Root of Conflict

What is the history of Kashmir’s path to self-determination? In this episode, we speak with Dr. Hafsa Kanjwal, an assistant professor of South Asian History at Lafayette College. We talk about Dr. Kanjwal’s new book Colonizing Kashmir: State-building Under Indian Occupation. The book interrogates how Kashmir was made "integral" to India through a study of the decade long rule of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, the second Prime Minister of the State of Jammu and Kashmir. We discuss the historical context of the conflict in Kashmir through the book’s chapters.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at ThePearsonInstitute.org

Access the transcript here.

Podcast Production Credits:

Interviewing: Nishita Karun and Julia Higgins
Editing: Nishita Karun
Production: Hannah Balikci

What kind of ethical concerns should researchers think about when deciding to take on a project? In this episode, we speak with Professor Austin Wright, an Assistant Professor of Public Policy at The University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy and a faculty affiliate of the Pearson Institute and Empirical Studies of Conflict Project. We speak about his past and current research projects in Afghanistan, dual-use infrastructure, and broad U.S. policy interventions. We also talk about his work teaching as a professor, his advice for students, and how his life journey has influenced his understanding of conflict and ripple effects.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at ThePearsonInstitute.org

Access the transcript here.

Podcast Production Credits:

Interviewing: Jose Macias and Hannah Balikci
Editing: Nishita Karun
Production: Hannah Balikci

How do war and conflict give rise to gender-based violence? In this episode, we speak with Dr. Maliha Chishti, an assistant instructional professor at the Divinity School and an associate of The Pearson Institute. Her core research interests are international peacebuilding, security, and development, as well as gender and human rights in post-conflict contexts. We talk about gender-based violence in the context of war, Dr. Chishti’s work in passing Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security, and the complexities of humanitarian aid implementation today.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at ThePearsonInstitute.org

Access the transcript here.

Podcast Production Credits:

Interviewing: Julia Higgins, Rabail Sofi, and Hannah Balikci
Editing: Nishita Karun
Production: Hannah Balikci

What is the role of mothers in counterterrorism efforts? Within conflict, women have traditionally been viewed as victims that need protecting; however, their involvement is much more nuanced than that. In this episode, we speak with Professor Amal Hamada, a professor of political science and gender studies at Cairo University. We talk about the role of gender when discussing conflict, the women’s movement in Iran, and Palestinian mothers today.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at ThePearsonInstitute.org

Access the transcript here.

Podcast Production Credits:

Interviewing: Jordan Enos, Raphael Rony Antony, and Isabella Pestana de Andrade do Nascimento
Editing: Nishita Karun
Production: Hannah Balikci

How are authoritarian elites and their collaborators handled in the aftermath of democratic transitions? The modern discipline of documenting transitional justice began with the Nuremberg trials for Nazi perpetrators. The trials shifted the way the international community thinks about accountability for human rights violations committed by authoritarian regimes and are generally the most well-known example of transitional justice. Yet, there exist different procedures of extra-judicial transitional justice—including lustration, truth commissions, and purges—that hold human rights violators accountable and remove them from positions of power without formally sentencing them.

In this episode, we speak with Professor Monika Nalepa, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, about her new book After Authoritarianism and her monumental work building the Global Transitional Justice Dataset at the Transitional Justice and Democratic Stability Lab. We talk about the different implications of transitional justice for both leaders and rank-and-file members of authoritarian regimes and the more recent global phenomenon of democratic backsliding.

Learn more about After Authoritarianism and read it here.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at ThePearsonInstitute.org

Access the transcript here.

Podcast Production Credits:

Interviewing: Olga Bednarek and Isabella Pestana de Andrade do Nascimento
Editing: Nishita Karun
Production: Hannah Balikci

What role did Kurdish women play in Iran's protests last year? The death of Jina Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iranian authorities sparked mass demonstrations for women’s rights under the rallying cry of "Women, Life, Freedom." But the Kurdish minorities behind this resistance have largely been erased—and their movements co-opted before the international community. In this episode, we speak with Rez Gardi, a Kurdish New Zealander lawyer and human rights activist, about how, despite becoming the symbol of a revolution, non-Kurdish activists and news coverage have continually denied Jina her true name and identity. We talk about the long-lived Kurdish resistance against state oppression in Iran, Syria, and Turkey and the broader history of the Kurdish struggle for autonomy and self-determination in the Middle East.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at ThePearsonInstitute.org

Access the transcript here.

