School News AGS

On September 25^th, AGS will host a guest talk about a unique grassroots initiative promoting dialogue and peace in the Middle East: Roots.

The NGO Judur/Shorashim/Roots was founded in 2014. It brings together local Palestinians and Israelis who have refused to remain the enemies that history made them, and have come to “see each other as the partners they both need to make changes to end their conflict” (see the organization's website).

Through various activities fostering understanding and bridge building between Palestinians and Israelis, they seek to “challenge the assumptions that [their] communities hold about each other and change the mentality and discourse around the conflict in their respective societies.” Activities include holiday camps for children of the two communities, youth meetings, language courses to learn the “other”’s language, and more. These activities have reached over 15,000 participants in the past three years; the majority of the Israeli participants are settlers. 

Talking about this initiative will be one of the two founders of Roots, Palestinian peace activist Ali Abu Awwad, and Franco-Israeli lawyer Jean-Marc Liling, who heads the Center for International Migration and Integration in Israel and has joined Ali Abu Awwad in his peace enterprise. Ali Abu Awwad and Jean-Marc Liling will also introduce the larger grassroots movement that this NGO is a part of, called b8ofhope, which also hosts other peace initiatives.

Watch Ali Abu Awwad's TED Talk (2015)

The talk will take place on September 25th from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. It is open to AGS students, alumni and faculty. A few seats will be open to the public on RSVP. If you are interested in attending, please contact us at rsvp@ags.edu.

Photo courtesy of www.b8ofhope.org

AGS recently signed an academic partnership with American University in Washington, D.C. allowing us to offer a new dual program opportunity. AGS students and AGS recent alumni may now apply to earn American University’s Master of International Service in only one year after completing AGS’s Master’s degree in International Relations and Diplomacy.

American University (AU) is well known for its academic programs in international service, public policy and public affairs, international law, and human rights. AU’s School of International Service, through which this dual option is offered, is a top ten school for international relations. Through this partnership, AU applies some of the graduate credits earned at AGS toward its Master of International Service, thus reducing the number of credits that have to be completed in residence at AU.

The complementarity of the two programs, their respective specific expertise in the field, and the school locations in two of the world’s main political capitals, make this association ideal for the study of international affairs.

“This partnership is an optimal match,” says AGS’s president Eileen Servidio-Delabre. “Washington, D.C., just like Paris, offers a wealth of political, cultural, educational and professional resources, as well as unique networking opportunities for students in international affairs. This makes both locations perfect for a combined academic and practical experience. In addition, AGS and AU share a strong commitment to peacebuilding, human rights, engagement in political activism, community service, and sustainable development.”

Other dual program options at AGS include a US-accredited M.A. in International Peace and Conflict Resolution in partnership with Arcadia University (PA, USA), a Master in Diplomacy and International Negotiation in partnership with Université Paris-Sud (France), and an LL.M. in French and European Law and Business Ethics in partnership with Université de Cergy Pontoise’s Law School.

More information on this dual program

American University's School of International Service website

Photo credit: AU Photographer Jeff Watts

As nuclear tensions mounted between Supreme Leader Kim Jung-un and President Donald Trump, AGS Professor Douglas Yates and AGS Ph.D. candidate Olivier Sempiga participated in the World Peace Academy 2017 held in Jeju, South Korea from August 6 to 9.

This innovative peace studies program is organized by the World Association of Island Studies at Jeju National University, in conjunction with Hokkaido University of Japan. The goal is to promote peacebuilding andpost-conflict healingin Korea and other countries. The audience is composed of an international community of scholars, students, and human rights and peace advocates. Prof. Yates says: "Although not a panacea, nevertheless there is a powerful role for peace education as one component of peacebuilding, privileging nonviolence and enabling a space and a process through which the values and interests of the Korean peoples might be negotiated. The establishment and institutionalization of peace education on Jeju Island can be a part of this peacebuilding process, enhancing the prospects for resolution of this protracted conflict."

The 2017 edition of the Jeju World Peace Academy was entitled "Towards Jeju Type of Peace Education at the Grass Roots Level."Sempiga, who had been a scholarship student in South Korea before joining AGS, and is fluent in Korean, shared his experience as a survivor of the Rwandan genocide. Yates, who teaches conflict resolution at AGS, presented a keynote lecture on "Peacekeeping, Peacemaking and Peacebuilding" in the conflict between the two Koreas. Other subjects included the April 3rd 1948 Jeju Island massacre of some 30,000 islanders by US and South Korean soldiers, the construction of a US military base on Jeju, and comparisons with the US base on Okinawa.See full program

AGS students who are interested in participating in the 2018 Jeju World Peace Academy should contact AGS's academic coordinator Marinella Bergese (academics@ags.edu).

