Blyth Explains London's LIBOR
July 12, 2012
On July 7, Mark Blyth, a faculty fellow at the Watson Institute, explained to All Things Considered Guy Raz what LIBOR rates are and why people in the US should care.
News Archive 2012
Andreas on Losing the Smuggling Wars
July 11, 2012
In an opinion piece published on Bloomberg.com, Watson Institute Interim Director and Professor of Political Science Peter Andreas argues against more militarized US involvement in Mexico’s drug war, favoring instead strengthening its judicial system and reducing drug consumption at home.
Herlihy at the New School for "Spirits of America" panel
July 9, 2012
Patricia Herlihy, professor of history emerita and adjunct professor at the Watson Institute, was a speaker on a New School panel titled "Spirits of America" on June 26.
Varshney in Indian Express: "The business-politics nexus"
July 9, 2012
Ashutosh Varshney, Sol Goldman Professor of International Studies and the Social Sciences and director of the Brown-India Initiative, comments on the paradox of contemporary Indian politics - "businesses funding elections, but unable to determine election results” — in The Indian Express this week.
Andreas In Foreign Affairs: "Measuring the Mafia State"
June 21, 2012
Incoming Institute Interim Director and Professor of Political Science Peter Andreas argues that the rise of the "mafia-state" is nothing new. Writing in the July/August issue of Foreign Affairs, Andreas responds to an essay by commentator Moisés Naím in the previous issue of the magazine which contends that globalized markets and financial systems have enabled government and organized crime to fuse to an unprecedented and terrifying degree.
Der Derian on Contemporary Nature of War
June 14, 2012
Institute Research Professor James Der Derian engaged in a live-streamed conversation with author Noah Richler on the "Changing Nature of Warfare and Security" last week. Der Derian previewed the conversation in a short memo, beginning: I wish to make the case that there has been a fundamental continuity to U.S. foreign and defence policy, stretching from the first George Bush to the second, with only minor deviations in the Clinton administration, and now the Obama administration, and that this continuity can be traced through the concept and practice of what I call "virtuous war."
Varshney in Indian Express
June 14, 2012
Institute Professor Ashutosh Varshney comments on India's "moment of truth" in The Indian Express this week, tracing the endemic corruption that has developed alongside the Indian economy. Corruption is not only "morally abhorrent," Varshney writes, but also stands to cripple the country's impressive economic growth. "If the rise of formidable Indian entrepreneurs is a positive side of the growth story, corruption is the negative side. ... Corruption now threatens to bring down a land of opportunity."
Blyth Parses German Leadership in Eurozone Crisis
June 12, 2012
Institute Faculty Fellow Mark Blyth co-authored a piece in Foreign Affairs online defining the kind of leadership the Eurozone needs from Berlin. Writing with Matthias Matthijs, Visiting Assistant Professor of International Political Economy at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Blyth says that Germany must recognize that the Eurozone crisis is financial, not fiscal and lead accordingly. Blyth and Matthijs conclude that: "It would be nice," they conclude, "to use an American expression, for Germany to step up to the plate and put its full economic weight behind a fiscal and a banking union, including euro-denominated sovereign debt."
Keith Brown Receives Fulbright
June 1, 2012
Keith Brown, Associate Research Professor at the Institute, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to conduct research and graduate training at the Institute for National History in the Republic of Macedonia during the 2012-13 academic year. He is one of approximately 1,100 US faculty and professionals who will travel abroad through the Fulbright US Scholar program in 2012-13. Professor Brown will collaborate with Macedonian historians to conduct new oral history research on the recent Macedonian past, and analyze the politics of dissidence and their impact on the country's democratic culture from the 1980s to the present. This project builds on his earlier work, now available in Macedonian, on the role of history in Balkan politics, as well as his more recent research on the challenges of international democracy promotion in post-socialist Eastern Europe.
Eckert Testifies on Terror Financing
May 29, 2012
Senior Fellow Sue Eckert testified on the financing of terrorism before the House Homeland Security Committee in Washington this month. Speaking to the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, Eckert called for increased collaboration between government and private sector efforts to interrupt terror financing. The full record of her testimony is available at the Committee's homepage and on C-SPAN.
