NEXUS | The IGL Newsletter | Fall 2008

Newsletters | Posted Oct 31, 2008
Program: EPIIC (Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship)
TABLE OF CONTENTS The Next President's Policies Toward Latin America Back in 2000, then-candidate George W. Bush pledged to make this a "Century of the Americas." "Our future cannot be separated from the future of Latin America," then-candidate George W. Bush told a Miami audience in 2000. "Should I become the president, I will look south not as an afterthought, but as a fundamental commitment." His campaign promised improved trade relations, solid partnerships, increased development aid, and a more humane and pragmatic immigration policy. President Bush's first international trip was to visit his Mexican counterpart, and his first major international event was the Third Summit of the Americas in Quebec. more >> The evening of our lives: Elegy for Akonyi Bedo more >>EPIIC Addresses Global Cities in the Urban Century With 2007 seeing the first time in history that more of the world’s population is living in urban areas than in rural areas, EPIIC is exploring “Global Cities” as its 2008-09 theme. Cities have variously been understood as the cultivators of civilization and the generators of prosperity, as well as the source of corruption and immorality. In fiction and films, they capture our imagination, running the gamut from cultural wastelands to future utopias. more >> ALLIES Hosts Second Annual Intellectual Roundtable on Increasing National Participation in Security and Defense The 2008 Intellectual Roundtable “Civilians and Soldiers: Increasing National Participation in Security and Defense” explored the increasing need to combine intellectual and technical competencies that have, until now, largely been relegated into separate civilian or military spheres. The dilemmas of the 21st century— resource scarcity, climate change, terrorism, religious fanaticism—require both civilians and soldiers to work together to create a national security apparatus capable of combining both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ tools of power. more >> ALLIES JRP 2008 recommendations Eleven students from Tufts University, The Fletcher School, the US Military Academy and the US Naval Academy conducted research in Amman, Jordan, from 1-28 June 2008. Participants worked in three groups to explore specific issues within the broader research focus: Jordanian-US security cooperation, the impact of the Iraq war on Jordan’s political reform process, and refugees in Jordanian society. Students met with actors from multiple sectors of Jordanian society, including the United Nations Mission to Iraq, the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan, and the USAID Jordan Mission. Participants conducted formal and informal interviews, organizational site visits, and dialogue sessions. more >> Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Marti Ahtisaari Kicks Off Fall Semester Events The Institute for Global Leadership has held a number of events throughout the fall semester to date, including honoring the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Marti Ahtisaari with a Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award. The Honorable President Ahtisaari is the former President of Finland and the Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Crisis Management Initiative, which was very instrumental in the Iraq: Moving Forward initiative of the Institute for Global Leadership and the McCormack School at UMASS/Boston. more >> A JUMBO ONCE MORE: Tufts Grad and IGL Alumnus Ryan Centner Joins the Tufts Faculty Ten years after graduating, Tufts graduate and Institute for Global Leadership alumnus Ryan Centner has returned to campus, this time in the role of Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology more >> IGL Explores Collaboration with Addis Ababa University In October, as part of a developing collaboration with Addis Ababa University (AAU) in Ethiopia and Hybricore in Chicago, the IGL hosted two senior members of the Faculty of Technology from AAU courtesy of Gregg Steinberg, the founder of Hybricore. more >>