Tag Archives: War / Weapons

Scholars’ Circle – The Suffragist Peace: How Women Shape the Politics of War , book author interview – March 26, 2023

March 26, 2023 host

The expansion of the vote to women throughout the 20th Century has had an impact on the discourses and politics of war and peace. What is the relationship between women voting, electing women leaders, and women-lead groups in civil society on the issue of war and peace?
Does the expansion of the vote to women lead to the election of women as leaders? And are these leaders more committed to peace than their male counterparts? We explore a new book, The Suffragist Peace: How Women Shape the Politics of War..[ dur: 58mins. ]

Book cover of The Suffragist Peace, classic painting with woman in center against war and suffering

Joslyn Barnhart is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of California Santa Barbara. She is also senior research scientist at Deep Mine in London. She is the author of The consequences of humiliation, anger, and status, threats in international politics
Robert F. Trager is a Professor in the political science department at the University of California, Los Angeles. He’s the author of a forthcoming book Diplomacy Communication and the Origins of International Order

Together they have authored The Suffragist Peace: How Women Shape the Politics of War.

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

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh from blockade at Lachin Corridor – March 12, 2023

March 13, 2023 host

The deteriorating humanitarian condition in the Armenian-majority breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Lachin corridor, the only road that connects the region to the outside world, has been blocked by a military campaign limiting food and other essential supplies and trapping 120,000 people.

We explore the legal, political and military implications of this campaign.How are international actors responding to this campaign? What role is Turkey, Russia, and the United States playing in the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh? [ dur: 58mins. ]

Richard Giragosian is the Founding Director of the Regional Studies Center (RSC), an independent “think tank” located in Yerevan, Armenia. He is Visiting Professor at the College of Europe’s Natolin Campus and Senior Expert at Yerevan State University’s Center for European Studies (CES). He is the author of the book chapter Small States and Large Costs of Regional Fracture: The Case of Armenia
Steve Swerdlow, esq. is Associate Professor of the Practice of Human Rights in the Department of Political and International Relations at the University of Southern California. A human rights lawyer and expert on the former Soviet region, Swerdlow was Senior Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, heading the organization’s work on Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and founding its Kyrgyzstan field office. He is the author of Uzbekistan’s Religious and Political Prisoners and Uzbekistan’s Ethnic Minorities: Out of Sight, But Not Out of Mind.

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

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Scholars’ Circle – Book analysis – A Promise Kept: The Muscogee (Creek) Nation and McGirt vs. Oklahoma – January 8, 2023

January 9, 2023 host

In 2020, the Supreme Court surprised many observers by holding up the rights of the Muscogee (Creek) nation. In McGirt v Oklahoma, the Court held that the Creek Nation retained its sovereign rights over a very large part of Eastern Oklahoma. The decision began with a poetic line: “At the end of the Trail of Tears is a promise.” The case raises further interest in issues of Indian law, which includes a very important case on the docket this year on the issue of the adoption of Indian children without the consent of the tribe. Robert Miller and Robbie Ethridge have written a new book on the McGirt case, on the history of the Muscogee nation’s relations with the United States, and the details of the case itself. And the title of the book references that first line of the decision. It is called A Promise Kept: The Muscogee (Creek) Nation and McGirt v Oklahoma. Our guests are the authors of the book. [ dur: 58mins. ]

Robert J. Miller is Professor of Law at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. He is the author of Reservation “Capitalism”: Economic Development in Indian Country and Native America, Discovered and Conquered: Thomas Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and Manifest Destiny.
Robbie Ethridge is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Mississippi. She is the author of From Chicaza to Chickasaw: The European Invasion and the Transformation of the Mississippian World, 1540–1715 and Creek Country: The Creek Indians and Their World, 1796–1816.

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

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Scholars’ Circle – Voter Suppression acts on marginalized communities ; In the name of Majoritarian democracy – November 13, 2022

November 13, 2022 host

Since 2020 many states have passed legislation, making it more difficult to vote. Fears of voter suppression in the disenfranchisement of marginalized communities proliferated the 2022 midterms. But were these fears realized? [ dur: 42mins. ]

Bertrall Ross is Justice Thurgood Marshall Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of the Karsh Center for Law and Democracy at the University of Virginia School of Law. He is the author of Voter Data, Democratic Inequality, and the Risk of Political Violence, Passive Voter Suppression: Campaign Mobilization and the Effective Disfranchisement of the Poor and Partisan Gerrymandering as a Threat to Multiracial Democracy.
Jeremi Suri is Professor in the Department of History and the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin. He holds the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. He is the co-author of “Problems with President Records are Not Just About Trump” with Kenneth Osgood, the author of The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America’s Highest Office and the book we are discussing today, Civil War by Other Means: America’s Long and Unfinished Fight For Democracy. He is host of the podcast This is Democracy.
Dan Tokaji is the Fred W. & Vi Miller Dean and Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin Law School. He is the author of True Threats: Voter Intimidation and the Constitution, Election Law, Democracy, and Legal Education and the co-author of Election Law: Cases and Materials.

