GavinWilde

Talk Series on Sharp Power – Gavin Wilde: Russia’s information warfare as regime insecurity

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This event was jointly organised by The European Center for Populism Studies (ECPS) and The Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation (ADI) .

If a unified theory of Russian information warfare exists, its core tenet might well be its historic indivisibility from regime security in Russian strategic thought. Rather than as an aggressive or expansionist expression of Moscow’s foreign policy, the Kremlin’s “information war” should primarily be viewed through a domestic political and security prism—as much a counterinsurgency as an expeditionary strategy, less an escalation than a projection.

Gavin Wilde is a senior fellow in the Technology and International Affairs Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he applies his expertise on Russia and information warfare to examine the strategic challenges posed by cyber and influence operations, propaganda, and emerging technologies. He previously served on the US National Security Council, and in analytic and leadership roles in the US intelligence community for 15 years—including as a coauthor of the IC assessment of Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. He is also an adjunct lecturer on information conflict at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

ChristopherWalker

Talk Series on Sharp Power – Christopher Walker: Authoritarian mobilization and sharp power

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This event was jointly organised by The European Center for Populism Studies (ECPS) and The Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation (ADI) .

China, Russia, and other countries ruled by repressive regimes have dramatically scaled up their investment into spheres commonly associated with soft power, including into media, education, technology, and entertainment. Most free societies are still not adequately prepared to meet the multidimensional sharp-power strategies applied by China, Russia, and like-minded states. Open societies will be vulnerable so long as they maintain a blind spot about the compromising and corrosive aspects of such forms of authoritarians’ outward-facing influence.

Christopher Walker is Vice President for Studies and Analysis at the National Endowment for Democracy, an independent, nonprofit foundation dedicated to the growth and strengthening of democratic institutions around the world. In this capacity, he oversees the department that is responsible for NED’s multifaceted analytical work. Prior to joining the NED, Walker was Vice President for Strategy and Analysis at Freedom House. Walker has testified before legislative committees, appears regularly in the media, and frequently conducts briefings on critical issues relating to democratic development.

Walker has been at the forefront of the discussion on authoritarian influence on democratic systems. His articles have appeared in numerous publications, including the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, and the Journal of Democracy. He is co-editor (with Larry Diamond and Marc Plattner) of the edited volume Authoritarianism Goes Global: The Challenge to Democracy (2016), and co-editor (with Jessica Ludwig) of the reports Sharp Power: Rising Authoritarian Influence (2017), and Sharp Power and Democratic Resilience (2021). His article, “Rising to the Sharp Power Challenge,” appears in the October 2022 issue of the Journal of Democracy.

MGP-Indonesia

Mapping Global Populism — Panel #3: Religious Populism and Radicalization in Indonesia

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This panel was jointly organised by The European Center for Populism Studies (ECPS) and The Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation (ADI) .

Moderator

Dr Ihsan Yilmaz (Research Professor and Chair of Islamic Studies and Intercultural Dialogue at the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation (ADI), Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia). 

Speakers

“Main drivers of populism in Indonesia,” by Dr Inaya Rakhmani (Director of Asia Research Centre, Universitas Indonesia).

“Radicalism, extremism and civilizationalist populism in Indonesia,” by Dr Pradana Boy Zulian (Associate Professor of Islamic Studies at the Faculty of Islamic Studies, Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang, Indonesia).

“Gender roles in Indonesia’s religious populism,” by Dr Kurniawati Hastuti Dewi (Senior Researcher at the Research Center for Politics, National Research and Innovation Agency – BRIN, Indonesia).

“Populism and foreign policy: The Indonesian case,” by Dr I Gede Wahyu Wicaksana (Senior International Relations Lecturer in the Department of International Relations Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia).

BillWatson

COMTOG Interview with Bill Watson on ‘Path Out’

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Bill Watson is an associate professor of learning design and technology and director of the Purdue Center for Serious Games and Learning in Virtual Environments. According to Dr Bill Watson, video games are extremely powerful in engaging students’ attention, but it is the role of the teachers to focus their attention. The game allows students to step out of the classical learning environment and interact with their subject material on a more personal level. Path Out successfully teaches people about the realities of conflict due to its well-researched background, appealing art direction, authentic storytelling and exploration opportunities. Path Out is a unique game providing students with an education in empathy and acts as an interesting template for how niche commercial games are able to find success in formal education.