Podcast Production Credits:

Interviewing: Hannah Balikci and Zareen Hussain
Editing: Nishita Karun
Production: Reema Saleh

What mental models underpin international development? And how do they hold back actors working in conflict-affected countries? In this episode, we speak with Dr. Mareike Schomerus, author of Lives Amid Violence and Vice President of the Busara Center, one of the first behavioral science research labs in the Global South. Drawing from ten years of research by the Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium, she argues that the international development sector, in its current form, often fails to take into account the experiences and perspectives of people living in contexts of violence and conflict and offers a new language for transforming development in the wake of conflict. We talk about the colonialist thinking underpins international development, how the sector's unflinching faith in causality creates blind spots for practitioners, and what it means to envision this space anew.

Learn more about Lives Amid Violence and read it here.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at ThePearsonInstitute.org

Access the transcript here.

Podcast Production Credits:

Interviewing: Julia Higgins, Reema Saleh, and Umama Zillur
Editing: Nishita Karun
Production: Reema Saleh

What does an interrupted democratic transition look like? In this episode, we speak to Dr. Ibrahim Elbadawi, managing director of the Economic Research Forum and former Minister of Finance and Economic Planning in the Republic of Sudan. In May of 2023, Dr. Elbadawi joined us in Chicago at the sixth annual Reverend Dr. Richard L. Pearson Lecture to discuss Sudan’s political transition and economic policymaking. The lecture took place just weeks after violent conflict erupted in Sudan. Fighting between two military factions has forced millions of Sudanese to flee the violence and cast a shadow of uncertainty over Sudan's ambitions to transition to a civilian-led democracy.

Watch the Reverend Dr. Richard L. Pearson Lecture featuring Dr. Elbadawi here.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at ThePearsonInstitute.org

Access the transcript here.

Podcast Production Credits:

Interviewing: Hisham Yousif and Kirgit Amlai
Editing: Nishita Karun
Production: Hannah Balikci

What is the human toll of the U.S. immigration bureaucracy? In this episode, we speak with Dr. Chiara Galli, a sociologist at the University of Chicago. Her latest book, “Precarious Protections,” chronicles the experiences and perspectives of Central American unaccompanied minors and their immigration attorneys as they navigate the asylum process and pursue refugee status in the United States.

Spanning six years of research between the Obama and Trump administrations, her ethnographic research examines the paradoxical and precarious criteria that decide who is deserving and whom we should protect—and how U.S. asylum laws fail to protect children escaping life-threatening violence. We talk about her work, how recent immigration changes are impacting unaccompanied minors, and how Chicago will grapple with an unanticipated migration influx.

Learn more about “Precarious Protections" here.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org
Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

Podcast Production Credits:

Interviewing: Natalie Reyes, Gabriela Rivera, and Reema Saleh
Editing: Ricardo Sande
Production: Reema Saleh

How can geography explain Brexit and Britain’s changing relationship with the rest of the world? In this episode, we speak with Dr. Ian Morris, a historian and archeologist at Stanford University. His latest book, “Geography is Destiny,” chronicles the ten-thousand-year history of Britain’s relationship with Europe and how it has adapted in a globalizing world. We talk about maps, how the British Isles went from a relatively
unimportant country on the edge of other empires to a globe-spanning power from its periphery, and what geography has to tell us about the future of Britain’s place in the world.

Learn more about “Geography is Destiny:”
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374157272/geographyisdestiny
This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

Podcast Production Credits:
Interviewing: Hannah Balikci, Zareen Hussain, and Reema Saleh
Editing: Ricardo Sande
Production: Reema Saleh

How can we imagine liberation under colonial rule? In this episode, we speak with Dr. Somdeep Sen, a post-colonial studies professor at Roskilde University. His book, "Decolonizing Palestine," draws on his ethnographic research in the region to study how Israeli occupation shapes life and politics in the Palestinian territories. He documents how liberation is not a single moment in history but instead a complicated process that begins before and continues long after the colonizer loses power. We talk about how settler-colonialism is embedded at heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict and what the struggle for liberation can look like around the world.

