2004-05  |  2005-06  |  2006-07  |  2007-08  |  2008-09  |  2009-10  |  2010-11

Events Archive: 2011-12

04.24.12
Time: 12 am - 1:30 pm
Location: Ronald Tutor Campus Center, Forum Room
Speaker: KELLEY LEE, Associate Dean of Research and Director of Global Health, London School of Tropical Medicine
Topic: "A Struggle for Relevance: The Future of the WHO"
Series: 2011-2012 GLOBAL HEALTH LECTURES SERIES
sponsored by the USC Institute for Global Health and the USC Center for International Studies

04.18.12
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: RON OSBORN, CIS Dissertation Fellow 2011-2012, USC
Topic: "'Because we give life we defend it': Resistance to the Shining Path in Peru"

04.11.12
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: DANIEL LYNCH, Associate Professor of International Relations, USC
Topic: "The Chinese Trajectory: Politics and Economics"
Discussant: Timothy Hildebrandt,Fellow, US-China Institute, and Lecturer, School of International Relations, USC

04.05.12
Time: 4 - 5:30 pm
Location: Doheny Memorial Library, Room 240
Speaker: CATHERINE MAVRIKAKIS, French-Canadian author and Professor of French Literature, University of Montreal
Topic: "Literature as a Space of Contagion" (the lecture will be held in French)
Series: Organized and co-sponsored by the USC Francophone Resource Center, Department of French and Italian, USC Libraries

03.27.12
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: MICHAEL BEHIELS, Professor of History, University of Ottawa
Topic: “Canada’s Supreme Court, Constitutional Principles, and the 1998 Quebec Secession Reference Case: Toxic Wine in a Very Old Bottle?"
Series: ABSTRACT: In 1998, the Supreme Court or Canada rendered a landmark decision in its Reference re Secession of Quebec. The SCC ruled in a forthright manner that Quebec did not have the legal right, under Canadian law or International law, to secede unilaterally from Canada. But then the SCC Justices, venturing into the ambiguous terrain of constitutional principles and political conventions, proceeded to a set out a process whereby the Canadian government was legally obliged to negotiate with a seceding province following a clear majority on a clear question in a secession referendum. The initial response of politicians and the public to the decision was largely favorable because it appeared to resolve the longstanding tensions pertaining to the threat of secession. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Chrétien passed the Clarity Act, 2000 that incorporated the SCC’s proposed secession rules. First, Behiels analyzes the SCC’s ruling, especially the Court’s selection and use of four constitutional principles – democracy, constitutionalism and the rule of law, federalism and minority rights to arrive at its advisory opinion. Second, he analyzes an expanding range of critical and supportive responses to the SCC’s complex and somewhat ambiguous decision by political scientists and legal scholars. This 1998 Quebec Secession Reference case has drawn international attention from states, such as Spain and the United Kingdom, that are confronted with secession movements. Might the SCC’s ruling be helpful in resolving some of the constitutional and political tensions?

03.21.12
Time: 11:30 am - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: PETER KNAACK, MARIANO BERTUCCI, NICOLAS DE ZAMAROCZY, KATE SVYATETS, SIMON RADFORD, Political Science and International Relations Phd candidates, USC
Topic: “Students present their papers for the upcoming International Studies Association conference
Series:
***Knaack: "Prudential Regulatory Standards and China’s Position in the Reform of the Global Financial Architecture"
***Bertucci: "Scholarly Research on U.S.-Latin American Relations: Where Does the Field Stand?"
***De Zamaroczy: “Playing Boomerang: East African Elites, External Actors, and the Contestation of East African Regionalism”
***Svyatets: "Power, Profits, and Politics: Energy Security in the U.S.-Russia-Azerbaijan Nexus"
***Radford: "Teaching Diplomacy by Other Means"”
Discussant: Saori Katada, Associate Professor of International Relations, USC

