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Liberty and
Justice: America and the Middle East: Our partners at the Center for American Studies and Research (CASAR), American University of Beirut, recently published the selected proceedings of their second international conference, “Liberty and Justice: America and the Middle East”, held in Beirut in January 2008. The volume contains 35 papers by scholars from Europe, North America, and the Middle East. Contributors include Scott Lucas of Libertas/Enduring America, Melanie McAlister, Djelal Kadir, Amy Kaplan, Timothy Marr, Norman Finkelstein, Mounira Soliman, and Seyed Mohammad Marandi. The volume is available for $20, including shipping to North America and Europe. For information on how to order, please visit CASAR’s website or e-mail casar@aub.edu.lb. New Issue of
Argentia: Libertas has the latest issue of Argentia, which features a new project on the influence of conservative faith-based groups on US foreign policy and a roundtable review (including a contribution by Scott Lucas of Libertas) of the book After Bush by Timothy Lynch and Rob Singh.
The Clinton Institute for American Studies held a one-day conference at the Royal Irish Academy to consider the changes in US economic and foreign policy with the election of President Barack Obama. Scott Lucas of Libertas was one of the panelists: in this talk on the style and substance of Obama's "smart power" and notions of liberal intervention, he offers both hopes and concerns. Call for
Papers The Clinton Institute at University College Dublin are holding a conference on the CIA and its impact on US foreign policy, on February 20-21, 2009. See full details and a call for papers
Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR) Call for Papers Next year's SHAFR Conference
will be held in the Falls Church area of Washington DC between June
25-7, 2009. The program committee are seeking panel proposals in a host
of areas.
DCAF-Shams
Forum Report: The Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed
Forces (DCAF) and Shams Centre for Human Rights and Democratic
Participation organised the third Forum 'Delivering Security to the
People - Challenges to Palestinian Security Sector Governance' on 14 May
2008 in Jenin. This report is an in-depth analysis of the issues
surrounding the topic of security in Palestine.
A limited number of post-graduate bursaries - funded by the AHRC - are available to aid student participation and attendance at the above conference.
Libertas
Contributor Published Libertas contributor,
Brian Edwards, has recently had an article entitled "Kiddie
Orientalism", published in The Believer. New Issue of
Argentia Launched Argentia, the
official publication of the BISA Working Group on US Foreign Policy,
recently put out its third edition. This issues features a roundtable
review of Tony Smith's new book, "A Pact with the Devil", and
several articles and reports on ongoing events in America.
View
current issue August 5-6,
2008: IICMSC Conference For several decades, global communication theories and practices have presented various strategies targeted towards change in various countries Through radio, television, satellite, or other traditional tools, social scientists ,politicians, journalists, researchers, partners of development, etc. favored communication as a means to social change. The conference intends to facilitate discussion on media representation of marginalized issues for the purposes of; raising levels of critical understanding of how the media works, and increase capacities for access to the media. This conference brings together educators, experts, international representatives and journalists to share their work and learn from each other. The conference will discuss the international experiments in the field of media and social change and the learned lessons in this concern and how developing countries can benefit from these experiences. May 15: Scott Lucas on BBC Radio 3 "Night Waves" Scott Lucas of Libertas
will be part of a live discussion of the recently-released documentary RFK
Must Die, pondering the CIA, drugs, assassination, and conspiracy
theories. The broadcast airs at 9:45 p.m. More information is available
at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/nightwaves/pip/2a23h/. US Embassy Live
Webcast on 2008 Presidential Election May 15, 2008 The United States Embassy in
London, in partnership with the Financial Times and YouGovStone,
presents a live webcast: "Digital Politics – Effects of the
Information Age Leverhulme
Lecture: Professor Howard Brick On Monday, May 12 2008, the University of Birmingham will be hosting a Leverhulme lecture by Professor Howard Brick of Washington University (St Louis) and the University of Nottingham. Further Details....
Call for Papers: 49th Parallel Electronic Journal The 49th Parallel, an interdisciplinary electronic journal based in the American and Canadian Studies Department at the University of Birmingham, invites article submissions for its forthcoming 2008 editions. Full details...
BISA US Foreign
Policy Working Group Annual Conference The Institute for the Study
of the Americas (http://americas.sas.ac.uk/)
and LSE IDEAS (www.lse.ac.uk/collections/IDEAS)
will co-host the third annual conference of the BISA US Foreign Policy
Working Group on Thursday-Friday, 18-19 September 2008. The conference
will bring together over 100 British and international scholars and
consider issues central to US foreign policy in the build-up to the
November 2008 elections. Professor Daniel Deudney, Johns Hopkins
University, author of Bounding Power: Republican Security Theory from
the Polis to the Global Village, will be the keynote speaker.