The American Graduate School in Paris celebrated its 2017 graduates during a Commencement ceremony that took place on June 2^nd in the French Senate in Paris. Students from the United States, Canada, Nigeria and Uzbekistan were awarded a Master’s degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from AGS, in partnership with Arcadia University. Some of them were also graduating with a dual Master's in Diplomacy and Strategic Negotiation from Université Paris Sud.

“Conferring our American degree in the French Senate to our students who come from around the world is a nice way to symbolize the international dialogue that we promote as a school of international relations and diplomacy,” said AGS’s president Eileen Servidio-Delabre. In her introductory speech, she emphasized the importance for countries to act beyond their own self interest: "Getting more than one gives: this is what most countries want. And this is not what makes International Relations, or the world, a better place. Solutions to disagreement should have no real winner or loser. Everyone should sacrifice something to resolve the issue. This is a far cry from ‘Let's get more than we give’ attitude."

The Commencement speaker this year was Georges-Vivien Houngbonon, the President of L’Afrique des Idées, an independent think tank dedicated to the political, economic and cultural advancement of the African continent. Houngbonon’s address focused on the importance of what he called “bottom-up” approaches in international relations, creating more opportunities to make a change in the world – which is the ultimate goal of our graduates as they are about to pursue their own career in international affairs.

Dr. Warren Haffar, Dean of International Affairs at Arcadia University, AGS’s academic partner, was not able to attend the ceremony this year but sent his encouragements to the graduates: “I wish you heartfelt congratulations from Arcadia University on the successful completion of your Masters degrees in international relations and diplomacy! As you enter the world with this very special skill set, our common future depends, perhaps now more than ever before, on your successful application of dialogue and diplomacy as a preferred form of engagement in international relations. Congratulations on all that you have achieved, and lead us forward with the knowledge you have gained from AGS!”

Following the conferring of degrees, Megan Pritchard, a graduate of the dual Master’s program in International Relations and Diplomacy and Diplomacy and Strategic Negotiation, gave a testimony of her AGS experience. She said: “One of the benefits of getting an education at AGS is the exposure we get to so many different opinions, beliefs, ideas and feelings. AGS is truly an international school. We have students coming from literally all over the world. [...] Being a student of IR, having so many countries and regions represented among my fellow classmates and professors has expanded my mind and has made me think about the world in so many new ways.”

Read the full transcript of Megan Pritchard's speech

See photo album on Facebook

Chloe Bingham, a Master's candidate in the International Relations and Diplomacy program at AGS (Class of 2018), was accepted to present a paper at an international academic conference on Security Studies that took place in Istanbul in April. She was selected to receive a scholarship from AGS to support her conference participation. Below is a short piece she wrote to share her experience.

"On April 7^th and 8^th, I attended the International Conference on Wars and Military Conflicts, hosted by DAKAM in Istanbul, Turkey. DAKAM is the Eastern Mediterranean Academic Research Center that has hosted a number of conferences across a variety of disciplines, creating a forum for a network of scholars in Istanbul since 2010. They form their principles “on the basis of a critical perspective, an interdisciplinary approach and social responsibility.”

I was fortunate enough to present a paper I had written last semester for Dr. Ruchi Anand’s “Factors and Theories of Analysis in International Relations and Diplomacy” class. The paper centered on the Democratic Peace Theory, and whether or not it was sufficient to explain the lack of war between the United States and Saudi Arabia. While I had a fifteen-minute slot to present this term paper, others were presenting M.A. or even Ph.D. research in the same amount of time. Two conferences were taking place on the same day (International Relations and Terrorism Studies), so paper topics ranged as much as age and origin of the speakers (which was vast, to say the least).

For me, it was a “first” in several different ways. I had never presented at or even attended an International Relations conference previously. It was interesting to meet people from countries I had never met anyone from before, let alone visited. However, it was comforting to see scholars from all over, coming together to share research on terrorism and war studies in hopes of creating more peace in the world. Luckily, I was able to visit the historical sites of Istanbul while I was there for the conference. I was fascinated to not only see centuries of culture still intact (the only thing older than 250 years in Kentucky are our trees), but also to be a strait away from a continent I had never been so close to before.