Learn more about “Decolonizing Palestine:” https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501752742/decolonizing-palestine/

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

When does the force of argument become stronger than the argument of force? In this episode, we speak with Jon McCourt, a community peace activist for over forty years in the City of Derry, North of Ireland. As a young man, he marched on the first civil rights demonstration in Derry in 1968. Witnessing the murder of friends and neighbors on Bloody Sunday, he joined the Irish Republican Army to resist British occupation. He left the IRA in 1976, and since then, he’s worked to build bridges between Catholic and Protestant communities in the North of Ireland and foster peace and reconciliation. For the first fifteen minutes, we talk about the history of the troubles and the Irish resistance before going on to discuss his work, personal experiences, and how victims and survivors move forward after conflict.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

Podcast Production Credits:
Interviewing: Hisham Yousif and Reema Saleh
Editing: Ricardo Sande
Production: Reema Saleh

How do civilians cope while living in a country at war? In this episode, we speak with Dr. Greta Uehling, a cultural anthropologist at the University of Michigan. Her forthcoming book, “Everyday War,” draws on her ethnographic research in Ukraine after Russia’s 2014 invasion of Crimea. She documents how the conflict disrupted lives and reshaped people's social worlds outside of our conventional understandings of war. We talk about the ordinary, everyday actions that people took to contribute to fighting and how civilians came together to deliver comfort and care.

Learn more about “Everyday War,” coming out this February: https://gretauehling.com/

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

The Republic of Somaliland is a de facto sovereign state in the Horn of Africa. Declaring independence from Somalia in 1991, Somaliland is a self-governing country, with democratic elections and a distinct history, but it’s still considered part of Somalia by the international community. In this episode, we speak with Bashir Goth, the Head of the Somaliland Mission in the United States. We talk about how Somaliland has navigated state-building without international recognition, democracy and development, and what Somaliland has to offer the world in the coming decades.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

Podcast Production Credits:
Interviewing: Deqa Aden and Joshua Charles
Editing: Ricardo Sande
Production: Reema Saleh

How do ex-combatants transition back into society after conflict? In this episode, we speak with Dr. Erin McFee, a political anthropologist and UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at the London School of Economics. Focusing on Colombia and the reintegration of the FARC, her team studies reconciliation in post-conflict societies—the interventions that create interpersonal trust between former perpetrators of violence and former victims of violence as they build their everyday lives together.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

Podcast Production Credits:
Interviewing: Connor Christensen and Andrea Mariño Varela
Editing: Ricardo Sande
Production: Reema Saleh

How do war and displacement disproportionately impact women? In this episode, we speak with Dr. Lina Haddad Kreidie, a political psychologist and Academic Director of Gender Studies at the Lebanese American University. Her research centers marginalized communities, mainly displaced and refugee women in the Middle East. We discuss her work with the Intisar Foundation—studying drama therapy as a mental health intervention for refugee women and how it’s impacted communities within the camps.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

How does African philosophy shape African political institutions? And how have they evolved separately from European models of statehood and development? In this episode, we speak with Dr. Francis Njoku, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a visiting scholar at the Harris School. We talk about his research and how homegrown solutions to African problems can come from within.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

The Pearson Global Forum is our annual in-person and virtual convening on discrimination and marginalization. Join us to hear from global experts as they discuss various topics including the social cost of discrimination, the crisis in Lebanon, and bias in media coverage of conflict. The event is free and open to all on October 14. More information at www.thepearsonglobalforum.org.

Podcast Production Credits:

Interviewing: Christelle Inema

Editing: Ricardo Sande

Production: Reema Saleh

What should we learn from the aftermath of the US War in Afghanistan? And what decisions could’ve brought a better outcome? The fall of Kabul to the Taliban last year marked the end of America’s longest war in history, with former Afghan government unable to retain control of the country. In this episode, we speak with Carter Malkasian, a historian and author of “The American War in Afghanistan: A History” – a comprehensive history of the US intervention, conflict, and withdrawal in the country. A former advisor to American military commanders in Afghanistan, Malkasian has extensive experience working in conflict zones and has published several books in his career.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

The Pearson Global Forum is our annual in-person and virtual convening on discrimination and marginalization. Join us to hear from global experts as they discuss various topics including the social cost of discrimination, the crisis in Lebanon, and bias in media coverage of conflict. The event is free and open to all on October 14. More information at www.thepearsonglobalforum.org.