When does democracy have a dark side? Our guest says that majorities can and do oppress minorities in the name of majoritarian democracy. [ dur: 16mins. ]

On this post election week, from our archives we bring you this discussion on the dark side of democracy.

Michael Mann is Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology at UCLA. He is the author of the four volume The Sources of Social Power, Fascists and The Dark Side of Democracy: Explaining Ethnic Cleansing.

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

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Scholars’ Circle – Libyan civil war continues after Gaddafi’s Rule ; Methods for Peace Building – September 18, 2022

September 17, 2022 host

We explore the civil war in Libya. Why did it break out and why does it persist? What are possible solutions? Host: Doug Becker. [ dur: 30mins. ]

Haala Hweio is Adjunct Instructor of Political Science at Rosary College of Arts and Sciences at Dominican University. She is the author of Tribes in Libya: From Social Organization to Political Power, The Libyan Revolution and Women’s Participation in Politics and Media and The Muslim Brotherhood: Libya as the Last Resort for the Continued Existence of the Global Movement
Alan J Kuperman is Associate Professor of Public Affairs and is founding coordinator of the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Project at The University of Texas Austin, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. He is the author of Constitutions and Conflict Management in Africa: Preventing Civil War Through Institutional Design (National and Ethnic Conflict in the 21st Century), Did the R2P foster violence in Libya? and “Obama’s Libya Debacle“

Beyond ending war what does it take to make a lasting quality peace? Host: Maria Armoudian. [ dur: 28mins. ]

Recorded November 22, 2015.

Peter Wallensteen is Research Professor Emeritus of Peace Studies at Joan B Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame. He is the author of Quality Peace: Peacebuilding, Victory and World Order, Understanding Conflict Resolution: Peace, War, and the Global System and editor of the volume International Sanctions: Between Wars and Words.

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

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Scholars’ Circle – Effect from Arms Trade on Politics and Society ; Roots of Goodness and Resistance to Evil – August 7, 2022

August 6, 2022 host

First, a look inside the arms trade and its effects on politics and society.[ dur: 33mins. ]

Suzette Grillot is a Professor of International Studies at University of Oklahoma. She is the co-author of the book The International Arms Trade (with Rachel Stohl), Arms Control and the Environment (with Lakshman Guruswamy) and the co-editor of Understanding the Global Community (with Zach P. Messitte).

Then, we speak with Ervin Staub about his latest book, The Roots of Goodness and Resistance to Evil: Inclusive Caring, Moral Courage, Altruism Born of Suffering, Active Bystandership and Heroism. [ dur: 25 mins. ]

Ervin Staub is Professor of Psychology Emeritus and Founding Director of the Psychology of Peace and Violence Program at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is also the author of Psychology of Evil: The Origins of Genocide and Other Group Violence and The psychology of good and evil: Why children, adults and groups help and harm others.

This recording is from June of 2015.

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

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Scholars’ Circle – States’ Rights to Legislate Gun Violence restricted by SCOTUS – July 3, 2022

July 3, 2022 host

The US Supreme Court, in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v Bruen, ruled that state laws must reflect a Second Amendment protection that allows for individuals to carry guns for personal protection outside of their homes. We examine the future of gun control legislation in light of the Court’s rejection of state power to restrict gun ownership to private homes and gun clubs, thus, restricting the legislator’s ability to address gun violence. Historically, how have courts and legislators viewed the second amendment to the constitution?

Who are the victims of gun violence? Most victims are from intimate partner violence, suicide and homicide? We explore the impact of the proliferation of weapons in the United States. [ dur: 58mins. ]

Robert J. Spitzer is Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the State University of New York, College at Cortland. He is the author of the books Guns Across America: Reconciling Gun Rules And Rights, The Politics of Gun Control, and his latest article on the NYSRPA v. Bruen decision, How the Supreme Court rewrote history to justify its flawed gun decision.
Carl T. Bogus is Professor of Law at Roger Williams University School of Law. He is the editor of The Second Amendment in Law and History: Historians and Constitutional Scholars on the Right to Bear Arms and the author of The Hard, Simple Truth about Gun Control,” and Gun Control and America’s Cities: Public Policy and Politics.
David Hemenway is Professor of Health Policy and Director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center. He is the author of Private Guns Public Health Reducing Firearm Violence, and How the US can have guns but fewer gun problems.

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

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Scholars’ Circle – Casualties from Russian invasion of Ukraine and evaluating Russian influence in post Soviet space – June 12, 2022

June 11, 2022 host

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, a vicious war of aggression and occupation has devastated the nation. Determined resistance to the invasion has denied Russia many of its intended targets, but Ukrainians have suffered tremendous losses. What are the human and other costs of the Russian invasion of Ukraine? [ due: 28mins. ]

Serhiy Kudelia is Associate Professor of Political Science at Baylor University. He is the author of When Numbers Are Not Enough: The Strategic Use of Violence in Ukraine’s 2014 Revolution, “The Donbas Rift” and “How They Joined? Militants and Informers in the Armed Conflict in Ukraine“.
Tymofii Brik is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Economic History at Kyiv School of Economics. He is the author of Thirty Years of Religious Pluralism in Ukraine and co-author of Attitudes About Privatization and the Shadow of Communism: 25 Years of Anti-market Skepticism.

