Interviewer: MATTHEW BERKMAN. Since its beginnings after the Revolutionary War, refugee policy has helped establish the contours of the U.S. nation-state, argues EVAN TAPARATA, the 2018-2020 Mitchell Center JMC Postdoctoral Fellow (a fellowship supported by the Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Founding Principles and History). Taparata’s dissertation, No Asylum for Mankind: The Creation of Refugee Law and Policy in the United States, 1776-1951, won the 2019 Best Dissertation Award in the Arts & Humanities from the University of Minnesota. In his discussion with political scientist Matthew Berkman, Taparata traces the history of refugee policy to the beginnings of the American republic and reveals the ways that it has always been subordinate to national projects that have benefited the U.S. These range from the resettlement of pro-Revolutionary Canadians on land wrested from Native Americans to the rhetorical imperative during the Cold War of presenting America as a humane refuge from the evils of Communism.

Interviewer: MATTHEW BERKMAN. The United States, and Western democracies more generally, currently view Russia through the lens of their own internal crises, argues MARLENE LARUELLE, expert on Russian politics and author of Understanding Russia: The Challenges of Transformation. In her discussion with political scientists and Mitchell Center interviewer Matthew Berkman, Laruelle describes how the focus on election interference distorts our vision of Russia, portraying it as a closed-off society under monolithic authoritarian rule, guided by an implacable opposition to free democracies rather than geopolitical interests. By placing Russia outside of “international norms,” Western democracies are also able to deflect the way in which they have progressively undermined many of those norms themselves, especially as anti-liberal and anti-democratic movements gain steam. Ultimately, Laruelle counsels against anti-Russian hysteria and for a more clear-eyed view of the world.

Interviewer: MATTHEW BERKMAN. Since the Voting Rights Act of 1965, many have celebrated the expansion of voting rights to more Americans. Journalist ARI BERMAN (Mother Jones) has focused his reporting on areas where disenfranchisement not only endures, but has actually gotten worse in recent elections. In his conversation with political scientist Matthew Berkman, Berman discusses the complexities of the current situation – where, depending on the state, rights are either expanding or being suppressed – while emphasizing the clear fact that, while both parties are guilty of some practices such as gerrymandering, it is the Republican Party that is determined to hamper the ability of many citizens to vote.