Article: "IDL - Bridge Between North
Ossetian State University and Stanford," Severnaya Ossetia
Chat Session with Professor Jeremy Weinstein (April 26, 2006)
Subochev: Moscow: What are the current results and future prospects of the Western state building efforts in Afghanistan?
Weinstein: Afghanistan is very much a work in progress...
Tremendous progress has been made in creating a government endorsed by the people (through the Loya Jirga)...
And the Karzai government has been a stable political presence since its inception...
That being said, serious challenges remain...
First, the Western military presence has been far too limited and thus unable to support the Karzai government in its efforts to extend control beyond Kabul...
Second, deals struck with local warlords in order to prevent further military action are undermining efforts to build an effective state...
And the growing trade in opium is further weakening the government by allowing for corruption and making alternative development schemes unprofitable... Afghanistan has a long way to go.
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Chat Session with Professor James Fearon (April 12, 2006)
Kiselev: (Zerikhina, Ratmanova) Dear professor Fearon, can we consider the situation in modern Iraq as the state of Civil war? What strategy , to your mind, could be mere effective to end the civil war in Iraq? What could be the role of international community in peace building in Iraq?
Fearon: I think that there is definitely a civil war going on in Iraq, and that this has been the case not just since ...
Fearon: the bombing in Samarra a few weeks ago, but at least since the US handed over formal power to the Iraqis in June 2004. The insurgency is a civil war because it is aimed not just at US troops but at changing or shaping the Iraqi government and its policies ...
Fearon: When we talk about the question of "civil war" in Iraq these days, it really should be posed as whether one kind of civil war is going to escalate into, or be joined by, another form of civil war, involving greater mobilization of sectarian communities. ...
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Chat Session with Professor Ronald Mitchell (April 12, 2006)
Vivtonenko: According to data of Universal Bank there are about 1.5 billions of people which are below the poverty level (they have not more than one dollar a day). Another two billions can spend not more than two dollars a day. There are more than half of population of our planet. I consider that people who starve don’t think of environmental protection at all. And there are a lot of rich people who are not interested in it either. They think only about their profit. I would like to ask is it possible to improve environment if we are minority? What chances do we have?
Mitchell: Vivtonenko question: This is a good question. One issue I would point to is that the level of interest in environmental protection does depend somewhat on level of income -- generally poor people don't pollute as much because if they are so poor that they cannot afford to while ...
Mitchell: while rich people are generally thought to pollute somewhat less because they can afford to be concerned about environmental protection. This is called "Environmental Kuznets Curve" analysis. ...
Mitchell: But the United States demonstrates that rich countries also are responsible for a huge share of our environmental problem. I guess my only real answer to the question is to say "I don't know how much chance we have of solving the problem, but we therefore must try even harder." Next question?
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Chat Session with Dr. Kathryn Stoner-Weiss (March 29, 2006)
Larichev: Professor Stoner-Weiss, it seems to be clear that it is not enough to claim that a certain regime is democratic. It needs to prove its democratic nature by its actions. Since the Orange revolution in Ukraine, there were no real efforts to fight corruption and bureaucracy. Instead, steps were taken by the new government that may clearly be considered anti-democratic: suppression of ethic minority language rights in Crimea, failure to provide equal participation to all citizens in the parliamentary elections, etc. The same is for Georgia. Do you believe that all of recent officially “democratic” transitions in FSU countries were indeed that democratic in nature or they really were a shift of power from one elite to the other? Thank you.
Kathryn: Well, I think it is safe to say that neither Ukraine or Georgia are what we would think of as consolidated democracies. That is, they are still working on precisely some of the things that you mention -- resolution of ethnic rights, equality of access to elected office, etc. Generally, we think of consolidation as taking a period of two or more turnovers of power. In a sense, all changes of regime are exchanges between one elite and another, but I do think both Georgia and Ukraine are generally freer now than they were prior to their "revolutions." Hope that answers the question somewhat.
Subochev: Professor, how would you evaluate Russia in terms of Guillermo O’Donnell’s five states of legality: anarchy, despotic rule, rule by law, rechtsstaat, and democratic rule of law?
