Happening @ Michigan https://events.umich.edu/list/rss RSS Feed for Happening @ Michigan Events at the University of Michigan. "Determinants of Giving and Taking Bribes in Eastern Europe: Norms, Personal Affluence, and Security of Corrupt Transactions" (February 17, 2020 11:30am) https://events.umich.edu/event/72149 72149-17946489@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, February 17, 2020 11:30am
Location: Weill Hall (Ford School)
Organized By: Weiser Diplomacy Center

Please join the Weiser Diplomacy Center, the Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia, and the Center for Rusia, East European, and Eurasian Studies for a talk with Dr. Aram Simonyan, a visiting Fulbright Fellow.

Short Abstract:
Curbing corruption in Armenia was one of the main goals of the new Armenian government before the velvet revolution in 2018. According to Transparency International, Armenian Corruption Perception Index has increased by 7 points and the rank has improved by 28 positions in 2019 compared to 2018. What were the social and economic factors keeping the high level of corruption in the country? Recent empirical studies have predominantly looked at antecedents of corruption from a macro level. Based on the analysis of three datasets comprising of individual-level surveys taken over a three-year period in Armenia, the study argues that social norms, personal wealth, and the high reliability of corrupt transactions impact an individual’s decision to be involved in corruption.

Lunch will be served.

About the Speaker:
Aram Simonyan is Associate Professor of Economics at the International Scientific Educational Centre of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, where he has been working in the capacity of Associate Chair of Economics and Management Department. His main research focuses on anti-corruption strategies in European countries from a socio-economic perspective. Advanced in eight languages, he held visiting positions at multiple European Universities. Now he is getting his second PhD in Sociology at the University of Kiel.
Dr. Simonyan was a Weiser Professional Fellow at the Gerald Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan in 2018, and is a visiting Fulbright Scholar at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan in 2019-2020.

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 29 Jan 2020 14:44:29 -0500 2020-02-17T11:30:00-05:00 2020-02-17T12:50:00-05:00 Weill Hall (Ford School) Weiser Diplomacy Center Workshop / Seminar Photo of Aram Simonyan
Framing and Debating Climate Change and the Environment in Key African States (October 22, 2020 11:30am) https://events.umich.edu/event/78329 78329-20010767@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, October 22, 2020 11:30am
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Weiser Diplomacy Center

Part of the Seminar Series on Global Perspectives on Debate and Democracy, organized by the Weiser Diplomacy Center and co-sponsored by the African Studies Center, DAAS, PitE, and International Institute for UM's "Democracy and Debate" theme semester.

Open to all University of Michigan students.

Please join us for a virtual seminar with Dr. Babajide Ololajulo, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria and Dr. Patrick Cobbinah, Urban Planning Academic in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, The University of Melbourne, in conversation with Justine M. Davis, LSA Collegiate Fellow in the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies (DAAS) at the University of Michigan.

About the Speakers:

Dr. Babajide Ololajulo is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He is a development anthropologist with research interests ranging over oil and environmental politics in Nigeria, identity politics, and heritage and memory. He has published widely on these themes. Dr Ololajulo is an alumnus of the University of Michigan African Presidential Scholars program (UMAPS), a presidential fellow at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association, and a 2014 fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS-AHP). Same year, he won the Leventis fellowship at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He has also at different times received travel grants from UK ESRC and SEPHIS to attend workshops in the United Kingdom, Brazil and Peru. His recent book, Unshared Identity published by the African Humanities Program employs the practice of posthumous paternity to explore African endogenous ways of being and meaning-making.

Dr. Patrick Cobbinah is an urban planning academic in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, The University of Melbourne. His background is in human geography with broad experience in urban and regional planning gained through teaching and research conducted at universities in Ghana and Australia. Patrick was with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Ghana in 2016 and Charles Sturt University in 2011, and worked in the areas of urban planning and management, urban resilience, environmental management, regional planning, natural resource management, climate change and development of research packages to guide urbanization and sustainable environmental development in Africa focusing on Ghana. He has published widely. He serves as the Managing Editor (Africa Region) for the Journal of Urban Affairs. Patrick is an alumnus of the University of Michigan African Presidential Scholars program (UMAPS).