03.07.12
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: LAURA SJOBERG, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Florida
Topic: "Relations International: Feminist Insights for Dyadic-Level War Theorizing"
Series: Organized by J. Ann Tickner, Professor of International Relations, USC
Abstract: This paper is interested in accounting for dyadic-level (or between-states) causes of war through gendered lenses as both international and relational. It argues that, whether or not gender is a structural feature of the international system (and therefore a permissive cause of war), it is a key feature of the relationships between states, and a key dyadic-level factor in the making of conflicts and the fighting of wars. In traditional war studies terms, this means looking at what properties of two actors make them more or less likely to make war(s) with each other through gendered lenses. It begins by discussing feminist engagements with dyadic-level accounts of war that focus on particular properties of states (like, for example, theories of democratic peace and capitalist peace). It contends that trait-based accounts of dyadic relationships among states identify problematic traits, do so in a way that takes insufficient account of relations between states, and do discursive violence in their silences. A second section addresses dyadic-level theories of war(s) that take account of and/or focus more on how states interact, contending that the assumptions of progressive interaction, unitary states, and rational actors are limiting and incomplete. It suggests that the interactions these approaches observe are gendered, and observed in gendered ways. A third section outlines an approach to studying the dyadic-level causes of war in ³relations international² through gendered lenses, suggesting it might be both empirically advantageous and normatively preferable. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of such a move for dyadic-level war theorizing specifically and war theorizing more generally.
Discussant: Keira Stearns, Political Science and International Relations PhD candidate, USC

02.29.12
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: RICHARD PRICE, Professor of Political Science, University of British Columbia
Topic: "Moral Mission Accomplished? Assessing the Landmine Ban"
Series:
Organized by Ann Tickner, Professor of International Relations, USC
ABSTRACT: At the time of its conclusion and since, the Landmines Convention of 1997 has often been cited as a successful initiative of transnational ethical activism, one that can also serve as an innovative model for other would-be initiatives to inject ethical concerns into world politics. Assessments of its significance and forecasts of its likely impact have varied from sceptical dismissal to cautious optimism to enthusiastic praise. This paper takes off from some of those projections and examines the empirical evidence to date in order to take stock of this contemporary effort to establish a new global moral norm dealing with what should be the relatively hard kind of case involving security policy. We find high levels of compliance among States Parties, with few substantive violations of core treaty rules. We also find that non-parties have been substantially influenced by the Convention, and have in many cases accommodated themselves to its primary obligations. These findings have implications for assessing the viability of global moral advocacy campaigns including those that are not supported by great powers in world politics, and indeed suggest that global ethical standards may be effectively promoted even through non-hegemonic processes.
Discussant: Christina Gray, Lecturer, School of International Relations, USC

02.27.12
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: JEFF DAYTON-JOHNSON, Associate Professor of International Trade and Development, Monterey Institute of International Studies
Topic: “The Latin American Decade”
Series: OECD Development Dialogue series organized by Daniel Paly, USC student ambassador to the OECD
BIO: Jeff Dayton-Johnson is a development economist who joined the Monterey Institute of International Studies in August 2011. Previously, he was the Head of the OECD Development Centre’s Latin America and Caribbean Desk, the principal activity of which is the OECD Latin American Economic Outlook. While at the OECD, Jeff also worked on issues related to African economic development, natural disasters, policy coherence for development, international migration, fiscal policy and economic inequality. His research has covered other policy-relevant topics, including local management of natural resources, social cohesion and economic performance, the microeconomics of cooperation, and public policy of culture and the arts. Before joining the OECD in 2004, Jeff’s experiences ranged from coaxing a sometimes-stubborn Volkswagen through rural Mexico to interview farmers in peasant irrigation societies, to delivering economics training courses to public servants in Eastern Europe; from advising Canadian federal and provincial policy-makers on matters of cultural policy, social cohesion and foreign aid, to teaching and advising several cohorts of energetic students in the Master of Development Economics program that he coordinated for many years at Dalhousie University in Canada. He has also taught courses at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques (Sciences-Po) in Paris. Jeff received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and received his undergraduate education in Latin American Studies at Berkeley and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
Discussant: Carol Wise, Associate Professor of International Relations, USC

02.23.12
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: LEONARD SCHOPPA, Associate Chair and Professor of Politics, University of Virginia
Topic: “Japan’s Declining Population: Clearly a Problem, But What’s the Solution?”
Series:
Organized by Scott Wilbur, Politics and International Relations Phd candidate, USC
Abstract: Japan’s population is on track to shrink by over 30 million between 2000 and 2050, even as the number of residents over 65 continues to grow. This “aging society – declining fertility” problem has been a national obsession for at least two decades, prompting a variety of policy responses, but none of them has succeeded in budging a trajectory that appears headed for fiscal disaster. In this lecture, I review the policy responses, examining why efforts to boost the number of babies, bring more women into the workforce, reduce the costs of caring for the old, and (tentative) proposals to increase immigration have all failed to bear fruit.
Discussant: Saori Katada, Associate Professor of International Relations, USC

