As the academic year winds to a close for faculty and staff across the University, we at the Blavatnik School of Government are already looking ahead to the arrival of our new students in September. But before focusing too much on what’s on the horizon, we would like to take a moment to reflect on key news and events of the past few months. Please read on to find out more...
Faculty news
From making cyberspace secure to identifying conditions of regime change in South East Asia and from assessing the impacts of cuts in UK government benefits to understanding institutional influences on individual behaviour, our academics have been working hard to address policy issues for communities around the world.
Paul Collier was hailed as the ‘unsung hero’ of the G8 summit in an article in The London Evening Standard. Paul was adviser to the UK government on its agenda for the G8, and helped bring taxation and transparency issues to the fore. He wrote an opinion piece for The Observer on 15 June: 'By putting their own house in order on taxation and transparency the G8 countries can deliver change'. (Pictured in the banner is Paul Collier with President Barack Obama and other dignitaries at the G8 meetings.)
Thomas Hale published ‘Gridlock: Why Global Cooperation Is Failing when We Need It Most’, which explores common trends that explain why multilateral institutions are stumbling across a range of issue areas today. He also recently received the Lawrence Finkelstein Award from the International Studies Association for the best paper on international organization written by a graduate student at the 2013 annual conference.
Emily Jones, Deputy Director of the Global Economic Governance Programme, has been made a Research Associate of the School. She recently published a new book, 'Negotiating Against the Odds: A Guide for Trade Negotiators from Developing Countries'.
Peter Kemp continues working on his two government-funded research projects on welfare reform, and gave a presentation on 'Private rental housing and the global financial crisis' at the European Network for Housing Research annual conference In Tarragona on 21 June 2013.
Clare Leaver has been working on a project in Uganda that seeks to utilise information technology to improve stakeholder feedback and teacher incentives in schools. She has presented preliminary results at several academic conferences, and will be taking initial findings to representatives from the Ugandan Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, and the Vice-President's Office.
David Miller has been making international presentations of his paper on the issues arising from the Swiss referendum in 2009 which voted to ban the building of Islamic minarets: it’s called ‘Majorities and Minarets: religious freedom and public space’. He is now working on issues of justice in immigration, which he will present as a keynote address at a conference on Borders and Justice at the University of Melbourne.
Adam Ritchie was awarded a grant by the Oxford-Wellcome Trust ISSF Flexible Small Grant Fund for the project ‘Improving capacity building through scientific studies in the developing world’. It will run for a year, and aims to build a stronger evidence base for strategies that support scientific capacity building in Africa.
Maya Tudor co-authored an article on the historical role of nationalism in promoting democratisation, which will form part of a special issue submission to World Politics on the 'Historical Turn in Democratization Studies Beyond Europe.’ She also wrote an article for the Indian Express (subsequently published on the Blavatnik School Blog), giving insights into Pakistani politics, following recent democratic elections that brought Nawaz Sharif to power.
Ngaire Woods made several appearances on Radio 4’s Today Programme, including one about the value of international summits, remarking that although they are expensive, they can force governments to prepare positions on important issues brought under the spotlight.
John Slocum is a Visiting Practitioner at the Blavatnik School of Government for the months of June and July. He is on sabbatical leave from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in Chicago, where he serves as director of the Migration Program Area. John is working on the topic of the changing roles and relationships of philanthropy vis-a-vis states and markets.
Among other faculty news: Monica Toft won a Marie Curie Fellowship; and we greatly benefited from Visiting Professors Dani Rodrik, Kathryn Sikkink, and Joseph Nye.
Blavatnik School of Government Events
The summer term was busy with public speakers and guest lecturers for the MPP course.
22 April - President Jahjaga of Kosovo, for a leadership lecture on: ‘Kosovo’s Path to Statehood and its European Future’
25 April - Minister Kuntoro, Head of Indonesia’s Government Delivery Unit, for an MPP masterclass on: ‘Delivery and Management: the Case of Indonesia’
2 May - Professor Dani Rodrik, Sanjaya Lall Visiting Professor at the Blavatnik School, for a public lecture (co-hosted with the Oxford Department of International Development) on: ‘The Globalization Paradox’
9 May - Professor Joseph Nye, Visiting Professor at the Blavatnik School, for an informal masterclass with MPP students and a public lecture on: ‘America’s Presidents and Foreign Policy’
10 May - Professor Ernesto Zedillo, former President of Mexico, for an informal masterclass with MPP students and a public lecture on: ‘Latin America: Taking Off or Still Falling Behind?’
14 May - Mr Hamadi Jebali, former Prime Minister of Tunisia, for a conversation with MPP students about his leadership experiences
17 May - Dr Daniel Kaufmann, President of Revenue Watch, for a public lecture on his experiences in helping countries formulate and carry out governance reforms
21 May – Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google, and Jared Cohen, Director of Google Ideas, for a Sheldonian Theatre public lecture on ‘The New Digital Age’
29 May - Dr Sabina Alkire, Director of Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, for a discussion with MPP students
31 May - Tom Carothers, Chair at CEU and Vice-President for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (with co-author Diane de Gramont) to discuss their latest book: ‘Development Aid Confronts Politics: The Almost Revolution’ (with Global Economic Governance Programme)
11 June - General David Petraeus, retired military officer and former CIA Director, for a conversation with MPP students.
11 June - Dr Mo Ibrahim, founder of Celtel International and the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, for a public lecture on: ‘Why Governance Matters for Africa – and Everybody Else’
14 June - Robert Sirleaf, Senior Adviser to the President of Liberia, for a discussion with students on the MPP Policy Challenge on Natural Resource Management
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