About the Moderator:

Justine M. Davis is an LSA Collegiate Fellow in the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies (DAAS) at the University of Michigan. She will be an Assistant Professor in DAAS and Political Science beginning in 2022. Davis’ research examines challenges to democratization efforts in post-conflict and weakly institutionalized contexts in Sub-Saharan Africa. Her current book project explores how civil war affects the ability of local civil society organizations to contribute to post-conflict democratization. Through a multi-methods research design, she leverages geographic variation in rebel takeover in Côte d’Ivoire to examine how war shapes local civil society and citizens.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 19 Oct 2020 21:24:33 -0400 2020-10-22T11:30:00-04:00 2020-10-22T12:50:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Weiser Diplomacy Center Workshop / Seminar
The Evolving Role of the U.S. in the Gulf Region (November 16, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/78884 78884-20133219@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, November 16, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Weiser Diplomacy Center

This event is open to the public.

Join us for a virtual conversation co-hosted by the Gulf International Forum featuring Dr. Dania Thafer, Executive Director of the Gulf International Forum (GIF), Abbas Khadim, Director of Iraq Initiative at the Atlantic Council and General Anthony C. Zinni, former United States Marine Corps general in conversation with Ambassador Patrick Theros.

About the speakers:
Dr. Abbas Kadhim leads the Atlantic Council Iraq Initiative. He is an Iraq expert and author of Reclaiming Iraq: The 1920 Revolution and the Founding of the Modern State. Most recently, he was a senior foreign policy fellow at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. He was formerly an assistant professor of national security affairs and Middle East studies at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California and a visiting assistant professor at Stanford University. He also previously held a senior government affairs position at the Iraqi Embassy in Washington, DC. His books include Governance in the Middle East and North Africa and The Hawza Under Siege: Studies in the Ba’th Party Archive. He earned a PhD in Near Eastern Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Dania Thafer is a political scientist with a focus on political economy and international relations. Her current research explores the effect of state-business relations on economic development for the existing youth-bulges in rentier economies with an emphasis on the Arab Gulf states. She has been widely published on matters concerning the Arab Gulf region including several articles, a monograph, and a co-edited book entitled The Arms Trade, Military Services and the Security Market in the Gulf States: Trends and Implications. Dania is the founding Executive Director of Gulf International Forum, an institute focused on the Gulf region. Previously, she worked at the National Defense University’s Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies. Ms. Thafer has a master’s degree in Political Economy from New York University. She will be graduating this semester with a Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science from American University in Washington, DC. Her dissertation is titled “Obstacles for Innovation in Rentier Economies: States, Elites, and the Squandering of the Demographic Dividend.” Dania is a visiting researcher at CCAS for the 2019-2020 academic year.

Ambassador Patrick Nickolas Theros has served as president and executive director of the U.S.-Qatar Business Council for nearly 20 years. Throughout his 35-year Foreign Service career, Ambassador Theros held many honorable positions, including ambassador to the State of Qatar, advisor to the commander in chief, central command; deputy chief of mission and political officer in Amman; charge d’affaires and deputy chief of mission in Abu Dhabi; economic and commercial counselor in Damascus; and deputy coordinator for Counter-Terrorism. In 1990, he was accorded the personal rank of minister counselor. He retired from the Foreign Service in 1998. Ambassador Theros was awarded the President’s Meritorious Service Award for career officials and the Secretary of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service. He earned four Superior Honor Awards. The Emir of Qatar awarded him the Qatar Order of Merit in 1998. In 1999, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem inducted Ambassador Theros into the Order of the Holy Sepulcher. He serves on the board of several businesses and charitable and educational institutions, including Qatar Foundation International.

