Faculty Fridays

Democracy is under threat across the world. Today, less than 30% of the world’s population lives in a democratic country, down from over 50% in 2017. One of the principal threats to democracy is the inability of governments to meet the needs of their populations. When democratically elected governments fail to address the economic, environmental, security, and social challenges that afflict their countries, citizens are prone to look to populist authoritarian politicians for solutions. In this Faculty Friday, Rachel Sigman draws on lessons from her new book on democratic governance in Africa and her ongoing research on inequality, democracy, and state capacity across the world to offer insights into the current wave of democratic backsliding and what, if anything, can be done to halt it.

Brazil's recent election pit Leftist labor leader Lula against Right-wing neofascist Bolsonaro, perhaps the clearest portrayal of the crossroads at which we currently find ourselves. The world faces an increasingly stark choice between democracy, inclusion, and equity or authoritarianism, exclusion, and inequality. The failure to decisively meet this challenge coincides with European conflict, rising US-China tensions, inflation, and digital disruption. The old geopolitical and socio-economic order is failing; a renewed world system has yet to take shape. In this Faculty Friday, Professor Aaron Schneider discussed his research on issues of development and democracy in Brazil and other countries, where developmental downturns have coincided with illiberal rule.

Around the world, more than 1 billion people live in slums. This number is expected to increase because rapid urbanization outpaces housing availability in most, if not all, developing countries. Experts at the World Bank and elsewhere endorse formal property ownership as a pathway to reducing homelessness and the growth of urban slums. In the first Faculty Friday of the school year, Assistant Professor Singumbe Muyeba discussed his research, which challenges the idea that freehold ideology is a panacea for poverty alleviation with empirical evidence from South Africa, Zambia, Kenya and Angola.

Tensions between police and communities – particularly marginalized groups – are frequently reported in the media and can be seen and felt in daily lives. What are the most important factors in helping and harming relationships between police and community, especially when these relationships are strained? What are the attributes people want in police officers and policing and how can policing be effectively monitored? Korbel School assistant professor Ajenai Clemmons helped to establish the Denver Office of the Independent Monitor where investigations of police and sheriff misconduct is overseen. In this final Faculty Friday of the school year, Clemmons and Dean Mayer discussed ways in which trust between communities and police can be built and ideas for reform.

The history of Russia and Ukraine dates as far back as medieval times. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 the relationship between the neighboring countries has become increasingly fraught. Crimea was annexed by Russia and the Ukraine’s Donbas region has been the heart of a drawn-out war. Despite most Ukrainians supporting independence, why won’t Russia let its neighbor go? And what are the implications to follow? Professor Rachel Epstein joins Korbel School Dean Fritz Mayer for a timely conversation on the state affairs between Russia and Ukraine.
 

China’s massive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is centered on colossal infrastructure investments meant to help usher in a new era of trade and growth for economies in Asia and beyond. Launched in 2013 by President Xi Jinping, BRI represented a shift in China’s overall posture on assistance and its vision of foreign affairs more broadly. But some worry that China is using BRI as a tool in a “long game” to dislodge the U.S. led international order. Earlier this fall, the Biden administration announced the “Build Back Better World” initiative at the G-7 summit in what some believe as an effort to counter Beijing. The announcement came on the heels of a similar initiative from the European Union. Both initiatives are expected to hit the ground running in early 2022. What could these new western alternatives mean to BRI? And what’s to come of all of this in a post-COVID world? This Faculty Friday includes Dean Fritz Mayer in conversation with assistant professor Alvin Camba for a discussion and analysis of BRI and its complications for the future.
 

The Korbel School’s Sié Chéou-Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy advances knowledge and practice in global security, prosperity, and social justice through innovative research, interdisciplinary education, and thoughtful engagement with others who strive for a more just prosperous, and peaceful world. This year, the Sié Center celebrates 10 years of vital, path-breaking, collaborative research and a model for engaged scholarship. In this video we look back on a decade of the Sié Center’s impact and accomplishments and get a glimpse of upcoming research topics with the center’s founder and director, Professor Deborah Avant.

