October 5, 2009
In this issue
- Coming up at the Mershon Center
- Other events
- Veterans Learning Community to connect military, academics
- Mershon faculty in the news
Having trouble reading this newsletter? You can read it online.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Susan Stokes
"Vote Buying in Democratic Systems"
3:30 p.m., Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 1501 Neil Ave.
Susan Stokes is John S. Saden Professor of Political Science at Yale University. She is also director of the Yale Program on Democracy and chair of the Department of Political Science.
Her research interests include democratic theory and how democracy functions in developing societies, with a focus on Latin America. Stokes is co-author of Democracy and the Culture of Skepticism: Political Trust in Argentina and Mexico (Russell Sage Foundation, 2006). Her book, Mandates and Democracy: Neoliberalism by Surprise in Latin America (Cambridge, 2001), received prizes from the APSA Comparative Democratization section and the Society for Comparative Research. Read more and RSVP
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Lisa Stampnitzky
"Disciplining an Unruly Field: Terrorism Studies and the State, 1972-2001"
Noon, Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 1501 Neil Ave.
Lisa Stampnitzky is a post-doctoral fellow at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California-Berkeley in 2008. Her dissertation is titled "Disciplining an Unruly Field: Terrorism Studies and the State, 1972-2001." During her time at Mershon, she hopes to expand her dissertation into a book manuscript. Stampnitzky's work discusses the organization of expert knowledge on terrorism from the 1970s to the present day. It examines the first identification of terrorism as a state problem, the role of government in organizing the production of knowledge, and the ongoing efforts of academic and practical experts to define the field. Read more and RSVP
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Mark Beissinger
"Imperial Reputations: How Sovereignty and Self-Determination Norms Have Altered the Politics of Empire"
Noon, Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 1501 Neil Ave.
Mark Beissinger is professor of politics at Princeton University. His main fields of interest include nationalism, state-building, imperialism, and social movements, with special reference to the Soviet Union and the post-Soviet states. In addition to writing numerous articles and book chapters, Beissinger has published four books. He is author of Nationalist Mobilization and the Collapse of the Soviet State (Cambridge University Press, 2002).
This book won the 2003 Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award, presented by the American Political Science Association, as well as the 2003 Mattei Dogan Award, presented by the Society for Comparative Research. He is currently working on a book tentatively entitled Imperial Reputation: The Politics of Empire in a World of Nation-States. Read more and RSVP
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, President of Somalia
"Somalia: Prospects for Peace"
Registration/Coffee: 8 a.m. | Program: 8:30-9:30 a.m.
Terrace Ballroom 5, Columbus Convention Center, 400 N. High St. (NW corner near the Cap)
Sponsored by the Columbus Council on World Affairs
According to estimates, Columbus is home to nearly 50,000 Somali refugees, the second-largest population in the United States. The United Nations has noted that the humanitarian crisis in Somalia is at its worst level in almost two decades. Last month, the U.S. Secretary of State commended Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed for "standing up for the people of Somalia ... and against Al-Shabaab, a terrorist group with links to Al-Qaida." This is your chance to hear him speak. Because this is a head of state visit, please plan on arriving early due to security screening.
Read more and register
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Edward T. Chang
"The L.A. Riots and other Korean American Experiences for Korea's Understanding of America"
5 p.m., Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 1501 Neil Ave.
Sponsored by the Korean Studies Initiative
Edward T. Chang is professor of ethnic studies at the University of California-Riverside. His research interests include Korean American-African American relations, Asian-Latino relations, immigration, and race relations theory. His past work has focused on the topics of Korean-African American relations and civil unrest in Los Angeles, as well as on the impact of the Los Angeles riots on the Korean American community.
Chang served as a field reporter and consultant for a PBS Frontline special program, "LA is Burning: Five Reports from a Divided City." He is author of several books including Ethnic Peace in the American City: Community Building in Los Angeles and Beyond (New York University Press, 1999) with Jeannette Diaz-Veizades. He has also written Following the Footsteps of Korean Americans and Who African Americans Are. He is a regular contributor to the Los Angeles Times, commenting on issues related to interethnic relations and the Korean American community. Read more and RSVP
Thursday, October 15, 2009
William Julius Wilson
"Structure and Culture: Framing the Dialogue for Combating Racial Inequality in the United States"
3 p.m., Wexner Center Auditorium, 1871 N. High St.
"More than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City"
7:30 p.m., Moritz College of Law, Saxbe Auditorium, 55 W. 12th Ave.
Sponsored by the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, Office of Minority Affairs, and Department of Sociology
Past debate by social scientists has centered on whether racial inequities are driven by social structure or culture. Harvard sociologist William Julius Wilson takes a different view — that both structural and cultural factors are irrevocably linked. Wilson, the Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor of Sociology at Harvard, will make two public presentations at The Ohio State University. Wilson presents a framework — based on his latest book, More than Just Race — for understanding the formation and maintenance of racial inequality and racial group outcomes. That framework integrates cultural factors with two types of structural forces — those that directly reflect explicit racial bias and those that do not. By bringing this focus to light, he hopes to spark greater interest and dialogue in the research and policy arenas around a more holistic approach to poverty alleviation. Wilson was selected by Time magazine in 1996 as one of America's 25 Most Influential People, and is the author of seven books, including When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor (Vintage, 1997), and his latest work, More than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City, (W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2009.).
Arts and Humanities is launching an undergraduate Veterans Learning Community. The goal is to help GIs connect their military experience with academic approaches to learning and provide them with a platform to communicate their knowledge and know-how to the public. Plans include special topic GEC classes for vets-only starting in Winter 2010, undergraduate research guidance and support, and social and outreach activities, including a Grunt Lit book club. Participation is open to veterans, active duty, guard, and reserves who would like to connect, collaborate, socialize with and support one another. Interested students are invited to the inaugural meeting on Thursday, October 8, 4-5:30 p.m. at the Institute for Collaborative Research and Public Humanities, 104 East 15th Ave. (between High and Indianola). For more information, contact VLC coordinator Susan Hanson at veteranslc@osu.edu.
Mershon-affiliated faculty members are often sought out by the media for their expertise, and their written work is often cited by journalists and bloggers. Examples from just this past week include:
Obama's Advisers Divided On Afghan War
NPR's Morning Edition, October 1, 2009
President Obama discussed the options for the war in Afghanistan at the White House yesterday with his war council. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, says the effort will fail without more U.S. forces on the ground. That assessment is backed by Obama's top military advisor, Adm. Michael Mullen, and by Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of all U.S. forces from the Middle East to central Asia. Peter Mansoor, Raymond E. Mason Chair in Military History, agrees. "If President Obama decides that he's going to override the advice — the best military advice of his commanders in the field — then he owns the outcome of the conflict," said Mansoor, former executive officer for Petraeus.
Climate bill hinges on Ohio's Sen. Brown
The Hill, October 1, 2009
The story looks at Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown's position on the climate change legislation currently in the Senate. The liberal Brown holds the key to delivering a bloc of Midwestern senators crucial to passing the bill, which faces strong bipartisan opposition. "Climate change is a tough issue for Ohio Democrats," said Ohio State University political scientist Paul Beck. "In his heart of hearts, Brown would want to be more supportive of the Democrats' plans, but the electorate is holding him back." Since winning the election, Brown has tacked somewhat toward the center of the political spectrum, Beck said. "He's had to represent the whole state, and he's had a very visible presence in rural areas in small towns," said Beck, who added: "Ohio is very middle-of-the-road."
General: U.S. Accelerating Iraq Withdrawal
NPR's All Things Considered, September 30, 2009
Iraq war commander Gen. Ray Odierno told Congress he plans to cut the number of American troops in Iraq this year, and again after Iraqi elections in January, so that by the end of next summer, there will only be 50,000 American forces in the country. Peter Mansoor, Raymond E. Mason Chair in Military HIstory, said that U.S. troops are acting as more of an honest broker between the rival factions in Iraq rather than as war fighters. "The psychological dynamic of the U.S. presence is more important than the physical dynamic, and therefore a withdrawal of several thousand troops this year, followed by tens of thousands next year, is possible provided that the Iraqi political progress continues," he said.
Obama and McChrystal Don’t Talk? Good, Says Army Historian
Wired Magazine, September 30, 2009
Mark Grimsley, Ohio State historian who is currently Keith Johnson Chair of Military History at the U.S. 
Army War College, reacts to the revelation on 60 Minutes that President Obama has consulted with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan, only once. "On the whole, presidents utilize their secretaries of defense — they exist for a reason — and for the most part confine their direct consultations to their regional combatant commanders," Grimsley said. "Obama can and does confer regularly with McChrystal's boss, [U.S. Central Command chief] Gen. David Petraeus, and that's as it should be… Obama’s practice is thus the rule, not the exception."
My post-RNC progression: Ask yourself, am I a lemon, a drunk, a Che, or an Alexander Wendt?
Minnesota Daily, September 28, 2009
A student protestor arrested at the Republican National Convention last year reflects on the evolution of her thinking about international relations and politics since then. She places herself in the social constructivist camp, crediting Alexander Wendt, Ralph D. Mershon Professor of International Security. "Social constructivism is a theory that is based on the human consciousness and its place in world affairs. ... We are the way we are because of a system of norms that has been arranged by a certain people at a particular time. And if we build it up, we can most certainly tear it down. It is the counter-argument to realists who say, 'That's just the way things are.' Because that's not true. It doesn't have to be."
Editorial: Getting it Right
Philadelphia Inquirer, September 27, 2009
A number of experts are reassessing not just the strategy but the U.S. goal in Afghanistan. Some of the debate has been in the Council on Foreign Relations periodical Foreign Affairs. In one article, Ohio State University political scientist John Mueller points out that al-Qaeda doesn't need a secure base for its terrorist operations. He also notes that the operational base for 9/11 was Hamburg, Germany. Mueller says many previous notions are no longer valid. For example, FBI Director Robert Mueller in 2002 estimated there were up to 5,000 al-Qaeda operatives in the United States. But after eight years of "well-funded sleuthing," not a single al-Qaeda sleeper cell has been found in this country.
A Different View: So What If Iran Gets The Bomb?
The Atlantic, September 25, 2009
John Mueller, Woody Hayes Chair of National Security Studies at The Ohio State University, has written Atomic Obsession: Nuclear Alarmism from Hiroshima to Al-Qaeda, and his thesis is that the world's magical thinking and alarmism about nuclear energy and nuclear weapons has significantly distorted policy making and threatens to leave the United States more vulnerable to more pressing threats. Mueller's opinions are not shared by most of his colleagues, but they are taken seriously. Marc Ambinder, editor of The Atlantic, asked Mueller to put the news about Iran in the context of his theories. How much of a threat is Iran's proliferation? How much of a threat is the West's obsession with Iran's proliferation?
For more, please see Faculty in the News on the Mershon Center web site.
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