global politics

Schar School Welcomes ‘Exiled’ Ukrainian Media Professor

Andrew J Schappert — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 18:41:38 +0000

Schar School Welcomes ‘Exiled’ Ukrainian Media Professor Andrew J Schappert Wed, 02/23/2022 - 13:41

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Anton Liagusha: ‘I have a really great opportunity to think in another world with different approaches to life.’ Photo by Shelby Burgess/Creative Services

The conflict in Ukraine the world is observing now is nothing new to Anton Liagusha.

When gun-brandishing, Russia-backed separatists took over the Donetsk National University in Donetsk, Ukraine, in 2014, the country’s prime minister hastily relocated the school to a new campus in Vinnytsia, 20 hours away by train. Now the disused former diamond-cutting factory is the site of a university that is, technically, in exile.

“It was a very difficult time,” Liagusha said. Liagusha, an associate professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government, was one of 600 teachers at the university—his alma mater—who were forced to relocate. Some 150 professors did so, but only about 5,000 of the 18,000 students followed. With few students and a diminishing source of funding, Liagusha had one more relocation in his future.

Liagusha was selected to come to the Schar School for a year under the New University in Exile Consortium program, which assists endangered and persecuted scholars and provides them means to continue their teaching and research.

He is continuing his studies on media’s influence on politics and culture and how the public consumes information. A media studies scholar and a former radio journalist, Liagusha focuses on “fake news,” disinformation, and propaganda―topics for him that are far more than academic.

“It is an honor to have a world-class scholar such as Anton to serve on our faculty,” said Janine Wedel, a Schar School University Professor who studies corruption and was instrumental in bringing him to Mason.

“At a time of increased threats globally against academic and journalistic freedom, the consortium plays a critical role in providing threatened scholars and reporters a position from which they can do their critically important work,” said Schar School Dean Mark J. Rozell. “The Schar School’s academic programs benefit from the many contributions that the visiting scholars and journalists make to our community during their affiliation with us.”

At the Schar School, where he teaches the course Media and Policy in the Era of Fake News, Liagusha can continue his studies, which are more important now than ever.

“I have a really great opportunity to do my research and to think in another world with different approaches to life,” he said.

“My special interest is not only public policy, but a wider field of public history, how contemporary media, social media, and mass culture use different contexts—heroes, antiheroes, narratives from the past—to support political decision-makers in Europe and especially Eastern Europe. And now I would like to see how it works at the United States.”

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Ukraine

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Schar School News February 2022

Schar School

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University in Exile Consortium

New program welcomes Afghan scholars to Mason

Mariam Aburdeineh — Fri, 04 Feb 2022 19:21:53 +0000

New program welcomes Afghan scholars to Mason Mariam Aburdeineh Fri, 02/04/2022 - 14:21

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Alpaslan Özerdem

��ӽ紫ý's Fairfax Campus. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services/��ӽ紫ý

To support Afghan refugees needing to relaunch their careers in the United States, ��ӽ紫ý is inviting scholars and researchers who have recently left Afghanistan to apply for an academic appointment as visiting scholars.

“At Mason, we care about what happens in our societies whether here in Virginia, regionally, nationally or globally,” said Alpaslan Özerdem, dean of Mason’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution.

“As the Carter School, we wanted to respond to the crisis in a way that we’d address a critical cluster of challenges effectively, through our own resources and capacities as an academic institution,” he said. “It was almost a natural reaction for us to think about ways of helping.”

“The Office of the Provost is committed to help our deans and respective academic units welcome Afghan professors and researchers to our institution and have a potential impact on their safety and scholarly work”, said Laurence Bray, associate provost for graduate education.

The program is open to Afghans who have legal residence in the United States or are in the process of obtaining a U.S. Visa. Selected scholars selected will receive financial and institutional support from Mason for a year, with a possible option for renewal.

“As visiting scholars, they’d be able to integrate themselves in both ongoing and prospective research initiatives, leading to opportunities for the renewal of their Mason affiliation,” Özerdem said. “More importantly, with their wealth of experience in post-conflict reconstruction and peacebuilding, as well as their specific areas of disciplinary expertise, Afghan scholars and researchers have so much to contribute to U.S. higher education [and to Mason].”

The scholars will be evaluated on criteria including their credentials, ability to travel to the United States, professional experience, and a field of study that aligns with a participating Mason school or college.

The program speaks to Mason’s mission.

“We value not only diversity and access, but also fraternity and solidarity in responding to socio-economic and political challenges,” Özerdem said. “It was great that this idea by the Carter School was integrated into the university’s plans for responding to higher education needs of Afghan refugees, and it is wonderful that the program is already up and running.”

The Afghan Scholars program also provides an opportunity for giving back, Özerdem said.