The impact of the February Russian invasion of Ukraine extends beyond just those two nations. Russia has dominated the post-Soviet space—the independent nations that were once a part of the Soviet Union. A Russian foreign policy has attempted to ensure that the nation is the indispensable partner of these nations. But the invasion has fractured this image and poses significant challenges to Russian influence over its former Soviet Union partners.

How has this invasion damaged the legitimacy of Russia’s interventions in other conflicts across the post Soviet space? What does this mean to these conflicts? And how has this war called into question Russia’s influence in this area? [ dur: 30mins. ]

Anna Ohanyan is the Richard B. Finnegan Distinguished Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Stonehill College. She is the editor of Russia Abroad: Driving Regional Fracture in Post-Communist Eurasia and Beyond and her latest book The Neighborhood Effect: The Imperial Roots of Regional Fracture in Post-Communist Eurasia.
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 and “Time to Question Russia’s Imperial Innocence.”

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

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Scholars’ Circle – Historical and Current Practices to Redress Crimes Against Humanity – April 10, 2022

April 7, 2022 host

After mass atrocities and crimes against humanity, how can societies reconcile? How is justice performed and how should we recognize these crimes? And what of the clash between international interests and local needs when dealing with the punishment and acknowledgment of atrocities? Hosted by Doug Becker. [ dur: 58mins. ]

Elazar Barkan is Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and Director of Columbia’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights. He is founding Director of the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation (IHJR) in The Hague. He is the author of Guilt of Nations: Restitution and Negotiating Historical Injustices and co-author of Taking Wrongs Seriously: Apologies and Reconciliation.
Mark Drumbl is Professor at Washington and Lee University, School of Law, and Director of the University’s Transnational Law Institute. He is the author of Reimagining Child Soldiers In International Law and Policy and Atrocity, Punishment, and International Law.
Jeremy Sarkin is Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law and member of CEDIS at Nova University Law School in Lisbon, Portugal. He is the author of The Global Impact and Legacy of Truth Commissions, Reparations for Colonial Genocides and co-editor of Africa’s Role and Contribution to International Criminal Justice.

This interview was recorded on April 18, 2021.

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

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Scholars’ Circle – War Crimes and Justice for Victims and Survivors- April 3, 2022

April 3, 2022 host

President Biden has called Russia’s attack on Ukraine a war crime. What does that mean in term of legal remedies? When and how are war crimes adjudicated? Prosecuting those who commit crimes against humanity or war crimes is one part of justice, the other part is redressing the victims and survivors. What can be done to redress them? [ dur: 58mins. ]

Jennifer Trahan is a Clinical Professor and Director of the Concentration in International Law and Human Rights at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs. She has published two digests on the case-law of the ad hoc tribunals and is the author of Existing Legal Limits to the Use of the Veto in the Face of Atrocity Crimes.
Gabor Rona is Professor of Practice at Cardozo Law School. He is the author of Is There a Way Out of the Non-International Armed Conflict Detention Dilemma? and State Responsibility to Respect, Protect and Fulfill Human Rights Obligations in Cyberspace.
Rebecca Hamilton is Associate Professor of Law at American University, Washington College of Law. She is the author of Fighting for Darfur: Public Action and the Struggle to Stop Genocide and co-author of Social Media Platforms in International Criminal Investigations.
Kate Mackintosh is the inaugural Executive Director of the Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA School of Law. She was Head of Humanitarian Affairs for Doctors Without Borders. She is the author of How long until the planet’s destruction is an international crime and the forthcoming The crime of ecocide through human rights: new tools for Climate Justice.

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

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The Scholars' Circle Interviews

Tag Archives: War / Weapons

Scholars’ Circle – The Suffragist Peace: How Women Shape the Politics of War , book author interview – March 26, 2023

Scholars’ Circle – Humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh from blockade at Lachin Corridor – March 12, 2023

Scholars’ Circle – Book analysis – A Promise Kept: The Muscogee (Creek) Nation and McGirt vs. Oklahoma – January 8, 2023

Scholars’ Circle – Voter Suppression acts on marginalized communities ; In the name of Majoritarian democracy – November 13, 2022

Scholars’ Circle – Libyan civil war continues after Gaddafi’s Rule ; Methods for Peace Building – September 18, 2022

Scholars’ Circle – Effect from Arms Trade on Politics and Society ; Roots of Goodness and Resistance to Evil – August 7, 2022

Scholars’ Circle – States’ Rights to Legislate Gun Violence restricted by SCOTUS – July 3, 2022

Scholars’ Circle – Casualties from Russian invasion of Ukraine and evaluating Russian influence in post Soviet space – June 12, 2022

Scholars’ Circle – Historical and Current Practices to Redress Crimes Against Humanity – April 10, 2022

Scholars’ Circle – War Crimes and Justice for Victims and Survivors- April 3, 2022

By Maria Armoudian