How is the Myanmar military exacerbating human rights abuse in the country? In February 2021, the Myanmar military initiated a coup – throwing the country back into its long history of authoritarian rule. As the military has taken control, public resistance has become unprecedented. In this episode, we speak with Jason Gelbort, an international lawyer and legal advisor to ethnic nationality organizations in Myanmar. He is the Founder and Executive Director of Upland Advisors, a not-for-profit organization supporting sustainable peacebuilding initiatives and human rights advocacy.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

Podcast Production Credits:
Interviewing: Sahara Chen and Anupriya Nag
Editing: Ricardo Sande
Production: Reema Saleh

What are African solutions to African challenges? And how can African agency act as a counterpoint to the divisions and legacy of colonialism? In this episode, we speak with Ambassador Martin Kimani, the Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations, about his recent speech criticizing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the failures of Western intervention, and what worldbuilding after colonialism can look like.

Listen to Ambassador Kimani’s speech to the United Nations on Russia and Ukraine: https://www.npr.org/2022/02/22/1082334172/kenya-security-council-russia

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

Podcast Production Credits:

Interviewing: Deqa Aden, Josephine Lando, and Nancy Smith

Editing: Aishwarya Kumar and Ricardo Sande

Production: Reema Saleh

How do non-profits navigate changes in humanitarian aid policy? And how is the philanthropic sector evolving? In this episode, we speak with Liz Drew, a Chicago-based strategist with nearly two decades of leadership in advancing human rights, gender equity, and social justice. From working as a U.S. State Department and White House advisor in the Obama administration to leading international programming at Heartland Alliance, she shares insights from her work on human rights, HIV/AIDS, and refugee protection programming.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

Podcast Production Credits:
Interviewing: Deqa Aden
Editing: Aishwarya Kumar and Reema Saleh
Production: Reema Saleh

What makes conflict win out over compromise? In this episode, we speak with Dr. Chris Blattman, an acclaimed expert on violence and conflict. His recent book, “Why We Fight,” draws on economics, political science, and psychology to examine the root causes of war and the paths to peace.

In light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the other ongoing conflicts our world faces today, many of us are wondering, is resorting to violence the norm? Are the paths to war easier than the paths to peace? Examining real-world interventions, “Why We Fight” explores why violent conflict is rare in reality and how successful societies interrupt and end violence through peacebuilding.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

Podcast Production Credits:
Interviewing: Deqa Aden and Ana Camila Vasquez
Editing: Aishwarya Kumar
Production: Reema Saleh

How does disinformation fuel modern conflict? In this episode, we speak with Nina Jankowicz, an expert on disinformation and a Global Fellow at the Wilson Center. We talk about her debut book, "How to Lose the Information War," which takes the reader through several case studies of how Western governments are impacted by Russian disinformation tactics and how to navigate the future of conflict. We also talk about her upcoming book, "How to Be a Woman Online," coming out April 21, on how to deal with gendered harassment and abuse in online spaces.

Note: this episode was recorded in November of 2021, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, so keep that in mind as you're listening. In the past month, we've seen misinformation and disinformation efforts ramp up, so it's important to understand how these strategies work and what threats they pose.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

Podcast Production Credits:
Interviewing: Annie Henderson and Reema Saleh
Editing: Aishwarya Kumar
Production: Reema Saleh

How can we build more peaceful, resilient societies? In this episode, we speak with Steve Killelea, a global philanthropist focused on peace and sustainable development and author of “Peace in the Age of Chaos.” He is the founder of the Institute for Economics and Peace and the Global Peace Index, which measures and ranks the peacefulness of 163 different countries around the world.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

Podcast Production Credits:

Interviewing: Deqa Aden and Reema Saleh

Editing: Aishwarya Kumar

Production: Reema Saleh

What are the prospects for peace in Yemen and how do we hold international actors accountable? In this episode, we speak with Afrah Nasser, a researcher with Human Rights Watch investigating humanitarian law violations and human rights abuses in Yemen. A former activist and independent journalist in Sana’a, Nasser has been advocating for human rights and justice in Yemen for over a decade.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcastPodcast

Production Credits:
Interviewing: Reema Saleh
Editing: Aishwarya Kumar
Production: Reema Saleh

Can intergroup contact build social cohesion after conflict? In this episode, we speak with Dr. Salma Mousa, a political scientist studying social cohesion after conflict and what policies can build trust between groups. She talks about her latest study on building social cohesion between Christian and Muslim youth soccer players in post-ISIS Iraq and the challenges to achieving peace between groups.


