Einaudi Center for International Studies
Why Democracies Die and What to Do Next
Rachel Beatty Riedl, Former Einaudi Director
Rachel Beatty Riedl, director of the Center on Global Democracy, reviews The Backsliders by Susan Stokes.
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Trump Wades Into Bailout Politics in Offering a Lifeline to Argentina
Eswar Prasad, SAP
Eswar Prasad, Cornell University economics professor and former IMF official, comments on the economic risks and lack of a strong rationale for the proposed unconditional U.S. bailout to Argentina.
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Warming Climate is Biggest Threat to Rangelands
Lund Debater Chris Barrett in World in Focus
Chris Barrett (Dyson/Brooks) analyzes climate impacts on Mongolian rangeland this month in Science. He joins Muna Ndulo (Law) on October 22 to debate the future of international aid.
Is (Cutting) International Aid Good?
This year's Lund Critical Debate explores the impact of aid on global communities, what makes aid effective—and how to move forward.
“It’s always struck me as puzzling, why people in suits and ties in capital cities seem to think that the pastoralists don’t understand very well how to manage these lands. And yet, there’s this common belief that you have to get them to reduce their herd sizes. That just hurts the herders.”
Overgrazing is commonly blamed as a key cause of rangeland degradation—yet policy measures designed to limit grazing damage, like herd-size restrictions and livestock taxes, can have devastating consequences on herders' livelihoods.
In Mongolia—where 70 percent of the land area is rangeland—the government revived a national livestock head tax in 2021 in response to perceived overgrazing impacts.
New research from Chris Barrett (IAD/SEAP) identifies a more significant factor: climate change.
Barrett's team analyzed longitudinal data on vegetation conditions and livestock population, collected annually by the Mongolian government across 40 years. They found that larger herds can slightly reduce rangeland productivity over the short term, but climate and weather have a much larger effect. The team published the findings on September 18 in Science.
“When we look really carefully at the equivalent of county scale over the whole country, over 41 years, we find that the longer-run changes in rangeland conditions are entirely attributable to changes in the climate,” said Barrett.
“Mongolian rangelands are affected more by the collective greenhouse gas–emitting behaviors around the globe than by local herders,” he wrote in the Science article. “Policymakers might therefore usefully focus attention on global mitigation and on international compensation for climate damages and less on taxing herders who … appear responsible for little if any of the change in Mongolia’s rangeland primary productivity over the past 40 years.”
The project began among Barrett's graduate students, including one who grew up on the Mongolian rangelands. Coauthors include two alumni from Mongolia—Tumenkhusel Avirmed ’21, MS ’23, now a research data analyst at Stanford University, and Avralt-Od Purevjav, PhD ’20, a consultant at the World Bank.
Chris Barrett is the Stephen B. and Janice G. Ashley Professor of Applied Economics and Management in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management and a professor in the Cornell Brooks School of Public Policy. He is a frequent commentator and policy advisor on food security and agricultural economics.
Featured in World in Focus Briefs
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You've Never Heard Climate Change Like This Before
Wendy Erb, SEAP/Migrations
Wendy Erb, a Cornell Lab of Ornithology researcher, studies the effects of tropical peatland fires on orangutan vocalizations, revealing how climate-driven changes impact animal communication and health.
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What Ancient Rome and Greece Can Teach Us About Comedians and Free Speech
Mike Fontaine, IES
In this NPR interview, classicist Mike Fontaine (IES) describes how ancient comedians challenged political leaders and sometimes suffered serious consequences.
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The Queer Arab Glossary: A Conversation with Author and Illustrator Marwan Kaabour
October 8, 2025
4:30 pm
Join us for a virtual conversation with Marwan Kaabour, a London-based and Beirut-born graphic designer and editor of The Queer Arab Glossary. This illustrated volume captures the nuances and diversity of the language(s) of the queer Arab community. Full of wit and pathos, Kaabour's work is a powerful corrective to existing narratives surrounding LGBTQ+ Arabs. With essays from writers, visual artists, and academics that range in tone from the hilarious to the heartbreaking, The Queer Arab Glossary delves into the power of slang to build community when conventional language falls short.
Marwan Kaabour is an independent graphic designer, visual artist, and writer based in London. His work has been commissioned by Art Basel, Christie's, Bansky's, Zaha Hadid Foundation, Fenty, V&A Museum, Edge of Arabia, and more. In 2019, he launched Takweer, a platform dedicated to exploring queer narratives in Arab history and popular culture, and in 2020 founded his own studio
Registration is required for this event
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Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Southwest Asia and North Africa Program
A Community Book Read with Adam Bobbette
October 16, 2025
3:00 pm
Join us for a virtual discussion with Adam Bobbette, author of The Pulse of the Earth: Political Geology in Java and winner of the 2025 Benda Prize. This virtual conversation is open to the broader public, and is hosted by GETSEA.
All participants should read the Preface and Chapter 1. Those interested in reading more should also consider Chapter 3.
The Pulse of the Earth is a highly innovative and compelling account of the intersections between geology, colonial history, and spiritual cosmologies. Adam Bobbette reframes Java as a pivotal site for the development of geological knowledge, challenging the conventional Western-centric narratives of scientific history. By delving into Javanese spiritual practices and their influence on geological thought, he unveils how volcanology not only transformed but was also shaped by local cosmologies. Through riveting accounts of political struggles, colonial ambitions, and indigenous epistemologies, the book illuminates the deep geosocial tectonics that continue to influence how humans and landscapes interact. Particularly striking are Bobbette’s insights into the coexistence and tensions between scientific and spiritual epistemologies, revealing how each seeks to understand the rhythms of the earth.
The Pulse of the Earth offers fresh perspectives on human and more-than-human entanglements that help rethink the Anthropocene. The book is a monumental contribution to environmental humanities and political geology, an emerging field that blurs the boundary between science and social history. It eloquently appeals to scholars across disciplines, and is a timely read, not least in offering a refreshing perspective on how climate crises have been addressed in the past and the present.
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Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Southeast Asia Program
Politics Gets Personal for China Scholar
Peidong Sun, EAP
Facing an exit ban from the Chinese government, Peidong Sun (EAP) resigned her tenured position and fled to France. Her new book collects interviews with French China scholars she conducted in the aftermath.
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Forum on Burmese Democracy
October 9, 2025
4:30 pm
Physical Science Building 120
With an introduction by Ambassador Derek Mitchell
Myanmar stands at a critical crossroads. Nearly five years after the coup, the country faces humanitarian catastrophe, economic collapse, and ongoing violence. During this Forum on Burmese Democracy, leading voices will share their perspectives on the crisis: Sean Turnell, economic advisor and former political prisoner, Miemie Wynn Byrd, security and civil-military relations expert, and Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar. The panel will examine Myanmar’s current trajectory, the challenges to democratic recovery, and the role of international engagement and diaspora communities. Kim Aris, Son of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, will join the presenters via video to provide an update on humanitarian relief efforts.
About the Speakers
Sean Turnell - Economic Advisor and Former Political Prisoner
Miemie Winn Byrd - Security and Civil-Military Relations Expert
Tom Andrews - UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar
This is a hybrid event. To join the livestream, please register here: https://cornell.zoom.us/meeting/register/4VrtIZVtSJ-wVDzsD_9QlA
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Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Southeast Asia Program
After Gen Z Protests, Nepal Set for Fresh Elections in March
Kathryn March, SAP
Kathryn March, professor emerita of anthropology, offers insight into how social media highlighted privilege disparities in Nepal during recent youth-led protests.