The conference and trip as a whole had its ups and downs. My presentation was not perfect, many presenters (myself included) were faced with difficult questions, and travelling to an unknown place can always be daunting. However, I have never experienced anything like it before. I was able to present something I had worked hard on, represent my school and my old Kentucky home, become a published academic, and explore new places. Studying at AGS continues to open doors in the academic world, and I look forward to seeing where it takes me next."

Photo: courtesy of DAKAM

Like every year, AGS Master's students who have opted for the dual program in Diplomacy and Strategic Negociation joined their fellow students from Université Paris Sud for an international negotiation simulation. This year's mock negotiation took place in Beirut, Lebanon, and the theme was "Europe and the Migratory Crisis".

Sivan Ghasem (Class of 2017) was one of them. She shared her experience and a few photos with us.

"On April 3, 2017, AGS students playing the role of ambassadors to specific countries travelled to Beirut, Lebanon to take part in a negotiation exercise on the theme: 'Europe and the Migratory Crisis'.

The simulation brought together 47 students from many different origins, through three participating institutions: Université Paris Sud, the American Graduate School in Paris, and La Sagesse University in Beirut, which hosted the event. We decided our conference was best suited to take place in Beirut, as Lebanon hosts a tremendous amount of refugees and has done a great deal to aid those fleeing war.

Each student participating in the exercise represented a specific country or international organization. The aim of the exercise was to formulate a legal document in response to the migratory crisis Europe is facing at the moment as a result of civil wars, wars, famines, and general instability.

After hundreds of hours of work and compromise, our class was able to furnish a document with articles in regards to the crisis and promises from countries to help alleviate the issue and encourage European partners to take initiative. Some of the main topics we discussed were security, finance, and integration.

I, myself, represented Iraq. As the representative, my main goal was to attain funding. Iraq in general is in a precarious state. It is a host country for approximately 300,000 Syrian refugees and has 6 million IDP’s of its own due displacement induced by the Islamic State. On top of this, Iraq is fighting a simultanous war on international terrorism to dislodge militants from strongholds in Hawija and Mosul. Moreover, these were some of the positions and arguments I made during the time span of the exercise in an attempt to secure funding. Funding was essentially my main goal and position as the Iraqi representative because of the dire state of affairs of the country at the moment.

Subsequently, I was able to discuss with one of the leaders of the Gorran movement in Kurdistan in regards to the Iraqi position on refugees. Evidently, 97 percent of Syrian refugees are currently housed in the northern region due to stability and the political representative highlighted to me the issue of financing in a country that has been ravaged by sectarianism, terrorism, economic deficits, and general insecurity. In short, it is difficult for the northern region to sustain itself due to a lack of funds and resources and the pressure of IDP’s and refugees has further complicated matters.

After the negotiations, our group was able to visit a refugee camp in the northern region of Lebanon and experience first hand the sad reality of these displaced people. We met several families and listened to their stories. Most came from Homs and recounted their lives before and how the Syrian civil war took everything they had. Some of the children we met were born in the camps and refugee life was all that they knew; it was a sad reality and a rude awakening. The ones we met were considered the lucky ones because clearly they were able to escape. The Syrian war has taken hundreds of thousands of lives and the advent of the Islamic State in regions has only exacerbated the situation.

I was especially touched during this visit because my family spent some time in refugee camps as they escaped war. We were fortunate enough to be accepted by Canada and I was able to live a different life and become the person I am today because of my generous country. My parents arrived in Canada on Halloween of 1991. I was just an infant, but had we not left, I would have spent my toddler years in camps as my cousins and other extended family did in Iraq. During the visit I couldn’t help but think how lucky I am and how every refugee deserves the chance I had, but unfortunately this is not the reality."

This was especially highlighted during the exercise and the sheer complicated matter of the situation. Working with European counterparts was a rewarding experience but was difficult in the sense that Europe has its own issues such as a high unemployment rate and economic issues, therefore reaching a general consensus of accepting a certain number of refugees was understandable and proved to be a difficult task during our exercise. Nevertheless, the level of cooperation presented by Europe and the partner states afforded a final text that each country signed.

Finally, our exercise proved to be extremely valuable because as we have witnessed, instability in the region is not on the decline, and is in fact on the rise due to famines, climate change and brutal regimes. Our mock simulation was an attempt to alleviate these emerging challenges and find practical humane and rational solutions to a problem that is not going to go away any time soon.