Kathryn: Ok. Well, I will assume that you are talking about Russia now under Putin rather than Russia since 1991 and the collapse of the Soviet Union. I tend to agree with those who thing that Russia is now ruled more "by law" in that President Putin, at least from an outside perspective, appears to be using the law more and more to maintain himself in power. The Yukos affair is one example of this. I know that within Russia you have a different perspective onthis, but from outside, it looks as though Putin's administration arbitrarily applied the role to one group that may have had some illegal business dealings while not applying the law evenly to others that did similar things. So, I think Russia is currently a long way from having a rechsstaat and democratic rule of law, but it is not exactly anarchy either. There is a form of law, but unfortunately, at least from an outside perspective, it appears to be law unevenly applied.
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Chat Session with Prof. Larry Diamond (March 2, 2006)
sleptsova: The American government gave reasons for invasion into Iraq by necessity of an overthrow of the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein and installation of democracy? (Yakutsk)
Diamond: I believe I am to respond to Sleptsova's question? If so: I am somewhat skeptical fo these reasons. The initial reasons were to disarm Saddam's weapons of mass destruction. The justification of democratization only really gained prominence later on.
Titova: What’s your attitude to the establishment of the Public Chamber in Russia? Can it contribute to the development of civic society?
Diamond: I have to confess that I am not versed on the specifics of this. I am, however, very worried about the new law that has passed parliament, even in its amended and watered down form, which I think is meant to diminish the autonomy and independent resources of civil society in Russia.
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Chat Session with Prof. Jeremy Weinstein (December 8, 2005)
kkuhns: Let's start with the first question from Yaroslavl.
Ovchinnikova: How can we determine the exact time then situation demands international intervention? How long autonomous recovery can last before this?
Weinstein: This is a difficult question to answer with multiple parts... First, one needs to keep in mind that the arguments I make about the prospects for autonomous recovery depend on a range of fairly specific conditions... Most importantly, I argue that war is something that produces good institutions only when military actors are in a position of needing to finance their activities with the donations of their constituents... But to answer the question of when intervention makes sense is to ask both an empirical question (is it likely to be effective?), but also to raise a normative one (are we most concerned with long-term goals, or stopping bloodshed in the short-run?).
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Chat Session with Prof. Coit Blacker (November 22, 2005)
Rudenko:
I want to ask about possible directions in the reconsideration of NPT in the context of nuclear programs of N. Korea and Iran
Blacker:
The NPT regime is under severe strain, obviously. How we resolve the situations with the DPRK and Iran will be despositive in nature. I like the Russian proposal vis a vis Iran very much, and believe it holds out the most promise for a successful resolution. . .
Blacker:
But I'm not all that hopeful. The will to acquire nuclear weapons among those states not now in possession is strong, especially among regional actors with great power ambitions.
kkuhns:
Next question from Moscow.
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Chat Session with prof. Ron Mitchell (March 16, 2005)
Tsarikaeva:
Good morning, everyone! Greetings from NOSU. We're here: Inga Nikolenko,
Lana Tsarikaeva and Marina Tsogoeva
Meilach:
May I ask the 1st question?
Zherikhina:
Good day from Yaroslavl!
Meilach:
I would like to ask about your opinion about Kyoto protocol and it's
ratification by Russian Federation. Make it change the behaviour of the
countries?
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Chat Session with prof. James Fearon (March 10, 2005)
Fearon:
impartial mediators: there is an interesting debate going on about this
in relatively "theoretical" int'l relations research right now in the US
...
Ukhanova:
Hello, dear professor Feron. What do you think about future external
policy of the USA in respect of the Russian Federation? Thank you.
Fearon:
Some argue that there are actually advantages in certain circumstances
to having a partial mediator. One idea is that since impartial mediators
only want to get peace, they can actually be less credible in
transmitting info between parties, because parties may think they will
say anything to get peace. ...
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Chat Session with prof. Chip Blacker (October 2004)
Golovchenko : Professor Blacker,What's your own relation to Russian nuclear strategy?
Blacker : I'm assuming you're asking what my view is
of Russian nuclear strategy, yes?
