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The Future of Democracy Initiative Events

The Future of Democracy Initiative hosts a series of lectures, conferences, and symposia to highlight the state of democracy worldwide and the challenges of democratization. This initiative brings together GW's faculty expertise on these issues along with leading scholars, analysts, and policymakers. The culminating project of this initiative will be a scholarly book about the future of democracy.

An Education and Insight to U.S.-Asia Relations: The View from Washington

March 15, 2012
Seoul, Korea

• Michael E. Brown, Dean, The Elliott School of International Affairs, and Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, GW
  

U.S.-China Relations: The View From Washington

December 5, 2011
The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

• Michael E. Brown, Dean, The Elliott School of International Affairs, and Professor of Political Science and International Affairs
• Doug Guthrie, Dean of the School of Business, and Professor of Management and International Business, GW

Dean Brown and Dean Guthrie will provide an analysis of one of the most complex and important bilateral relationships in the 21st century. They will examine the regional and global implications of U.S.-China relations from a foreign policy, security, economic and business perspective. Dean Brown and Dean Guthrie will conclude with observations of the key opportunities and challenges in the evolving relationship between the two world powers.

Twenty Years of Democracy and Governance Programs in Europe and Eurasia

Monday, December 12, 2011

• Paige Alexander, Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Europe and Eurasia, USAID
  

U.S. Public Diplomacy & Democratization: From the Spanish Case to the Arab Spring

Monday, November 14, 2011

• Nicholas Cull, Director of the Masters Program in Public Diplomacy, University of Southern California
• Rosa M. Pardo Sanz, Universidad Nacional Educacion a Distancia
• Evangelos Liaras, IERES Davis Post-Doctoral Fellow in European Studies, GW
• Lorenzo Delgado Instituto de Historia, Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales
• Pablo Leon Aguinaga, Visiting Researcher, Georgetown University
• Francisco J. Rodriguez Jimenez, Visiting Fulbright Scholar, GW
• Mark Asquino, Executive Assistant, Office of the Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs, U.S. Department of State
• Robert Coonrod, CEO, InterMedias; Former Deputy Director, Voice of America
• Sean Aday, Director, Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication, GW
• Mary Jeffers, Senior Public Diplomacy Fellow, GW
• Ambassador Cynthia P. Schneider, Nonresident Senior Fellow of Foreign Policy, Saban Center for Middle East Policy, Georgetown University

 

After Tunisia's Election

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

• John P. Entelis, Director and Professor of Political Science, Fordham University
• Chris Alexander, Director and Associate Professor of Political Science, Dean Rusk International Studies Program, Davidson College
• Melani Cammett, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Middle East Studies Program, Brown University

Moderated by:

• Marc Lynch, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, GW

Fighting for a Voice

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

• Zurab Kharatishvili, Chairman, Central Election Commission of Georgia
• Eugene Kinlow, Public Affairs Director, DC Vote
• Anthony Bowyer, Program Manager of Caucasus and Central Asia, International Foundation for Electoral Systems
• Karen Volker, Chief of Staff, Office of Middle East Transitions, US Department of State

 

Working Towards a Democratic Zimbabwe: A Discussion of Human Rights and Economic Development

Monday, September 26, 2011

• Elton Mangoma, Minister of Energy, Republic of Zimbabwe; Deputy Treasurer General, Movement for Democratic Change
• Roy Bennett, Deputy Minister-designate of Agriculture, Republic of Zimbabwe; Treasurer General, Movement for Democratic Change

 

Regime Change and the Proliferation of Ethnic Democracies

Thursday, September 15, 2011

• Oded Haklai, Visiting Scholar, Institute for Security and Conflict Studies, GW

 

Emerging Africa: How 17 Countries Are Leading the Way

Monday, September 12, 2011

• Steven Radelet, Chief Economist, USAID

 

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Democracy Promotion in the Middle East

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

• Ellen Lust, Associate Professor of Political Science, Yale University
• Eva Bellin, Associate Professor of Political Science, Hunter College
• Steven Heydemann, Senior Vice President, United States Institute of Peace

Moderated by:

• Marc Lynch, Director, Institute for Middle East Studies, GW

 

