Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
Discover Einaudi for Grad Students
Research, Funding, Events, and More
At Einaudi you’ll find opportunities—opportunities to build connections with faculty and graduate students across disciplines, apply for research funding, learn languages essential to your fieldwork, attend events to shape your thinking, and more. Explore this page and our website to discover what’s in store at the Einaudi Center.
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Can South Korea and Japan Overcome Their Past and Focus on the Future?
Eun A Jo, Graduate Fellow
“There is this broad sentiment that links conservatives as both having been collaborationists during the colonial period and [colluding] in the post-colonial period,” says Eun A Jo, a doctoral candidate at Cornell and a fellow at the Institute for Security and Conflict Studies at George Washington University.
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People in Revolt: The State of the Anti-Military Movement in Myanmar
March 27, 2023
9:30 am
Taylor Room (Statler Hotel); Kahin Center, See description for details
Learn about the state of the anti-military movement in Myanmar from an expert panel, hosted by the Cornell University Southeast Asia Program (SEAP) in both English and Burmese on March 27, 2023. Featured speakers will include members of the National Unity Government of Myanmar and a former senior State Department official. The morning panel discussion (9:30 am to 12:00 pm) will be conducted in English and the afternoon panel discussion (1:30 pm to 4:00 pm) will be in Burmese language.
The morning panel will be held in the Taylor Room, Statler Hotel, and the afternoon panel will be held at the Kahin Center. Participants are also welcome to join by Zoom.
This event is sponsored by the Southeast Asia Program (SEAP), the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, the Department of Government, the Department of Asian Studies, the Berger Program, and the Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies. This event is partially funded by the U.S. Department of Education as part of SEAP’s designation as a National Resource Center.
On February 1, 2021, the Myanmar military removed the country’s democratically re-elected government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from office in a coup d’état. By April of that year, the military had formed the State Administrative Council (SAC) to rule the country. In response, millions of ordinary people of Myanmar have risen up against the SAC and the renewed imposition of military rule. The ensuing crackdown from the SAC has thrown a once fledgling democracy into chaos. Since the coup, the Myanmar military and police have reportedly killed thousands of civilians and have arbitrarily detained thousands more. As conflict has erupted across the country, civilian populations have been bombed, properties have been razed, and hundreds of thousands of people are internally displaced. The junta has also failed to hold the new elections it had promised.
Amidst the continuing spring revolution and the civil disobedience movement, the National Unity Government (NUG) was formed on April 16, 2021 by a group of elected lawmakers and members of the parliament deposed by the coup, ethnic representatives and civil society activists. The NUG functions as a parallel government, and opposes the military by seeking support from Ethnic Armed Groups (EAOs) across Myanmar and by seeking support domestically and abroad. The NUG’s vision of state and nation building is designed to be more inclusive and representative of popular demands than the SAC junta, and seeks to provide the country’s many ethnic minority groups what they have demanded since independence. The NUG has also created People’s Defense Force (PDF) to protect civilians from military attacks.
The international community has condemned the violence perpetrated by the Myanmar military against its own civilians. Most recently, on December 21, 2022 the U.N. Security Council adopted a historic resolution on Myanmar denouncing the human rights violations carried out by the Myanmar military government since the coup d’état. In the United States, President Biden signed the Burma Act into law on December 23, 2022 to implement increased pressure on the military and provide more aid to the people of Myanmar.
As the violence in Myanmar and the war in Ukraine make clear, the rise of autocratic leaders and their actions pose a threat to democracy and fundamental freedoms around the world. The esteemed speakers in both panels will discuss how the anti-military movement formed and grew into a nationwide uprising, how this dissent is sustained, and what this movement envisions for a new Myanmar.
Featured Speakers will include:
U Moe Zaw Oo, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, National Unity Government
U Kyaw Moe Tun, Permanent Representative of Myanmar to the United Nations
Ms. Priscilla Clapp, Senior Advisor to the United States Institute of Peace; and former Chief of Mission in Burma from 1999-2002
Moderators:
May Sabe Phyu, Visiting Fellow, Cornell University Law School
Magnus Fiskejo, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Cornell University
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Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
Southeast Asia Program
Bartels Explainer
How did President Alvarado’s policies protect Costa Rica’s environment?
Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez talks about her recent biodiversity assessment and how Alvarado’s policies engaged citizens in climate action.
This year’s Bartels lecturer, President Carlos Alvarado Quesada (2018–22), started Costa Rica on track to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 with an ambitious climate action plan to meet the objectives of the United Nations’ 2015 Paris Agreement. His administration’s climate and conservation policies earned Costa Rica the 2019 Champion of the Earth Award, the UN’s highest environmental honor.
"We found significant biodiversity losses in regions with high-impact agriculture."
