The B&P Academy is a platform for events and activities that take place within the department of Political Science and Public Administration (Bestuurswetenschap & Politicologie). Here's an overview of the events we've recently organized:
B&P Archive
During the second Research Highlights event in Chern's Online Series, Ulf Sverdrup and Morten S. Andersen from the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) gave a presentation on the Nordic perspective on China’s rise. More information can be found on the CHERN website.
"Netwerk Goed Besturen" kwam op 8 april samen rondom de vraag "Agenda voor het nieuwe kabinet: Wat past in het regeerakkoord over goed en integer besturen?"
Het programma was samengesteld door Leo Huberts en zag er als volgt uit:
- Gjalt de Graaf, voorzitter| Introductie thema: Integriteit en goed besturen anno 2021 en introductie inleiders en programma.
- Lousewies van der Laan, directeur Transparency International Nederland | Agenda vanuit aandacht voor anti-corruptie en integriteit in politiek en bestuur in Nederland (mede op basis TI analyse verkiezingsprogramma's).
- Wilbert Tomesen, voorzitter Huis voor Klokkenluiders | Agenda vanuit aandacht voor integriteit openbaar bestuur (organisatie..) en stand van zaken huidige (landelijke) 'integriteitssysteem'.
- Monica den Boer, hoogleraar Militaire Politie Operaties, Nederlandse Defensie Academie, voormalig Kamerlid D66 | Bijdrage vanuit Monica's ervaring en kennis vanuit de landelijke politiek m.b.t. de aandacht voor en invulling van het thema 'integriteit'.
- Leo Huberts, emeritus hoogleraar bestuurskunde VU | Agenda vanuit publieke aandacht voor integriteit en politieke integriteitsaffaires (PI-Index).
- Open discussie met deelnemers over de inleidingen, maar ook over aanvullende ideeën en suggesties m.b.t. de agenda voor integer en goed besturen (in het regeerakkoord).
- Slotwoord Zeger van der Wal, met indrukken/conclusies op basis voorgaande en info over vervolgen NGB.
Five times a year, the Quality of Governance (QuGO) comes together to discuss a publication. This time, the book "Goed Geschoold. Over waarden in het onderwijs en andere praktijken" by Bram Verhulst was discussed.
What does it take to lead based on trust? What are the risks and advantages? Especially in current times where we work mainly from home and we hardly meet each other face-to-face, planned or spontaneously by the coffee machine, many leaders are struggling with these questions. On March 30 (12.30-13.30 hr) the VU School of Governance organizes a webinar trust-based leadership in which Frédérique Six, associate professor Public Governance and Public Administration alumna Helma van der Hoorn talk about the challenges and opportunities in leading based on trust. Helma is initiator and cofounder of Leve het Onderwijs!, until March 31 President of SaKS (primary education) and from April 1 President of ROC Kop van Noord-Holland. Sign up via this form.
On 25 and 26 March 2021, Marijn Hoijtink organized a workshop on Prototype Warfare which discusses the implementation of new data technologies in warfare and how these technologies transform. What can be known in and about war and armed conflict, and with what effects for civilian populations in armed conflict? For more information, please contact Marijn Hoijtink.
The CHERN COST Action is proud to announce the 2nd Distinguished Lecture on Global China in its online series: Non-traditional security in China-Europe relations with Prof. Zha Daojiong (School of International Studies and Institute of South-South Cooperation and Development, Peking University). Visit the CHERN website for updates previous events in the series.
HP/De Tijd (together with Stemwijzer and Prodemos) organized 'De Nabeschouwing', a live in-depth discussion of the 6 largest radio & TV debates between party leaders in the run-up to the Dutch elections in March. The panel consisted of 4 journalists and 1 rotating political scientist. Loes Aaldering took on the expert role on March 15th, after the EenVandaag debate. You can rewatch the analysis here.
On March 15, 16-18h, Angelos Chryssogelos (LMU/ EUI) will gave a talk on Democracy, populism and changes in foreign policy. Commentary was provided by Sandra Destradi (University of Freiburg). The event was chaired by Wolfgang Wagner and co-organized by Lisanne Blok.
The second event CHERN's Online series took place on February 11th 2021. China-Europe research highlights – Global Views of China, a presentation of the Sinophone Borderlands project’s public opinion surveys conducted in 13 European countries. A series of large-scale representative surveys of public opinion investigating global views of China were conducted in the fall of 2020 in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Latvia, Serbia, and Russia. The head of the Palacky University Olomouc team that was in charge of the surveys, Richard Q. Turcsányi, presented the research and main findings, while team partners and CHERN members Tim Rühlig, Una Aleksandra Bērziņa-Čerenkova, and Jelena Gledić introduced some interesting country-specific results. The presentation was followed by an extensive Q&A session with the audience, covering a number of topics related to China-Europe relations. The recording of the event can be found here.