The Water Cure:
Debating Torture and Counterinsurgency - a Century ago
'We, The People:
The Public and American Foreign Policy.' This one day conference will look at a series of periods and examine the impact that the public have had on a number of key events in the history of US foreign policy. View the full programme or for further information and queries relating to attendance contact Helen Laville at h.laville@bham.ac.uk
Transatlantic
Encounters: American Studies in the 21st Century For full details of the Call for Papers for this forthcoming conference on American Studies in the 21st Century, please view the programme
Seyed Mohammed Marandi Interview Head of the North American Studies graduate programme at the University of Tehran, and friend of Libertas, Seyed Mohammed Marandi, recently gave an interview to Guernica - A Magazine of Art & Politics, on teaching American Studies in Iran and the state of US-Iranian relations. Read the whole interview.
Steve Hewitt on Sky TV Libertas contributor and
founding member, Steve Hewitt, gave
an interview on Sky this morning
concerning the RUSI report on multiculturalism....
Call for Papers: Reform and Renewal: Transatlantic Relations During the 1960s and 1970s, June 7 2008. The University College Dublin, College of Arts and Celtic Studies Transatlantic Relations Seminar will host a one-day conference in conjunction with the Clinton Institute for American Studies. Plenary Speakers include: Professor Robert Brigham; Dr. Dominic Sandbrook; and, Dr. Stefan Halper. Twenty
minute paper proposals are invited on any aspect of transatlantic
relations during the 1960s and 1970s, and on any aspect of political
change in relevant countries. See
the full Call for Papers ....
Call for Papers: Transatlantic Studies Association, July 2008 This year's Transatlantic
Studies Association Conference will take place at Dundee University from
the 7-10 of July, 2008. Plenaries will be given by Serge Ricard, Bruce
Jentleson and Kathleen Burk. welcome proposals by individuals, full
panels of three speakers or a series of related panels focusing on a
particular theme or topic. Please
direct any initial questions to Alan Dobson a.p.dobson@dundee.ac.uk
or the relevant panel co-ordinator.
We would welcome early submission of proposals and panels. The
full call for papers, along with details of panel co-ordinators,
can
be found here.
Clinton Institute Summer School, July 2008 The UCD Clinton Institute Summer School for 2008 will be held from the 13 - 19th July. The School is aimed at advanced graduate students and junior faculty in American Studies and its cognate fields (English, History, Cultural and Media Studies, Political Science). The programme will offer participants the opportunity to work with pre-eminent figures in these fields and to investigate current developments in study of the United States In 2008 the faculty will include Jonathan Auerbach (University of Maryland), Ruth Barton (Trinity College Dublin), Hamilton Carroll (University of Leeds), Penny Von Eschen (University of Michigan), Donatella Izzo (University of Naples), Cindi Katz (City University of New York), Liam Kennedy (University College Dublin), Scott Lucas (University of Birmingham), Donald Pease (Dartmouth College) and Werner Sollors (Harvard University) View a report of last year's hugely successful summer school ----------------------
Symposium
on Soft Power and US Foreign Policy Department of Politics, School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester Keynote Speaker: Joseph Nye (Harvard)Soft Power has become part of popular political discourse since it was coined by Harvard’s Joseph Nye in his 1990 book, Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power, and then strengthened by his Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics (2004). The rise of widespread anti-Americanism – or, at least, negative attitudes towards US foreign policy, especially due to the war of aggression against Iraq and the subsequent military occupation of the country – has brought new attention to the meaning and instruments of soft power. It sounds a lot more attractive, especially to critics of military force, and has become a staple of Democratic Party opponents of the foreign policies of President George W. Bush. To Nye, soft power is the power of attraction, the influence of example – as opposed to the influence and power derived from military force, economic sanctions, and even economic aid. “Soft power is the ability to get what you want by attracting and persuading others to adopt your goals. It differs from hard power, the ability to use the carrots and sticks of economic and military might to make others follow your will. Both hard and soft power are important in the war on terrorism, but attraction is much cheaper than coercion, and an asset that needs to be nourished” (Nye, 2004). Yet, soft power is ambiguous and the term is used, even by Nye, in many different ways. This has led to some interesting questions. Is propaganda an exercise in soft power? Are public and cultural diplomacy? Or is public diplomacy the result of the failure of soft power? Is soft power totally separate from hard (military and other coercive) power? What is the relationship between hard and soft power? Does the US military exercise soft power or consider it useful? How do the aims of soft power differ from hegemony? Is