02.22.12
Time: 10:30 am - 12 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: SHANNON GIBSON, Lecturer of International Relations, USC
Topic: EVENT POSTPONED (DATE TBD) -- "The Politics of Global Climate Change"
Series: OECD Development Dialogue series organized by Daniel Paly, USC student ambassador to the OECD
ABSTRACT: Recognizing that over the past decade transnational environmental activism focusing on climate change has radicalized in public tactics and discourses, this talk will explain the process and effect of tactical and discursive radicalization within the global climate justice movement(s) over time. As global activists within this movement construct and pursue public, as well as covert, campaigns directed at states, international institutions, corporations, the media and society at large, the talk will explore how and to what effect specific sectors of the broader movement have radicalized from 2007 - 2011. The research to be presented draws on quantitative protest event analysis and participant action research conducted at multiple mobilization events. In doing so, we will explore the interactions between non-governmental organizations, grassroots movements, transnational networks, UN authorities, police and state representatives as the various negotiations evolved. Additionally, we will consider the legacy of this mobilization, particularly as it applies to the broader context of transnational global justice contention and "Occupy" movements.
Discussant: Jefferey Sellers, Associate Professor of Political Science and Environmental Studies, USC

02.14.12
Time: 2 - 3:30 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: A. COOPER DRURY, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Missouri-Columbia; Editor-in-Chief, Foreign Policy Analysis
Topic: EVENT CANCELLED -- "Trends in the International Relations Subfield: A View from the Journal Foreign Policy Analysis"
Series: Publishing Editor series organized by Scott Wilbur, Politics and International Relations Phd candidate, USC

02.07.12
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: NAEEM INAYATULLAH, Associate Professor, Department of Politics, Ithaca College
Topic: EVENT CANCELLED -- "Capitalism, First and Last"
Series:
ABSTRACT: Despite the presence of International Political Economy (IPE), our field (International Relations) betrays an inadequate appreciation of capitalism. IPE is dominated either by a rationalist framework that assumes an individualist ontology. Or, by a thin eclecticism that aims to bridge realism, neo-classical economics, and elements of Marxism. In my reading, IR/IPE does not take seriously the simultaneous origins of the system of states and a global capitalist division of labor. Further, by limiting itself to technical concerns, IR/IPE ignores questions about capitalism’s social foundations thus allowing us to take capitalism for granted. As a result, our field promotes the status quo, stifles potential debate, and disables critical consciousness. My talk will try to substantiate these provocations by combining theoretical analysis with an autobiographical narrative. I hope to pose ethical questions that foreground capitalism’s capacity to generate great wealth and great poverty.
Discussant: Organized by Ann Tickner, Professor of International Relations, USC

02.01.12
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: MUHAMMAD SAHIMI, NIOC Chair in Petroleum Engineering, USC and political columnist at Tehran Bureau
Topic: “Iran: Internal Developments and the Possibility of Military Attacks by the West”
Series:
ABSTRACT: Iran, its internal political developments, and its nuclear program have been at the forefront of the news. How to address the challenge of Iran's nuclear program represents one of the most complex foreign policy issues of the Obama administration. This talk takes a brief look at these issues.
Discussant: Laurie Brand, Professor of International Relations, USC

01.31.12
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: MICHAEL INTRILIGATOR, Professor of Economics, Political Science, and Public Policy Emeritus, UCLA
Topic: EVENT CANCELLED --- "Why We Need a New Manhattan Project to Address Climate Change"
Series: OECD Development Dialogue series organized by Daniel Paly, USC student ambassador to the OECD

01.25.12
Time: 10:30 am - 12 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: CARLOS SCARTASCINI, Lead Economist of the Research Department, Inter-American Development Bank
Topic: "Why Don’t We Tax the Rich? Inequality, Legislative Malapportionment, and Personal Income Taxation around the World"
Series: Organized by: Christina Faegri, Political Science and International Relations Phd candidate, USC
Discussant: Jefferey Sellers, Associate Professor of Political Science and Environmental Studies, USC

01.24.12
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: JACQUELINE BRAVEBOY-WAGNER, Professor of Political Science, The City College of New York (CUNY)
Topic: “Seeing/Writing International Relations and Foreign Policy Differently: Some Perspectives From the South”
Series: ABSTRACT: In this presentation I examine the concept of the "global south," a useful handle to identify the countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. I then inquire as to why IR theorizing is so weak in these countries and, on the other hand, why the global south is more or less "missing in action" in IR theory and foreign policy analysis in the global north. The welcome turn to critical theorizing notwithstanding, I seek to show that all approaches can benefit from the cross-fertilization of ideas between north and south. Insofar as the possibility of developing local south theory is concerned, I also raise some questions as to conceptual portability and future directions for research.
Discussant: J. Ann Tickner, Professor of International Relations, USC

