International Talkies

The Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, Christ (Deemed to be University) hosted the webinar ‘UN in 75 years: Contribution to World Peace’ to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the United Nations. The event kickstarted with the welcome address by Dr Madhumati Deshpande, Coordinator, Department of International Studies, Political Science and History. Two keynote speeches were delivered by the dignitaries Ambassador TP Sreenivasan and Ambassador Dilip Sinha, who spoke at length on the role of the UN and its shortcomings followed by a fruitful Question answer session with the audience. Ambassador TP Sreenivasan in his enlightening talk began by highlighting the successes of the UN, but also pointed out the shortcomings in its effective functioning. Mr Sreenivasan spoke about India’s relations with the United Nations and its contribution to the efforts of the UN. He threw light upon the UN’s role in peacekeeping, peacebuilding and peace enforcement efforts i...

Dr Ray’s presentation was centred around the primary question: Does Africa’s engagement with emerging powers impact the democratization process in Africa. She agrees with the narrative of the previous presenters that there has been an upsurge in the democratic activities with the third wave of democracy sweeping Africa. Dr Ray also points out the initiatives taken by the regional organization such as the African Union for bringing in political reforms despite the presence of authoritarianism in many African countries. She also highlights the role of NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa’s Development), which is a collective effort by the African Countries in bringing about democratization and constitutional values in Africa. This effort of the NEPAD has been successful to the extent where many Heads of States in Africa have demitted offices and brought in democratization peacefully. Dr Ray claims that there is a trend emerging where the number of authoritarian regimes is decreasing and bac...

Dr Singh's talk focuses on the writings of Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian novelist. In his novel Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe gives the African perspective of many ideas which serve as a counter to the European notions. He asserts that Africa, till now has been viewed through the European perspective, and it is necessary to understand Africa from the perspective of the Africans. He then speaks about Achebe’s novel A Man of the People, which portrays democratic processes in Nigeria through a satirical lens. Dr Singh believes that the conditions for democracy in Africa are obsolete. According to him, the economic conditions of a State must be stable for democracy to be effective. He further points out that the European countries were able to bring in a lot of wealth into their countries through colonization and then introduce democracy which has flourished in these countries. According to him, Democracy is a privilege of the rich nations which have already stocked up on wealth. In man...

The “ANTI-BLACK RACISM AND SLAVERY in the modern Indian Ocean” webinar was conducted by the Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, Christ (Deemed to be University) in collaboration with the Harpur College, Binghamton University (New York). The event was inaugurated by Dr Nancy Um, and the welcome address was given by Fraddy Mujuru, Research Scholar at the Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, Christ (Deemed to be University) The Keynote lecture was given by Nathaniel Mathews, Assistant Professor, Africana Studies Binghamton University. The lecture began by defining the Indian Ocean World and slavery. The talk also highlighted the significance of the Indian Ocean region. Mr Mathews then elucidated as to how slavery was dominant in the medieval history of the Indian Ocean World. He further spoke about slavery in the Indian Ocean in the nineteenth century. He spoke at length on the question as to why and how does a link solidify ...

Dr Zambara starts his talk by quoting Barack Obama, who said that Africa does not need strongmen, but it needs strong institutions. This was said by President Obama in his speech to the Parliament of Ghana in 2009. Dr Zambara articulates the importance of strong institutions for Africa’s development and also adds that it is the combination of strong leaders and along with strong institutions that result in the prosperity of a region. He then sets out to explain pre-colonial Africa, where he disagrees with the historians who categorize pre-colonial Africa as pre-historic Africa and that the history of Africa started with the advent of the Europeans in Africa. He highlights how the European colonizers divided Africa among themselves in 1884 and 1885 at the Berlin Conference hosted by Otto von Bismarck, and no African leader was invited. The borders that exist in Africa today are relics of colonial legacy and the potential of Africa to exist as a single country was there. He points out t...

Mr Muzamwese’s presentation was unique and interesting. He started the presentation by defining Globalization in his own words: meeting of minds from different parts of the world. Africa is endowed with rich stock of natural resources: be it minerals, water, precious stones, wildlife or fertile land. He adds that the African countries rely heavily on the natural resources for their sustenance and the needs of each African country is different from the other. He raises some intriguing questions like Is globalization good for Africa; How can Africa benefit from globalization and What are the risks and benefits of globalization for Africa. Speaking on the benefits, Mr Muzamwese says that Africa can benefit from the transfer of technology from the developed world, that would help the African nations to address environmental challenges. On the risks of globalization, he believes that it is used as a tool to usurp Africa's natural resources. Mr Muzamwese further asserts that the gover...

The Department of International Studies, Political Science hosted a webinar on the topic of Globalization as a tool of democracy in Africa. The welcoming speech was given by Lakshmi Karlekar and Aneetta Thomas in which they introduced the six speakers for the webinar. This webinar started with the first speaker Mr Mujuru, who spoke on how the democratization process was felt and perceived very differently in different parts of Africa and that a part of that perception is that globalization is the evil that is the root cause of all their problems. The reality of the situation, however, Mr Mujuru believes that the negligence of the leaders is the root of this problem, which has made Africa and its people helpless in a certain way. Africa has a choice to get democratized and it can do so by not being too reliant on foreign aid and embrace mechanisation and invest in themselves. Dr Webster Zambara followed as the second speaker and he based his talk on the historical consequences of colo...

Mr Fradreck begins his talk by throwing light on the third wave of Democratisation, a concept given by Samuel P Huntington. He speaks about the factors that were responsible for the spread of democracy and globalisation in Africa which are dictators losing their legitimacy to rule, the emergence of the catholic church with an emphasis on moral values and the role played by the US and EU in spreading democracy. He opines that Africa has been a victim of globalisation and that globalisation has not benefitted Africa. He substantiates by giving instance as to how African nations face unfair competition at the WTO. Mr Fradreck says that the rules of the WTO have been inequitable to the African Nations. He points out that the developing nations have been increasing their presence in Africa under the banner of globalisation, and this has led to the exploitation of Africa’s natural resources. According to him, there exists a lot of instability in Africa because of maladministration. From 196...

Aneetta Thomas Peedikayil The Prize Announcement Ceremony of the National Level Essay Writing Competition was held by the Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, Christ (Deemed to be University) in collaboration with the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) on November 11, 2020. The competition was conducted to commemorate India’s 73 years of independence and its stellar achievements in world politics. The Essay competition marked the beginning of the collaboration between Christ (Deemed to be University) and ICWA, attracting 150+ entries in the Undergraduate and Postgraduate sections under the English and Kannada categories. The entries were perused anonymously by four judges given the painstaking efforts of the volunteers from the department to maintain the participants’ anonymity. Dr Madhumati Deshpande, Coordinator, Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, Christ (Deemed to be University) kickstarted the session with the w...