Quick Links ...

May 20th, 2009

Fair Winds for the Brotherhood

The fortunes of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood may be shifting after three difficult years that saw the group's worst electoral result in history, reports of diminished influence, and sustained government repression. Read more »

Turkey's Dangerous Message to the Muslim World

Turkey's Justice and Development Party (AKP), which fashioned itself as the Muslim equivalent of Europe's Christian Democrats, has stood out by passing a series of unprecedented political reforms as the country's ruling party. Yet the Turkish Constitutional Court - bastion of the hard-line secularist old guard - is now threatening to close down the AKP and ban its leading figures, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul, from party politics for five years. And the Bush administration, in the face of this impending judicial coup, has chosen to remain indifferent. The consequences could reach beyond a setback to democracy in Turkey and affect the Middle East. Read more »

May 11th, 2009

Exploring the new, dynamic triangle among Taiwan, the U.S., and China

CDDRL Director Larry Diamond engaged in a far-reaching conversation at FSI with Jason Yuan, Taiwan's Representative to the United States, about the dynamic relationship among Taiwan, the United States, and China. Finding fertile ground for debate, the two examined democracy in Taiwan, cross-strait relations, Taiwan's economy, and prospects for the development of democracy on the mainland.

• » New Dynamic Triangle-Taiwan, US, and China: A Conversation
  

April 17th, 2009

Joshua Cohen's Program on Global Justice joins Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL)

The Program on Global Justice, which explores issues at the intersection of political norms and global political-economic realities, has joined CDDRL, Center Director Larry Diamond announced. Josh Cohen, a professor of political science, philosophy, and law, came to Stanford from M.I.T. in 2006 to launch a new program on global justice at FSI. Read more »

March 31st, 2009

FSI Deputy Director Steve Krasner discusses the rules of sovereignty in Foreign Affairs

"Who gets a state, and why?" asks FSI Deputy Director Stephen Krasner in a recent article in Foreign Affairs.org. While sovereignty is the ultimate prize in international relations, it is not an objective term -- increasingly it is awarded and defined by the powerful actors whose interests are at stake. Read more »

March 27th, 2009

Hewlett Fellow Mark Massoud wins 2009 Law and Society Association Dissertation Prize

Mark Massoud, CDDRL Hewlett Fellow 2008-09, is the co-recipient of the 2009 Dissertation Prize from the Law and Society Association for his dissertation "Who Rules the Law? How Government, Civil Society, and Aid Agencies Manipulate Law in Sudan." The award will be presented at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association, to be held in Denver, Colorado, May 28-31. Read more »

March 25th, 2009

The Arab Peace Initiative: A Primer and Future Prospects

In the wake of September 11, 2001, Saudi Arabia proposed to Israel "full withdrawal from all the occupied territories" for "full normalization of relations." However, by the time the Arab summit met in Beirut in March 2002, the initiative had been modified and its terms hardened. CDDRL visiting professor, Joshua Teitelbaum, shares his analysis of the initiative and how Israel should respond.

• » Arab Peace Initiative: A Primer and Future Prospects

March 9th, 2009

Democracy 2.0 - An Upgrade?

Has the Internet democratized American politics? Did the Internet phenomenon Democracy 2.0 elect Barack Obama? Program on Global Justice Director Joshua Cohen, professor of law, philosophy, and political science, offers his perspective that despite conventional wisdom, the Internet was not, in fact, responsible for putting a Democrat in the White House this election cycle. Read more »

March 7th, 2009

David Holloway quoted by NYT

David Holloway was quoted on his expertise on the history of nuclear weapons, in an article about the book, 'The Nuclear Express: A Political History of the Bomb and its Proliferation,' by Thomas C. Reed and Danny B. Stillman. It argues the Soviets likely stole the idea about the A-Bomb from the U.S.

• » NY Times: "Soviets Stole Bomb Idea From U.S., Book Says"

February 25th, 2009

Supply Chain of the Future Research Roundtable

Building on two prior workshops held in 2008, one at MIT and the other here at Stanford ,this daylong discussion, attended by roughly 40 scholars and practitioners from universities, labor organizations, corporations and NGOs, focused on how companies can move beyond monitoring and compliance to build socially and environmentally responsible supply chains.

• » Supply Chain of the Future
  

February 20th, 2009

Larry Diamond Appointed Director of CDDRL

Larry Diamond, Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford and the Hoover Institution was appointed Director of the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law in February 2009, when former Director Michael McFaul went on public service leave to join the National Security Council in the Obama Administration.