KukharenkoN : Some information in IDL 101 is old due to recent international events ( Iraq , North Korea ). Will the course be updated next year?
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Chat Session with prof. Ron Mitchell (April 4, 2004)
Samoilova : OK. Our first question is: The majority of actions and measures in the environmental protection are based on prohibitions. According to the prospect theory , people are more inclined to risk when they lose something . And actions connected with the prohibitions mean losses to the people who are forbidden to do something. For example to bury waste products. That is to say restrictions and prohibitions provoke much more violations. Please, comment how effective prohibitions as a preventive measure in environment protection.
Mitchell : So, on prospect theory, that is a nice connection. I would have to give it more thought, but one thought about that is thinking that, for rules that prohibit behavior compliance is always possible but unlikely, ie, people are capable of compliance (they are doing something so they can always stop)....
Mitchell : whereas with rules that require behavior, there are two sources of noncompliance -- people don't want to comply (lack of incentives) or people can't comply (lack of capacity). But, I think the issue of prospect theory and how people frame gains vs. losses would also be an important issue. I just have not spent time thinking about that. If you are interested in these issues, however, you might look for an article by Jeff Berejikian in American Political Science Review that discusses prospect theory and the Montreal Protocol.[end] Read more ..>
Chat Session with prof. James Fearon (April 4, 2004)
mikhailov : What is the best campain of UN peasekeeping?
shapovalov : What are the perspectives of UN in solving of international conflicts?
Fearon : hard question to address in two sentences. Until the end of the cold war, the UN's basic posture was a mediator that facilitated agreements between warring parties, and would, with mutual consent, provide verification and monitoring services for cease fires and peace deals. ...
Fearon : Since the end of the cold war, and with a huge move into UN interventions into civil war torn states, the UN has in effect experimented with (or been forced to experiment with) much more active postures, in settings where it is hard to say that there is mutual consent in a meaningful sense. UN people I've talked to are generally very uncomfortable with this. e.g., the idea of being sent to do a big UN PKO in Iraq horrifies most of them, because they think the UN is not presently equipped to carry out such a task. Read more ..>
Chat Session with prof. Ron Mitchell (March 11, 2004)
Yakovleva : Is the problem of lackness of fish or forest vital to America now?
Ronald Mitchell : The US is quite concerned about some common resources, but has decided to have policies that, for some of these resources, act as if they need not be concerned about overuse of the commons. The current US policy with respect to climate change suggests that the US is not willing to take action unless other countries do as well, including developing countries.
Ozernaya : Do you consider that the problem of cosmic wastes is important?
Kortshikova : USU, question #1: How do you think, what are the main solutions to the problem of humans indifference?
Ronald Mitchell : If by cosmic wastes, you mean "nuclear wastes", this is a very important issue that requires both political and technical solutions. EoA. As for human indifference, an important element is trying to change people's values so they are concerned about the environment as much or more than economic concerns or security concerns. ....
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Chat Session with prof. James Fearon (March 11, 2004) Volkov : Our first question to Prof. Fearon. How many conflicts is US government involved in mediating currently? What main strategies are implemented
Fearon : There are about 20-26 active civil wars on going at present, depending on how you define "civil war". I expect that US diplomats are involved in talking to participants in all of these ...
Volkov : We have another question: Do religious issues usually play a primary role in the development of modern conflict, or religion is used after the ethnic conflict has developed?
Fearon : Then there will be quite a few more conflicts that are not particularly violent yet or at the moment, I would guess that the US diplomats/personnel are involved in one way or another in talking to participants in many of these as well. But I'm not sure how many, if any conflicts, is the US formally designated as a mediator...
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Chat Session with Karen Seto (IDL 102, Nov. 13, 2002)
Kalmykova: USU: Thank you for your interesting lectures. Our question
is about sustainable development. Is the model of sustainable development
desirable and feasible only for industrialized countries? Thank you very
much in advance.
KarenSeto: That is a good question. No, the model is not just for
industrialized countries, but also LDCs—which may follow a slightly different
model. LDC= less developed country
MikhailovaKs: What your way should take place, that all without
exception of the country have realized necessity of application of serious
working measures for achievement of steady development?
