Podcasts about brown university's watson institute

Mark Blyth, political economist at Brown University's Watson Institute, and Carrie Nordlund, political scientist and associate director of Brown's Master of Public Affairs program, share their take on the news. On this episode: the politics of 'Megxit'; Impeachment and Trump's optimistic 'State of the Union'; hope vs. cynicism in the Democratic primaries; Mark and Carrie's casserole cultural exchange; Coronavirus and globalization; Mark and Carrie's holiday trips to...Australia and Russia.

Following decades of enmity, on December 15, 1978, the United States and China announced the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries as of January 1, 1979. Diplomatic rapprochement offered hope that the countries would be able to look beyond their differences to cooperate on the global stage. On December 18, the National Committee convened a panel representing the diverse fields of business, diplomacy, arts and culture, and academic exchange to reflect on where the bilateral relationship was 40 years ago, is today, and may be headed in the future. Speaker Bios: Cathy Barbash is a specialist in cultural diplomacy and creative industry development and an independent producer, working primarily with the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Cuba. Barbash has spent over 35 years managing and consulting to organizations including The Philadelphia Orchestra, the United States Department of State, the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China, Arts Midwest, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Juilliard School, Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment, China Shanghai International Arts Festival, and the China National Centre for the Performing Arts. She was the lead architect of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s current China tour/residency project. Since normalization of United States-Cuba relations, she has worked with La Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba, Casa de las Américas, and the Festival Jazz Plaza Havana.   Chas W. Freeman, Jr. is a senior fellow at Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. He is the former assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs (1993–1994), ambassador to Saudi Arabia (1989–1992), principal deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs (1986–1989), and chargé d'affaires in Bangkok (1984–1986) and Beijing (1981–1984). He served as vice chair of the Atlantic Council (1996-2008), co-chair of the United States China Policy Foundation (1996–2009), and president of the Middle East Policy Council (1997–2009).   Mr. Maurice R. Greenberg is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Starr Insurance Companies. Mr. Greenberg retired as Chairman and CEO of American International Group (AIG) in March 2005. He formed the American International Group, Inc. (AIG) as a Starr subsidiary, and served as that company’s chairman and CEO until March 2005. Under his nearly 40 years of leadership, AIG grew from an initial market value of $300 million to $180 billion, becoming the largest insurance company in the world.   David M. Lampton is Hyman Professor and director of China Studies Emeritus at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, where he currently is senior fellow at SAIS’ Foreign Policy Institute. He will be an Oksenberg-Rohlen fellow and research scholar at Stanford University’s Asia Pacific Research Center beginning in January 2019. Having started his academic career at the Ohio State University, Dr. Lampton is chairman of the Asia Foundation, former president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, and former Dean of Faculty at SAIS. He now serves as a director of the National Committee. He is the author of Same Bed, Different Dreams: Managing U.S.-China Relations, 1989-2000 (2001); The Three Faces of Chinese Power: Might, Money, and Minds (2008); and, The Making of Chinese Foreign and Security Policy (editor, Stanford University Press, 2001).

Is democracy in decay? That's the central question animating a new course designed by Robert Blair, a political scientist at Brown University's Watson Institute, and colleagues in universities across the United States. The course, which has garnered national attention, is designed to go beyond the dire headlines and partisan positions and determine whether or not the threats to democracy are real--and if they are, what can be done about it. Blair is joined by Minch Cerrero, a PhD student from the University of the Philippines, and Aidan Calvelli '19, a political science (theory) concentrator at Brown, both of whom took the course and attended the conference. Download episode transcript

On June 12, 2018, President Donald Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore in the first summit meeting between the leaders of the two countries. Although the United States and North Korea have a tense history, the two were able to sign a joint statement that would improve relations. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, host Craig Williams joins Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr., senior fellow at Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, and Morse Tan, professor of law at Northern Illinois University College of Law, as they discuss the Trump-Kim summit. They take a deeper look inside the agreement, denuclearization, and what this means for U.S. and North Korea relations. Special thanks to our sponsors, Clio.

From Prague Spring to Paris riots. From the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. to the election of Richard Nixon, 1968 was a tumultuous time to say the least. Brian Meeks, Chair of Africana Studies at Brown University, and Ed Steinfeld, Director of Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs sat down to reflect on a year marked by anti-establishment, anti-war counter culture movements.

For the past 70 years, the nations of the world have more or less agreed that the role of nuclear weapons is to discourage aggression: owning them is one thing, but using them is beyond the pale. Now, two volatile world leaders with considerable nuclear arsenals at their fingertips are engaging in bellicose rhetoric. How nervous should we be as we read the threatening tweets coming out of Washington and Pyongyang? Nina Tannenwald is a faculty fellow at Brown University's Watson Institute and director of its International Relations program. She writes often on issues of nuclear proliferation and her book, The Nuclear Taboo: The United States and the Nonuse of Nuclear Weapons Since 1945 won the 2009 Lepgold Prize for best book in international relations.

Iran holds presidential elections later this week, and Marc Lynch talks with M. Ali Kadivar about what to expect. Kadivar is a postdoctoral fellow at Brown University's Watson Institute. "Ahmadinejad's era was significant for several reasons, but one reason was that the process started to replace the old guard of the Islamic Republic with a new set of elites," said Kadivar. "I think Rouhani represents the different strands: one is the old guard again, being back and exerting control. The other is the social support that Rouhani has. A lot of the reformist people who ruled for democratic change now see Rouhani as the most viable candidate that can push forward their agenda." "An interesting thing about the conservative candidates is that you see the conservative discourse is very weak in their electoral platforms. They don't talk about Islamic values or the Western invasion the culture of Iran. Most of what they're talking is the economic promises," said Kadivar. "In a way, I can see this election as kind of a defeat for conservative discourse. I think they have realized that to win a presidential election they cannot talk about those things." The conservative candidates will "criticize Rouhani for not being able to translate the nuclear agreement to economic gains for peace," said Kadivar. "So they say, 'We gave up on our rights. But people are not seeing that in their daily life. They don't have jobs." "On the other hand, Rouhani is saying, 'I'm the person who has delivered on promises. I promised to do this. I delivered this. We have been able to sell our oil, a barrier for banking has been removed,' and then he's promising to deliver more." "Many people believe that this presidential election is not just about presidents. So Iran's supreme leader is elderly and, I think, he wants to publicly recognize that he may not live longer so people are thinking and talking about his next successor. Ebrahim Raisi is being talked about as the hardliners' candidate for Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini... many people believe that he ran for president to set the stage for being Iran's next supreme leader."

Narges Bajoghli, a postdoctoral research associate at Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs talks about the Syrian chemical attack on civilians, and the U.S. missile strike in response