News & Events

May 26, 2023: EMI Fellows Graduation 2023

Registration Link: https://cglink.me/2cm/r1928367

Join the Emerging Markets Institute to celebrate EMI fellows '23 graduation.

During their programs, the fellows contributed to the development of EMI's activities, such as the EMI Conference and webinars, and the EMI Report.

The graduating EMI fellows are the reflex of the success in engaging business leaders to become experts in emerging markets.

Dress code: Formal. The brochure will be available here in the next few days.

View on site | Email this event

Apr 20, 2023: Beyond the Wire: US Military Deployments and Host Country Public Opinion at Uris Hall

The United States stands at a crossroads in international security. The backbone of its international position for the last 70 years has been the massive network of overseas military deployments. However, the US now faces pressures to limit its overseas presence and spending. Carla Martinez Machain's project argues that the US has entered into a "Domain of Competitive Consent" where the longevity of overseas deployments relies upon the buy-in from host-state populations and what other major powers offer in security guarantees. Drawing from three years of surveys and interviews across fourteen countries, it demonstrates that a key component of building support for the US mission is the service members themselves as they interact with local community members. Highlighting both the positive contact and economic benefits that flow from military deployments and the negative interactions like crime and anti-base protests, this project shows how US policy on the ground shapes its ability to advance its foreign policy goals.

About the Speaker

Carla Martínez Machain is a Professor of Political Science at the University at Buffalo. Her research (funded by the Department of Defense’s Minerva Initiative and the Army Research Office, among others) focuses on foreign policy analysis, with a focus on military policy and international conflict.

Presented by the Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies. Co-sponsored by the Gender and Security Sector Lab.

View on site | Email this event

Apr 13, 2023: Border Fortification and Legibility: Evidence from Afghanistan at Uris Hall

States often fortify their borders against militant threats. How do these efforts shape civilian welfare and perceptions in borderland communities? Professor Christopher Blair conceptualizes border fortification as a legibility-building endeavor. By bolstering state reach in areas of weak historical penetration, fortification enhances the government's capacity for monitoring, administration, and control. Yet, expanding state authority also disrupts traditional cross-border markets. A trade-off between security and corruption emerges in consequence. He provides evidence for this theory in a difference-in-differences framework, combining administrative records on violence and representative data from a NATO-commissioned survey fielded across Afghanistan. Fortification facilitates government information-collection, improving security provision and fostering national identification. Enhanced state capacity is countervailed by negative economic impacts. By disturbing the informal borderland economy, fortification fuels criminalization and local opposition. Civilians rely on illicit economic entrepreneurs to sustain traditional market access. Higher smuggling rents fuel official corruption and bribe-taking. The findings point to a key dilemma inherent in border fortification strategies.

About the Speaker

Christopher Blair is an incoming Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics at Princeton University. His work spans across international relations and comparative politics, with a substantive focus on the political economy of conflict and migration. The main questions motivating his research are: (1) how counterinsurgency policies impact rebel and civilian behavior; and (2) how prospective hosts respond to forcibly displaced people.

Presented by the Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies. Co-sponsored by the Gender and Security Sector Lab.

View on site | Email this event