Chat with prof. David Holloway (IDL 101, Nov.4, 2002)
....
Kuznetsov: Do You think that the Nuclear (Biological) Weapons is the necessary mean
of the external policy nowadays?
David_Holloway: No, I don't think it is necessary for a state to have nuclear
or biological weapons for its external policy. Some states have been very successful
without such weapons (e.g. Japan or Germany)...
And most states have made it clear that they do not want to have
nuclear weapons by signing the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Over
180 countries have signed the treaty, all but five as non-nuclear
weapons states. The thing that worries me, however, is that we might
drift into a world in which many states do come to believe that such
weapons are necessary for their external policy. The current nonproliferation
regime is fraying at the edges, and I don't think we have a really clear idea
how to strengthen that regime.
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Chat with prof. Ron Mitchell (IDL 102, Oct. 29, 2002)
....
Sidorenko: There is a scientific uncertainty about the problem of
climate change: one group of scientists considers the human activity to
be the reason of it and the other one thinks that the climate changing
is a natural process. What point of view do you espouse?
Mitchell: In response to Sidorenko, my sense of it is that there
is considerable consensus that humans are influencing the global climate
... (I will use ... to signify that I will continue in the next message
during the chat)... The nature of human influence on climate is such that
we will not be able to be sure of our influence until it is too late to
stop having a bad influence, so we should adopt a precautionary approach
....
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Chat Session with prof. Chip Blacker (Oct. 9, 2002)
....
Litvinskaya: Considering the fact that the balance of power system
was characteristic of pre-WW I period and Cold War system - of 1945-1991,
what are international relations and security based on nowadays?
Blacker: In my judgment the system, at least for the moment, is
unipolar in character. But it's complex. . .
Although the US currently deploys enormous power by most quantitative
measures, the attacks of September 11 strongly suggest that there is a
new kind of destructive power in play -- one for which we, by which I
mean the world -- is not prepared. This is wholly unprecedented, and no
one quite knows what to make of it. ....
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Three new universities join SIIS/IDL in the Fall of 2002
The SIIS Initiative on Distance Learning is expanding its presence in
Russia by inviting three new regional universities to participate in the
program beginning fall quarter 2002. After a careful selection process,
SIIS/IDL is pleased to welcome Amur State University (Blagoveshchensk),
Tymen State University, and Moscow Higher School of Economics. All of
our new partners were excited about the opportunity to explore crucial
topics of contemporary international security offered by the program and
expressed an interest in utilizing distance learning technologies. Read
more ..>
SIIS/IDL training workshop brings together faculty from Petrozavodsk
to Blagoveshensk
During the last days of the summer and before the beginning of the new
academic year, SIIS/IDL has brought the faculty from all participating
universities to Moscow for a three-day, intensive training workshop in
the methodology of distance learning. During this session, SIIS/IDL instructors,
together with the academic staff from Stanford and the Moscow, developed
common approaches to the teaching of the SIIS/IDL courses for the coming
academic year. First part of the training session was conducted by Dr.
Marina Moisseeva, a Senior Research Fellow at the Laboratory of Distance
Learning of the Russian Academy of Education. Read
more ..>
Publicity
Russian students study political science with Stanford
professors through innovative distance-learning program, Lisa Trei,
Stanford Report. Read
more ..>
Russian students learn poli sci from a distance, Deena Skolnick,
Staff Writer, Stanford Dailya.
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Initiative on Distance Learning Completes First Year. Read
more ..>
Interactions
Students Experience American Political Science Through Distance Learning,
Brock Read, The Chronicle of Higher Education. Read
more ..>
Electronic University, Chelyabinsk Press Release.
Read
more ..>
New Educational Initaitives at the Yaroslavl State University,
Igor Kiselev in Polemika. Read
more ..>
TV Report, City Channel, Yaroslavl, Russia. (Streaming Real Media
Format, in Russian). Read more ..>
Presenation by SIIS/IDL student, Roman Lukianenko (at the NATO workshop.
Yaroslavl, Spring 2001(streaming Real Media Format, in Russian)).
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