How do individuals come together to act collectively in their common interest and why is it that those who promote collective action so often turn to stories? In our first Faculty Friday of the school year, Professor Rachel Epstein, Senior Associate Dean, turns the tables and interviews Fritz Mayer, Dean of the Korbel School, an expert in the role of storytelling in politics and collective action. In what is sure to be a lively conversation, we will explore the role of narratives in politics, how narratives capture our minds, and why storytelling and narrative matters in shaping our understanding and response to critical topics ranging from international affairs to climate change.

Is the climate emergency a threat to peace? Climate change is poised to further intensify resource competition, exacerbate conflicts, complicate issues around food security, and drive hundreds of millions of people from their homes. From the Asia-Pacific and Latin America to the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa, record temperatures, rising seas and frequent extreme weather present significant challenges to human security and the planet at large. In the final Faculty Friday of the school year we discussed climate change as a major and unconventional security threat with Korbel School faculty expert, Cullen Hendrix.

The U.S. has experienced an increase of migrants crossing the southern border, with total border crossings on pace to hit a two-decade high. The Biden administration is ramping up its diplomatic efforts and racing to find more space to shelter children as it tries to tackle these issues made even more complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic without turning to the aggressive deterrence strategies of previous administrations. Once across the border, undocumented workers also experience myriad challenges including the denial of wages or employee benefits rightfully owed despite their undocumented status. Join Dean Fritz Mayer for a conversation with Korbel School Associate Professor, Rebecca Galemba, as we explore the challenges facing migration policy, border security and wage theft of undocumented workers, including those here in Colorado.

2020 packed quite a punch. Join us for the final Faculty Friday of 2020 as we explore what could be in store for 2021 and beyond with Jonathan Moyer, director of the Korbel School's Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures. The Pardee Center seeks to explore, understand and shape alternative futures of global change and human development. Utilizing the International Futures (IFs) model, the most sophisticated and comprehensive forecasting modeling system available to the public, IFs uses global systems to produce forecasts for 186 countries to the year 2100. Let us take a glimpse into the future together and learn what the International Futures forecasting model can tell us about the years ahead.

There was a great deal on 2020 ballot this year, including a contentious presidential election that could have lasting influence to the economy, heath care, Supreme Court appointments, and myriad other issues. Beyond the presidential election, there were also many policies for consideration on the ballot. Here in Colorado, that included the successful repeal of the Gallagher Amendment, taxes on nicotine products, income tax reductions, paid family and medical leave, among many others. Join Dean Fritz Mayer and associate professor and director of the Scrivner Institute of Public Policy, Naazneen Barma, in a timely conversation about the global-to-local public policy implications of the 2020 election.

As the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic has devastated economies both at home in the U.S. and internationally, what are the biggest challenges, risks and opportunities in the current global economy? What are the macroeconomic policy implications facing the U.S.? Is deglobalization of the world economy underway? Is a post-American economic world-order now emerging, and what would that mean in the reshaping of global financial architecture? Dean Fritz Mayer moderates a timely conversation exploring these questions and many more with Distinguished Professor and Co-Director of the Korbel School's Global Finance, Trade and Economic Integration program, Ilene Grabel.

Tensions between the U.S. and China are escalating with relations between the dueling world powers sinking to the lowest in decades. Are the two largest economies slipping into a new Cold War? What are the causes and the future of the most important bilateral relationship in the world? These are the crucially important questions that this conversation will address. Sam Zhao is a professor of Chinese politics and foreign policy and the director of the Center for China-U.S. Cooperation at the Korbel School. He is an expert on U.S.-China relations, Asia-Pacific regional security, Chinese foreign policy, Chinese politics, Chinese nationalism, East Asian international relations and Asian regionalism. He is the founding editor of the Journal of Contemporary China and the author and editor of more than a dozen of books, including "A Nation-State by Construction: Dynamics of Modern Chinese Nationalism" (Stanford, 2004). His most recent books (ed.) are "China’s Global Reach: The Belt and Road Initiative" (BRI) and "Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Volume II" (Routledge, 2020).