Mershon Center for International Security Studies
February 20, 2018
In This Issue
In the Media
Richard Gunther
Professor Emeritus of Political Science
Erik Nisbet
Associate Professor of Communication
Paul Beck
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Social and Behavioral Sciences
 
"Trump may owe his 2016 victory to 'fake news,' new study suggests"
The Conversation
February 15, 2018
About Mershon Memo
Mershon Memo is a weekly e-mail newsletter distributed by the Mershon Center for International Security Studies, part of the College of Arts and Sciences at The Ohio State University.
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Mershon Events
Thursday, February 22, 2018

Maurizio Albahari
3:30 p.m., 120 Mershon Center, 1501 Neil Ave.

Maurizio Albahari Maurizio Albahari is associate professor of anthropology and in the Keough School of Global Affairs and University of Notre Dame. He is a social-cultural anthropologist who explores the tension between human existence and structures of power. Albahari has published extensively on the humanitarian, socio-cultural, legal, and geopolitical components of the ongoing refugee "crisis," as well as on forms of civic engagement and migrant integration. His current research traces participatory citizenship and trans-Mediterranean mobilization in the everyday life of maritime spaces, as well as of changing cities in Italy and in the region.  Albahari is the author of  Crimes of Peace: Mediterranean Migrations at the World's Deadliest Border  (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015).  Read more and register
Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Max Boot
3:30 p.m., 120 Mershon Center, 1501 Neil Ave.

Max Boot Max Boot is a historian, best-selling author, and foreign-policy analyst who has been called one of the "world's leading authorities on armed conflict" by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He is the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick senior fellow in national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a national-security columnist for the Washington Post. Boot has served as an adviser to U.S. commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was a senior foreign policy adviser to John McCain's presidential campaign in 2007-08, a defense policy adviser to Mitt Romney's campaign in 2011-12, and the head of the Counter-Terrorism Working Group for Marco Rubio's campaign in 2015-16. Boot will be speaking about his latest book, The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam, published in January 2018. Read more and register at  go.osu.edu/bootm
Mershon Research
The Unintended Consequences of Democracy Promotion by International Organizations
Principal Investigator: Anna Meyerrose, Political Science

Anna Meyerrose is studying democratic backslide in new democracies, focusing on the extent to which democracy promotion by international organizations and other western actors may unintentionally make backslide more likely. Her working hypothesis is that democracy promotion by international organizations makes backslide more likely by limiting the domestic policy space, stunting the development of democratic institutions. The result is a strong executive with unchecked powers that operates in and campaigns for office in an ideological void. Unable to appeal to voters on effective governance and policy alternatives, executives instead turn to populism and erode institutional checks on their power to remain in office.

Anna Meyerrose
Anna Meyerrose
A grant from the Mershon Center enabled Meyerrose to travel to Washington, D.C., where she interviewed officials with the United States Agency for International Development's Democracy, Governance, and Rule of Law program. These meetings gave her insight on different types of democracy promotion, highlighting how governmental organizations such as USAID differ from international organizations with respect to the types of democracy promotion they conduct.

Meyerrose also interviewed members of the election monitoring team for the Organization of American States, the most prevalent democracy promotion international organization in Latin America. This gave her insight into how election monitoring missions work, as well as the mechanisms that experts believe are behind democratic backslide in Latin American countries such as Mexico, Bolivia, and Venezuela.

Prior to this research, Meyerrose was most familiar with democracy promotion as practiced by international organizations in Europe. The interviews at OAS clarified how Latin America, the only other region in the world where international organizations engage in meaningful democracy promotion, fits into her dissertation project. By including Latin American cases in her cross-national analysis, she will be able to leverage variation in studying the mechanisms of democracy promotion by international organizations.