01.18.12
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: KATHRYN SIKKINK, McKnight Presidential Chair in Political Science, University of Minnesota
Topic: “The Justice Cascade: A Presentation and Critique”
Discussant: BRONWYN LEEBAW, Associate Professor of Political Science, UC Riverside

01.17.12
Time: 12 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: MILFORD BATEMAN, University of Juraj Dobrila of Pula, Croatia; LAMIA KARIM, University of Oregon; DAVID ELLERMAN, University of California, Riverside
Topic: "Microfinance Panel"
Series:
ABSTRACT: There is no dearth of magic bullets when it comes to solving the problems of underdevelopment of the Global South. Every few years, Western development community comes up with a new idea that is promoted as the new panacea that will end poverty, transform poor societies and put them on the track of sustainable growth and development. In the past two decades, it was microfinance that was rewarded with the status of poster child for successful development: Not only has it been supported by all the major multinational institutions like World Bank and UN, but it has also been embraced by celebrities, high-profile politicians, and the private sector. The meteoric rise of the microfinance movement globally culminated with the award of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, also known as "the father" of microfinance. Nevertheless, the last two years have been tough times for microfinance. A series of impact studies carried out by MIT's Poverty Lab using randomized control trials have been unable to find any evidence supporting the positive effect of microfinance on reducing poverty. Furthermore, microfinance bubbles in Bosnia, Morocco, Nicaragua, and finally last year in India's Andra Pradesh region- this one accompanied by a rash of suicides among microfinance borrowers- caused a global backlash against microfinance institutions, and brought the entire movement under closer public scrutiny. In this special event, our speakers will present their views about the benefits and drawbacks to the microfinance model as an instrument to facilitate sustainable poverty reduction and bottom-up development, and its connection with the neoliberal economic ideology; discuss the current state of the microfinance movement; and deliberate on possible alternatives.
Discussant: Yesim Ince, Politics and International Relations Phd candidate, USC

01.10.12
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: PATRICK THADDEUS JACKSON, Associate Professor of International Relations, American University
Topic: “Three Boundaries to Loosen in the Global Study of World Politics”
Series:
ABSTRACT: International Relations, as Stanley Hoffmann once famously observed, was born "an American social science." Around the globe, the study of world politics bears traces of its birth, but several factors are conspiring to expand the field and introduce the possibility of a more diverse approach. Three specific things that need to be rethought are the focus on the behavior of pre-given international actors, the definition of 'science', and the relationship between the academic vocation and the wider world of politics. In this talk, Dr. Jackson will sketch one vision for a global field of study, by way of advancing a dialogue about these contentious issues.
Discussant: Tyler Curley, Political Science and International Relations PhD candidate, USC

11.30.11
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: RONALD A. KREBS, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Minnesota
Topic: "Military Conflict and the Politics of Narrative: The Rise and Fall of the Cold War Consensus"
Series:
ABSTRACT: What explains the rise and fall of dominant narratives of national security? Part of a larger project, this paper inquires into the relationship between military failure and the narrative in whose terms the mission was legitimated by exploring the fate of the Cold War consensus. It challenges both the empirical conventional wisdom on the nature of the Cold War consensus and the theoretical conventional wisdom on the relationship between policy failure and change. Empirically, the paper argues that the consensus of the 1950s was narrower, came together later, and collapsed earlier than usually thought, and furthermore, that a new, rather different consensus--on the nature of the American self and its role in the world--coalesced in the 1970s. Theoretically, it argues that sensitivity to the politics and process through which events are constructed as success and failure turns our usual accounts on their head: success, more than failure, makes possible narrative change.
Discussant: Brian Rathbun, Associate Professor of International Relations, USC

11.29.11
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: ERIC HERSHBERG, Director, Center for Latin American and Latino Studies, and Professor of Government, American University
Topic: "Striving for Modernity: Strategies for Development and Democracy in 21st Century South America"
Series:
ABSTRACT: Hershberg will present a framework for distinguishing competing approaches to development strategies in contemporary South America. Drawing on the literature addressing models of capitalist development, three factors are identified as crucial to defining the role of the state in the economy. First, the relative balance of state and market in promoting economic growth and boosting productivity; second, different fiscal regimes – encompassing both taxation and expenditures – which affect both growth and distribution; and third, the character of social policies aimed at reducing both poverty and inequality. It is argued that the combination of policies in each of these domains reveals three ideal typical approaches to development: post-neoliberal orthodoxy; social democracy; and populist socialism. Hershberg will then reflect on the degree to which top-down or bottom-up modes of political participation may accompany each of these paradigms, and assesses the significance of centralization and decentralization of power for shaping both economic and political dynamics in early 21st century South America. Taken together, these considerations are framed as indicative of distinctive approaches toward the achievement of modernity in the context of a singular phase of capitalist development and regime change, approaches that emerge from critical junctures related to both the past three decades’ quest for an alternative to an exhausted national-popular mode of development and the Third Wave of democratization.
Discussant: Christina Faegri, Political Science and International Relations Phd candidate, USC

