PGE Distinguished Lecture: "Is Development Sustainable? Not Even Close"
A talk by Robert Repetto. Is development sustainable? Certainly not the way the world is now going about it. Major trends are heading straight toward ecological and human disasters and if they are not changed and changed soon, development efforts will fail for billions of people, comprising mainly the world?s most vulnerable populations. Climate change, water
"Innocents Lost: When Child Soldiers Go to War"
In his book "Innocents Lost: When Child Soldiers Go to War", Jimmie Briggs book provides a vitally important perspective on the global tragedy of child soldiers. More than 250,000 children have fought in three dozen conflicts around the world. From the "little bees"" of Colombia to the "baby brigades" of Sri Lanka, the subject of child soldiers is changing the face of terrorism. Briggs was awarded the Jo
"Kafka Comes to America: Fighting for Justice in the War on Terror"
"Our government can make you disappear." Those were the words Steven Wax never imagined he would hear himself say. In his twenty-nine years as a public defender, Wax had never had to warn a client that he or she might be taken away to a military brig, or worse, a "black site", one of our country's dreaded secret prisons. How had our country come to this? The disappearance of people happens in places ruled by t
"Descent into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan,
The growing instability and resurgence of Islamic extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan pose a great threat to U.S. interests and global security. In his new book, "Descent into Chaos", Ahmed Rashid examines the rising insurgency, booming opium trade, and weak governance in Afghanistan, concluding that U.S. strategy in the region has been a complete failure. Ahmed Rashid is a Pakistani journalist based i
"Hugo Chavez y la Realidad Venezolana de Hoy"
A talk by Teodoro Petkoff, prominent Venezuelan politician, journalist and economist. From the Center for Latin American Studies.
"Taiwan's New Approach: Opportunities and Challenges for President Ma Ying-jeou's Government"
Introduction and Welcome: Professor Dali L. Yang, University of Chicago. Panel 1: Taiwan's Participations in International Affairs (Chair: Professor Te-Yu Wang, Illinois State University) -- Professor Chong-Pin Lin, Tamkang University, "Sightful Carrot and Shrouded Stick: Beijing's Adjusted Taiwan Policy" (Discussant: Professor John J. Mearsheimer, University o
"Prescription for Survival: A Doctor's Journey to End Nuclear Madness"
A talk by Bernard Lown, MD.
Physician, author, and Nobel Prize-winning peace activist Bernard Lown discusses his new memoir, "Prescription for Survival: A Doctor's Journey to End Nuclear Madness". The inventor of the defibrillator, Dr. Lown was also a peace and anti-nuclear activist, participating in the founding of Physicians for Social Responsibility in 1960
"India: The Emerging Giant"
A talk by Arvind Panagariya.
Arvind Panagariya discusses his new book, "India: The Emerging Giant", a history of the economic development of India since independence and the "definitive book on the Indian economy" according to Newsweek editor Fareed Zakaria. Panagariya is Jagdish Bhagwati Professor of Indian Political Economy, International and Publ
"Challenges for the New Administration in Iraq and Afghanistan"
A talk by Juan Cole.
Juan Cole will discuss the future of U.S. foreign policy in Iraq and Afghanistan beyond the November presidential elections. Juan Cole is Richard P. Mitchell Distinguished University Professor of History at the University of Michigan. He has written extensively about Egypt, Iran, Iraq, and South Asia. He studies and writes about contemporary Isl
"Terror in Mumbai: Reflections on the Aftermath"
A panel discussion with Steven Wilkinson, Martha Nussbaum, Tarini Bedi, Robert Pape, and Manan Ahmed.
On November 26, 2008, the world watched while terror attacks paralyzed Mumbai, India's financial capital and largest city. Mumbai bounced back, but the bold, new strategies of the attacks shifted the discourse of the global war on terror. The panelists discuss the consequences of terror in Mumbai for the region and the world. Introductory
"The Tyranny of Oil: The World's Most Powerful Industry, and What We Must Do to Stop It"
A talk by Antonia Juhasz, author, policy expert, and activist. Antonia Juhasz is an associate fellow with the Institute for Policy Studies, a fellow with Oil Change International, and a senior analyst for Foreign Policy In Focus. The author of The Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time (2006), Juhasz has also written extensively on various aspec
“'I Am Who I Am': On Being Nostalgic in Sanskritâ€
A talk by David Shulman, Renee Lang Professor of Humanistic Studies, Department of Comparative Religion, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. From the South Asia Seminar.
“What Is a Record? Tamil Scribes in the Polyglot World of Early Colonial Madrasâ€
A talk by Bhavani Raman, Associate Professor of History, Princeton University. From the South Asia Seminar.
“Invoking Chola and Maratha Pasts in Colonial Thanjavur: King Serfoji II's Reinvention of the Brih
A talk by Indira Viswanathan Peterson, David B. Truman Professor of Asian Studies, Mount Holyoke College. From the South Asia Seminar.
“The Stones of Banaras: Conservation and Colonial Bureaucracy in a Small Indian Cityâ€
A talk by Michael Dodson, Associate Professor of History, Indiana University. From the South Asia Seminar.
“The Dragon's Gift: The Real Story of China in Africaâ€
A talk by American University professor Deborah Brautigam. Is China a rogue donor, as some media pundits suggest? Or is China helping the developing world pave a pathway out of poverty, as the Chinese claim? This well-timed book provides the first comprehensive account of China's aid and economic cooperation overseas. Deborah Brautigam ta
“Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economyâ€
A talk by Columbia University professor Joseph Stiglitz. The current global financial crisis carries a "made in America" label. In "Freefall", Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz explains how America exported bad economics, bad policies, and bad behavior to the rest of the world, only to cobble together a haphazard and ineffective response when
“The Future of the South African Dream: Thabo Mbeki, Jacob Zuma, and the South African Electionsâ€
A talk by South African author and journalist Mark Gevisser.
Mark Gevisser is currently The Nation's Southern African correspondent. In South Africa, his work has appeared in the Mail & Guardian, the Sunday Independent, the Sunday Times and many magazines and periodicals. Internationally, he has written widely on South African politics, culture and society,
Part III: Disruption Is All Around Us
Cisco SVP Dan Scheinman and Wharton's Saikat Chaudhuri Discuss Acquisitions and Innovation, Part III: Disruption Is All Around Us
Jeremy Siegel: We Can Look for More Gains in the Stock Market
All eyes and ears were on the two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee (FOMC) that ended on March 21. While most observers did not expect interest rates to change, the markets were keen to know what language the Fed would use about inflation in its statement on economic and monetary policy. The U.S. economy has seen mixed signals lately, and concerns about recession have been replaced by worries about "stagflation" -- or stagnation combined with inflation. Is stagflation re
