Tag Archives: War and Warfare

Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle & Insighters Radio- Nov. 3rd, 2013

Frist, we look at when and how war began.

  • Robert Kelly, Professor and Director of Anthropology, Univ. of Wyoming;  Author of The Lifeways of Hunter-Gatherers: The Foraging Spectrum
  • Douglas Fry,  Professor of Peace Mediation Research and Anthropology,  Abo Akademi Univ, Finland; Beyond War: The Human Potential for Peace

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle panel, how war and violent conflict might be resolved.

  • Douglas Fry, Professor of Peace Mediation Research and Anthropology, Abo Akademi University, Finland; Author of The Human Potential for Peace: An Anthropological Challenge to Assumptions about War and Violence
  • Mari Fitzduff, Professor of International program of coexistence and conflict,  Brandeis University; Author of The Psychology of Resolving Global Conflicts: From War to Peace
  • Douglas Noll, lawyer, mediator peacemaking. Author of Peacemaking: Practicing at the Intersection of Law and Human Conflict

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle & Insighters Radio- Sept. 15th, 2013

First, we look at the relationships and regional dynamics that can help resolve the conflict in Syria. [ dur: 27 mins. ]

  • Chris Mahony, Deputy director of the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Auckland. Author of The Justice Sector Afterthought: Witness Protection in Africa
  • Eric Bordenkircher, Doctoral Candidate Islamic Studies, UCLA.

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle panel, when should the US and international community intervene on atrocities? What does international law say about intervention? [ dur: 29 mins. ]

  • Karima Bennoune, Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law. Author of Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here: Untold Stories from the Fight Against Muslim Fundamentalism
  • Ryan C. Hendrickson, Professor of Political Science, Eastern Illinois University. Author of The Clinton Wars: The Constitution, Congress, and War Powers
  • Frank Chalk, Professor of History, Concordia University. Author of The History and Sociology of Genocide: Analyses and Case Studies

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle & Insighters Radio- Sept. 8th, 2013

First, 40 years after the Chilean coup. We revisit what happened, new revelations & how Chileans are dealing with their past. [dur: 27 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

  • Peter Kornbluh, National Security Archives; Author of The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability
  • Prof. John Dingus, Journalism, Colombia; Author of The Condor Years: How Pinochet And His Allies Brought Terrorism To Three Continents

Then, the realities of the Syrian war, what the effects of a US strike might be, and post-coup Egypt. [ dur: 30 mins. ]

  • Laurie A. Brand, Professor of International Relations, USC; Author of Palestinians in the Arab World: Institution Building and the Search for State
  • Fred Lawson, Professor of Government , Mills College; Author of Demystifying Syria (SOAS Middle East Issues Series) and Why Syria Goes to War: Thirty Years of Confrontation
  • Bruce Rutherford, Professor of Political Science, Middle East Studies, Colgate. Author of Egypt after Mubarak: Liberalism, Islam, and Democracy in the Arab World

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle & Insighters Radio- June 9th, 2013

First, we look at a little known international bank that influences the world’s economy.

  • Adam LeBor, Author: Tower of Basel: The Shadowy History of the Secret Bank that Runs the World

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle, amid the turmoil in Syria, we analyze the psychology that drives human atrocities and the means of preventing them.

  • Ervin Staub, is professor of Psychology at University of Massachusetts Amherst. Author of The Psychology of Good and Evil: Why Children, Adults, and Groups Help and Harm Others.
  • David Livingstone Smith, is professor of Philosophy at University of New England. Author of Less Than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave, and Exterminate Others
  • John Kaag, is professor of Philosophy University of Massachusetts at Lowell. Author of Neoconservative Images of the United Nations: American Domestic Politics and International Cooperation

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Insighters Radio- June 2nd, 2013

First, there are some dozen situations around the world that could be considered pre-genocidal. What have we learned from past genocides? We speak with Romeo Dallaire, commander of peacekeeping forces in Rwanda who tried to stop the massacre of Tutsis. He is the author of, Shake Hands With the Devil and They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children. [ dur: 45 mins. ]

Then, we look at increasing evidence that the cancer epidemic is linked to chemicals in the environment. With Sandra Steingraber, author of the book, Living Downstream: An Ecologist’s Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment.  [ dur: 13 mins. ]

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle & Insighters Radio- May 26th, 2013

In this hour, the war comes home. The struggles of homecoming veterans and how that affects us all. First, we speak with journalist Aaron Glantz, author of, Washington’s Battle Against America’s Veterans. [ dur: 20 mins. ]

  • Aaron Glantz, author, journalist; Author: Washington’s Battle Against America’s Veterans.