11.16.11
Time: 2 - 3:30 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: VINCENT POULIOT, Assistant Professor of Political Science, McGill University
Topic: "The International Pecking Order: Politics and Practice"
Series:
ABSTRACT: The principle of sovereign equality notwithstanding, practitioners and scholars alike typically agree that in any multilateral setting, some state representatives weigh more than others. How does the international pecking order work in and through practice? Building on the political sociologies of Pierre Bourdieu and Erving Goffman, Pouliot argues that it is the diplomats’ “sense of one’s place” that allows them to figure out their rank and role, as well as that of others, in a given multilateral setting. Conceiving of multilateral diplomacy as taking place not only in a social environment, but also in a highly structured space of interaction, Pouliot looks into international hierarchy less as an abstract structure than as a set of more or less orderly practices that feed on a working consensus about yardsticks of power. As the micro-mechanism of international order, the diplomatic sense of place is a practical feeling not only for how much power one has, but also for what power is in the first place. A practice theory of international order improves on existing literatures by foregrounding the constitutive effects of diplomatic practices, by theorizing a distinctive notion of interest that helps explain the pervasiveness of domination, and by opening a new empirical window onto the social processes that structure world politics.
Discussant: Mariano Bertucci, Politics and International Relations PhD candidate, USC

11.15.11
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: JORDI DIEZ, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Guelph (Canada)
Topic: "The Politics of Gay and Lesbian Rights in Latin America: Argentina, Chile and Mexico"
Series: Co-sponsored by the U.S.-Mexico Network @ USC
ABSTRACT: An important element of the politics of Latin America over the last decade has been the unprecedented extension of rights in some jurisdictions to sexual minorities ranging from anti-discrimination legislation to the recognition of non-traditional forms of family arrangements. This phenomenon is significant given the historic discrimination and marginalization to which gay and lesbians were systematically subjected until very recently. Yet, despite its significance, political science scholarship devoted to the study of sexual-minority rights in Latin America is notoriously scant. The result is considerable lacunae in our knowledge of the political processes that have led to the expansion of rights to gay and lesbian citizens in some jurisdictions in Latin America. Particularly, no scholarship exists that explains why some countries have expanded rights while others have not. In this talk, which is based on a book to be published, Díez explains variance in the expansion of gay and lesbian rights across four countries: Argentina, Chile, and Mexico.
Discussant: Macarena Gomez-Barris, Associate Professor of Sociology and American Studies and Ethnicity, USC

11.09.11
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: RODGER A. PAYNE, Professor of Political Science, University of Louisville
Topic: "The Comedy of Global Politics"
Series:
ABSTRACT: Numerous scholars of International Relations tell their students, colleagues, and policy audiences violence-laden and tragic stories about competition and conflict in global politics. Nation-states, like the heroes of classic drama, are bound by their position or character to make critical choices that often produce undesirable and deadly outcomes. An alternative comedic narrative explains world politics in a very different manner, either emphasizing the rise of sympathetic ordinary people or criticizing the ridiculous and self-serving acts of powerful elites. This paper explains the importance of emphasizing the hypocritical, farcical, and satirical elements of global politics in the 21st century.
Discussant: Brian Rathbun, Associate Professor of International Relations, USC

11.03.11
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: BRADLEY A. THAYER, Professor of Political Science, Baylor University
Topic: "The Evolution of Offensive Realism"
Series: USC-BAYLOR EXCHANGE
ABSTRACT: All theories of international relations rely on assumptions about human nature—assumptions generally derived from anecdotal observation or deduction by philosophers. Today, however, these assumptions are increasingly testable against new scientific knowledge about human biology, psychology, and evolution. We ask which theory of international relations offers the best match with a modern understanding of human nature. We conclude that the anarchic and dangerous environment in which humans evolved led to adaptive strategies of self-help, power maximization, and fear of out-groups—precisely the assumptions underlying the theory of offensive realism. If offensive realism is a product of human nature, not just anarchy, then evolutionary theory offers: (1) a novel ultimate cause of offensive realist behavior; (2) an extension of offensive realism to any domain in which human actors compete for power (e.g. civil war, domestic politics); and (3) an explanation for why leaders themselves, not just states, lust for power.
Discussant: Matthew Gratias, Politics and International Relations PhD candidate, USC

