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SPIS Seminars 2008
Friday 12:30 till 2pm 115SSS unless noted.
15 August |
UNICEF Debate
"In Today's Capitalist World can we really Make Poverty
History?"
Some of Flinders University's most insightful lecturers will discuss just
how attainable the United Nation's Eight Millenium Goals are
considering the current world order. Speakers include: Maryanne Kelton,
Richard Deangelis, Richard Leaver, Tanya Lyons, Michael Sullivan and Anthony
Langlois. This event is organised by the Flinders UNICEF Association.
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22 August |
Thesis Writing Roundtable (co-chaired by Dr Michael Barr and Dr Maryanne
Kelton) |
29 August |
Richard Leaver
US Decline, Once More?
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12 September |
PhD Seminar
Andrew Coutts
Junior Partners in Military Coalitions - Problem Definition
Abstract:
Personal observations in operational theatres and related studies
suggest that the behaviour of junior partners - as defined by their commitment
and willingness to accept risk or increased responsibility - in military
coalitions is difficult to predict. A willingness to join a coalition
may not be a good predictor of behaviour or the level of relative contribution.
Variation and unpredictability in the levels of internal support may in
part explain some recent examples of poor performing military coalitions.
In particular this has implications in a coalition's ability to adapt
to a learning enemy or respond to changes to the coalition's mission or
operational tempo. This presentation will explore my efforts to identify
and define a research project within this area that provides insights
into the challenges of leading and participating in military coalitions,
particularly coalitions engaged in non-conventional military operations
such as counter-insurgency.
Bio:
Andrew Coutts is a member of Land Operations Division at the
Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO), Edinburgh, South Australia.
Currently, Andrew is leading a body of research focused on the performance
of military teams operating in complex environments. In 2006 he supported
US Marine Corps live force experimentation, including work on their Distributed
Operations concept. Prior to his current work as an operations analyst,
he served in the regular Army for 10 years and then worked on various
projects as a civilian communication engineer for the Royal Australian
Navy and DSTO.
Brett Fiebiger
Subprime Financial Systems and the Endogenous Causes of Debt Malaise
Abstract:
The unfolding financial turmoil that erupted in August 2007 has
shattered confidence in the Anglo-Saxon arm’s length regulated transactions-orientated
model of financial capitalism. The paper examines the potential for the
subprime mortgage fiasco to trigger a protracted phase of debt-induced
stagnation in the United States. The dilemma for the US economy is that
‘financial imbalances’ have mounted at an alarming rate over the entire
period from the 1980s onwards.
Bio:
Brett Fiebiger is currently undertaking a PhD in Politics and
International Studies at Flinders University. He has an Honours Degree
in Politics from Flinders University (2005)and a Bachelor of Arts Majoring
in International Studies from Adelaide University (2004) His are of Academic
Interest is International Political Economy, particularly, Financialisation
and International Financial Architecture.
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19 September |
PhD Seminar
Julie Rayner
Tension within the Ranks: Australian Civil-Military Relations during the
Howard Government era
Bio:
A recently commenced PhD student supervised by Andrew O'Neil and Maryanne
Kelton
Abstract:
The study of civil-military relations has outlined models to assist in
understanding the general relationship between armed forces and civilian
government. Military influence in politics is never absolute, nor is civilian
control. In theory, the relationship between soldier and statesperson
is collaborative, but in practice it is a “dialogue of unequals”. It remains
a complex set of interactions that is difficult to quantify. A more instructive
approach would be to examine how the differences in policy are negotiated
and possibly resolved. Therefore, investigation of individual states with
unique combinations of political and military history and civil-military
relations is required to test the practical application of theory. Little
in-depth theoretical analysis of Australian civil-military relations exists.
In addition to including an opening framework chapter that reviews relevant
literature to build a theoretical foundation and identify gaps in previous
research, the thesis will examine the military intervention in East Timor,
the scenario now known as the ‘children overboard affair’, and the circumstances
surrounding the involvement of the ADF in the military intervention in
Iraq. The thesis methodology and research design will include a literature
review, a theoretical framework for analysis, documentary analysis, and
interviews with key individuals with knowledge of and/or direct experience
with the evolution of civil-military relations in Australia during the
Howard Government period.