Conservative Political Parties and the Challenge of Democratization: Lessons from Europe's Historical Experience

Friday, April 15, 2011

• Daniel Ziblatt, Professor of Government, Harvard University

 

Book Discussion: The Politics of Protest in Post-Communist Russia

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

• Graeme B. Robertson, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  

Commentary:

• Nadia Diuk, Vice President, Programs for Europe and Eurasia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, National Endowment for Democracy

 

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Democracy: New Tools for the Struggle

Friday, December 3, 2010
Watch the video

• Oleg Kozlovsky, 2010 Ion Ratiu Democracy Award Winner; Co-Founder, Solidarnost United Democratic Movement; Co-Founder, Oborona

Moderated by:

• Eliot Sorel, The George Washington University; Founder, World Youth Democracy Forum at the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, Elliott School of International Affairs; Senior Advisor, Ion Ratiu Democracy Award at WWICS

 

Democratic Accountability Relations: Exploring Global Patterns

Friday, October 29, 2010

• Herbert Kitschelt, George V. Allen Professor of Political Science, Duke University

 

Egypt on the Brink: Looking Ahead to Elections and Other Possible Transitions

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

• Nathan Brown, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, GW
• Tarek Masoud, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard
• Samer Shehata, Assistant Professor of Arab Politics, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown
  Moderated by:
  Marc Lynch, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs; Director, Institute for Middle East Studies, GW

Democracy and Human Rights in Venezuela: Discussing the New Report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

• Carlos Correa, Executive Director, Espacio Publico
• Liliana Ortega, Executive Director, Committee for families of the victims of the events in February and March 1989 (COFAVIC)
• Alfredo Ruiz, Coordinator General, Red de Apoyo por la Justicia y la Paz
  

 

Ambassadors Forum: A Talk with Iraqi Ambassador Sumaida'ie

Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Watch the video

• Ambassador Samir Sumaida'ie, Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq to the United States
  

 

Beyond the Orange Revolution: Does Ukraine's Democracy Matter?

Thursday, February 18, 2010

• Olexiy Haran, Professor of Political Science, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy
• Oleksandr Sushko, Director, Center for Peace, Conversion, and Foreign Policy of Ukraine
• Mark Kramer, Director, Cold War Studies Program, Harvard University
• Alexander Cooley, Associate Professor of Political Science, Barnard College, Columbia University

Moderator:

• Henry E. Hale, Director, Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, GW
  

Ukraine's 2010 Presidential Elections: Who Will Be Elected Ukraine's Next President and Why?

January 22, 2010

• Taras Kuzio, Editor, Ukraine Analyst

"Treason" on Trial: Political Dissidents, the Vietnamese State, and the Blogosphere

January 14, 2020

• Shawn McHale, Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies; Associate Professor of History and International Affairs, GW

Globalization and Democracy: Lessons from India and Malaysia

April 23, 2009

• K.S. Jomo, Assistant Secretary General for Economic Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations
• Kaushik Basu, C. Marks Professor of International Studies and Economics, Cornell University
  
• Bridget Welsh, Associate Professor of Southeast Asian Studies, the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University
  
  Moderator:
  
• Shawn McHale, Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies; Associate Professor of History and International Affairs, GW
  

Best Practices and Principles for Democratic Regulation of Community Radio and Television in Latin America

October 29, 2008

• Eduardo Bertoni, Due Process of Law Foundation
• Aleida Calleja, World Association of Community Radio
  
• Damián Loreti, Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales; Universidad de Buenos Aires
  
• Darian Pavil, Open Society Institute
  

Fateful Eights in Czech History: Historical Anniversaries of 2008 and their Significance for the Czech Republic Today

October 24, 2008

» Day 1 Panelists
» Day 2 Panelists

A Time of Transition: U.S. Impact on Reform in a Changing Middle East

September 22, 2008

• Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Founder, Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies, Cairo
• Marc Lynch, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, GWU
  
  Moderator:
  Andrew Albertson, Executive Director, Project on Middle East Democracy

The Russia-Georgia Conflict and the U.S.: How did we get here, and what leverage does the West have?