11.01.11
Time: 12 - 1:30 pm
Location: USC University Club, Banquet Room
Speaker: THE HONOURABLE JOHN MCCALLUM, Member of Parliament for Markham-Unionvill, Canada
Topic: "A Canadian Perspective on the Global Financial Crisis"
Series: Lord Eatwell Distinguished Visitor Series

10.27.11
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: DAVID CARMENT, Professor of International Affairs, Carleton University
Topic: "The Future of War: Understanding Failed and Fragile States and What to Do About Them"
Series:
ABSTRACT: Some states more easily fit our understanding of what we think a failed or fragile state should be. These are states that have typically fallen into complete collapse brought on by "man-made" calamity such as civil war or a mismanaged economy, sometimes exacerbated by environmental degradation or natural disasters and that despite international efforts, re utterly incapable of managing their political and economic space. State fragility can also be understood as a composite measure of all aspects of state performance, producing a ranking that would be most closely associated with those countries that are typically "failed" at the top of the list. In this presentation Carment will show that state fragility is an unfolding process associated with a subset of performance standards.Drawing on three examples, Carment will show how Haiti, Pakistan and Yemen are fragile in their own unique ways. More generally, the economic capacity problems that beset the fragile states of sub-Saharan Africa are distinct from the legitimacy and authority problems of the fragile states of the Middle East and South Asia. He will conclude with policy implications and directions for future research.
Discussant: Nadia Marinova, Lecturer of International Relations, USC

10.26.11
Time: 3 - 4:30 pm
Location: VKC 300A
Speaker: JORDAN BRANCH, CIS Hayward R. Alker Postdoctoral Fellow 2011-2012, USC
Topic: "The Cartographic State: Early Modern Mapping and the Emergence of Sovereignty"
Series: ABSTRACT: This project examines the effect of cartography on the development of the modern state system. New mapping technologies in early modern Europe changed how actors thought about political space, organization, and authority, thus shaping the creation of sovereign states and international relations. In particular, mapping was fundamental to three key characteristics of the medieval-to-modern shift: the homogenization of territorial authority, the linearization of political boundaries, and the elimination of non-territorial forms of organization. Although maps have been interpreted as epiphenomenal to political change, each of these three transformations occurred first in the representational space of maps and only subsequently in the political practices of rulers and states. Based on evidence from the history of cartographic technologies and their use by political actors, the practices and texts of international negotiations, and the implementation of linear territoriality by states, this project argues that changes in the representational practices of mapmaking were constitutive of the early-modern transformation of the authoritative structure of politics. This explanation of the international system’s historical transformation also suggests new ways to think about the intersection between mapping technologies and political change today.
Discussant: Nicholas Onuf, Professor Emeritus of International Relation, USC

10.19.11
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: BRIAN LEE CROWLEY, Managing Director, Macdonald-Laurier Institute (Ottawa, Canada)
Topic: "The Canadian Century"
Series: CANADIAN STUDIES SERIES
ABSTRACT: One hundred years ago a great Canadian, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, predicted that the twentieth century would belong to Canada. He had a plan to make it so. What happened? Canada lost sight of Laurier’s plan and failed to claim its century, dwelling instead in the long shadow of the United States. No more! Brian Crowley and co-authors Jason Clemens and Niels Veldhuis envision Canada’s emergence as an economic and social power. They argue, while the United States was busy precipitating a global economic disaster, Canada was on a path that could lead it into an era of unprecedented prosperity. It won’t be easy. We must be prepared to follow through on reforms enacted and complete the work already begun. If so, Canada will become the country that Laurier foretold, a land of work for all who want it, of opportunity, investment, innovation and prosperity. Laurier said that the twentieth century belonged to Canada. He was absolutely right; he was merely off by 100 years.
Discussant: Patrick James, Professor of International Relations, and Director, Center for International Studies, USC