Ben Habib |
10 October |
Michael Barr
No Island is a Man: The Enigma of the Lee Kuan Yew Story
Abstract
When Lee Kuan Yew decided to call his memoirs “The Singapore Story”, he
was confirming that in his mind there was no meaningful distinction between
his personal history and that of the country he had ruled for decades. There
have already been many scholarly reactions to Lee’s claim, including several
attempts to wrench Singapore’s history from both Lee Kuan Yew’s shadow and
the straight jacket of the official nation-building narrative. I have participated
in some of these exercises, but in this article I have followed a different
course: one that examines the implications of Lee’s claim of ownership for
Singapore. It is an attempt to treat these questions as issues of governance
that impact on Singapore, rather than as exercises in psychohistory, political
biography or post-modern critical analysis, all of which would focus on
Lee himself. It examines the instruments by which Lee’s claim of ownership
is made and implemented, its historical origins, and its changing shape.
I also study how Lee has used this technique as an instrument of social
and political utility whereby he has tried to gift his personal “virtues”
(as he sees them) and his personal progeny (in the form of Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong) onto “his” Singapore.
Bio:
Dr Michael D. Barr is a Lecturer in International Relations in
the School of Political and International Studies, Flinders University.
He is the author of Lee Kuan Yew: The Beliefs behind the Man (Curzon and
Georgetown UP, 2000), Cultural Politics and Asian Values (Routledge, 2002,
2004), the co-editor (with Carl A. Trocki) of Paths Not Taken: Political
Pluralism in Postwar Singapore (National University of Singapore Press,
2008) and co-author (with Zlatko Skrbiš) of Constructing Singapore: Elitism,
Ethnicity and the Nation-Building Project (Nordic Institute of Asian Studies,
2008). This paper is drawn from an article that was recently commissioned
by the Harvard Asia Quarterly
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17 October |
Ian
Hall
Imaginary worlds: A utopian international theory
Abstract:
No mode of political thinking is more disparaged in the study of international
relations as utopianism. This paper examines the accusations of its critics
and questions their validity. It finds that our rejection of utopianism
is bound to significant misunderstandings about that mode of thought and
to dubious contentions about the sources of violence and conflict in international
politics. Utopianism, in its classic form, is not best viewed, as it has
been by international theorists, either as a natural tendency of mind that
demands limitation or as a threat to political stability and international
security. Rather, this paper argues Thomas More’s Utopia – and
indeed many of the utopian texts that follow present powerful and
nuanced mode of political criticism and argument that challenges the tragic
vision underpinning both realist and liberal theory in the field.
Bio Note:
Ian Hall is a Senior Lecturer in International Politics at the University
of Adelaide. He is the author of The International Thought of Martin Wight
(New York: Palgrave, 2006) and the editor, with Lisa Hill, of British International
Thinkers from Hobbes to Namier (New York: Palgrave, forthcoming 2009), as
well as a number of articles and book chapters on international relations
theory.
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24 October |
Research MA Seminar
Geordan Graetz
Three Commentators on Islam: Tariq Ramadan, Daniel Pipes and John L. Esposito
Abstract:
The presentation will speak to my thesis Research Proposal, in
which I consider the respective positions of Tariq Ramadan, Daniel Pipes
and John L. Esposito. My presentation will focus on the ethical considerations
which emerge from the way in which these authors’ views are used in the
political debate over Islam.
Bio:
Geordan Graetz has a first class honours degree in international
relations from Flinders University. He completed his Bachelor of International
Studies degree in International Relations and French in 2006. Currently,
he is a Master of Arts research higher degree candidate at Flinders, with
his thesis focusing on the debate between Western and Islamic scholars and
their respective ethical positions.
PhD Seminar
Ben Page |
31 October |
George Crowder
Bio:
Professor George Crowder Lecturer in Political and International Studies
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7 November |
PhD Seminar
Chris Williams
Rob Manwaring
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14 November |
Andrew O'Neil |
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