September 11, 2008

• James Goldgeier, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University; former Director of Russian Affairs, National Security Council
• Rod Hunter, Senior Fellow, The Hudson Institute; former Director of Trade, Energy, and the Environment, National Security Council
• John Mackedon, M.A. candidate in European and Eurasian Studies, George Washington University; former peace corps employee and journalist in Georgia
• Hope M. Harrison, Director of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, George Washington University, former Director for European and Eurasian Affairs, National Security Council
  
  Moderator:
  Michael Moore, Director of the Institue for International Economic Policy, Professor of Economics and International Affairs, George Washington University

Russia 2008: Domestic and Foreign Policy Trajectories

September 8, 2008

• Henry Hale, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University
• Ivan Kurilla, Assistant Professor of History and International Relations, Volgograd State University
• Evgenia Popova, Tomsk State University
• Dina Spechler, Associate Professor of Political Science, Indiana University
• Hope M. Harrison, Director of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, George Washington University

What have we learned about Islamist Political Movements?

May 12, 2008

• Marc Lynch, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University
• Amr Hamzawy, Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
• Janine Clark, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Guelph
• Joshua Stacher, Middle East Studies Fellow, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University
• Nathan Brown, Director of the Institute for Middle East Studies, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University

Printing Democracy: Taiwan's Tang-wai Opposition Journals

April 24, 2008

• Gerrit van der Wees, Senior Political Advisor, Formosan Association for Public Affairs and editor of Taiwan Communique
• Chou Ching-yu, Commission on Woman's Rights Promotion, Executive Yuan, former published of Care, Taiwan's foremost human rights magazine in the 1980s
• Antonio (Chun-nan) Chiang, Journalist, former chief editor of the Eighties and other tang-wai journals
• Fu-mei Chang, Minister, Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission (OCAC)

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Defeating Dictators: Electoral Change and Stability in Competitive Authoritarian Regimes

April 9, 2008

• Valerie Bunce, Aaron Binenkorb Professor of International Studies and Government, Cornell University
• Sharon Wolchik, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, GW

Kuwait's Government in Crisis: Implications for Democracy

April 3 , 2008

• Edward W. Gnehm, Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Affairs and former US ambassador to Kuwait

The Elections in Iran

April 2, 2008

• Afshin Molavi, Fellow, New America Foundation; author of Persian Pilgrimages: Journeys Across Iran
• Ray Takeyh, Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies, Council on Foreign Relations; author of Hidden Iran: Paradox and Power in the Islamic Republic

The Taiwan Presidential Election: Domestic, Regional and International Implications

March 26, 2008

• Harry Harding, University Professor of International Affairs, GW
• Robert Sutter, Visiting Professor, Georgetown University & Adjunct Professor of International Affairs, GW
• Edward McCord, Associate Professor of History & International Affairs, GW
• Shelley Rigger, Brown Professor of East Asian Politics, Davidson College
• Hans Stockton, Associate Professor in the Center for International Studies, University of St. Thomas
• Kirk Larsen, Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies and Korea Foundation Associate Professor of History and International Affairs, GW

Economic Reforms and Democracy in Nepal

February 27, 2008

• Prem Khanal, Chief, Business Bureau, The Kathmandu Post

The Challenges of Integrating Islam: Comparative Experiences of Europe and the Middle East

February 14, 2008

• Hope Harrison, Director of the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies; Professor of History and International Affairs, GW
• Merve Kavakci, Lecturer in International Affairs, GW
• Zeyno Baran, Director, Center for Eurasian Policy; Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute
• Nathan Brown, Director of the Institute for Middle East Studies; Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, GW
• Jakob Skovgaard-Petersen, Director, Danish-Egyptian Dialogue Institute
• Liesl Riddle, Assistant Professor of International Business and International Affaris, GW
• Jon Anerson, Professor of Anthropology, Catholic University
• Marc Lynch, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, GW
• John Bowen, Dunbar-Van Cleve Professor of Sociocultural Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis

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Venezuela in the 21 st Century: Democratic Trajectories and Global Relations