On this page: Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez describes Costa Rica's unique standing as a global biodiversity hotspot with a long history of environmental regulations—not always effectively enforced—and explains how Alvarado’s policies enlisted Costa Ricans in climate action. A native of Costa Rica, Ruiz-Gutierrez is co-director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Center for Avian Population Studies, conservation science program leader, and a fellow at Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability.
Coming March 22: Reserve Your Free Ticket Today!
A Conversation with Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez
Did Alvarado reverse any damaging environmental policy trends in his time in office?
President Alvarado sought to balance the pressures to increase growth and development in Costa Rica while protecting our natural capital. A notable example was when he vetoed a project that would have authorized shrimp trawl fishing in Costa Rican waters—an activity that would negatively impact small-scale fishermen and destroy marine life.
Another success of the Alvarado administration was the Escazu Agreement, which was signed in Costa Rica in 2018 and took effect in 2021. The agreement provided a sweeping framework to promote inclusive, informed, and participatory climate action in Latin America and imposed requirements to protect the rights of environmental defenders in the region.
Unfortunately, current president Rodrigo Chaves has taken steps to potentially reactivate shrimp trawling in the country and, in February, pulled back Costa Rica from the UN-backed climate agreement.
What kinds of changes to wildlife habitats have you observed in Costa Rica?
In my own research with the Lab of O’s conservation science program, we recently completed a biodiversity assessment for the country using birds as indicators. Our results support current knowledge—and my own observations that Costa Rica has successfully preserved much of its biodiversity through the National System of Conservation Areas.
However, we found significant biodiversity losses in regions with high-impact agriculture and where unregulated urban development has degraded and impacted forest remnants.
How did Costa Rica start to make conservation a priority?
Costa Rica’s achievements in conservation and environmental issues can be traced back to the country’s most politically relevant decision—abolishing the army in 1949. This decision is what has allowed Costa Rica to spend social capital on environmental issues for the past 74 years.
A few key laws in the 1990s have served as the backbone for biodiversity conservation. In 1994 the constitution was amended to state that “every person has the right to a healthy and ecologically balanced environment.” The 1996 Forest Law mandates the rational use of all natural resources, prohibits land-cover change in forests, and includes incentives like the Payment for Ecosystem Services Program. Unfortunately, enforcement of these laws has varied widely among different governments.
What’s one practical step Alvarado’s administration took to encourage citizens’ participation in conservation?
The participation of citizens in conservation action at local levels is a critical driver for different initiatives. One example is the decarbonization plan launched by Alvarado’s administration in 2019, which aims for a decarbonized economy with net-zero emissions by 2050.
A big component of Alvarado’s plan was to renew the transport system, which is the country’s major source of greenhouse emissions. This included the goal of full electrification of all buses and taxis and incentives to move 100 percent of light-duty vehicle sales to zero emissions by 2050. Any changes to the transport system require significant buy-in and participation from citizens.
As a result of tax exemptions, many people purchased new or used electric vehicles. Charging stations became more common across the main central valley. These changes were starting to gain momentum when the pandemic hit, and the economic impacts and controversies surrounding the pandemic diverted public attention and support.
Has Alvarado’s successor continued the 2050 plan?
Rodrigo Chaves’ administration has not made the plan a priority. Alvarado’s plan included significant measures in basic infrastructure and economic sectors, such as public and private transport, energy, industry, agriculture, waste management, and soil and forest management. Many of these measures have fallen by the wayside.
Chaves has allowed the public bus sector to retain fleets of older buses, for example—compromising not just the goals of the plan, but the health of the people and ecosystems of Costa Rica.
Don't miss the Bartels World Affairs Lecture with Carlos Alvarado Quesada on March 22: Reserve your free ticket today!
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Democracy and Its Opposites: Challenges in a Global World
April 24, 2023
5:00 pm
Alice Statler Auditorium
Lund Critical Debate
Democracies worldwide—even many wealthy democracies long considered safely consolidated—are at risk today. Governments, policymakers, and voters face new conflicts over democratic institutions, checks and balances, which citizens can compete for office or deserve representation, and what rules of accountability apply.
This year's Lund debate from the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies examines the threats democracies around the world are confronting, both from external forces and from within—and what governments and citizens can do to fight back.
Join Thomas Garrett of the Community of Democracies and Damon Wilson of the National Endowment for Democracy for a conversation on democratic backsliding, strategies for resilience, and the conditions and practices that undermine democracy: democracy ... and its opposites.
A reception with refreshments will follow the conversation.
Lund Debate: 5:00–6:30 p.m. | Alice Statler AuditoriumFree ticket required for in-person attendance. Reserve your ticket today! Join the lecture virtually by registering at Cornell.
Reception to follow.
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Panelists
Thomas E. Garrett is secretary general of the Community of Democracies, a global intergovernmental coalition comprised of the Governing Council member states that support adherence to the Warsaw Declaration's common democratic values and standards. Garrett previously worked for the International Republican Institute for 12 years overseas in Ukraine, Mongolia, and Indonesia, returning to Washington, DC, in 2005 as director of Middle East programs and then as vice president for global programs.
