The Georgetown Center for Democracy and Civil Society and the Master of Arts in Democracy and Governance presents

Resilient Authoritarianism and the Future of Democracy Promotion in the Middle East

on Wednesday, March 23, at 3pm

Even as the political landscape of the Middle East is undergoing change, authoritarianism will remain a prominent and formidable presence in the lives of millions of citizens across the Middle East.  The study of authoritarian governance remains essential for our understanding of the political dynamics and inner workings of regimes across the region as they struggle to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances.  Focusing on two of the region’s durable authoritarian regimes, Syria and Iran, this panel will explore the sources of authoritarian resilience in the Middle East, and highlight the adaptive strategies these two regimes have used to preserve their grip on power.

For more information and to RSVP, click here.

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Live Webcast and Online discussion: Pakistan’s Media: Dissecting its Coverage of Extremism, Terrorism and Pakistan-U.S. Relations

December 6, 2010, 2:30pm – 4:00pm EST

Location:
U.S. Institute of Peace
2nd floor
1200 17th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036

Click Here to find a full list of speakers and more details about the event.

Webcast: This event will be webcast live beginning at 2:30pm EDT on December 6, 2010 at www.usip.org/webcast.html.  Online viewers will be able to engage panelists and each other through live chat and Twitter discussions (hashtag #usippak).

Predominantly state-run until a decade ago, Pakistan’s broadcast media has transformed into a largely independent and proactive presence in Pakistani society. Complementing this is the rich vernacular and English language print coverage that the country has possessed for years. Combined, the print and broadcast outlets have strengthened a significant element of Pakistan’s civil society as the media is now extremely vocal in covering international and national issues, heightening public awareness and critical understanding.

Perhaps most pertinent to understand from the U.S. perspective is the Pakistani media’s coverage of issues pertaining to extremism, the war in Afghanistan, and more broadly, the Pakistan-U.S. relationship. Often, there have been concerns raised by outside observers that Pakistani media outlets paint too negative a picture of the Pakistan-U.S. bilateral ties and that major Pakistani media outlets have not taken a strong enough stance against extremist outfits. Is this criticism true? What are the motivations and constraints which lead the Pakistani media to determine how they present issues? And what are the nuances and differences in messaging between broadcast and print, and vernacular and English language media?

This event, which will seek to answer these questions, is being co-sponsored by USIP’s Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention and USIP’s Center of Innovation for Media, Conflict and Peacebuilding.

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Live Webcast and Online discussion: Mapping the Russian Blogosphere

Experts from Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society and Morningside Analytics will present their new research on the Russian blogosphere, while prominent Russia experts and notable bloggers will respond. The research team mapped this extensive social network, analyzing over 11,000 Russian language blogs to understand how politics is discussed, by whom, and if there is evidence of political and social mobilization in the blogosphere. The team also analyzed the blogosphere’s place within the overall Russian online and traditional media ecology, including discussion of top political YouTube videos.

Click Here to find a full list of speakers and more details about the event.

This event is part of USIP’s ongoing Blogs and Bullets initiative that examines the relationship between online discourse and violent conflict.

Webcast: This event will be webcast live beginning at 10:00am EDT on October 19, 2010 at www.usip.org/webcast.html.  Online viewers will be able to engage panelists and each other through live chat and Twitter discussions (hashtag: #usipblogs).

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On January 19th, 2010, four emerging leaders working in the Middle East will discuss the recommendations formed at the POMED conferences, as well as their own experiences.  The participants will share their thoughts on issues of political change in the Middle East, with a response from Kenneth Wollack, President of the National Democratic Institute (NDI).

When: Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

5 pm

Where: Mortara Center for International for International Studies

3600 N Street, NW

Washington, D.C. 20057

Reception to follow

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In honor of all of our activities, here’s our list of Top Posts to review the year.

Top Posts

• The war on Flying
• Kosovo as a model for Afghanistan?
• Obama needs a vision check
• Why do people protest?

And while the stats aren’t in yet, Barak’s ‘Development first crowd‘ series is likely to be a hit as well.

Most Commented

‘Obama needs a vision check’ also has the distinction of being our most commented post of the year.  Other top commented posts include:

• Growth without government
• Another coup government consolidated in Africa

Thank you for making it such a great year, but I think we can all agree it’s time to move on to the next one.  Happy New Year from all of us at D&S and Georgetown CDACS!

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Sharing Strategies on Repression and Reform

A Graduate Student and Practitioner Symposium

Presented By

The Center for Democracy and Civil Society at Georgetown University

In Cooperation With

Freedom House & the Forum for the Study of Democracy

December 10th, 2009

10:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Council on Foreign Relations

1777 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006

From Rangoon to Tehran, demonstrators continually adopt new strategies and technologies in their struggles against oppressive regimes. However, demonstrators are not the only ones adapting. In an effort to preempt demonstrators, authoritarians manage access to technologies, cooperate in regional organizations, and learn from each other. Contending dictators and demonstrators are aware of this competitive learning, but we know little about which side is more adaptable and under what conditions.

Demonstrators: 10:00a.m. – 11:20 a.m.

Commentator: Thomas O. Melia, Deputy Executive Director, Freedom House

Gabrielle Bardall, International Foundation for Electoral Systems

Kilic Kanat, Department of Political Science, Syracuse University

Laura Mottaz, Center for International Media Assistance, National Endowment for Democracy

J. Hunter Price, Department of Political Science, Trinity University

Dictators: 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Commentator: Daniel Brumberg, Associate Professor of Political Science at Georgetown University and Acting Director of the Muslim World Initiative at the US Institute for Peace.

Lauren Albright, Department of Political Science, Temple University

Sheena Chestnut, Department of Political Science, Harvard University

Jeanne Elone, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University

Brandon Yonder, National Endowment for Democracy

Refreshments will be served

RSVP by December 8 to cdacsconference@gmail.com

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