January 28, 2008

• Bernardo Álvarez Herrera, Ambassador of Venezuela to the United States
• Lowell Fleischer, Senior Associate, Center for Strategic and International Studies
• Daniel Hellinger, Professor of Political Science, Webster University
• Kristin Lord, Associate Dean, Elliott School of International Affairs
• Cynthia McClintock, Director of the Latin American and Hemispheric Studies Program, Elliott School of International Affairs
• Jennifer McCoy, Director, Americas Program at The Carter Center; Professor of Political Science, Georgia State University
• Teodoro Petkoff, Editor of Tal Cual, founder of the MAS party, and three-time presidential candidate
• Ana Maria Sanjuan, Director of the Center for Peace and Human Rights, Central University of Venezuela
• Michael Shifter, Vice President of Policy, Inter-American Dialogue; Adjunct Professor, Center for Latin American Studies, Georgetown University

Can Democracy Survive Globalization? Lessons From Taiwan

December 17, 2007

• Senator Bob Dole, former Senate Majority Leader

Corruption in Africa: the Path from Neopatrimonialism

November 8, 2007

• Nic Van de Walle, John S. Knight Professor of International Studies and Director of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, Cornell University; Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for Global Development

Democracy, Development and Nation Building

October 30, 2007

• Dr. Francis Fukuyama, Bernard L. Schwartz Professor of International Political Economy and Director of the International Development Program, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University

Explaining the Differences in Level of Democracy in Contemporary Latin America

October 29, 2007

• Scott Mainwaring, Professor, University of Notre Dame

Shaping Taiwan's Politics: Democracy, Identity & Security 20 Years After the Lift of Martial Law

September 27, 2007

• Jaushieh Joseph Wu, Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office
• Richard Bush, Brookings Institute
• Kerry Dumbaugh, Congressional Research Service
• Vincent Wang, University of Richmond
• Harry Harding, Professor of International Affairs, GW

Democratization and Civil War

September 17, 2007

• Jack Snyder, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Relations, Columbia University

Islamist Political Movements in the Arab World: Contentious and Electoral Politics

May 4, 2007

• Mustapha Khalfi, Former editor-in-chief, Al-Tajdid (Moroccan daily) and member, Justice and Development Party, Morocco
• Sanjay Ruparelia, Professor of Political Science, The New School
• Baber Johansen, Director, Islamic Legal Studies Program, Harvard University
• Mark Lichbach, Chair of Government and Politics, University of Maryland
• Nathan Brown, Director of the Middle East Studies Program at the Elliott School of International Affairs

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A Symposium on Democracy Promotion in Africa

April 24, 2007

• Jim Swann, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, US Department of State
• Joel Barkan, Professor Emeritus, University of Iowa
  Ambassador George Moose, Adjunct Professor of International Affairs, The Elliott School of International Affairs
• Penda Mbow, Professor of History, Univeristy of Dakar
• Bernadeta Killian, Senior Lecturer, University of Dar es Salaam and Visiting Fellow, National Endowment for Democracy
• Gina Lambright, Assistant Professor of Political Science, GW

Corruption and Democracy

April 16, 2007

• Mark Warren, Department of Political Science, University of British Columbia
• Susan Rose-Ackerman, Henry R. Luce Professor of Law and Political Science, Yale Law School
• Daniel Kaufmann, Director Global Programs and Governance, World Bank Institute

Democracy in Latin America: The Recent Wave

April 13, 2007

• Cynthia McClintock, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, The Elliott School of International Affairs
• Cynthia Arnson, Director, Latin American Program, Woodrow Wilson Center
  Kevin Healy, Adjunct Professor of International Affairs, The Elliott School of International Affairs

Botswana: How Does Their Democracy Work, and What is the Rest of Africa Waiting For?

April 11, 2007

• His Excellency Lapologang Caesar Lekoa, Ambassador of the Republic of Botswana to the US

Making Democracy Stick: Lessons from Mature, Emerging and Transitional Democracies in Asia

April 11, 2007

• Kirk Larsen, Director of the International Affairs Undergraduate Program, and the Korea Foundation Associate Professor of History and International Affairs, The Elliott School of International Affairs
• Emmanuel Teitelbaum, Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, The Elliott School of International Affairs
• Marvin Weinbaum, Visiting Professor, The Elliott School of International Affairs

Comparing India and China: Market-Friendly Federalism and Democracy Links

April 5, 2007

• Aseema Sinha, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Wisconsin at Madison
• Jaiwen Yang, Professor of International Business and International Affairs, GW

