2005-06 Mershon Center Speakers and Conferences
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Item What is Anti-Americanism: Tendency, Prejudice or Ideology?(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2006-03-02) O'Connor, BrendanBrendon O'Connor is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics and Public Policy at Griffith University, Australia. Currently his main area of research is anti-Americanism.Item The 12-15 May 1975 Mayaguez Incident: A Reappraisal(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2005-11-20) Landreth, Major Kent; Lengel, Major Ed; Rambo, Major Chuck; Rodriguez, Major ShellyOn 12 May 1975, the SS Mayaguez , an American-flagged container ship transiting the Gulf of Siam, was seized by forces of the Cambodian Khymer Rouge navy and the forty-man crew taken captive. Acting in response to orders from Commander-in- Chief Gerald Ford, US military forces were committed to recover the ship and crew and to engage in retaliatory bombing of targets on the Cambodian mainland. The result was the first helicopter assault operation in Air Force history, as USAF Special Operations and Combat Rescue H-53s inserted a reinforced rifle company of Marines on to Koh Tang, the small island where the Mayaguez 's crew was erroneously believed to be held.Item Afghan Women Leaders Speak(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2005-11-17) Mills, Margaret; Kitch, SallyThe conference, entitled “Afghan Women Leaders Speak: Conflict Mitigation and Social Reconstruction,” brings together a substantial representation of Afghan women leaders with U.S.-based scholars and students who share expertise and interests relevant to the experiences of women working for social change in Afghanistan.Item Post-Soviet In/Securities: Theory and Practice(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2005-10-07) Hopf, TedScholars from the United States , Canada , Ukraine , and Russia will gather to present papers on a broad range of topics. These include the development of civil society in the post-Soviet space; Russia 's electoral politics and political economy; ethnonational politics in Muslim regions of the former Soviet Union ; relations between Russia , Ukraine , and Europe ;and Russia and globalization.Item New Systems Theories of World Politics(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2005-09-20) Wendt, Alexander; Albert, Mathias; Cederman, Lars-ErikThe New Systems Theories of World Politics conference brings together scholars who rarely collaborate but all work on system-level political phenomena. It is designed to address 5 questions: 1) How do you define “systems” theory, and what do you see as its relationship to micro- or unit-level theorizing? 2) What are the principal contributions, both theoretical and critical, of your preferred approach to systems theory? 3) What are the principal limitations and/or horizons, if any, of your approach? 4) What do you see as the relationship between your approach to systems theory and other approaches? and 5) Where should systems theory research in your tradition go from here?Item Ostpolitik, 1969-1974: The European and Global Response(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2006-05-12) Fink, CaroleOstpolitik refers to the principle of change through rapprochement. German for “Eastern politics,” the term originated with West German Chancellor Willy Brandt's efforts to normalize relations with East Germany and other East European states in the 1970s. Ostpolitik has influenced world politics; for example, South Korea's “Sunshine Policy” toward North Korea takes a similar approach. This conference looks at how Ostpolitik has influenced international relations in Europe and around the world, including a consideration of the nuclear issue.Item Public Diplomacy as a Global Phenomenon(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2006-04-28) Stephan, Alexander; Brown, JohnThe Public Diplomacy as a Global Phenomenon Conference took place at the Mershon Center on Friday, 28 April, 2006. The conference was organized by Alexander Stephan (Ohio State University) and John Brown (Georgetown University and the University of Southern California). The Conference included twelve presentations – organized into three sessions – and a luncheon lecture. Each of the three sessions covered a different aspect of the study of public diplomacy.Item Listening to the World: New Ideas for Resolving Identity-Based Conflict(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2006-01-26) Hardin Rogers, NancyIn the United States, we turn to courts, administrative agencies, and the political process to resolve social problems. However, significant conflicts related to race, ethnicity, religion, and class often remain unaddressed. This symposium will bring together interdisciplinary scholars from around the world to generate new ideas for building U.S. institutions that are responsive to such conflict. The symposium will use social problems implicated by police-community relations as a case example to refine and expand our understanding of the possibilities of dispute system design.Item Realism and Constructivism: From Debate to Dialogue(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2006-01-20) Wendt, Alexander; Jackson, Patrick; Nexon, DanielConference on Realist and Constructivist International Relations theory held at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies.Item The Wartime Election of 2004(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2006-01-13) Weisberg, HerbertScholars from around the country convened on the Mershon Center to discuss the “War on Terror” and the US presidential election of 2004 that took place amidst the “war on terror.” What made this election so unique is the high level of polarization that existed among the US electorate and the unusual circumstances of war and partisan conflict that accompanied it.Item The IMF and Low-Income Countries -- Poverty of Ideas or Ideas on Poverty?