou Nassif to speak on current events in Iran.

The accusation that Russia seeks to undermine American democracy has captured a lot of attention lately. But according to Ivan Kurilla, professor of international relations at European University in St. Petersburg and author of the book “Frenemies”, this story is not new. There are many examples in the history of this bilateral relationship that reflect a mutual distrust and the suspicion of interference and disrespect of each others values and interests. “Frenemies” for decades, Kurilla will demonstrate how both countries are constantly reinventing images of each other, and mainly using them to fight their domestic battles and to advance a specific political agenda at home.

It is as if the two big weather systems that animate global politics have clashed over Hong Kong, posits James Kynge, global China editor at the Financial Times. The confrontation between aspirations for greater democracy in Hong Kong and Beijing's authoritarian response is generating fundamental questions: Can Beijing permit greater freedoms in Hong Kong or is a crackdown by security forces inevitable? If China toughens its response, what could that mean for Beijing's relationship with the west and its attempts to woo Taiwan?

James Kynge is global China editor at the Financial Times, based in Hong Kong. He writes about China's growing global footprint in business, finance and politics. He spent more than 25 years reporting from mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, as well as other countries in Asia. 

His bestselling 2009 book, China Shakes the World, forecast that China and the US-led west would be unable to co-exist because of fundamental differences in their political and economic systems and that confrontation was inevitable. 

The recipient of several awards for his work, Kynge recently won the Wincott Foundation's top prize for journalism.

Do current trends in Israeli society have the potential to bring about a new Israeli order? Could the growing divisions among secular, national-religious, ultra-Orthodox, and Arab communities be the harbinger of significant social and economic changes? How would such changes change the future of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state?  Award-winning journalist Tal Schneider has covered Israeli politics and society for almost two decades and will bring her keen insight to examine Israeli society at this transitional moment and to discuss the prospects for Israeli’s future.

Mainstream vs media and foreign policy pundits proclaim Russia’ growing threat to the Arctic, yet the actual military balance in the region is lopsided in favor of the US and NATO. A narrative of looming conflict risks becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. Professor Robert English is deputy director of the School of International Relations at the University of Southern California. He previously taught at the John’s Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and prior to that worked as a policy analyst in the US Department of Defense and Committee for National Security.

Professor Rod Camp, of CMC, is a Philip M. McKenna Professor of the Pacific Rim that focuses on Mexican Politics, US-Mexico Relations, and Violence and Security in Mexico.

Format: there will be tables with one IR professor each. You will sit at one of these tables for the dinner portion of the event and discuss issues related to their area of expertise. After dinner is over, professors will rotate several times, so you can hear from several of them and ask questions. This is a chance to casually learn about different IR topics and parts of the world! All levels of prior knowledge are welcome!

Meet Benjamin Waldman a former Army officer, who will be here to talk about his experience working with the Kurds. There will be more talk on US policy, the challenges of balancing Syrian,  Russian, Kurdish, Turkish, ISIS and AQ actions and agendas.

The Claremont International Relations Society invited Professor Tom Le, associate professor of politics at Pomona College, to speak about the Hong Kong protests.

As the highest-ranking official dealing with East Asia for the first eighteen months of the Trump administration, Susan Thornton, a 28-year veteran of the State Department with expertise on East and Central Asia who is now at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center, will discuss the flaws and fallacies in the current approach to US-China relations and how a realistic and constructive approach would best serve U.S. long-term interests.

Susan A. Thornton is a visiting lecturer at Yale Law School and Senior Fellow at the Paul Tsai China Center. In 2018, she retired from the State Department after a 28-year diplomatic career focused primarily on East and Central Asia. In leadership roles in Washington, Thornton worked on China and Korea policy, including stabilizing relations with Taiwan, the U.S.-China Cyber Agreement, the Paris Climate Accord and led a successful negotiation in Pyongyang for monitoring of the Agreed Framework on denuclearization.

In her 18 years of overseas postings in Central Asia, Russia, the Caucasus and China, Thornton’s leadership furthered U.S. interests and influence and maintained programs and mission morale in a host of difficult operating environments. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, she was among the first State Department Fascell Fellows and served from 1989–90 at the U.S. Consulate in Leningrad. She was also a researcher at the Foreign Policy Institute from 1987–91. Thornton holds degrees from the National Defense University’s Eisenhower School, the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and Bowdoin College. She speaks Russian, Mandarin Chinese and French, is a member of numerous professional associations and is on the board of trustees for the Eurasia Foundation.

Three years have passed since the British public voted for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union. But so far the British parliament has been unwilling, and a succession of Conservative governments unable, to deliver Brexit. David Andrews, professor of international relations at Scripps College, will assess the continuing deadlock in British politics, identify the United Kingdom's remaining Brexit options, and survey the prospects for the UK’s future relationship with the EU.

Drawing on her most recent book, The Education of an Idealist, Samantha Power, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, war correspondent, and the Anna Lindh Professor of Practice at Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Law School, will chronicle her years in public service and reflect on the role of human rights and humanitarian ideals in contemporary geopolitics.

Samantha Power, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations for President Obama, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, war correspondent, and the Anna Lindh Professor of Practice at Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Law School, spent half of her career explaining complex geopolitical events and eight years at the UN helping to shape them.

As the 28th U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Power became the public face of U.S. opposition to Russian aggression in Ukraine and Syria, negotiated the toughest sanctions in a generation against North Korea, lobbied to secure the release of political prisoners, and helped mobilize global action against ISIL. From 2009 to 2013, she served on the National Security Council as special assistant to the President and senior director for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights.

Called “a powerful crusader for U.S foreign policy as well as human rights and democracy” by Forbes, Power was named one of Foreign Policy’s “Top 100 Global Thinkers.” The American Academy in Berlin awarded her the 2016 Henry A. Kissinger Prize. “She has an excellent and analytical mind,” said Kissinger, “I admire the way she has faced our challenges.”

Her book, A Problem from Hell”: America and the Age of Genocide won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2003. 

Before joining the U.S. government, Power was the founding executive director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, a columnist for Time, and a National Magazine Award-winning contributor to the Atlantic, the New Yorker, and the New York Review of Books.

At the age of nine, she immigrated to the United States from Ireland. Power earned a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Beginning her career as a journalist, Power reported from places such as Bosnia, East Timor, Kosovo, Rwanda, Sudan, and Zimbabwe.

Ambassador Power’s Athenaeum presentation is jointly sponsored by the Athenaeum, the Lecture in Diplomacy and International Security in Honor of George F. Kennan, Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies, Mgrublian Center for Human Rights, and the President’s Leadership Fund, all at CMC.