Dear Friends,

I must begin this letter with an expression of deep gratitude to our staff, faculty, students, donors, administration, and collaborators who contributed to a milestone year for DUCIGS and affiliated centers and initiatives under the most extreme circumstances.

This year’s report illustrates a season as rich in programming, research, partnerships, student and faculty support as in any pre-pandemic year. We couldn’t have achieved these results without the passion, the endurance, and the flexibility of our great team.

In 2020-21 we continued to promote discussion and research on global issues through a wide array of activities. We organized and co-sponsored 255 virtual events, facilitated the work of 11 Graduate Working Groups on Global Issues, published 15 Global Working Papers to the Social Science Research Network, and created a new forum under our Rethinking Diplomacy series, the Analysis & Opinions column. This year we also welcomed our new Diplomat in Residence, George Sibley, and successfully hosted Ambassador Nicholas Burns as the keynote speaker of the bi-annual Duke University Biddle Lecture on International Studies. Among the global and regional perspectives addressed throughout the year: the impacts of COVID-19 on health, migration, supply chains, and foreign policy; racism and inequality; climate change and environmental issues; and the role of science in diplomacy.

Although our awards have been affected by travel restrictions, in 2020-2021 we still supported 80 student projects and 14 faculty projects. Our certificate programs also celebrated the resilience of students this year, with virtual graduation ceremonies held for the Master of Arts in East Asian Studies Program and the Certificate in Latin American and Caribbean Studies

DUCIGS’ Centers and Initiatives also logged a remarkable year and continued to organize remote events and workshops. Just to name a few highlights (for the full range of our units’ programming, see the ‘Centers and Initiatives’ and ‘Signature Series’ sections below):

• the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) successfully hosted an all-virtual edition of the classic North Carolina Latin American Film Festival (at its 35th edition)
• the Asian Pacific Studies Institute (APSI) co-hosted a prestigious and widely attended “China Town Hall” organized by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, featuring American investor and hedge fund manager Ray Dalio; APSI also established and awarded the inaugural Troost Prize, an award that honors Dr. Kristina Troost, who headed the International and Area Studies Department at Duke University Libraries for 20 years
• in Spring 2021, the Duke Islamic Studies Center (DISC) hosted “The Palgrave Handbook of Islam in Africa” book launch conference, virtually gathering authors from across the globe
• also last Spring, the Duke Middle East Studies Center (DUMESC) hosted a series of events designed to promote rare manuscripts of the Duke Libraries collection, for the use of students, faculty, scholars, and the public
• the Duke Brazil Initiative, in collaboration with Duke History Department, developed the virtual exhibit “Black Lives Matter Brazil-USA: A Global Fight for Breath,” thus reaffirming Duke’s renewed commitment to anti-racism, as articulated by President Price’s Juneteenth address last year
• the Global Asia Initiative (GAI) organized a successful webinar on “Climate and History in Monsoon Asia,” moderated by GAI Director, Prof. Prasenjit Duara
• the Africa Initiative co-sponsored the first webinar on water diplomacy, “Challenges in the Blue Nile Arena: Geopolitics, Displacements, and Instability,” featuring director of Africa programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace Susan Stigant and former U.S. Ambassador Alberto M. Fernandez
• the Duke University Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies (CSEEES) produced an extremely successful, three-day-long, 2020 Virtual Summer Institute on Pedagogy, Diversity, and Equitable Teaching and Learning of Languages and Cultures; as well as the event: “The Limits and Possibilities of Linguistic Appropriation,” as part of the Mellon Sawyer Seminar Series.

Of special mention, over the course of last year the John Hope Franklin Center hosted the traditional Wednesdays at the Center series (now at its 15th year) with a special focus on the topics of racism and inequality. Labeled “Global Anti-Racism (Histories of Action)”, the series produced 17 events and featured scholars and guests from Africa, Europe, and Latin America.

2020-2021 has also been the year in which DUCIGS’ signature Rethinking Diplomacy Program (RDP) expanded the range and quality of its activities, while producing several events that drew the attention of a wide array of scholars, students, and officials from various countries. We hosted the current Mexican ambassador to the United States, as well as the U.S. ambassador to Mexico; our Rethinking Diplomacy team penned op-eds and letters for The Hill, Foreign Policy, and Science Magazine; and we partnered with the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations (UN75) team, producing events that amplified the UN Secretary-General’s report, “The Future We Want, the UN We Need” (in one of these webinars, we hosted the Deputy Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Joyce Msuya). Other RDP events focused on linkages between diplomacy and COVID-19 disruptions of global supply chains, world heritage, and environmental peacebuilding. And lastly, as part of an ongoing series on Science Diplomacy, we launched a new space diplomacy series.

This programming increased DUCIGS’ relevance, and this is also demonstrated by the growing number of partnerships within and outside Duke. At Duke, we renewed and consolidated collaborations with schools, departments, institutes, centers, programs, student services, and DKU. Outside Duke, of relevance is the new partnership with the National Science Policy Network (NSPN), where our Rethinking Diplomacy team joined forces with representatives of the early-career-scientist organization to advocate for a reform of the U.S. Foreign Policy structure that would significantly increase the presence of scientists in decision-making positions inside the State Department. We also established a dialogue with “The Future of Diplomacy Project” of Harvard University, collaborated with D.C.-based Meridian International Center, as well as with Venice International University (VIU), and other U.S. and international academic institutions, centers, and NGOs. For a complete list see the “Partners” section.