(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2005-11-28) Plant, MarkAs Senior Advisor in the Policy Development and Review Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mark Plant is an economist closely engaged in development policies for low income countries. Plant's talk at the Mershon Center encompassed a discussion of the current debate on what needs to be done to fight poverty as well as of how the IMF is involved in this fight.Item The Evolution of Iran's Foreign Policy: A Constructivist Analysis(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2005-11-22) Moshir Zadeh, HomeiraDr. Moshirzadeh presents her research as a Mershon Center Post-Doctoral Fellow. Following the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the foreign policy of Iran changed dramatically from a status quo pro-Western to a revolutionary anti-Western one. This change can be best understood on the basis of a significant identity change that was itself the result of discursive changes and the dominance of the “movement discourse” and the “movement identity” that had emerged in the course of the revolution.Item Afghan Ambassador to the United States speaks at Mershon Center(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2005-11-15) Jawad, Said TayebHis Excellency Said Tayeb Jawad, appointed as Afghanistan's Ambassador to the United States of America by President Hamid Karzai, presented his credentials to President George W. Bush on December 4, 2003. He addresses the Mershon Center.Item Hills and Valleys and States in Southeast Asia, or, Why Civilizations Can't Climb Hills(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2005-11-09) Scott, James C.James C. Scott is Sterling Professor of Political Science and Anthropology at Yale University. His latest book, Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed , was published in 1998.Item Redemption Through Blood: The White Line Terrorist Movement in Mississippi, 1875(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2005-11-07) Fellman, MichaelIn contrast with the prevailing narrative, which depicts the destruction of Reconstruction as an elitist and conservative event, Fellman argues that it was a revivalist and terrorist white supremacist popular movement, grounded in political violence, and coupled to evangelical rallying of the white race and systematic denial of any political or public expression of collective black power.Item The Problem of Redundancy Problem: Why More Nuclear Security Forces May Produce Less Nuclear Security(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2005-11-03) Sagan, ScottMuch attention has focused since 9/11 on the risk that terrorist organizations might someday steal or purchase nuclear materials or weapons. Most scholars and policy makers assume that increasing the number of security forces at US, Russian, and other nuclear facilities should be part of our policy response to reduce such risks. In contrast, Sagan argues that adding redundancy to the nuclear security system can backfire by creating hidden common-mode failures, producing social shirking, and encouraging over-compensation. Better organizational practices, not more security forces, are the best route toward increased nuclear security in a dangerous world.Item Shiite Politics and the Future of Iraq(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2005-10-31) Cole, JuanJuan R. I. Cole is Professor of Modern Middle East and South Asian History at the History Department of the University of Michigan. He has written extensively about modern Islamic movements in Egypt, the Persian Gulf, and South Asia. His current research focuses on two contemporary phenomena: 1) Shiite Islam in Iraq and Iran and 2) the "jihadi" or "sacred war" strain of Muslim radicalism, including al-Qaeda and the Taliban among other groups. He lectures to the Mershon Center about the future of Iraq.Item Constructivism and Political Economy: Blissful Union or Shotgun Wedding?(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2005-10-27) Blyth, MarkMark Blyth is a political economist who is at the forefront of studies on the role of ideas and uncertainty in politics. He is particularly interested in the recent turn to ideas and constructivist theory in various fields of political science. In his talk at the Mershon Center , he focused on economics and the subfield of international political economy and explored the possibilities and promises of utilizing a constructivist approach in them.Item Empires and International Structure(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2005-10-18) Nexon, Daniel; Wright, ThomasDan Nexon, a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Mershon Center, lectures on his working paper "Empires and International Structure," written with Thomas Wright. It attempts to theorize imperial order and then explores Pax Americana within this framework.Item Using Event Data to Test a Rational Choice Model of Aerial Hijackings(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2005-10-14) LaFree, GaryGary LaFree is a Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice and a founding member of the Democracy Collaborative at the University of Maryland, College Park. Much of his recent work has dealt with national and international macro-level crime trends.