The Scholars' Circle

We spend the hour looking at the environmental impact of the US military. How much does the US military pollute the environment? what is its role in climate change causing green house emissions? The military has taken some measures to reduce its impact on the environment and green gas emissions, but our guests say these measures do little to assuage the military’s bigger effects on climate change. What are these effects and what can be done about them? [ dur: 58mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

* Benjamin Neimark is Senior Lecturer at the University of Lancaster, United Kingdom. He is the author of Speaking Power to ‘Post-Truth’: Critical Political Ecology and the New Authoritarianism and co-author of Hidden carbon costs of the “everywhere war” Logistics, geopolitical ecology, and the carbon boot‐print of the US military.

* Oliver Belcher is an Assistant Professor in Human Geography at Durham University, United Kingdom. He is the author of Anatomy of a village razing: Counterinsurgency, violence, and securing the intimate in Afghanistan, and co-author of Hidden carbon costs of the “everywhere war” Logistics, geopolitical ecology, and the carbon boot‐print of the US military.

* Neta C. Crawford is Professor of Political Science and Department Chair at Boston University. She is the author of the book Accountability for Killing: Moral Responsibility for Collateral Damage in America’s Post-9/11 Wars and the research paper Pentagon Fuel Use, Climate Change,and the Costs of War

Produced by the Scholars’ Circle team: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

Donald Trump versus the "Deep State". A new book examines this political struggle and the tension between the Presidency and the Administrative State. We explore the the implications of this struggle with the authors of Phantoms of a Beleaguered Republic: Deep State and the Unitary Executive.

President Joe Biden just passed his 100 day mark. How does his record compare to historical records? How likely are President Biden's proposals to be adopted? Then, Last week, to commemorate the start of the Ottoman genocide against Armenians, US President Joe Biden officially acknowledged the genocide. He was the first US President to do so. Typically cited as the reason why US Presidents were reluctant to acknowledge the genocide is that future of US/Turkish relations, as Turkey continues to deny the genocide. We explore why a nation denies committing genocides and mass atrocities, and what forms this denial takes. What is the implications of President Biden’s acknowledgment for US-Turkish relations?

After the genocide event, there are voices of remembrance by generations of past survivor. The victims live with trauma of the experience which is passed on to following generations of survivors. In this hour we discuss with scholars how these events affect individuals, groups, nation states and all of humanity. What does acknowledgement and commemoration mean for Genocide Awareness and Justice? [ dur: 58mins. ]

Dr. Stephen D. Smith, Finci-Viterbi Endowed Executive Director of the USC Shoah Foundation, is committed to making the testimony of survivors of the Holocaust and of other crimes against humanity a compelling voice for education and action. He has authored many articles including The Memory Generation: Sidney Bernstein is the reason we know what the Nazi concentration camps looked like. He is the producer of Shoah Foundation’s podcast called the Memory Generation.

Maria Armoudian is Senior Lecturer on Political Science at University of Auckland. She is the author of Reporting from the Danger Zone: Frontline Journalists, Their Jobs, and an Increasingly Perilous Future and Kill the Messenger : The Media’s Role in the Fate of the World. Her recent article The big lie about the Armenian Genocide published by New Zealand Herald.

Dovile Budryte, Ph.D, is a professor of political science at Georgia Gwinnett College. Her areas of interest include gender studies, trauma and memory in international relations and nationalism. She is the author of Taming Nationalism? Political Community Building in the Post-Soviet Baltic States and co-editor of Memory and Trauma in International Relations: Theories, Cases and Debates.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.

After mass atrocities and crimes against humanity, how can societies reconcile? How is justice performed and how should we recognize these crimes? And what of the clash between international interests and local needs when dealing with the punishment and acknowledgment of atrocities? Hosted by Doug Becker.

The great promise of the internet to provide interconnectedness and the spread of great ideas has brought great challenges in discerning facts from fiction. Our guest discusses ways we can identify misinformation and disinformation. Then, April is a notorious month for genocide and mass human rights abuses. Well analyze the forces of genocide and the means of preventing genocide.

The effects of the Covid Pandemic are particularly devastating across the Global South. Two of the largest nations in Latin America, Mexico and Brazil, have some similarities but key differences in their responses to the pandemic. We explore these two nations. Then we explore the pandemic in Kenya and a company in Nairobi that has developed a creative model to aid vulnerable populations.

The Yemeni War has created the world’s largest humanitarian disaster. Over 80% of the population is at risk, with particular vulnerabilities to children. And the Covid pandemic has worsened conditions. What are the causes of the war? Why is it not ending? And how can it be resolved? Hosted by Doug Becker.  [ dur: 43mins. ]

* Hamoud Salhi is Professor of Political Science and Associate Dean of International Education at California State University, Dominguez Hills. He is commentator for Arabic media.

* Charles Schmitz is Professor of Geography at Towson University in Baltimore, Maryland. He is an Affiliated Scholar with the Middle East Institute in Washington DC. He is the author of the publications Negotiating Yemeni Peace: Deep Divisions and Hard Realities, No Winners in Yemen and Historical Dictionary of Yemen.

Then, secret heroes. We know the role of presidents and other leaders in shaping history, however we hear little about the unsung heroes; many who have risked their lives to liberate and rescue others. Who might some of those secret heroes be?  Hosted by Maria Armoudian.[ dur: 14mins. ]

* Paul Martin is writer, editor and journalist., He is the author of Secret Heroes: Everyday Americans Who Shaped Our World and Villains, Scoundrels, and Rogues.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.

Anti-Asian hate crimes have been on the rise since the outbreak of Covid. What is at its root? And a new Attorney General will lead to new priorities. How should Merrick Garland's Department of Justice confront hate crimes and terrorism?

Who does the Attorney General work for? What has led to the increasing control of the Department of Justice by the Presidency and Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is now in force. What does this mean for the future of nuclear armament? Can an international treaty lead to the removal of the nuclear threat to the planet?