Former Professor-at-Large Cardoso Awarded Kluge Prize for Study of Humanity
May 22, 2012
Former President of Brazil and former Brown Professor-at-Large Fernando Cardoso will receive the Kluge Prize for lifetime achievement in the study of humanity. The $1 million prize will be presented at a July 10 ceremony at the Library of Congress. The official announcement from the Library of Congress details President Cardoso's accomplishments:His scholarly analysis of the social structures of government, the economy and race relations in Brazil laid the intellectual groundwork for his leadership as president in the transformation of Brazil from a military dictatorship with high inflation into a vibrant, more inclusive democracy with strong economic growth.
Security Perspectives on a Rising Asia: China and India
May 2, 2012
Experts from The Brookings Institution and MIT will come together at the Watson Institute this week to discuss political and security issues in Asia. The panel discussion, “Security Perspectives on a Rising Asia: China and India,” will take place on Friday, May 4, at 2 p.m. at Watson’s Joukowsky Forum.
Former Colombian President Reflects on Past and Future of Drug Wars
April 25, 2012
Cesar Gaviria Trujillo, former President of Colombia offered his insights on the continuing war on drugs in the US and Latin America. In his term as President from 1990 to 1994, Gaviria made significant progress cracking down on drug trafficking in Colombia, and was credited for improving the safety and security of his country. After leaving the presidency, Gaviria served as the Secretary General of the Organization of American States from 1994 to 2004. Gaviria spoke on April 12, delivering the keynote address for "Drug Wars in the Americas: Looking Back and Thinking Ahead", a two-day event organized by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Brown.
Euro Conference Sparks Debate on Campus and Beyond
April 24, 2012
Experts from academia, finance, media and policy came together at Brown University this month for a series of discussions about the global financial crisis, the European Union and the future of the euro. Co-sponsored by Brown, the Watson Institute and The Rhodes Center for International Economics and Finance, "The Failure of the Euro? Causes and Consequences for Europe and Beyond" was organized by Watson Institute faculty fellow Mark Blyth and Ross Levine, the James and Merryl Tisch Professor of Economics at Brown.
Cybersecurity and International Relations
April 23, 2012
Experts on cybersecurity and international relations will come together at Brown University next month for “Cybersecurity and International Relations: A Conference.” The daylong series of presentations and discussions, jointly organized by the Watson Institute and Brown University’s Department of Computer Science, will take place on Thursday, May 3.
Latin America Welcomes China's Rise: Ricardo Lagos
April 23, 2012
China is now the world's second-largest economy and its impact on Latin America has been "very, very big," said Ricardo Lagos, former President of Chile. Lagos, who is Professor-at-Large at Brown, spoke at the Joukowsky Forum last Monday as part of a lecture series co-sponsored by the Watson Institute and the Year of China.
Andrew Sullivan Features Opinion Video on Daily Beast
April 20, 2012
Author and editor Andrew Sullivan highlighted an Institute-produced opinion video about reducing drug violence on his Daily Beast blog. The piece showcases Institute guest Mark Kleiman's policy proposal for reducing drug-related violence in the US and Mexico. In the video, he outlines his mandate to refocus enforcement based on relative levels of violence and start a "race-to-the-bottom" among cartels in rates of violence. Explore a series of similar opinion videos on the Institute's Angle website.
Former PM Prodi Speaks on China, Europe and the World
April 19, 2012
Very few people were able to predict that China would grow so quickly when it first opened its doors in 1979 – not even Romano Prodi, former Prime Minister of Italy and former President of the European Commission. Prodi, who is Professsor-at-Large at Brown, spoke about China's rise and EU-China relations in a talk at the Joukowsky Forum on Monday. Prodi said that when he first became involved in China in 1984, he did not think that its rise would be so rapid. "I underestimated the possibility of such a continuous growth for such a long time," he said.
Euro Conference Analyzed in HuffPo
April 18, 2012
The conversation at yesterday's "The Failure of the Euro?" conference is the focal point of an opinion column by Peter Goodman, the Huffington Post Business Editor. The conference brought together leading academics, journalists, business people and policy-makers from the US and Europe to discuss the evolution and future of the Euro.
The Failure of the Euro? Causes and Consequences for Europe and Beyond
April 10, 2012
Experts from academia, finance, regulation media and policy will come together at Brown University on Tuesday, April 17, for a series of discussions about the global financial crisis, the European Union and the future of the euro.