International Affairs Archives | Page 2 of 38

AnalysesInternational Affairs

After an initial sense of relief, reactions to the ceasefire among the population vary depending on one’s personal history, background, and level of awareness. If, for a population exhausted by years of repeated violence since the end of the so-called civil war—what stateman and journalist Ghassan Tueni called “the war of others”—the news of a ceasefire was significant, a page of such brutality cannot be turned in just a few days or weeks. Besides the moral damages, the bill of this war includes 4,047 killed and 16,593 injured in Lebanon since October 2023, with over 3,000 deaths in the last two months alone. Around 1.5 million people have been displaced, and destruction is concentrated in the South and in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Hezbollah’s headquarters. This comes on top of the unprecedented financial and economic crisis that has gripped the country for years, compounding the suffering.

PublicationsInternational Affairs

Ten years after the Arab Spring, the change promised by that fateful season has been minimal at best. The common thread moving through Arab society in this third millennium is precisely the overall feeling of incompletion, making any prospect of economic revival more dismal due to the arrival of a lethal health crisis. This timely publication, the product of a two day conference held in December 2020, aims to bring together some of the best minds in reflection on the past decade of stumbles and obstacles in the Arab world and what hope does the Tunisian Exception hold for the future.

Our Initiatives International Affairs

The current political situation in Post-Soviet countries, primarily the Russian Federation, raises questions about the cultural roots of today’s prevailing nationalist political ideologies and behaviours. The international scientific community has to overcome the lack of knowledge about Russia’s Post-Soviet history, also in order to avoid the sheer repetition of old clichés – liberal -western opinions versus a despotic-eastern world

Videos International Affairs

Ruth Hanau Santini, associate professor of Politics and International relations at the University of Naples L’Orientale, discusses how Tunisia’s democratic backslide stemmed from unimplemented reforms and an elite-driven process that sidelined public trust. These issues ultimately paved the way for populist influence, culminating in Tunisia’s current political crisis.

ConveningInternational Affairs

December

2024

Online

Is Donald Trump’s electoral success a sign of authoritarian decline in American democracy, or is it a response to the Democratic Party’s failure to deliver on its promises? Daron Acemoglu recently argued the latter, suggesting the Left has focused too narrowly on cultural recognition at the expense of material protections. This neglect of the social order’s material foundations has deepened tensions, fueling “culture wars.” Shifting focus away from these conflicts toward social protections to tackle global crises is a compelling idea—but is it feasible, and how might it be achieved?

March

2024

Online (Zoom)

Join us on Thursday March 7th at 8 am EST / 2pm CET / 6:30pm IST to dissect the implications of Modi’s triumphalism, the erosion of India’s federal system, and how will this impact India’s international aspirations after India’s upcoming elections.

December

2023

Palermo, Italy

The conference will examine why democracy has struggled to take root in the Arab world: historical factors such as the consequences of oil resources, autocratic regimes, the inability to effectively implement economic reforms, the historical legacy of the alliance with the Soviet Union and the effects of colonialism, and in more recent times the negative parabola of the “Arab Springs” and in particular the failure of the compromise between Islamic and secular political forces that had made possible the beginning of a democratic path for Tunisia, now dominated by an autocratic power that arrests opponents.