International Undergraduate Study Program in International and Comparative Politics at The American University of Paris - France

On November 8, Steven Ekovich moderated a debate between former French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and campaign consultant Jacques Seguela, organized by The KitSon press club. On November 21 he analyzed American foreign policy in the Arab world in a talk entitled “Les Etats-Unis d’Amérique face aux mutations de l’aire arabe” at the Association des Etudes Internationales of Tunis. Attending were researchers, Tunisian ambassadors, and members of the foreign ministry. On December 9 Ekovich presented a paper on “Le Printemps Arabe, la Tunisie et les Etats-Unis” at a conference in Tunis on “La révolution tunisienne : début d’une nouvelle ère dans les pays arabes” sponsored by the Fondation Temimi and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung en Tunisie. On December 15 he gave a talk on American foreign policy regarding the Arab Spring at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris at a conference on “La Démocratisation dans le Monde Arabe: Alternance pour quelle Alternative?”  The conference was sponsored by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Université Paris Descartes, the Sorbonne, and the Institut du Monde Arabe.  Professor Ekovich appears regularly on French radio and television to analyze American politics and foreign policy.

[AUP - Posted 2 Feb 2012]

On November 7, 2011, Hall Gardner was invited to speak at the research seminar ‘The G-20 after the Cannes Summit’ sponsored by the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) and the G8 Research Group at the University of Toronto (G8RG). The seminar took place at the Centres de Conférences Ministériels, Ministère des Affaires Etrangères et Européennes. Out of this conference, he published  Toward a Geo-Economic Resolution of the Euro Crisis, G8 Research Group at the University of Toronto (G8RG) and Toward a Resolution of the Cyprus dispute and the Euro Crisis: A Geo-economic perspective / Cicero Foundation Great Debate Paper, No. 12/01  January 2012. He also recently published "Toward a New Euro-Atlantic Security Framework" (European Union Institute for Security Studies), which has also been featured on the New Policy Forum website of Mikhail Gorbachev.  Later, in November, Professor Gardner moderated, and participated in, a panel discussion on the subject "The New Middle East - An Emerging Reality Panel: Strategic fallout and Peace Perspective: Chances, Risks, Obstacles" at the International Conference: Policymakers' Responsibility in a Changing World. The Mediterranean: Waves of Change, jointly organized by the Region of Languedoc-Roussillon (France) and the New Policy Forum (Mikhail Gorbachev). Based on the preparation for this conference, he published A Dangerous Transition in the 'Greater Middle East'.  This article was also re-published on many websites, including, Open Democracy.  Another publication, The Ashgate Companion to War: Origins and Prevention, edited by Hall Gardner and Oleg Kobtzeff and featuring articles by a number of AUP professors, including Hall Gardner, Oleg Kobtzeff, Susan Perry, and Steve Ekovich, is coming out in early February. In the meantime, Gardner participated in the France24 debate on US policy toward Iran with Trita Parsi, Francis Perrin, and Borzou Daragahi (part one and part two).  Professor Gardner was a member of the group of experts that produced the discussion paper "Bridging the Fault Lines: Collective Security in Southwest Asia" (January 20, 2012) produced by the East West Institute.  He also commented on the US primary process for France24 before the New Hampshire primary.

[AUP - Posted 2 Feb 2012]

Oleg Kobtzeff was solicited by the Cahiers du Monde Russe to review Gwenn Miller’s Kodiak Kreol: Communities of Empire in Early Russian America. Kobtzeff appeared on France24 at a rhythm of one interview every three days, in average, between December 4 and December 26 when he participated in an hour-length debate on the 20th anniversary of the demise of the Soviet Union.

[AUP - Posted 2 Feb 2012]

Douglas Yates’ fourth book, entitled The Scramble for African Oil: Oppression, Corruption and War for Control of Africa’s Natural Resources (London: Pluto Press, 2012), has just been released.  This book describes how the international demand for oil contributes to the chronic problems plaguing Africa, and is being praised by Michael Klare as “essential reading for anyone seeking an understanding of the resource curse.”  In other news Professor Yates was invited to speak on Radio France International about the presidential elections in Senegal (Jan. 3), and on France24 television about the massive strikes against fuel subsidy cuts in Nigeria (Jan.13 and Jan.16). 

[AUP - Posted 2 Feb 2012]

Richard Beardsworth delivered the keynote speech at a UNESCO-organized youth seminar in Cairo in June entitled "Ethical Dilemmas and Democracy." He participated in May in the UK launch of Academics Against Poverty at the Global Ethics Centre, University of Birmingham and has since joined the steering committee for a Global Poverty Consensus Report targeted at the aftermath of the Millennium Development Goals in 2015. His article "National Interest, Interdependence and State Responsibility: An Argument for Cosmopolitan Realism" is presently under review for International Theory. His paper "Political Vision in International Relations" will be given at the Millennium Annual Conference, London in October. 

[AUP - Posted 2 Jan 2012]