Damon Wilson is president and CEO of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a nonprofit grant-making foundation supporting freedom around the world. Prior to joining NED, he helped transform the Atlantic Council into a leading global think tank as its executive vice president. He previously served as special assistant to the president and senior director for European affairs at the National Security Council. Wilson also served at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad as the executive secretary and chief of staff, where he helped manage one of the largest U.S. embassies during a time of conflict.
Moderator
Rachel Beatty Riedl has served as the Einaudi Center's director since 2019. She is the Einaudi Center's John S. Knight Professor of International Studies and professor in the Department of Government and Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy. Her research interests include institutional development in new democracies, local governance and decentralization, and authoritarian regime legacies in Africa.
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About the Debate
The Lund Critical Debate is a signature event of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies. This year's dialogue is part of Einaudi's work on democratic threats and resilience. Established in 2008, Einaudi's Lund Critical Debate series is made possible by the generosity of Judith Lund Biggs '57.
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Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
East Asia Program
Southeast Asia Program
Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Institute for African Development
Institute for European Studies
South Asia Program
Global Hubs Town Hall
March 13, 2023
11:30 am
G10 Biotech
Faculty and staff are invited to join for an overview and open discussion of the Global Hubs initiative.
Vice Provost Wendy Wolford will explain the purpose of the Global Hubs, and faculty leads for several of the Hubs locations will discuss their experiences with institutional partners and ways for faculty and staff to be involved.
Please bring your questions about the Hubs and join us in person on March 13 at 11:30 a.m. in G10 Biotech.
Moderator:
Wendy Wolford, Vice Provost for International Affairs
Faculty Presenters:
Gustavo Flores-Macias, faculty lead for Tecnológico de Monterrey, MexicoNate Foster, faculty lead for University of Edinburgh, United KingdomYing Hua, director of Cornell China Center, BeijingLee Humphreys, faculty lead for DenmarkTom Pepinsky, faculty lead for National University of Singapore, SingaporeMark Milstein, representative for the Faculty Senate CAPP on the faculty advisory committeeRachel Beatty Riedl, director of the Mario Einaudi Center for International StudiesKen Roberts, faculty lead for Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador
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Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
East Asia Program
Southeast Asia Program
South Asia Program
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Institute for African Development
Institute for European Studies
How Biden’s Shock-and-Awe Tactic Is Failing to Stop Russia
Nicholas Mulder, IES/PACS
“If the sanctioning coalition was much stronger than expected, then so was the target,” says Nicholas Mulder, assistant professor.
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Sanctions Statecraft
Nicholas Mulder, IES/PACS
“If the sanctioning coalition was much stronger than expected, then so was the target,” says Nicholas Mulder, assistant professor of history.
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Yaro T. Kulchyckyj
Affiliated Scholar
Yaro T. Kulchyckyj holds a Doctor of International Affairs and a Masters of International Public Policy degrees from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (JHU-SAIS). He wrote his doctoral dissertation on U.S. Foreign Policy Decision-Making: The Obama and Trump’s Administrations' Decisions Regarding Lethal Aid to Ukraine, 2014-2017. He has over 25 years of experience in diplomacy, development, and defense. He is a career public servant with the Department of State and a Senior Fellow with the Partnership for Public Service.
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The Pregnant Tree and the Goblin film screening
March 22, 2023
7:00 pm
Cornell Cinema
The Pregnant Tree and the Goblin (2019, 115 minutes) by Kim Dongryung, Park Kyoungtae
In a shanty village located next to the US military base in Uijungbu, lives a former US military comfort woman named Park Insun. Living in the village for more than 40 years, Insun feels uneasy after the news announcement of the demolition plan of the military base.
One winter night, Insun discovers the death of her colleague and follows her silent funeral. She is soon spotted by the Death Messengers who came to investigate the wandering ghosts and take them to the afterlife. While the Death Messengers try to make up stories for the ghosts, Insun decides to make her own story to fight back her extinction.
Filmmakers Kim Dongryung and Park Kyoungtae will participate in a post-screening conversation with Shinjae Kim, film curator and critic.
Part of the series Power of Seeing 보는 이의 권력 hosted by the East Asia Program at the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies.
About the Filmmakers
Kim Dongryung, born in 1977, majored in English literature and film making at KAFA & Paris 8. She started photography and then made shorts and documentaries on the daily lives of the US Military Camp Town since 2004.
Park Kyoungtae, born in 1975. After studying sociology and visual anthropology, he made documentaries on women and children of US military camp town in Korea since 2000. His debut documentary starred Park Insun, a former US comfort woman, and since then he collaborated with her in various films.
In Korean with English subtitles.
Film website: www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20190665
We thank the following for their generous co-sponsorship:
The Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
The Cornell Society for the Humanities
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
East Asia Program
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies