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US -South Korean Cooperation: Client State to Reliable Ally?

The relationship between the United States and South Korea has evolved from that of a client state to a strategic partnership. The US-ROK relationship is critical to ongoing stability in the East Asian region, but it is not without friction. This discussion will cover the evolving relationship, as well as the changing nature of US alliances in Asia and the growing influence of the ROK in the region .

Global Governance

A broad range of issues affect the international community: armed conflict, famine, poverty, economic instability, and climate change. However, who should be involved? Whose responsibility is it to address these issues? Global Governance is the collection of governance-related activities, rules, and mechanisms established to address these issues. The presentation will examine the many ways individuals and institutions, public and private, manage their common affairs at various levels in the world today.

The European Union:  A cooperative Enterprise from Enemies to Partners

This lecture will look at the European Union as the institution which has helped change the economic and political relationships between the states of Europe. It will cover history and institutional structure of the EU.

EU Investment in Human Capital & the Evolution of European Identity

Discuss how the Europeans are currently navigating several crises that are related: ongoing civil wars in north Africa and the Middle East and a wave of refugees fleeing these conflicts.  Additionally, their economies are suffering from high inflation and economic uncertainty.  However, important investments in human capital (education in particular) have helped many of these refugees integrate into European society and build skills they will need for gainful employment. 

Chinese Foreign Policy: Playing the role of Strategic Competitor to the US

The purpose of this talk is to help the general audience understand China's ambitions and goals in the contemporary era, the US's response, and a few highly contentious issues likely to trigger armed conflict in the near future. The focus will be on politics and security. Dr. Wei will give an overview of China's grand strategy since Xi Jinping's presidency, from 2013 to the present. This is followed by a brief discussion of the US's response. After that, there will be a short introduction to the most contentious issues in US-China relations. The talk concludes with a prediction about China's future moves.

Russian Foreign Policy: Russia's Changing Relationship with the World

A brief history of the evolution of Russian foreign policy post Cold War. A debate of the changes that led to the more aggressive Russian behavior in international relations.

Soft Power in Latin America

Futbol, telenovelas, and Cinco de Mayo. Sports, entertainment, and cuisine are some of the strongest features of the soft power of Latin America. The culture, values, and customs of Latin America generate a lot of goodwill toward the region around the world. However, can Latin American governments capitalize on their countries' soft power? The presentation seeks to explore the role soft power plays in the foreign policies of selected Latin American cases and discuss strategies to develop Latin America's soft power.

State Fragility

This presentation seeks to answer the question: 'Do existing measures of state fragility measure fragility accurately?' Using South Africa as a case study, Dr. Mienie examines the extent to which measures of political legitimacy and good governance; effectiveness in the security system, especially with respect to the police system; and mounting economic challenges may be undermining the stability of South Africa in ways undetected by existing, commonly-used measures of state fragility.

Fallout from the Conflict in Ukraine

Going to give an overview of the situation that will be appropriate for the time period of the presentation.  Assuming Russia is still performing poorly, we will talk about how the unified response from the west has helped deter future aggressors.  Additionally, we will focus on what comes next for Ukraine in regard to rebuilding and integration into western organizations such as the European Union and NATO.