soft power merely a tactic in America’s global power strategy or is it a principle? The One Day Symposium will consider all these questions and many more. Starting with a Round Table of distinguished experts – including Joseph Nye – the day will consist of 3 panels on Comparative Soft Power strategies across the world, including India, Iran and the European Union, a panel on US Public Diplomacy and Anti-Americanism, and Hegemony versus Soft Power. Speakers include: Craig Murphy (Wellesley, Harvard and Manchester), Stuart Croft (Warwick), John Dumbrell (Durham), Christopher Hill (Cambridge), Michael Cox (London School of Economics), Jeff Haynes (London Metropolitan), Nik Gowing (BBC World), Theo Farrell (Kings College, London), Scott Lucas (Birmingham), Angus Taverner (UK Ministry of Defence), Liam Kennedy (Dublin), Geraldo Zahran (Cambridge) and Philip Taylor (Leeds). Contact details for further information, a programme of events and a booking form, can all be found by following http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/disciplines/politics/events/softpower/. ----------------------
International
Conference - "Divided We Stand, United We Fall": Perspectives
on Inclusion and Exclusion in America International Conference:
"Divided we stand; united we fall" : Perspectives on
Inclusions and Exclusions in America
---------------------- New Issue of
Argentia Launched Argentia is the newsletter of the BISA Working Group on US Foreign Policy. This second edition of the newsletter includes a report on this year's Working Group Conference held in Manchester in September, a roundtable review of Bruce Jentleson's new book, "The Dynamics of Choice in the 21st Century", and a set of essays on the future of the Anglo-American relationship. Argentia can be accessed here. ----------------------
The
British War on Terror is Launched Or to be precise, the most important book you'll read on The British War on Terror is now out. In this ground-breaking study, Libertas managing director Steve Hewitt, argues that counter-terrorism efforts in the UK are failing as the British Government is loses its battle to win ‘hearts and minds’.
Dr Hewitt specifically connects the government’s
failure to make headway in its fight against terrorism to its strategy of
tying British foreign policy to that of the Bush administration and in
particular to its involvement in the invasion of Iraq. There are other
significant factors,however, as Dr Hewitt notes: “The approach to
counter-terrorism has been heavy-handed. The high profile botched terror
raids, such as that in Forest Gate, and the introduction of a number of new
laws, as well as stop and search tactics, have all weakened efforts to combat
terrorism."
Offering a general overview of events in the UK
since 9-11, Dr Hewitt criticizes the focus of the government’s activity and
says its priorities need re-assessing: “Debates around identity cards or the
90-day detention rule distract from discussing measures and issues that might
have made a difference with regard to 7/7 and to future 7/7s. Why for example
did the start of a substantial expansion in the number of members of MI5 and
in the organisation’s regional capabilities not occur immediately after 9/11
instead of in early 2004?” He cites the focus on religious and cultural
practices, such as the wearing of the niqab, as detrimental to the ongoing
political efforts against the terrorist threat, noting "By highlighting
the differences in religious and cultural practices the government is
fragmenting the very society it is trying to unite."
IWhile examining more than a hundred years of
counter-terrorism activity in the UK, Dr Hewitt's provocative argument is that
since that seminal day in September 2001, UK policy has been not only
inconsistent but considerably inadequate. He calls for an overhaul to the
government's methods: "There is a real need now for a smarter approach to
countering terrorism, which should begin with a fundamental review of selected
policy paths to determine whether they are indeed winning, or losing, 'heart
and minds'."
More on the book, including extracts, can be found
in our
Publications section.
----------------------
"Is
Iraq Another Vietnam?" Following their special seminar held at our partner institution, the Clinton Institute for American Studies at University College Dublin, Robert Brigham and David Ryan spoke with Liam Kennedy about the similarities and differences between US intervention in Vietnam and US intervention in Iraq today. This 20-minute interview ranges from the "lessons" of Vietnam to issues such as the US forces and the use of military power, "nation-building", and American standing in the world.
Listen
to the full seminar... ---------------------- 'The Dilemma of 'Freedom': The Conflict between the Preponderant and the Universal in US Foreign Policy from the Cold War to the 'War on Terror
A presentation by Scott Lucas at Clare
College, Cambridge, 22 October 2007
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Canadian High Commissioner to the UK visit The Canadian High Commissioner to the UK, James R Wright, visited the Department of American & Canadian Studies in October and gave a talk to our students and staff entitled: Transatlantic Relations: Canada-UK-US Cooperation in an Insecure World sponsored by Libertas
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