This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org


Access the study here: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abb3153


Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast


Podcast Production Credits:
Interviewing: Aishwarya Raje and Wafa Eben Beri
Editing: Aishwarya Kumar
Production: Reema Saleh

Refugee populations face unique challenges to mental health and overcoming trauma in resettlement. In this episode, we speak with Dr. Aimee Hilado, a clinical social worker and researcher specializing in immigrant and refugee mental health and Associate Professor of Social Work at Northeastern Illinois University. Dr. Hilado is the founder and director of the RefugeeOne Wellness Program, a mental health program established in 2011 for refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants in Illinois.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

RefugeeOne is the largest refugee resettlement agency in Illinois and serves over 2,500 immigrants and refugees each year. Learn more about them on their website at www.refugeeone.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

Podcast Production Credits:
Interviewing: Aishwarya Raje and Marina Milaszewska
Editing: Aishwarya Kumar
Production: Reema Saleh

How do researchers assess the impact of peacebuilding interventions? And what can we learn from examining existing literature as a whole? In this episode, we speak with Ada Sonnenfeld, a former Evaluation Specialist with the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie). She talks about her work managing systematic reviews and evidence gap map projects, which can help policymakers make more informed decisions about how to use evidence – to make sense of what we know and learn from what has been done before. We discuss her recent review, where she and her colleagues synthesize evidence on programs that promote intergroup social cohesion in fragile contexts.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the study here: http://bit.ly/SocialCohesionSR46

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

Podcast Production Credits:
Interviewing: Reema Saleh and Mwangi Thuita
Editing: Aishwarya Kumar
Production: Reema Saleh

The relationship between illegal financial flows and state-level violence is present in conflicts around the world, and is especially pronounced in Afghanistan. In particular, the country’s thriving drug market based on the opium trade has proven to be a major economic factor that has been fueling the ongoing conflict. In this episode of Root of Conflict, Aishwarya Raje and Mwangi Thuita speak with Gretchen Peters, Executive Director of the Center on Illicit Networks and Transnational Organized Crime (CINTOC). Drawing on her role at CINTOC as well as her decades-long career as a writer and journalist, Gretchen talks through why the political economy of the War in Afghanistan is so poorly understood, and the connections between criminal networks, weakened institutions, and breakdown into disorder.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

The War in Afghanistan following the US invasion in 2001 is almost two decades old. In recent years there’s been a growing appetite for a non-military resolution to the conflict. We speak with Laurel Miller — the Asia Program Director at International Crisis Group and a former state department official working on Afghanistan and Pakistan — about the ongoing negotiations between the Taliban and Afghan government in Doha and how the US’s goals in Afghanistan has evolved over the course of the war. We discuss the best case scenario for the peace talks, the implications of the 2020 US election, and whether the US has learned the right lessons about counterinsurgency.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at
www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

Watch Laurel Miller on the Afghanistan panel at the 2020 Pearson Global Forum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Scz4JTGoagA&list=PLjioxPKLA82KySaS8BOADulND4ZMj4BQC&index=14&ab_channel=ThePearsonInstitute

Climate change will affect rich and poor countries — but poorer countries are predicted to pay the greatest human and economic cost. In this episode we interview Amir Jina, an Assistant Professor at University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, researching how economic and social development is shaped by the environment. He uses economics, climate science, and remote sensing to understand the impacts of climate in both rich and poor countries.

In our conversation with Prof. Jina, we discuss how shocks to the water system could impact conflict patterns — and whether it’s even possible to identify a causal relationship between conflict and climate change. We also talk about his work at the Climate Impact Lab using state of the art empirical methods to study the effects of climate change.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org.

