CIRS Newsletter.Indd

“...a forum for scholarship & research on international and regional affairs...” CIRS Newsletter | Spring 2010 | No. 8 Distinguished Lecture Series The World is Flat 3.0 Thomas Friedman lectured on the global effects of new technologies. Thomas Friedman, Foreign Affairs columnist first time. This phrase, he said, was the inspi- for The New York Times, delivered a CIRS ration for his book. Distinguished Lecture on the subject of “The Friedman noted that three different types World is Flat 3.0.” The lecture was an exten- of globalizations have occurred throughout sion of the themes in his 2005 book The World history. The first was “Globalization 1.0,” is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First which lasted from 1492 to the 1800s. Trans- Century. An audience of over 1,400 people portation technologies, colonial projects, and attended the event held at the Four Season geographic know-how “shrunk the world” in hotel in Doha. terms of geographical reach, paving the way Friedman began by clarifying what he for sustained international trade. During this meant by saying that “the world is flat.” He period, according to Friedman, “the main recounted that he came across this metaphor agent of globalization was the nation-state when he traveled to Bangalore and realized globalizing for Empire, or for resources, or the extent to which “outsourcing,” as a busi- for power.” ness strategy, was being conducted in India. The second phase of globalization was Through telecommunication technologies what he labeled “Globalization 2.0,” which and the internet, India was able to connect began in the 1800s and ended around the to and service hundreds of companies around turn of the twenty-first century. “That era of the world. Friedman recalled that this was globalization,” Friedman argued, “was spear- where he heard the phrase “the global eco- headed by companies globalizing for mar- nomic playing field is being leveled,” for the kets, for labor, and for resources.” The activi- Continued on page 5 Spring 2010 | CIRS Newsletter 1 Director’s Welcome Greetings from all of us at CIRS! economy of rentierism, food security, knowledge-based economies, As the Georgetown campus in international banking, and efforts at a GCC monetary union. Each of Qatar and CIRS enter into the the participants, a number of whom were drawn from Georgetown’s fifth year of operations, we begin Doha and DC campuses, was asked to work on an original, empiri- to slowly welcome a new phase in cally-grounded paper that will form an eventual chapter in a book on our institutional evolution. This is the topic. reflected both in our organization- In the coming months, we plan on starting a research initiative on al set-up and also in our priorities the nuclear question in the Middle East. The aim of this project is to and objectives as we continue with look at both nuclear energy and weapons programs in the greater Mid- this year’s public affairs program- dle East region from Israel all the way to Pakistan. The project’s focus ming and research initiatives. will be on nuclear decision-making mechanisms and logics, dual-use Organizationally, CIRS has en- technologies, and the environmental uses and consequences of nuclear hanced its research capacity with energy. We anticipate the project will last approximately eighteen to the addition of an Associate Di- twenty-four months. rector of Research, Dr. John Crist, Our public affairs programming, meanwhile, is speeding full steam who will take the lead in coordi- ahead, with our next panel presentation focusing on the issue of col- nating our research initiatives and our collaborative projects with partner lapsed – or collapsing – states and the increasing attention directed at institutions. open-sea piracy. We are currently in the midst of work on one of these research ini- In the coming months, look for CIRS events outside of Doha, and tiatives, namely the study of migrant labor in the Gulf region. Despite also to our announcements for the post-doctoral and senior fellowship the pervasiveness of the phenomenon of migrant labor in the GCC positions. countries, and the social and political weight that local policymakers Along the way, I and the rest of the CIRS team look forward to often attach to the issue, little systematic work has been done on the hearing from you and hopefully to seeing you at our various venues. composition of the migrant labor force in the Gulf, the transnational networks they establish with the communities they left behind, their Sincerely, changing values and priorities, and the policies that host governments adopt in relation to them. In its multi-year, multi-disciplinary study of the subject, CIRS hopes to fill a glaring vacuum in the scholarship on the Gulf region. For the coming year, we have two additional research initiatives Mehran Kamrava planned. In January 2010, we began work on a comprehensive study Director of CIRS of the political economy of the Gulf, looking at topics such as the role Interim Dean of sovereign wealth funds, the rise (and fall?) of the so-called “Dubai Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar model,” regional patterns of economic development, the political About CIRS The Center for International and Regional Studies at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar is guided by the principles of academic excellence, forward vision, and community engagement. The Center’s mission revolves around five principal goals: • To facilitate the free flow of ideas and knowledge through • To provide a forum for scholarship and research on international publishing the products of its research, sponsoring conferences and regional affairs; and seminars, and holding workshops designed to explore the • To encourage in-depth examination and exchange of ideas; complexities of the twenty-first century; • To foster thoughtful dialogue among students, scholars, • To engage in outreach activities with a wide range of local, regional, and practitioners of international affairs; and international partners. 2 CIRS Newsletter | Spring 2010 Focused Discussion President of Slovenia Visits Georgetown’s Qatar Campus On January 10, the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Danilo Türk, spoke at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar. The lecture, hosted by the Center for International and Regional Studies, drew students, staff and faculty from across Education City and focused on the state of democracy in our world. President Türk began his discussion recall- ing his last visit to Qatar where he had met a group of students from GU-Qatar and had been impressed with the interest they showed in issues concerning democracy. The president noted that although there is certainly much more that needs to be done to strengthen democracy on a global level, it is clear that much progress has been made in the past three de- cades, particularly in Europe. “Through this progress,” Türk stated, “the world has learned some important lessons.” “democracy and rule of law go hand in hand and a democracy cannot Dr. Saif Al-Hajari (left) and Mehran Kamrava (right) welcome the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Danilo Türk. flourish without respect for the rule of law.” with different political traditions and culture. those from Muslim countries. He then sug- Türk then recounted Indonesia’s successful gested two key guidelines to help facilitate First, Türk emphasized that democracy democratic transition as an example of a pro- this process. First, he said, one has to ensure must come from within and cannot be im- cess that worked for Indonesia since it came that immigrant communities have access to posed from abroad. However, he noted that from within. “The model of Indonesia worked education and employment. Second, accord- democracy can and should be assisted inter- because it was Indonesian, and cannot be rep- ing to Türk, immigrants must be ensured the nationally in a way that is respectful of inter- licated exactly elsewhere,” stated Türk. opportunity for upward social mobility. national principles and standards, such as the Although President Türk acknowledged Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In that there have been setbacks and periods evaluating successful democratic transitions, “We now have to ask where democracy has suffered, he concluded Türk suggested that a democracy’s efficiency how to make democracy on an optimistic note. Such setbacks, he said, and legal quality should be examined. A de- more effective and more “should not detract us from the progress that mocracy that does not adequately and effi- has been made. We now have to ask how to ciently address the electorate’s expectations prevalent in the world.” make democracy more effective and more poses a threat to the success of that process. prevalent in the world.” Furthermore, “democracy and rule of law The president maintained that other parts Mehran Kamrava, interim dean at George- go hand in hand and a democracy cannot of the world had to find their own solutions town University in Qatar lauded President flourish without respect for the rule of law,” and that the process of democratization is on- Türk’s insights and said, “our students are for- added President Türk. going, even in mature democracies. “Europe tunate to have the opportunity to learn from Türk described human rights as part of the has seen democracy for quite some time, peo- a scholar on democracy and human rights legal fabric of democracy. “Human rights will ple think that it is irreversible but it is not,” who has engaged in diplomacy at the United continue to represent the foundation of de- he said. Türk called specific attention to the Nations and ultimately became the political mocracy,” he said. To this end, Türk asserted challenges many democratic European coun- leader of his country.

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