The 12th AGS International Graduate Student Conference that took place on April 21st was a success, with presenters and attendees from such diverse national origins as Thailand, Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt, Qatar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovakia, and India. The theme this year was Non-Western Perspectives in International Relations. As Amitav Acharya and Barry Buzan state it, "Western International Relations theory has the advantage of being the first in the field, and has developed many valuable insights, but few would defend the position that it captures everything we need to know about world politics." The AGS conference brought together scholars, students, economists and NGO leaders to explore alternative ways to look at international politics and open the stage for innovative debates.

Professor Douglas Yates introduced the first panel by talking about how in the 1950s and 1960s, Western theories of Marxist and Capitalist development proclaimed a kind of unversality that was challenged in the 1970s by indigenous models of development (Asian, Islamic, African). These were criticized in the 1980s as unworkable romantic visions, that were abandoned at the end of the Cold War in the 1990s as Western liberal democracy and economic neoliberalism became hegemonic. In the 2000s, after the United States attempted to impose its values through the use of military force, there has been a renaissance of interest in non-Western theories, with Asian values presented as a possible alternative to Western hegemony.

The second panel was moderated by Patrick Clairzier, a Ph.D. candidate at AGS whose field of expertise covers political economy of developing countries, and global inequalities. Clairzier introduced the panel by demonstrating the necessity of expanding the global debate, which is the larger goal of this conference: "The historic rise in global inequalities that has occurred over the past forty years has been accompanied by high levels of poverty, environmental degradation and socio-economic instability in both developed and developing countries. This wide-ranging instability has set off an intense debate that questions the legitimacy and future of our global system. This seemingly growing rejection of Western ideals and the rebuke of the political and econ omic elite that controls the world’s wealth has also engendered a wide range of non-traditional and non-western perspectives that are helping to broaden the conversation and put forth new, eclectic and innovative approaches to solving these issues."

Finally, the keynote panel featured three economists: Marc Raffinot, a senior lecturer at University Paris IX-Dauphine in France and a member of the French Association of Economists; Georges Vivien Houngbonon, the president of a think-tank called L'Afrique des Idées; and Stéphane Tchasso Kpowbié Akaya, economic advisor for the Prime Minister of Togo. The panel was moderated by Bertrand de Largentaye, who teaches at AGS after a forty-year career holding various key positions in the French government. Marc Raffinot discussed the economic trends in emerging economies, particularly in Africa. Georges Vivien Houngbonon talked about the demographic growth of Africa and its great economic and innovation potential, while the the role that it can play in international relations remains limited since none of its countries has a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. This keeps them from being part of the decision-making process even when it comes to decisions about UN missions in Africa. Stéphane Tchasso Kpowbié Akaya gave a case study of Togo, where the government is designing a plan for how to create a national identity to take over the one that was imposed on them by European powers. The speakers went on to discuss the concepts of non-Western economic, particularly rejection of the GDP as a valid measurement of development.

The AGS International Graduate Student Conference focuses on a different theme of international Relations every year. It is organized by AGS students under the faculty supervision of Ruchi Anand. This year's student coordinators, Wanrawee Kruawan (a candidate in the combined M.A./ Ph.D. program) and April Ward (Master's candidate), many AGS students participated by presenting their research: Ph.D. Candidates Olivier Sempiga, Chidima Achudume, and Emirjona Cake, and M.A. Candidates Suneetha Musah and Lelan Evans.

Professor Anand says: "This year's conference did perfect justice to the intended theme and ideas. The rich layering of ideas, countries, continents, issues, debates and lenses powerfully reiterated the tearing need to start caring, talking and listening about;, theorizing about and doing something about the distanced, silenced, nuanced, neglected and often paradoxical perspectives of the world. We talked the talk, it's now time to walk the walk!"

See conference program and speaker bios.

See conference photos on Facebook

On April 6th, Dr. Ruchi Anand's class on International Environmental Policy hosted two guest speakers from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), to talk about gender issues relating to climate change. The two speakers, Rahel Steinbach and Marie Jalabert, gave a presentation entitled "Climate Refugees: Gender-Specific Needs and Women Leadership".