General Anthony C. Zinni is a retired, highly decorated United States Marine Corps general. Throughout his career, General Zinni has served as the U.S. special envoy to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, in addition to posts in Somalia, Pakistan, Eritrea and Ethiopia. General Zinni retired from the U.S. Marine Corps after a 39-year career that included travel to 70 countries. He ended his career as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Central Command.

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Lecture / Discussion Sun, 15 Nov 2020 15:51:05 -0500 2020-11-16T16:00:00-05:00 2020-11-16T17:30:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Weiser Diplomacy Center Lecture / Discussion Gulf International Forum panel
What’s Next for US Foreign Policy? (December 2, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/79227 79227-20231468@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, December 2, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Weiser Diplomacy Center

The Weiser Diplomacy Center is partnering with the American Academy of Diplomacy to bring seasoned U.S. diplomats to the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and discuss the future of U.S. foreign policy after the presidential election 2020. We invite students and the community to join Ambassador Ron Neumann in conversation with Ambassador Dawn Liberi, Ambassador Hugo Llorens and Ambassador Alexander Vershbow.

About the speakers:

Ambassador Dawn Liberi is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Career Minister, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Burundi from 2012 to 2016. Ambassador Liberi started her career in Africa where she served in five posts with USAID over a span of twenty years, focusing on key development issues. Serving as the USAID Mission Director in Nigeria (2002-2005), she managed a $100 million program of assistance and brokered a $20 million public-private sector alliance to fund community development activities. As USAID Mission Director in Uganda (1998-2002), Ambassador Liberi managed one of the largest HIV/AIDS and micro-enterprise programs in sub-Saharan Africa, helping to significantly reduce HIV/AIDS prevalence and assisting Uganda to develop high value exports.

Ambassador Hugo Llorens is a recently retired (December 31, 2017) U.S. Ambassador. He currently makes his home in Marco Island, Florida. On a part-time basis, he does international business and security affairs consulting. Llorens provides advice to U.S. and international firms on political, trade and investment matters pertaining to markets in Latin America, Europe, South Asia and the Western Pacific. He utilizes his 36 years of diplomatic experience and leverages his network of global contacts to enhance his clients’ business prospects. He also does public speaking on leadership and foreign affairs issues, and is currently writing a book about his diplomatic experiences.

Ambassador Alexander Sandy Vershbow is a Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security in Washington DC. Ambassador Vershbow was the Deputy Secretary General of NATO from February 2012 to October 2016, the first American to hold that position. He frequently chaired meetings of the North Atlantic Council and other NATO committees. He was directly involved in shaping the Alliance’s political response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, in adapting NATO’s strengthened deterrence and defense posture, and in deepening NATO’s partnerships with non-Allies in Europe, the Middle East and Northeast Asia.

Moderator:

Ambassador Ronald Neumann, President, American Academy of Diplomacy

Formerly a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Ronald E. Neumann served three times as Ambassador; to Algeria, Bahrain and finally to Afghanistan from July 2005 to April 2007. Before Afghanistan, Mr. Neumann, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, served in Baghdad from February 2004 with the Coalition Provisional Authority and then as Embassy Baghdad’s liaison with the Multinational Command, where he was deeply involved in coordinating the political part of military actions.

Prior to working in Iraq, he was Ambassador in Manama, Bahrain (2001-2004), Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Near East Affairs (1997-2000) with responsibility for North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, and Ambassador to Algeria (1994 to 1997). He was Director of the Office of Northern Gulf Affairs (Iran and Iraq; 1991 to 1994). Earlier in his career, he was Deputy Chief of Mission in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and in Sanaa in Yemen, Principal Officer in Tabriz, Iran and Economic/Commercial Officer in Dakar, Senegal. His previous Washington assignments include service as Jordan Desk officer, Staff Assistant in the Middle East (NEA) Bureau, and Political Officer in the Office of Southern European Affairs.

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Livestream / Virtual Tue, 01 Dec 2020 08:28:32 -0500 2020-12-02T16:00:00-05:00 2020-12-02T17:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Weiser Diplomacy Center Livestream / Virtual American Academy of Diplomacy