10.12.11
Time: 3 - 4:30 pm
Location: VKC 300A
Speaker: GLEN BIGLAISER, Associate Professor of Political Science, Texas Tech University
Topic: "Finding the 'Democratic Advantage' in Sovereign Bond Ratings: The Importance of Strong Courts, Property Rights Protection, and the Rule of Law"
Series:
ABSTRACT: Much scholarship in the political economy literature has investigated the influence of the democratic advantage on sovereign bond ratings by credit rating agencies (CRAs). Missing from earlier work, however, is inquiry into the effects on bond ratings of factors that lower political risk, such as adherence to the rule of law, the presence of a strong and independent judicial system, and protection of property rights. Using panel data for up to 36 developing countries from 1996 to 2006, we find that rule of law, strong and independent courts, and protection of property rights have significant positive effects on bond ratings. Policymakers wanting to obtain higher bond ratings and increased revenue from bond sales would do well to heed the message contained in these findings.
Discussant: Hong Pang, Politics and International Relations PhD candidate, USC

10.06.11
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: STEPHEN SAIDEMAN, Associate Professor of Political Science, McGill University
Topic: "Complicated Coalitions: Domestic Politics and the Constraints on NATO in Afghanistan"
Series:
ABSTRACT: Fighting in Afghanistan has revealed the limits of alliance warfare. All members and partners have constrained what their forces can do in Afghanistan, with some restrictions or caveats being more obvious and damaging than others, such as an unwillingness to serve in southern Afghanistan or fight at night. These limitations are not new, but they are very poorly understood. The presentation will clarify what caveats are, what their impact can be, and where do they come from? The answer to the last is more than just public opinion but about the domestic dynamics of different types of democracies.
Discussant: Robert English, Associate Professor of International Relations, USC

09.29.11
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: RAFAEL FERNANDEZ DE CASTRO, Chair and Professor of International Studies, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM)
Topic: "Managing Mexico's XXI Century Foreign Policy: The Experience of President Felipe Calderon"
Series: Co-sponsored by the U.S.-Mexico Network @ USC
Discussant: Carol Wise, Associate Professor of International Relations, USC

09.28.11
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: EVA KAYE-ZWIEBEL, Lecturer of International Relations, USC and Visiting Fellow, Occidental College
Topic: “Development Aid and Community Public Goods Provision: A Study of Pastoralist Communities in Kenya"
Series:
ABSTRACT: Why do levels of cooperation for public goods provision vary in similar, impoverished communities facing shared environmental and economic challenges? Using original survey research and experimental data from pastoralist Mukogodo Maasai communities in Kenya, this research project argues that the structure of development aid provides an answer. In communities where aid reduces residents’ short-term economic risk by diminishing income volatility, residents neglect “horizontal” reciprocal relationships that traditionally mitigate risk and instead rely upon “vertical” relationships with aid donors. In contrast, in communities where aid funds projects that do not reduce income volatility, like education and infrastructure, residents continue to cultivate horizontal relationships. Maintenance of horizontal relationships correlates with community-wide cooperation, while neglect of horizontal relationships correlates with an inability to cooperate.
Discussant: Robert Lloyd, Associate Professor of International Relations, Pepperdine University

09.27.11
Time: 2:30 - 3:30 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: CLAYTON ALDERMAN, Political and Economics Officer, U.S. Consulate General, Tijuana, Mexico (USC SIR alumnus)
Topic: "Is the Foreign Service Right for You?: Insights from a USC International Relations Grad"
Series:
Clayton Alderman will discuss:
--The Foreign Service from USC
--The Test and Recruitment Process
--What is it Really Like? The Nature of the Job
--The U.S. Consulate in Tijuana, Baja California
Clayton Alderman is Foreign Service Officer serving at the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana, Mexico as a Political and Economics Officer. He is a USC Alumnus that graduated in 2007 with a major in International Relations and Philosophy. He has lived and worked in Syria, Egypt, Mexico and will be continuing to his next post in Baghdad, Iraq next year as an Economics Officer. He primarily specializes in the political and economic situation of the U.S.-Mexico border region.


09.27.11
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: CLAYTON ALDERMAN, Political and Economics Officer, U.S. Consulate General, Tijuana, Mexico (USC SIR alumnus)
Topic: "U.S. Foreign Policy and Presence in Mexico"
Series: OECD DEVELOPMENT DIALOGUE SERIES organized by Daniel Paly, USC's OECD student ambassador, and co-sponsored by the USC Center for International Studies and USC School of International Relations.
Email paly@usc.edu for more info.
Clayton Alderman is Foreign Service Officer serving at the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana, Mexico as a Political and Economics Officer. He is a USC Alumnus that graduated in 2007 with a major in International Relations and Philosophy. He has lived and worked in Syria, Egypt, Mexico and will be continuing to his next post in Baghdad, Iraq next year as an Economics Officer. He primarily specializes in the political and economic situation of the U.S.-Mexico border region.
Discussant: Carol Wise, Associate Professor of International Relations, USC