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

Links to articles discussed in the episode:

Watch Amir Jina on a panel at the 2020 Pearson Global Forum on the theme of Climate Conflict: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QO6nAAK4rw&list=PLjioxPKLA82KySaS8BOADulND4ZMj4BQC&index=6&ab_channel=ThePearsonInstitute

Podcast Production Credit:
Interviewing: Aishwarya Raje and Mwangi Thuita
Editing: Aishwarya Raje and Mwangi Thuita
Production: Aishwarya Raje and Mwangi Thuita

In this episode of Root of Conflict, Pearson Fellows Daniella Choi (MPP ‘20) and Daniel Vallejo (MPP ‘21) speak with Dr. Rebecca Wolfe and Maurice Amollo. Dr. Wolfe is a Lecturer at the Harris School of Public Policy and is an expert on political violence, conflict, and humanitarian policy, and Maurice Amollo is the Chief of Party for Mercy Corps in Nigeria. The two of them have worked together on the USAID-funded “Community Initiatives to Promote Peace”, a multifaceted program aimed to bring together pastoralists and farmers by engaging community and faith-based leaders to promote peace in Nigeria. Rebecca and Maurice discuss the roots of conflict in Nigeria, how the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a disruption in their programs, and the importance of building trust between people and institutions.

This podcast is partnered with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org.

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

Podcast credits:
Daniella Choi (MPP'20) - Cohost
Daniel Vallejo (MPP'21) - Cohost
Yi Ning Wong (MPP'21) - Producer/Editor

Frances Z. Brown is a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She recently co-authored a report titled “Coronavirus in Conflict Zones: A Sobering Landscape”, which examines how the COVID-19 pandemic is playing out in 12 different conflict-affected states, and how efforts to contain the virus increase the likelihood of aggravating those conflicts.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

The Citizenship Amendment Act and Article 370 was abrogated late in 2019 in the Kashmir, which further restricted autonomy in the region and increased unrest in the state. In this episode, we speak to Salwa Shameem, who is a film maker and strategy consultant, and Rohool, a local activist in Kashmir, about the conflict and its broader implications.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

The Global Fragility Act (GFA) was passed by Congress as part of the 2020 Consolidated Appropriations Act and was signed into law on December 20, 2019. The bill represented a historic victory for the peacebuilding field, which has long advocated for the GFA as a way forward to prevent violent conflict.
The Alliance for Peacebuilding, a non-partisan network of over 110 organizations working to build sustainable peace, has been at the forefront of advocating for the GFA. In this episode of Root of Conflict, we speak with Liz Hume, Vice President of Alliance for Peacebuilding. Liz is a conflict expert with over 20 years of experience in leadership positions in multilateral organizations and NGOs. Liz discusses Alliance for Peacebuilding’s role in getting the GFA passed, as well as the importance of research and advocacy in crafting policies that promote peaceful political outcomes.

There are currently over 70 million people displaced by war, conflict, and persecution worldwide (more than the population of Thailand). The vast majority of them are in low- and middle-income countries without adequate resources to support and resettle them. We spoke to Dr. Cindy Huang, vice president of strategic outreach at Refugees International and a visiting fellow at the Center for Global Development, about policy initiatives that can improve protection and outcomes for displaced people. We had a wide-ranging conversation about the politics of refugee resettlement, weaving together narrative and evidence for policymakers, how refugee policy can be integrated into our support for host countries’ development agendas, and “Me Too” in the development community.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

Interviewers: Sonnet Frisbie and Mwangi Thuita. Episode edited and mixed by Aishwarya Raje and Mwangi Thuita. Sound engineering by Yi Ning Wong.

For the last several years, police violence in America has come to
the forefront of public consciousness. It is an issue that can polarize the country but for years, there lacked a data-driven analysis of police violence on a national level, and concrete policy recommendations on the issue were hard to come by.  On this episode of Root of Conflict,

Pearson Fellows Sonnet Frisbie and Mwangi Thuita speak with Sam Sinyangwe - activist, data scientist, and co-founder of Mapping Police Violence, the most comprehensive database of people killed by police.  Sam discusses the evidence-based approaches to measuring police violence in America, and the importance of conveying the data, to the public and to policymakers, in a way that can affect real policy change.


This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

What is the role of big data in modern-day conflict? How prepared are defense leaders in
interpreting data and effectively leveraging its use on the battlefield? How has cyber warfare
evolved over the past decade, and what lessons can we draw from the Russian example in
Crimea?