The Mershon Center is currently holding its 2018-19 grant competition, with a deadline of Wednesday, February 28, 2018. Please see the Grants section of our website for applications and instructions.
Other Events
Thursday, February 22, 2018

Ian Brzezinski and Sean Kay
"Trump and the Future of NATO"
6 p.m., 014 University Hall, 230 N. Oval Mall
Sponsored by Alexander Hamilton Society

Ian Brzezinski"Trump and the Future of NATO" will feature an insightful debate on the future of NATO in the Trump era by two leading scholars in the field of international security and American foreign policy. Sean Kay, professor of politics and government at Ohio Wesleyan University and an associate of the Mershon Center for International Security Studies, will be joined by Ian Brzezinski (left), resident senior fellow of the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at the Atlantic Council. He brings more than two decades of experience in U.S. national security matters, having served in senior policy positions in the Department of Defense and Congress. He currently leads the Brzezinski Group, which provides strategic insight and advice to government and commercial clients. Peter Mansoor, Gen. Raymond E. Mason Chair in Military History, will moderate. Read more and register
Monday, February 26, 2018

Takeo Hoshi
"Has Abenomics Revived the Japanese Economy? Comparative Macroeconomic Perspectives with the U.S. Economy"
2 p.m., Mason Hall Rotunda, 250 W. Woodruff Ave.
Sponsored by Institute for Japanese Studies

Takeo Hoshi Takeo Hoshi is director of the Japan Program at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, the Henri and Tomoe Takahashi senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and professor of finance at the Graduate School of Business, all at Stanford University. Hoshi is the 2005 recipient of the Nakahara Prize that the Japan Economic Association awards to its most promising and productive members for their research in economics. Hoshi will review Japan's economic growth slowdown and deflation in the 1990s and the 2000s and ask whether the economic policy of the current Abe administration has succeeded in pulling Japan out of economic stagnation. He will also illustrate the relevance of Japan's experience to the economies of the U.S. and Europe. Read more
Friday, March 2, 2018

Suzanne Desan
"Rebellions Within Revolutions: October Days and the French Revolution"
3 p.m., 168 Dulles Hall, 230 Annie & John Glenn Ave.
Sponsored by Center for Historical Research

Suzanne Desan Suzanne Desan is Vilas-Shinners Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin, where she specializes on the French Revolution and women's and gender history. She is author of prizewinning articles and four books, including The Family on Trial in Revolutionary France (California, 2004), and creator of "Living the French Revolution and the Age of Napoleon" for the Great Courses podcast and video lecture series. Her current work is on the "October Days," when women pushed the revolution in radical new directions. This event is part of the series "You say you want a Revolution? Revolutions in Historical Perspective." Read more
Other News
'Origins' looks at battle over Confederate monuments

Origins has published a new piece: " 150 Years Since the Birth of W. E. B. Du Bois" by Stephanie Shaw.

This February marks the 150th anniversary of W.E.B. Du Bois's birth. As historian Stephanie Shaw shows us, although he died more than 50 years ago, his life and work command more attention now than ever before. He called for a commitment to the truth as far as it could be determined, to freedom, equality, and justice for all. Many of his concerns, some over 100 years old, remain vital issues today.

About Origins: Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective is a monthly ad-free magazine that features top scholars on today's most pressing topics. Published by The Ohio State History Department, its authors include National Book Award winners and world-renowned scholars. You can also explore reviews of popular history books on the Origins website as well as the new monthly feature Milestones.
Register for Conflict Resolution Education conference 

Registration is open for the 12th International Conference on Conflict Resolution Education (CRE). The CRE conference is an opportunity to engage in interdisciplinary collaboration and research.

Presentations will focus on innovations in the field that are making broad impacts in local, state, national and international communities. The conference will take place at Case Western Reserve University from May 22-26, 2018. This year's theme is "Bridging the Divide in Polarized Societies."

For registration information and costs, please visit msass.case.edu/cre-2018/

A special one-day seminar will focus on developing and enhancing peace and conflict studies programs. The seminar is designed for faculty, staff, and administrators to build capacity in their peace and conflict resolution programs. A call for proposals is open until March 15, 2018, for professionals in the field and who wish to present their work.
Apply for University Engagement Recognition Awards

On behalf of the university, the Offices of Outreach and Engagement, International Affairs, Service-Learning, Student Life and Undergraduate Education recognize faculty, staff, students and community partners with the University Engagement Recognition Awards program. Awards will be given in the community engagement, international engagement, service-learning, staff, student, student group and community partner categories. A total of $17,500 will be awarded. Applications are due February 28, 2018.

To submit an application: go.osu.edu/engagementawards
Contact: engage@osu.edu
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