“There are many people in our communities who would like to help Afghan refugees, and by supporting this program, they’d have a direct contribution in helping those scholars rebuild their lives,” he said. “Historically, there have been many examples in which scholars who fled to the U.S. have generously contributed to the development of sciences and technology in this country, and now we have an opportunity to make it happen again.”

For more information and to apply to the Afghan Scholars Program, click here.

The Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, in partnership with ��ӽ紫ý, is committed to supporting at least one Afghan scholar. If you would like to support the program, please visit this link to make a gift: https://advancement.gmu.edu/22CAR1

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Campus News

Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

Ukraine crisis part of a broader end game for Putin, Mason professor says

Colleen Rich — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 16:57:43 +0000

Ukraine crisis part of a broader end game for Putin, Mason professor says Colleen Rich Wed, 01/26/2022 - 11:57

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Richard Kauzlarich

Richard Kauzlarich. Photo by Ron Aira/Creative Services

For Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Cold War with the United States never ended, said Richard Kauzlarich, a distinguished visiting professor at ��ӽ紫ý.

And that is what makes the current crisis in Ukraine, against which Russia has amassed 100,000 troops, so dangerous.

“This is something Putin created himself, and he’s not approaching it with real policy objectives you can negotiate with or deal with,” said Kauzlarich, who from 1991 to 1993 was deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of European Affairs, with responsibility for relations with the former Soviet Union and economic ties with the European Union.

Putin wants NATO to declare it will not allow Ukraine to become a member. But Kauzlarich and others point out that such a declaration would be in direct opposition to NATO’s traditional open-door policy.

“So, could we say, ‘Well, we understand Ukraine isn’t really ready to join NATO and therefore we’re going to shut that door?’" Kauzlarich said. “I don’t think that solves anything. [Putin’s] game is bigger than that.”

What is Putin’s end game?
“He wants to reverse what he sees as U.S. and NATO victories, if you will, during that period immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union,” Kauzlarich said. “Another element is whether he wants to reconstitute the Soviet Union. He certainly wants to reconstitute Russian presence in a much stronger way in those former Soviet republics. So this may be the opportunity to do just that.”

Why now?

“I think Putin believes he has an advantage over Biden,” Kauzlarich said. “He sees the U.S. weakened by the internal political differences that have affected our political system. People are distracted by COVID. Maybe he thinks the U.S. would be too concerned about China to care wat he might have in mind for Ukraine. I don’t know whether he believes Ukraine is going to join NATO or not. I just think he’s a tactician. He tries to take advantage of any opportunity, and he saw one here.”

Do you foresee U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine?

“If there is an attack on Ukraine, NATO would respond,” Kauzlarich said. “It may not be with troops in Ukraine, but there are any number of ways the U.S. and its allies can get Russia’s attention. My guess is there would be economic sanctions. There are measures we can take against the leaders of Russia that won’t affect the people of Russia. We’re doing assistance to the Ukraine military that could expand, as well as strengthening weaker allies of the alliance like the Baltic states, in particular.”

Is the crisis an existential threat to NATO?

“I really don’t think so,” Kauzlarich said. “It’s had the opposite affect from what Putin wanted. For goodness sake, you have people in Finland and Sweden talking about joining NATO. That’s the last thing the Russians would want is to have neutral countries on their border join NATO.”

So how will this play out?

"At a minimum, we’re looking at a continuing crisis with Russia over Ukraine,” Kauzlarich said. “[Putin] may want to move out into Ukraine further, solidify control on Donbas and that’s it.”

Kauzlarich said he’s not sure that would lead to a full-blown invasion. “It will be less direct, and we’ll have some collateral activities where Putin will try to show the U.S. and our allies that he can reach out and touch us as well. By that I mean cyber attacks on vulnerable U.S. infrastructure. He may try to do more joint military exercises with China,” such as through cyber attacks on U.S. infrastructure.

Richard Kauzlarich, who served as U.S. ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1997-99, and to Azerbaijan from 1994-97, can be reached at rkauzlar@gmu.edu.

For more information, contact Damian Cristodero at 703-993-9119 or dcristod@gmu.edu.

About ��ӽ紫ý
��ӽ紫ý is Virginia’s largest public research university. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason enrolls more than 39,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. Mason has grown rapidly over the past half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity and commitment to accessibility.

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Tip Sheet

Russia

global politics

Schar School of Policy and Government

Schar School News January 2022

Mason alum receives prestigious Thomas R. Pickering Fellowship for foreign service

John Hollis — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 18:31:00 +0000

Mason alum receives prestigious Thomas R. Pickering Fellowship for foreign service John Hollis Mon, 12/16/2019 - 13:31

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Honors College

global politics

Thomas R. Pickering Fellowship

Leadership

Fulbright Program

Students