Bartels World Affairs Lecture

In this year’s Bartels lecture, Ambassador Samantha Power examines the causes and consequences of dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). While reductions in United States foreign assistance have inflicted harm on millions of people, the principal beneficiaries of the cuts, Power contends, are the People’s Republic of China and other governments that prefer to operate without scrutiny or accountability.

Join us as Power outlines a strategy for revitalizing a broad bipartisan coalition to support foreign assistance. To succeed in building resilient aid structures, politicians and stakeholders will need to demonstrate the effectiveness of aid programs to the public. U.S. resources should be used as leverage to secure new commitments from partner countries and mobilize additional investments from allied governments, the private sector, philanthropy, and members of the diaspora.

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Speaker

Ambassador Samantha Power served in the Biden-Harris administration as the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the world’s premier international development agency. She was the 28th U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during the Obama-Biden administration. Her first book, "A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide, won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.

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About the Bartels World Affairs Lecture

The Bartels World Affairs Lecture is a signature event of the Einaudi Center for International Studies. This flagship event brings distinguished international figures to campus each academic year to speak on global topics and meet with Cornell faculty and students, particularly undergraduates. The lecture and related events are made possible by the generosity of Henry E. Bartels ’48 and Nancy Horton Bartels ’48.

"This study contributes to scholarship in African history, gender studies, and postcolonial theory by offering a nuanced account of the intersections among militarism, nationalism, and gender. It invites readers to reconsider the frameworks through which political subjectivity and historical memory are constructed. Beyond the Battlefield is an essential resource for scholars and students interested in the gendered dimensions of colonialism, war, and state formation in modern Africa."Amazon.com: Beyond the Battlefield: Women and the Nation in Twentieth-Century Angola (War and Militarism in African History): 9780821426739: Makana, Selina S.: Books

cosponsored by the Institute for African Development, Department of History, and the Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies

Russia's invasion of Ukraine, political radicalization, the crisis of the U.S., the rise of China—these are global shocks that define our current moment.

But in Europe, it is commonly said, they have a particular meaning. Not only are they close at hand. They signify a particular type of shock, a "pivot in time" as Germany's Chancellor Scholz put it. They signify an awakening. They signify the "return of history."

Looking back to the 20th century, Adam Tooze will explore the recurring theme in European public debate of the "end" and "return" of history.

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About the Speaker

Professor Adam Tooze (Columbia University) teaches and researches widely in the fields of 20th-century and contemporary history, and is interested in a range of themes in political, intellectual, and military history, across a canvas stretching from Europe across the Atlantic. He is the author of prize-winning books such as The Wages of Destruction (2006), The Deluge (2014), Crashed (2018), and Shutdown (2021). His latest book, Carbon: Climate Crisis and the Decline of the West, is forthcoming in February 2027.

About the Event

This event is hosted by the Institute for European Studies (IES), part of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies. The IES Luigi Einaudi Distinguished Lecture is an annual event.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program supports U.S. citizens to study, conduct research in any field, or teach English in more than 150 countries. The program is open to graduate students, recent graduates, and young professionals. Undergraduate students who wish to begin the program immediately after graduation are encouraged to start the process in their junior year. Recent graduates are welcome to apply through Cornell.

The Fulbright program at Cornell is administered by the Mario Einaudi Center for International studies. Applicants are supported through all stages of the application and are encouraged to start early by contacting fulbright@einaudi.cornell.edu.

Register for the virtual session.

Can’t attend? Contact fulbright@einaudi.cornell.edu.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program supports U.S. citizens to study, conduct research in any field, or teach English in more than 150 countries. The program is open to graduate students, recent graduates, and young professionals. Undergraduate students who wish to begin the program immediately after graduation are encouraged to start the process in their junior year. Recent graduates are welcome to apply through Cornell.

The Fulbright program at Cornell is administered by the Mario Einaudi Center for International studies. Applicants are supported through all stages of the application and are encouraged to start early by contacting fulbright@einaudi.cornell.edu.

Register for the virtual session.

Can’t attend? Contact fulbright@einaudi.cornell.edu.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program supports U.S. citizens to study, conduct research in any field, or teach English in more than 150 countries. The program is open to graduate students, recent graduates, and young professionals. Undergraduate students who wish to begin the program immediately after graduation are encouraged to start the process in their junior year. Recent graduates are welcome to apply through Cornell.

The Fulbright program at Cornell is administered by the Mario Einaudi Center for International studies. Applicants are supported through all stages of the application and are encouraged to start early by contacting fulbright@einaudi.cornell.edu.

Register for the virtual session.

Can’t attend? Contact fulbright@einaudi.cornell.edu.