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RPGP's Favorite Conversations

Some of RPGP's Favorite Conversations...
    • UC Berkeley's Harry Kreisler welcomes Natan Sharansky, a minister in the Israeli government and a leading figure in the human rights movement in the Soviet Union during the last stages of the Cold War. They discuss how he survived imprisonment in the Gulag, the role of human rights in bringing on the demise of communism, and the implications of the global human rights struggle for the search for peace in the Middle East.
    • Harry Kreisler welcomes Carnegie policy analyst Karim Sadjadpour for a discussion of Iran, its domestic politics and foreign policy. Questions addressed include: What are the dynamics of internal politics? What is the role of the Revolutionary Guard? What are Iran's regional goals? What are its goals in Iraq? Can its quest for nuclear weapons be halted? and How should the United States deal with this formidable power in the vital Middle East?
    • UC Berkeley's Harry Kreisler talks with Olivier Roy, senior researcher at the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris. Their discussion covers Islamic movements, the rise of fundamentalism, the failure of political Islam, and relations between the West and the Islamic world.
    • UC Berkeley's Harry Kreisler is joined by guest Khaled Ahmed, one of the best known political analysts writing in the Pakistani press, to discuss Pakistan and Islamic Fundamentalism.
    • Georgetown University Professor John L. Esposito talks with UC Berkeley's Harry Kreisler about the complex forces shaping Islam and its relationship with the West.
    • Harry Kreisler is joined by journalist, lawyer, and human rights activist Samantha Power who examines the failure of U.S. foreign policy throughout the twentieth century to respond to genocide in Armenia, Cambodia, Bosnia and Rwanda.
    • Ian Lustick, Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania, joins UC Berkley's Harry Kreisler on this edition of Conversations with History to discuss Israel and its ongoing conflict with Palestine in the Middle East.
    • In a discussion with host Harry Kreisler, Yale University Law School Professor Amy Chua analyzes the vortex of ethnic hatred generated by the unrestrained export of markets and democracy to the underdeveloped world.
    • Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Israeli journalist Tom Segev for a discussion of his new book, 1967: Israel, the War and the Year that Transformed the Middle East. Topics included in the discussion are changes in Israeli society before the 1967 war, the events leading to war, Israeli decision making during and after the war, the interplay between personality and politics, the consequences of the war for Israel and the role of U.S. foreign policy during the crisis.
    • Conversations Host Harry Kreisler welcomes philosopher Martha Nussbaum for a discussion of women and human development, religious freedom, and liberal education.
    • Harry Kreisler welcomes Walter Russell Mead of the Council on Foreign Relations for a discussion of the Anglo American maritime system—its origins, development, and impact on the world. The conversation touches on the unique synergy between protestant religion and capitalism in the Anglo American world, the consolidation of power in the process of transforming the international system, the importance of culture in international politics, and the need for a dialogue of civilizations in the 21st century.
    • Harry Kreisler welcomes Iranian journalist and human rights activist Akbar Ganji for a discussion of the dynamics of change in Iran. Topics covered include the Iranian Revolution in comparative context, the problem of establishing democracy in Islamic societies, power in Iran, and U.S. Iranian Relations. Ganji also talks about his work as an investigative journalist in Iran and his political imprisonment.
    • Harry Kreisler welcomes historian and classicist Victor Davis Hanson for a discussion of the Peloponnesian War and its lessons for today. He compares that conflict with the war in Iraq. He talks about imperial ambition, the conflict between civilizations, and military power as an instrument to achieve democratization in the struggle between modernity and tradition.
    • Conversations Host Harry Kreisler welcomes author Nayan Chanda for a discussion of his new book, Bound Together. Viewing globalization in historical perspective, Chanda, the editor of Yaleglobal Online, explains what is distinctive about the current manifestation of globalization and provides insight into the opportunities and problems posed by this phenomena with deep roots in humanity's urge to be bound together.
    • Harry Kreisler welcomes Trita Parsi,President of the National Iranian American Council, for a discussion of the struggle for power in the Middle East. Drawing on the perspective of the Realist School of International Relations Theory, he focuses on the region's dominant powers--Israel and Iran--and examines the evolution of their relations with each other and with the United States, the world's only superpower.