Then, we look at the unique challenges of women soldiers and veterans.  Film:  “Women at War :  Forgotten Veterans of Desert Storm”. [ dur: 10 mins. ]

  • Dennis Davis, filmmaker;
  • Christie Davis, filmmaker;

Finally, on the anniversary of the Charles Taylor conviction and sentencing, we revisit the good and the bad of the international criminal court. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

  • Prof. David Kaye, UCLA Law School;
  • Prof. Hannah Garry, USC Gould Law School;
  • Prof. Mark Drumbl, WA & Lee Univ. School of Law. Author: Atrocity, Punishment, and International Law

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle & Insighters Radio- Apr. 7th, 2013

First, Is our behavior free will or is it . . . parasites?! New science shows how parasites change behaviors throughout the animal kingdom. Does it also apply to humans? [ dur: 14 mins. ]

Then, what becomes of children abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army and made to be sex slaves or child soldiers? one program seeking to heal and rebuild the lives of tens of thousands of child soldiers victimized by the brutal war in Uganda. [ dur: 15 mins. ]

Finally, on the Scholars’ Circle, making sense of the politics of North Korea. [ dur. 28 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle & Insighters Radio- Jan. 27th, 2013

Much of the mass media has fixated on whether the film Zero Dark Thirty glorified torture. Academy Award-winning director Katherine Bigelow has been forced by critics to explain her use of graphic, detailed torture scenes in her new film, which dramatizes the hunt and assassination of Osama Bin Laden. But while headlines and talk shows focus on Bigelow and her film, less has been said about two new reports detailing extensive torture, or about the realities of torture.

We are joined by filmmaker Murad Aldin Amayreh discussing his most recent documentary, “The Tortured: Stories of Survival.” And, Hector Aristizabal, one of the interviewees in the film who was tortured in Colombia. Also joining the conversation: Pamela Merchant is Executive Director of the Center for Justice and Accountability. Gerald Gray is a social worker and psychotherapist who works with torture victims and who has initiated numerous institutes to assist them (including the Center for Justice and Accountability). Pamela Merchant is Executive Director of the Center for Justice and Accountability. Stephen Rohde is a constitutional lawyer, founder and Chair of Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace, Chair of the ACLU Foundation of Southern California and a Vice President of Death Penalty Focus, and author of AMERICAN WORDS OF FREEDOM, and FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY. [ dur. 29 mins. ]

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle, President Obama has announced that a decade of war is now ending, our panel argues that warring is a relatively new phenomenon in human societies and that human beings are not warlike by nature. [ dur. 27 mins. ]

Douglas P. Fry, Dir of Peace, Mediation & Conflict Research at Abo Akademi Univ. Finland.  Author of Beyond War : The Human Potential for Peace.

Darcia Narvaez, Prof. of Phycology, Univ. of Minnesota. Co-author of Evolution, Early Experience and Human Development: From Research to Practice and Policy.

Brian Ferguson, Prof. of  Anthropology , Rutgers Univ. .  Co-author of  War in the Tribal Zone: Expanding States and Indigenous Warfare.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Insighters Radio- Dec. 23rd, 2012

In this hour, Why did soldiers on the front line of one of the deadliest wars lay down their arms and play soccer with the very men they were supposed to kill? We’ll revisit the so-called Christmas truce of 1914. [ Dur. 25 mins ]

  • Prof. Stanley Weintraub, Professor Emeritus Penn State University, historian. Author of  Story of World War 1 Christmas Truce & Pearl Harbor Christmas , World at War Dec 1941.

Then, religion, politics and the so-called God gap. We’ll explore how religion unites and divides us. With authors of “American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us.” [ Dur. 15 mins. ]

  • Prof. David Campbell, Political Science, Univ. of Notre Dame;
  • Robert Putnam, Public Policy, Harvard;

Finally, in the midst of so much bad news, what in the world is getting better? We’ll explore the widespread improvements in the world. [ Dur. 18 mins. ]

  • Charles Kenney, Sr. Fellow, Center for Global Development. Author of  Getting Better, Why Global Development is Succeeding And How We Can Improve the World Even More .

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle & Insighters Radio- Dec. 9th, 2012

First, what were the factors that led to Western dominance of the world and how are they changing the world. We are joined by Ian Morris, author of, “Why the West Rules For Now: The Patterns of History and What They Reveal About the Future.” [ Dur. 28 mins. ]

  • Ian Morris is Professor of Classics and History at Stanford University.

Then, the effect of war on laws, society, governance, and democracy itself. How are these affected, as the lines of war-time are increasingly blurred? [ Dur. 27 mins. ]

We are joined by three experts:

  • Mary Dudziak is Professor of Law, History, and Political Science at the University of Southern California. She is the author of, “War Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences.”
  • Patrick James is Professor of International Relations and Director of the Center for International Studies at the University of Southern California. He is the author of numerous publications including, “Constitutional Politics in Canada After the Charter: Liberalism, Communitarianism, and Systemism,” “A New Quest for International Peace: Civil-Military Dynamics, Political Communications and Democracy,” and “Religion, Identity and Global Governance: Theory, Evidence and Practice.”
  • Christopher McKnight Nichols is Professor of History at Oregon State University. Previously he was the Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in U.S. History at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of, “Promise and Peril: America at the Dawn of a Global Age.”

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