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Rethinking U.S. Strategy in Iraq Iraq continues to pose a conundrum for the international community. Many in the West feel that Iraq is perpetually ungovernable and that its quagmire finds root cause in something inherent to Iraqi culture or sectarianism. What the West fails to realize is that military interventionism has done more to divide this country than anything innate. What must be realized, if Iraq is ever going to be stable, is that the West’s interventions in Iraq are the primary problem. |
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Student Reflections: Learning Ethnographic Field Research in IndonesiaThis summer I was able to take the CONF 610 and 727 Research Methods course in Indonesia with Professor Leslie Dwyer. What I found incredible about the research process during this trip was how quickly I learned that research is not a passive exercise. By taking an ethnographic approach to research, I was required to better define my own sense of self and the way I view myself within the broader field of conflict analysis and resolution, all while working to answer my research question. One of the most important aspects of the experience, to me, was learning about the importance of reflexivity in research with the intent to better understand the ethics and positioning of the question I am asking. |
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Conflict Analysis and Methods Capacity Building WorkshopTwo S-CAR faculty members, Daniel Rothbart and Sudha Rajput, traveled to Khartoum, Sudan to facilitate a one-day symposium and five-day workshop entitled “Conflict Analysis Tools and Methods Capacity Building.” Supported by USAID and the international organization, AECOM, the symposium and workshop were hosted by the Centre for Peace and Development at the University of Bahri, Khartoum, and took place at the Grand Holiday Villa, near the banks of the Nile River. These events represent the first academic gathering among faculty from Sudan and South Sudan following the independence of South Sudan in 2011. |
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The 4th Annual Peace Conference: Immigration & Cultural Diversity in the U.S. The debate over comprehensive immigration reform has been raging in Washington and across the country lately. Most recently, after inaction by Congress, the President, after saying that he would take action himself decided that he would delay any executive action on immigration reform. So far during his Presidency, his administration has deported over two million people with no end in sight. |
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The Signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between George Mason University and the University of Ngozi in BurundiOn September 5, 2014, the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (S-CAR) hosted the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between George Mason University and the University of Ngozi in Burundi. George Mason University was represented by Solon Simmons, the Interim Vice President at the Office of Global Strategy while the Universiity of Ngozi was represented by Apollinaire Bangayimbaga, the Provost of the University. The signing ceremenoy was also witnessed by Elavie Ndura, a professor at the college of Education and Human Development, members of the African Working Group at S-CAR as well as other members of the S-CAR community. The signing of the MoU was to formally foster closer collaboration between the two institutions in terms of faculty and research scholar exchange programmes, research and development participation and the teaching of short-term courses by... |
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Annabella B. Johnson, S-CAR MS StudentAnnabella Busawule Johnson is part of the 2014 MS cohort, joining the S-CAR community this fall. Originally from Uganda, she has been living in Vienna, Austria, for the last few years for her work with the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). CTBTO is an international organization affiliated with the United Nations that works to ban nuclear explosions on the earth’s surface, in the atmosphere, underground, and underwater. Annabella’s work entailed “software configuration management of the applications developed to enable the detection, monitoring and analyzing of data collected from the monitoring stations across the world so that no nuclear explosion goes undetected.” |
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Minhee Noh, S-CAR MS StudentMinhee Noh is currently enrolled in the Master’s program at S-CAR. Prior to joining the program, she worked for a non-profit organization, called Japan Association for Refugees. Through her work, she met with Kurdish refugees from Turkey, and through intaeractions with them, was shocked by their predicament. She said, "I gained an interest in refugee issues, especially those that result from social and cultural tensions, from those interactions." |
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Exiting Iraq and Entering Ferguson: The Untold Arms TradeLast month, President Obama delivered the first of what would be a series of remarks on developing events in Ferguson, Mo. and Iraq. At first glance, the police shooting and death of unarmed18-year-old Michael Brown and execution of US journalist Jim Foley by ISIL would seem like two wholly unrelated events, like two separate worlds. That isn’t necessarily the case. |