We attempt to address these questions in this episode of Root of Conflict, where Pearson Fellows
Sonnet Frisbie (MPP ‘21) and Haz Yano (MPP ‘20) interview Colonel (ret.) Liam Collins, the
Executive Director of the Madison Policy Forum and the Viola Foundation. COL (ret.) Collins is
a retired Army Special Forces Officer who previously served as the former Director of the
Combating Terrorism Center and the Modern War Institute at West Point.

Drawing on his vast professional experience (to include a stint as the executive officer for
General (ret.) John Abizaid when he was the Senior Defense advisor to Ukraine), COL Collins
shared his thoughts on how the defense community can adapt to take advantage of the
measurement revolution, and what to make of Russia’s innovative use of cyber and hybrid
warfare in Ukraine.

This podcast is partnered with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global
Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org.

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

Links to articles discussed in the episode:
“The Pitfalls and Possibilities of the Measurement Revolution for National Security,” War on the
Rocks - https://warontherocks.com/2020/01/the-pitfalls-and-possibilities-of-the-measurement-revolution-for-national-security/

“A New Eastern Front: What the US Army Must Learn from the War in Ukraine,” Association
of the US Army - https://www.ausa.org/articles/new-eastern-front-what-us-army-must-learn-war-ukraine

Are female leaders more likely to engage in warfare than male leaders? In this episode of “Root of Conflict” we spoke with Dr. Oeindrila Dube, the Philip K. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies at the Harris School of Public Policy to help answer this question. Dr. Dube recently co-authored a paper titled “Queens”, which examines Europe from 1480-1913 to see if states led by women experienced more peace than states led by men. The findings show that women leaders were more likely to participate in war than male leaders during this period, challenging many norms and perceptions of women in leadership positions. Professor Dube walks us through the empirical approaches used in this research, as well as how to interpret these findings within the broader context of the study of gender and conflict.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

Dr. Dube's Paper can be found at: http://odube.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Dube_Harish_Queens_Paper.pdf

Podcast Production Credit: Interviewer: Aishwarya Raje. Episode edited and mixed by Mwangi Thuita.

In this episode of Root of Conflict, we spoke with Andrew Lavali, the founding Executive Director of the Institute for Governance Reform (IGR), a research and evidence-based advocacy think tank based in Sierra Leone. In this interview, we discussed the concept of “social accountability” in a post-conflict context, as well as the IGR’s work in promoting sustainable development and strengthening political and economic governance in Sierra Leone.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

The full music video for “My Vote, My Life” can be found at
https://youtu.be/zzTNfE9QgwY .

Podcast Production Credit:
Interviewers: Aishwarya Raje and Mwangi Thuita. Episode edited and mixed by Yi Ning Wong and Mwangi Thuita.

In August 2016, negotiations between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) reached a historic agreement to end the civil conflict that had been fought in Colombia for over forty years. In an exclusive interview with Root of Conflict, Ambassador Sergio Jaramillo Caro, former High Commissioner for Peace in Colombia and lead negotiator of the talks between the Colombian government and FARC, discusses the lead-up to the negotiations and what has transpired in regards to the agreement since 2016. Additionally, Pearson Fellows Camila Perez (MPP '21) and Daniel Vallejo (MPP '21) share their personal experiences of how the peace process has changed the culture and atmosphere in their native Colombia.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

Podcast Production Credit
Interviewers: Manuel Bustamante and Marina Milaszewska. Episode edited and mixed by Yi Ning Wong, production assistance from Aishwarya Raje and Mwangi Thuita. Special thanks to Camila Perez and Daniel Vallejo for sharing their stories.

Professor James Robinson (Pearson Institute director and co-author with Daron Acemoglu of the bestselling book Why Nations Fail) sat down with Root of Conflict to discuss his new book "The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies and the Fate of Liberty." In his new book, he and his co-author explore how an incessant struggle between the state and society allows countries to enter a narrow corridor between despotism and lawlessness and to develop liberty and inclusive institutions. In a wide-ranging conversation, Robinson applied the theory of his new book to peace in Colombia, U.S. history, China’s use of technology to oppress citizens, and populist movements in Europe.

This podcast is produced in partnership with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. For more information, please visit their website at www.thepearsoninstitute.org

Access the transcript here: https://thepearsoninstitute.org/news-and-media/podcast

Podcast Production Credit: Interviewers: Manuel Bustamante and Sonnet Frisbie.
Episode edited and mixed by Yi Ning Wong.
Production assistance from Haz Yano and David Raban.