Russia expert appointed to national security posts

Stanford political science Professor Michael McFaul has been tapped by President Barack Obama to serve as special assistant to the president for National Security Affairs and senior director for Russian and Eurasian affairs at the National Security Council. Read more »

February 19th, 2009

Former policy planning director, democracy expert appointed to FSI leadership positions

Stephen D. Krasner, the Graham H. Stuart Professor of International Relations, and senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) and the Hoover Institution, has been named deputy director of FSI, announced FSI Director Coit D. Blacker, the Olivier Nomellini Professor in International Studies. Larry Diamond, a senior fellow at FSI and the Hoover Institution, and professor, by courtesy, of political science and sociology, has been named director of FSI's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL). Read more »

January 12th, 2009

Larry Diamond: How to save democracy

Bush gave democracy promotion a bad name, Larry Diamond writes in Newsweek. The new administration needs to get it right. Read more »

December 17th, 2008

Emmerson edits new book on security, democracy, and regionalism in Southeast Asia

CDDRL and Shorenstein APARC faculty member Donald Emmerson edits a new book featuring ten analysts from six countries addressing security, democracy, and regional issues in Southeast Asia.
Read more »

November 26th, 2008

Obama transition teams draw on Stanford scholars

As president-elect Barack Obama prepares to take office, his transition teams are drawing on several FSI Stanford scholars from CISAC and CDDRL to help shape the policies and ideas of his administration. Read more »

November 13th, 2008

CDDRL's McFaul and Diamond in open letter to President-elect Obama, with recommendations to modernize foreign assistance

Michael McFaul, Director of CDDRL, and Larry Diamond, Coordinator for the Democracy Program at CDDRL, as part of a bipartisan coalition of foreign policy and development leaders, writes to President-elect Barack Obama to recommend early critical steps toward strengthening development and diplomacy. The coalition, Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN), also urges the President-elect to put forth a robust International Affairs Budget request for FY10.

• » MFAN open letter to President-elect Obama
• » MFAN transition recommendation strategies
• » MFAN press site
• » CDDRL program on Reorganizing US Government Democracy Promotion Efforts

November 7th, 2008

Bloggingheads: Proud to Be American

Program on Global Justice Director Joshua Cohen and Glenn Loury of Brown discuss how Barack Obama's victory changes international opinion of Americans. Read more »

October 30th, 2008

Program on Global Justice/Center on Ethics in Society seek postdoctoral fellows for 2009-2010

This year we again seek two candidates for the fellowship positions. One of the fellowships will be housed entirely in the Program on Global Justice, and one will be jointly sponsored by the Center and Program: candidates for these positions should additionally have research interests in international topics. Fellows will teach one class (typically a seminar), participate in the Political Philosophy and/or Global Justice Workshops, and help in developing an inter-disciplinary ethics community across the campus.

• » Program on Global Justice/Center on Ethics in Society Postdoctoral Fellowship

October 29th, 2008

Playing with Fire

Program on Global Justice Director Joshua Cohen talks with Glenn Loury of Brown University about Sarah Palin, what comes after the collapse of conservatism, and why a life defined by racial identity is poorly lived. Read more »

October 23rd, 2008

McFaul offers historical view of regime change

In video taken October 14, during a debate with former CIA Director James Woolsey, CDDRL Director Michael McFaul attacks the idea that America invaded Iraq solely to promote democracy. McFaul argues that, except in a few rare instances, the United States has never invaded a country unless there was a national security concern. Read more »

October 10th, 2008

Obama advisor, CDDRL Director McFaul to square off against McCain advisor, former CIA Director Jim Woolsey

On October 14, at a special Commonwealth Club of California event in San Francisco, CDDRL Director Michael McFaul will debate former CIA Director James Woolsey on international security and how it factors into each presidential campaign's plans for the country. McFaul is a foreign policy advisor to Sen. Barack Obama; Woolsey is an advisor to Sen. John McCain.

• » America and the World: Presidential Candidate Advisors Speak on International Security
  

September 30th, 2008

Krasner moderates Atherton talk on foreign affairs

Stephen Krasner, senior fellow at Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and professor of international relations, moderated at an event last week discussing foreign affairs form the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 to the 2001 September 11th attacks of the WTC. Read more »

McFaul discussed in Moscow Times article on US election

CDDRL Director Michael McFaul is quoted in the Moscow Times in reference to his advisory role on Barack Obama's presidential campaign. McFaul, Obama's adviser on Russia, said foreign policy was still a secondary issue for most American voters. "After last week's events [on Wall Street], this is even more so," McFaul said in a telephone interview. Read more »

September 24th, 2008

The myth of the authoritarian model: How Putin's crackdown holds Russia back

The conventional explanation for Vladimir Putin's popularity is straightforward. In the 1990s, under post-Soviet Russia's first president, Boris Yeltsin, the state did not govern, the economy shrank, and the population suffered. Since 2000, under Putin, order has returned, the economy has flourished, and the average Russian is living better than ever before. As political freedom has decreased, economic growth has increased. Putin may have rolled back democratic gains, the story goes, but these were necessary sacrifices on the altar of stability and growth. Read more »