International Relations

Dorothy Kronick of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about a recent statement from the EU that the bloc no longer views opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s rightful president, which Kronick believes will give the Biden administration more space to support other democratic groups working to depose Nicolás Maduro. “This statement from the EU is in no way backtracking from the commitment to restore democracy to Venezuela,” she said. “This is about looking for the most successful and effective strategy.”

Mohammed A. Salih, a doctoral candidate in the Annenberg School for Communication, spoke about an Iranian propaganda film that aims to portray Kurdish leadership as weak and to commemorate Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike a year ago. The film “promotes the Islamic Republic of Iran as the savior of the entire region, through Soleimani’s superhero-like character, from the Islamic State and Sunni jihadi takfiris in general,” said Salih.

Avery Goldstein of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about relations between the U.S. and China. “So far, all signs on both sides are that neither wants to appear too eager to make the first move in moderating the bilateral tensions,” he said. “Despite the transition to a new administration in the U.S., continuity rather than change in this troubled relationship prevails.”

Amy Gadsden of Penn Global weighed in on the state of China studies. “We should consider offering not only opportunities to study China but also chances to consider ‘China and X,’ where the X can be global economics, international law, bioethics, development, design, climate, and just about everything else,” she said. “The opportunity now is to explore how China is shaping and reshaping every field.”

William Burke-White of the Law School said the increased cooperation between the U.S. and the International Criminal Court (ICC) came to a halt when John Bolton joined the Trump administration and when the ICC moved to investigate the U.S. for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan. “The court was coming under a lot of pressure to show that it didn’t just investigate weak governments in Africa but was able to take on the powerful as well,” he said.

Jacques deLisle of the Law School and School of Arts & Sciences says Tsai Ing-wen, the recently re-elected president of Taiwan, will probably reference political unrest in Hong Kong in her inaugural speech. “I think she has to walk a fine line in how much to reference the Hong Kong situation which obviously is key to her re-election but neuralgic to Beijing,” he said.

Amartya Sen of the School of Social Policy & Practice writes that the World Health Organization should be fixed rather than scrapped.