While we realize that the evolving public health situation might pose new challenges for the upcoming academic year, we are also confident that DUCIGS and its affiliated centers and initiatives are well poised for another great year of discovery, student and faculty engagement, and promotion of international topics at Duke and beyond.

Best Regards,

Giovanni Zanalda,
Director, Duke Center for International and Global Studies

‘A TIME FOR DIPLOMACY’: 2021 BIDDLE LECTURE WITH AMBASSADOR NICHOLAS BURNS

On April 8, 2021, Nicholas Burns delivered the 2021 Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, Jr. Lecture on International Studies.

Ambassador Burns was U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (2005-2008) and former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and Greece. He now teaches at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Duke’s Senior Advisor for Global Affairs and former US Ambassador to Venezuela, Patrick Duddy introduced Ambassador Burns along with DUCIGS’ director, Dr. Giovanni Zanalda. Mary Duke Trent Jones greeted Ambassador Burns through pre-recorded remarks, where she reflected on the distinguished career of her grandfather, Ambassador Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Jr.

The Biddle Lecture is a bi-annual event organized by the Duke Center for International and Global Studies (DUCIGS) and established by Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans, James H. Semans, and their family to honor Mrs. Semans’ father, Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Jr., a United States diplomat and an original signer of The Duke Endowment.

A CONVERSATION WITH MARTHA BÁRCENA COQUI, MEXICO’S AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.

Mexican Ambassador to the U.S., Her Excellency Martha Bárcena Coqui, joined Duke professor and former U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela, Patrick Duddy, and DUCIGS director, Giovanni Zanalda, in a conversation about diplomacy and the state of the U.S./Mexico relationship.

Ambassador Bárcena was appointed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and ratified by the Mexican Senate on December 2018, becoming the first female Ambassador to hold this position. Ambassador Bárcena joined the Mexican Foreign Service in 1979. Prior to arriving in Washington, D.C., she was posted as Permanent Representative to the United Nations Rome-based Agencies. She has also served as Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey, non-resident to Georgia and the Republics of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan; Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark, non-resident to the Kingdom of Norway and the Republic of Iceland, and as Consul in Barcelona.

This was the first event of our “Conversation with the Ambassador Series.”

MAKING PEACE WITH NATURE: A GLOBAL ENDEAVOR WE CAN ACHIEVE

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations last year, the United Nations launched a global consultation that included a survey responded by 1.5 million people from 193 countries. Within the framework of Duke Center for International and Global Studies (DUCIGS)’ Rethinking Diplomacy Program, the UN75 Webinar Series is dedicated to exploring the most relevant issues highlighted by the UN75 Global consultation report.

As the second event of the series, we welcomed Ms. Joyce Msuya, Deputy Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN Assistant Secretary-General, for a dialogue on the highest long-term priorities identified by the UN75 Report “Climate Change and Environmental Issues” and UNEP’s recently published blueprint report “Making Peace with Nature.”

The conversation was moderated by Dr. William Pan and Dr. Elizabeth Losos from Duke University.

The webinar was broadcasted on Zoom on April 8, 2021.

CROSSING THE DARIEN GAP WITH U.S.-BOUND MIGRANTS

In August 2019, journalists Nadja Drost and Bruno Federico joined Caribbean, African and Asian migrants in their perilous trek through a 60 mile-wide swath of jungle straddling the Colombian-Panamanian border. Their reporting offered a rare insight into who migrates to the U.S. through this unusual and long migratory corridor via South America, as well as how and why they do.

In this webinar, we invited the two journalists for a conversation about their Pulitzer Center-supported report. The event was moderated by Piotr Plewa, Visiting Research Scholar at the Duke Center for International and Global Studies (DUCIGS).

Nadja Drost is a Canadian journalist based in New York City after a decade based in Bogotá, Colombia. She works in print, radio, and television, and regularly reports from Latin America as a Special Correspondent for the PBS NewsHour.

Bruno Federico is an Italian filmmaker and cinematographer based in NYC, following a decade in Colombia. He regularly shoots for the PBS NewsHour and Foreign Correspondent. His coverage of Colombia’s peace process was recognized with a 2017 Overseas Press Club Award (with Nadja Drost).

The event was produced by the Duke Center for International and Global Studies (DUCIGS), and co-sponsored by Duke Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS), Duke Center for International Development (DCID), and the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke (CDS).

The CRISIS IN SPACE: THE FUTURE OF SPACE DIPLOMACY

Former U.S. Ambassador W. Robert Pearson and astrophysicist, Dr. Benjamin L. Schmitt spoke at a Duke University virtual event on June 24, 2021. The two fellows of the Duke Center for International Studies (DUCIGS)/Rethinking Diplomacy program were joined by astronomer Britt Lundgren (UNC Asheville), who moderated the webinar.

Schmitt and Pearson recently co-authored the article “The Crisis in Space”, published in the Foreign Policy magazine on May 15, 2021.

The webinar discussed the need for space diplomacy to regulate the proliferation of activities in space from governments and commercial enterprises. Space diplomacy should consider, among many issues, burgeoning space infrastructure and satellite internet service providers, space junk and launch risk scenarios, and deep space regulatory issues. How can the U.S. government learn from terrestrial treaties to chart a path forward in space diplomacy?

ANALYSIS & OPINIONS

This year we launched the Rethinking Diplomacy Analysis & Opinions column, featuring analyses, policy briefs, and commentaries on the future of diplomacy in relation to science, technology, environment, health, space, energy, infrastructure, debt, trade, supply chains, and other disciplines/areas/topics of interest to the program.