On January 28th, CHERN (the China in Europe Research Network) kicked off their online series with a lecture by Prof. Ho-fung Hung, the Henry M. and Elizabeth P. Wiesenfeld Professor in Political Economy at Johns Hopkins University. The lecture "US-China Rivalry in Historical, Comparative and European Contexts" was followed by a discussion and Q&A moderated by Dr. Nana de Graaff.
In his lecture entitled US-China Rivalry in Historical, Comparative and European Contexts, Prof. Hung argued that in spite of ideological rifts and geopolitical mistrust, US corporations have been largely responsible for integrating Chinese firms into the global economy. China’s consequent boom has now faltered and the Chinese state has become ever more aggressive in squeezing US and other foreign companies in order to facilitate Chinese capital exports. This has unleashed inter-capitalist competition and fuelled a US-China geopolitical rivalry that is unlikely to diminish even with the new Biden administration in Washington. Prof. Hung assessed the prospects for the further playing-out of this rivalry by comparing it with UK-Germany rivalry at the beginning of the 20 th century and Europe-China relations at the present time.
Couldn't make it to this event? Rewatch the lecture.
On January 19th, Alvaro Oleart presented his book 'Framing TTIP in the European Public Spheres: Towards an Empowering Dissensus for EU Integration'. Chaired by Prof. Ben Crum (VU), with commentary provided by Louisa Parks (University of Trento) & Luis Bouza Garcia (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid). This event was organized by The VU Interdisciplinary Centre for European Studies (VICES).
After having witnessed the siege of Capitol Hill, a few tense hours before the inauguration of Joe Biden’s new presidency, on January 18th, three outstanding academic discussed the Future of American Power.
Dr. Amit Gupta (International Security Studies at the USAF Air War College, Alabama) stressed the demographic transition that is changing the USA rapidly in combination with the rising inequality. He was somewhat optimistic on the role of large cooperations that would turn against potential growing political violence. Prof. Catherine de Vries (Department of Social and Political Science, at Bocconi University and VU) pointed to the perils of presidentialism and two party systems in which both parties benefit from polarization. Also in the European context, it is important that smaller parties could voice minority interests. “If you don’t have conflict [over ideology] within the system, people are going to turn against the system.”Dr. André Krouwel (Comparative Political Science VU Amsterdam) analysed the position of the so-called squeezed middle. A growing section of society are in a precarious position. The ceiling is no longer reachable and the chance their children will is almost zero. This leads to frustration. The elite no longer represent them and they see the lower classes as criminals.
The experts elaborated on questions of the student-panel and reacted to the lively conversation in the chat.
On Wednesday December 16th, Wolfgang Wagner presented his new book 'The Democratic Politics of Military Interventions: Political Parties, Contestation, and Decision to Use Force Abroad'. With an introduction by Bastiaan van Apeldoorn, and commentary by Tapio Raunio (Tampere University) and Julie Kaarbo (Edinburgh University).
The interactive masterclass "China's Global Impact on Human Rights" in collaboration with Amnesty International provided students withan up-to-date perspective on the Chinese human rights situation, both domestically and overseas. China plays an increasingly prominent role on the world stage. It openly promotes a new system of international relations that prioritizes bilateral relations to multilateral bonds. On top of that, China actively tries to reshape global governance systems. This directly impacts the effectiveness of international human rights mechanisms. The Netherlands and Belgium are also increasingly confronted with the strictly authoritarian aspects of Chinese politics and diplomacy, bringing the human rights violations encompassed in the policy and international activities of this economic giant to our doorstep.
Leading up to the US Election, a political science expert lecture took place to discuss the consequences of the different presidential election outcomes with students. The expert panel consisted of full professor in International Relations Bastiaan van Apeldoorn (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), associate professor in Political Science André Krouwel (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), assistant professor in American Studies George Blaustein (University of Amsterdam), assistant professor in Modern European History Alessandra Bitumi (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdan), and government policy advisor Mark Zonnenberg (alumnus of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam). The seminar is moderated by associate professor in International Relations Naná de Graaff (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam).
University newspaper AdValvas covered this event (read the article here).
On January 23rd 2020, the event "Living Through IR: how students are affected by events from the sphere of IR" took place at VU Amsterdam. Political Science students Lalash Tahir and Wahhab Hassoo reflected on how they have been personally affected by events from the sphere of IR. By doing so, they made the connection between text book insights and their own experiences.
Living Through IR was organised by Thijs Bogers for the B&P Academy.
Former Secretary General of NATO (2004-2009) and former minister of Foreign Affairs (2002-2003) Jaap de Hoop Scheffer reflected on the current state of international affairs, focussing on the state of the liberal world order since Trump assumed office and the impact of the rise of China.
This expert lecture was organised by Thijs Bogers for the B&P Academy.