Ruchi Anand gives the following summary of the talk: "Rahel and Marie's talk brought to the centre-stage the pressing need to adopt a gender-sensitive and gender-inclusive approach to issues of climate change and sustainable development. They clarified that the gender approach is not only about women but men as well. They discussed a range of different consequences for different stakeholders following impacts of climate change. According to them, the worst affected were the women. They used the example of 'climate refugees' to highlight this claim. 80% of the 22 million people displaced by climate- or weather-related events since 2008 are women. Their talk brought home the staring need for an approach to law, politics and environmental responses that embraces gender-sensitivity and responses. Alluding to the weaknesses of international law in updating itself to new realities, they pointed to the definition of the term 'refugee' in the 1951 Refugee Convention that does not include the idea of a 'climate refugee.' In an interactive talk, Rahel and Marie grappled with a range of student questions surrounding their subject matter as well as possible employment at the UN. A great talk that brought the practitioners to the home of the academics at AGS, a teaching approach that I highly recommend for today's students of political science and international relations."

Dr. Rahel Steinbach is an international development practitioner with expertise in sustainable development, climate change, sustainable energy, gender mainstreaming, and results-based management. She works as a Programme Officer at the United Nations Environment Programme in Paris, and also acts as the Gender Coordinator of UNEP's Economy Division. Prior to joining the UN system in September 2000, she served on a short-term basis as Legal Associate on Human Rights for the German Embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka. She is an active advocate for sustainable development and gender equality, which has led her to lecture at various universities including Oxford University, University of Vienna, ISEG and the American Graduate School in Paris. She holds a PhD in Sustainable Development from the University of Vienna, Austria, a Master’s degree in Political Science from Sciences Po, Aix-en-Provence, France and a Master of Advanced International Relations from the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna, Austria.

Marie Jalabert is an international legal practitioner with expertise in environmental affairs, sustainable development, climate change, sustainable energy, and gender mainstreaming. She works as a Consultant at the United Nations Environment Programme in Paris. She previously served as a legal consultant on marine pollution for the European NGOSurfrider Foundation Europe, which specializes in ocean protection and coastal development. She holds a Master’s degree in International and European Environmental Law from Aix-Marseille University's School of Law, and a Bachelor in Political Science and Law from the Catholic Institute of Paris, France.

On Saturday, April 22nd, AGS will host the second seminar in the series on Religion and International Relations that it started in February.

These seminars aim to bring together scholars, diplomats and graduate students to explore the links between religious beliefs and global politics. After the successful inaugural seminar on the theme of "Religion and State: A Troubled Relation", this second edition will focus on "Religious Minorities and Freedom of Religion".

It will feature Ambassador Michael Einik, US Senior Diplomat, along with Professor Manlio Graziano, AGS's specialist of the geopolitics of religion, Professor Christophe Grannec, a sociologist of religion at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), and graduate students from AGS and Université Paris-Sud in France, and La Sapienza University in Italy.

Click here to see the program

If you wish to attend, please email rsvp@ags.edu and we will send you the practical details.

Like every year, AGS students enrolled in the dual Master's program in International Relations, Diplomacy and Strategic Negotiation with AGS's partner institution Université Paris Sud will take part in an international negotiation simulation along with their fellow students at Paris Sud.

This year, the simulation exercise will take place in Beirut, Lebanon, on April 3-7, on the theme: "Europe and the migratory crisis". It will bring together 47 students from many different national origins, through the three participating institutions: Université Paris Sud, American Graduate School in Paris, and Sagesse University in Beirut, which will host the event.

Each student will play the part of a diplomat from a specific country, international organization, or non-governmental organization that he or she has learnt about in doing research and writing a public dossier. In doing so, students have become acquainted with the specific goals and objects to fully interiorize their entities' stakes and become cognizant of disagreements between countries and obstacles in regards to important issues.

The final objective of this simulation project is to produce a relevant legal document that address the migratory crisis, which will then be forwarded to the European institutions so that they can be aware of how such negotiation could evolve as the need for multilateral talks on this issue has become more and more urgent.

This prospective exercise is unique in the academia and aims to apprehend political and humanitarian issues with states and international organizations' rationality. It has been held every year since 1994 by Université Paris-Sud – and since 1997 with AGS students through the two institutions' dual degree partnership. Previous simulations themes and locations have included, among others: "Crisis Management in the European Union" in Brussels, Belgium (2002); "Cultural Dialogue in the Euromed Area" in Alexandria, Egypt (2007); Environment and Sustainable Development" in Athens, Greece (2008); "The Economic Francophony" in Rabat, Morocco (2014); and "Establishing a Social responsibility and Interncultural Charter for the Media" at UNESCO in Paris, France (2015).

This project needs support to help some of the students to cover their travel expenses: you can find more information here.

More information on the dual program in International Relations & Diplomacy / Diplomacy & Strategic Negotiation