A Dialogue on the Future of Democracy

April 4, 2007

• Barry Lowenkron, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State
• Ken Wollack, President, National Democratic Institute
• Michael E. Brown, Dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs

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Is Democracy In Peril? A Global and Regional Assessment

March 29, 2007

• Kristin Lord, Associate Dean, The Elliott School of International Affairs
• Thomas Melia, Deputy Executive Director, Freedom House
• Nathan Brown, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, The Elliott School of International Affairs
• Henry Hale, Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, The Elliott School of International Affairs
• Cynthia McClintock, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, The Elliott School of International Affairs
• Gina Lambright , Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, The Elliott School of International Affairs
• Thomas Carothers , Vice President for Studies - International Politics and Government, Carnegie Endowment for Peace

The 11th Annual Gaston Sigur Memorial Lecture: The Korea Triangle: The Two Koreas between China and the United States

March 28, 2007

• Han Sung-Joo, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea

Tailoring the Truth: East German Memory Culture and the Role of Historical Consciousness in a State-Socialist Society

March 28, 2007

• Jon Berndt Olsen, Post-doctoral fellow in the Department of History and Art History at George Mason University

Bringing the World to Egypt: Volunteerism – Approaches, Personal Experiences, & Global Impacts

March 26, 2007

Participating Organizations

• Coptic Orphans
• Mission Life Center
• HANDS Along the Nile

Current Challenges and Opportunities in Advancing Israeli-Palestinian Peace

March 26, 2007

• Lara Friedman, Director of Policy and Government Relations for Americans for Peace Now
• David Makovsky, Director of The Washington Institute's Project on the Middle East Peace Process
• Rafi Dajani, Executive director of the American Task Force on Palestine

Soldier: The Life of Colin Powell

March 22, 2007

• Karen DeYoung, Associate Editor, The Washington Post

Experiences from the Top of Europe: The Northern Countries of the European Union

March, 22, 2007

• Eva-Maria Liimets, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Estonian Embassy in Washington, D.C.
• Anne Lammila, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Finnish Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Ukraine: Political Crises or Normal Politics?

March 21, 2007

• Taras Kuzio, Assistant Professorial Lecturer at the Elliott School of International Affairs

Arms Exports as a Tool of Russian Foreign Policy

March 21, 2007

• Lajos Szaszdi, Independent Scholar

Election Monitoring: A Case Study in Democracy and Development

March 20, 2007

• Eric Bjornlund, Author of Beyond Free and Fair

Regime Change: U.S. Strategy through the Prism of 9/11

March 19, 2007

• Robert Litwak, Director of International Security Studies, The Woodrow Wilson Center

The US-UN Relationship: A Golden Opportunity

March 7, 2007

• The Honorable Timothy E. Wirth, President of The United Nations Foundation

Parapolitics and Human Rights in Colombia: An Evening with Senator Gustavo Petro and Carlos Rodriguez Mejia

March 6, 2007

• Senator Gustavo Petro, Congress of Columbia
• Carlos Rodriguez Mejia, Deputy Director of the Colombian Commission of Jurists

Toward a Harmonious World: New Developments in China's Foreign Policy

March 5, 2007

• Qin Yaqing, Executive Vice President and Professor of International Studies at the China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU), Vice-president of the China National Association for International Studies, and Executive Deputy Director and Secretary-general of the East Asian Studies Center at CFAU

Indigenous Movements in the Andes: In Search of Roots and Ruptures.

A Brown Bag Lecture with Andean historian Brooke Larson
March 1, 2007

• Brook Larson, Professor, Stony Brook State University of New York
• Erick D. Langer, Professor, Georgetown University

Getting Transatlantic Cooperation on Climate Change: Germany's Agenda for the G-8

March 1, 2007

• Thomas Bagger, Deputy Head of Political Affairs at the German Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Dialogue With Iran?

March 1, 2007

• Geoffrey Kemp, Director of Regional Strategic Programs, The Nixon Center

The Globalization of Democracy: Boom, Recession and Renewal

February 26, 2007

• Larry Diamond, Senior Fellow, The Hoover Institution, Stanford University

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