Tag Archives: Asia

Scholars’ Circle – Kazakhstan Protests and Government Violence ; Omicron Variant Rages and Global Vaccine Distribution Issues – January 9, 2022

Kazakhstan has erupted in protests and government violence this week. We explore the potential that these protests leads to greater democratization in this authoritarian government, and detail its recent human rights abuses.[ dur: 34mins. ]

  • Erica Marat is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Regional and Analytical Studies Department at the College of International Security Affairs, National Defense University. She is the author of The Politics of Police Reform: Society against the State in Post-Soviet Countries.
  • Robert English is Associate Professor of International Relations and Co-Director of Central European Studies Program at the University of Southern California (USC). He is the author of Russia and the Idea of the West.
  • Steve Swerdlow is Associate Professor of the Practice of Human Rights in the Department of Political and International Relations at the University of Southern California (USC). He was Senior Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. He has conducted extensive field work internationally with a particular focus on Central Asia and the Caucuses.

Vaccine hesitancy slows the effective response to Covid 19 in the Global North. Lack of vaccine distribution slows the response in the Global South. And the new omicron variant rages on. We may be fatigued of the virus, but it’s not over. We discuss vaccine inequity and distribution. [ dur: 24mins. ]

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Hong Kong protest explained – September 1 , 2019

Why are there protests in Hong Kong and what are the stakes for China and the world? Today we examine the ongoing political crisis between Hong Kong and China, the likely international responses to China’s policies and explore likely scenarios for resolution. Doug Becker hosts.[ dur: 58 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ.

Produced by the Scholars’ Circle team: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle-Antibiotics-Side-Effects-/-South-China-Seas-Tension-July 19th, 2015

First, sanitation and antibiotics have saved the lives of many, but are they also the culprits behind some of modern diseases? We might have gone overboard in killing our microbes. And that may be causing some of today’s epidemics. [ dur: 21 mins. ]

  • Martin I. Blaser is Professor of Translational Medicine and Director of Human Microbiome Program at New York University. He is the author of Missing Microbes : How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues.

Then, What’s troubling the water in the South China sea? China is militarizing the South China Sea. That’s one of few concerns by many in the region about China’s territorial claim and development of a region that also has claims by the Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia. [ dur: 37 mins. ]

  • Pradeep Taneja Is a lecturer at the University of Melbourne. He is the author of The European Union and China: Interests and Dilemmas.
  • Stephen Noakes is a lecturer of Chinese Politics, jointly appointed to Politics and International Relations and Asian Studies at the University of Auckland. ​He is coauthor of Support for Civil Society in China in Creating Democratic Value: Evaluating Efforts to Promote Democracy Abroad.
  • Daniel Lynch is a Professor of International Relations at the University of Southern California. He is the author of After the Propaganda State: Media, Politics, and Thought in Reformed China and Rising China andAsian Democratization: Socialization to “Global Culture” in the Political Transformations of Thailand, China, and Taiwan.​
  • Professor Leszek Buszynski is a lecturer at Australia National University. He is the author of Asia Pacific Security – Values and Identity​.​ He co-edited The South China Sea Maritime Dispute: Political, Legal and Regional Perspectives and his latest publication Negotiating with North Korea: The Six Party Talks and the Nuclear Issue.

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