09.22.11
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: ERIC SCHMITT, correspondent, The New York Times
Topic: "Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America's Secret Campaign Against Al Qaeda"
Series: Book Discussion
Discussant: Steven Lamy, Vice Dean for Academic Programs, and Professor of International Relations, USC

09.21.11
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: SCOTT SAGAN, Co-Director of the Center for International Security and Cooperation, and Caroline S.G. Munro Professor of Political Science, Stanford University
Topic: "The Spread of Nuclear Energy without the Spread of Nuclear Weapons?"
Series:
ABSTRACT: Many governments around the world remain interested in expanding the use of nuclear power, despite the March 2011 Fukushima accident in Japan. At the same time, developments in North Korea, Pakistan and Iran lead many observers to be concerned about the risks of nuclear weapons proliferation to states or terrorist organizations. Can we have the spread of nuclear energy without the spread of nuclear weapons? Sagan analyzes the historical trends, future projections, and institutional reforms that will determine our nuclear future.
Discussant: Nina Rathbun, Lecturer of International Relations, USC

09.16.11
Time: 12 - 1:30 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: ROBERT PASTOR, Professor of International Relations, and Director of the Center for North American Studies, American University
Topic: "Mexico's 'Grito' for Interdependence: the North American Path"
Series: Co-sponsored by the U.S.-Mexico Network @ USC
Discussant: Pamela Starr, Associate Professor (teaching) of International Relations, USC

09.15.11
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: RON HASSNER, Assistant Professor of Political Science, UC Berkeley
Topic: "Religious Intelligence"
Series:
ABSTRACT: Sacred rituals and symbols can act as force multipliers that motivate and constrain the effectiveness of actors. Religious intelligence involves an assessment of how these rituals and symbols affect combat operations. The fourfold challenge faced by the religious intelligence analysts is to ascertain how prominent a role religion will play in a given conflict, what the relevant sacred phenomena are, how salient they are for the specific religious communities present, and how they will affect a given conflict. The case studies that form the core of this paper highlight three issue areas open to religious intelligence collection and analysis and exhibit variation in the ability of intelligence analysts to correctly assess those religious factors.
Discussant: Brian Rathbun, Associate Professor of International Relations, USC

09.08.11
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: SAMUEL KLEINER, D.Phil candidate of International Relations, University of Oxford
Topic: "The Disappearing Declaration of War: The Expansion of Presidential War Power and its Implications for the Constitutional Order"
Series:
ABSTRACT: Building on extensive archival research, Kleiner tracks the evolution of how the Executive has sought to use force without Congressional authorization from World War Two. I document a paradigm shift from focusing on the President's power as 'Commander-in-Chief' to a focus on the President's power to 'conduct foreign relations' and to work with international organizations such as NATO and the United Nations. Kleiner argues that Executive power to use force has expanded to large-scale levels through the use of a logic of stari decisis in which each Presidential administration justifies the use of force based on historical precedents from previous administrations.
Discussant: Andrew Manning, Assistant Professor (teaching) of International Relations, USC

08.30.11
Time: 12 - 1:30 pm
Location: Ronald Tutor Campus Center, Forum Room
Speaker: HONORABLE AMELIA KYAMBADDE, Ugandan Minister for Trade and Industry, and President, Twezimbe Foundation
Topic: "Empowering Women Socially and Economically: A Fundamental Tool for Primary Health Care"
Series: Global Health Lecture Series, Co-sponsored with the USC Institute for Global Health

07.08.11
Time: 12:30 - 2 pm
Location: SOS B-40
Speaker: ALEJANDRA BARRELES, President of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Assembly of Mexico City (Congress of Mexico City)
Topic: "The Chilango Vote"
Series:
The President of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Assemblea of Mexico City (Congress of Mexico City), Alejandra Barreles, will be in Los Angeles this week to meet with a number of local policymakers on immigration policy. She will visit the USC campus on Friday July 8 to speak on the CHILANGO VOTE, which will give Mexicans in the US the right to vote in Mexican elections. This event is open to anyone who is interested in attending.

Dip. Barrales will also be accompanied by Congresswoman Mariana Gomez del Campo (Leader of the National Action Party, PAN); Congressman Israel Betanzos (leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI); Congresswoman Aleida Alavez Ruiz (Secretary of the Government Commission); and, Congressman Maximiliano Reyes (President of the International Affairs Commission).

Questions? Contact Christina Faegri, cfaegri@usc.edu

Discussant: Pamela Starr, Associate Professor (teaching) of International Relations, USC