FrederikSmets

COMTOG Interview with Frederik Smets on ‘Path Out’

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Frederik Smets is a UNHCR Education Officer. Path Out is a part of the UNHCR’s broader catalogue of teaching materials on refugees, asylum, and migration. Frederik Smets, UNHCR Education Officer, noted that this initiative was a direct response to the requests of teachers. In 2015, the peak of the migration crisis, educators contacted the UNHCR for help tackling classroom discussions about why people are crossing the Mediterranean. Today, conversations on migration are still highly politicised and frequently misinformed, which makes education and open discussions on this topic vital.

GeorgHobmeier

COMTOG Interview with Georg Hobmeier on ‘Path Out’

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Georg Hobmeier is Path Out’s lead designer. Path Out is an example of a successful game that employs its format to express the consequences of conflict effectively. The autobiographical adventure game recounts the story of a young Syrian man’s life before the war when the war started and how he had to flee his home country in the wake of the Syrian uprising and civil war. The game was created by Vienna-based production company, Causa Creations, in collaboration with its refugee protagonist, (now called) Jack Gutmann. The game’s playful yet honest tone has been very well received by players and critics alike and has even been adapted into a teaching aid by the UNHCR for lessons on refugees and migration.

ECPS-MGP2

Mapping Global Populism — Panel 2: Populism, Macho-Fascism and Varieties of Illiberalism in The Philippines

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Moderator 

Dr Paul Kenny (Professor in the Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences at the Australian Catholic University). 

Speakers

“Populism, Illiberalism and Authoritarianism in the Philippines: From Past to Present,” by Dr Adele Webb (Research Fellow in Democracy and Citizen Engagement at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance, University of Canberra).

“Duterte’s ‘violent populism’ in comparative and historical perspective,” by Dr Mark Richard Thompson (A Professor of Politics at Department of Asian and International Studies and director of Southeast Asia Research Center at the City University of Hong Kong).

“Gendered Populism of Dutertismo and Hypermasculinity in the Philippine’s politics,” by Dr Jean S. Encinas-Franco  (A Professor in the Department of Political Science, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of the Philippines, Diliman).

“Media Populism and Anti-Free Speech in Duterte’s Philippines,” by Dr. Jefferson Lyndon D. Ragragio (An Assistant Professor at the Department of Science Communication, College of Development Communication, University of the Philippines at Los Baños).

Ibrahim OZTURK

“In pursuit of Xi Jinping’s dream world order: The case of the BRI,” by Ibrahim OZTURK

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Date: March 30-31, 2023.

The Second Annual International Symposium on ‘Impacts of Global Power Transition on Authoritarian Populism and Multilateralism’

Panel 2: Power Shift, Multiplex World, and Populism

“In pursuit of Xi Jinping’s dream world order: The case of the BRI,” by Ibrahim OZTURK(Professor of Economics, The ECPS Senior Researcher and the University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute of East Asian Studies).

Aktar-Watson

Welcome/Opening Remarks by Cengiz Aktar & Sir Graham Watson at the 2nd Annual Int’l Symposium on ‘Impacts of Global Power Transition on Authoritarian Populism & Multilateralism’

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Date: March 30-31, 2023.

The Second Annual International Symposium on ‘Impacts of Global Power Transition on Authoritarian Populism and Multilateralism’

Welcome Remarks

By Cengiz AKTAR (Professor, Senior Researcher at Foreign Policy Program of the ECPS).

Opening Speech

By Sir Graham WATSON (Honorary President of the ECPS).

Symposium2Panel1

1st Panel of The 2nd Annual Int’l Symposium on “Multilateralism: The Past and the Future”

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Date: March 30-31, 2023

The Second Annual International Symposium on ‘Impacts of Global Power Transition on Authoritarian Populism and Multilateralism’

Panel 1: Multilateralism: The Past and the Future

Moderator

Aline BURNI (Policy Analyst on International Relations, Foundation for European Progressive Studies, Brussels).

Panelists

“How international law enables great power domination and great power competition and what can be done about it,” by Mattias KUMM (S.J.D. Harvard, Research Professor for Global Constitutionalism, WZB Berlin Social Science Center).

“Mini-literalism in the Indo-Pacific as an alternative to multilateralism and bilateralism? The role of public support and populism,” by Werner PASCHA (Prof. of Economics, Duisburg-Essen University, Institute of East Asian Studies-IN-EAST).

“On the new paradigms of cooperation in the rising world of multiplexity in countering populism,” by Richard CLARK (Associated Professor, Department of Government, Cornell University).