PIPS to Hold Annual Policy Symposium
William & Mary’s Project for International Peace and Security (PIPS) will hold its annual symposium at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, April 16, at 6:30 p.m.
As Amy Oakes, co-director of PIPS and associate professor in the Department of Government, notes, “The symposium is a wonderful opportunity for the policy community to hear the fresh ideas for addressing important security challenges developed by our fellows this year.”
The event brings together academics and members of the policy community to discuss emerging challenges to international security. The PIPS fellows will present their original policy white papers, followed by a discussion of their work led by Dr. Tomicah Tillemann, Senior Advisor for Civil Society and Emerging Democracies, U.S. Department of State.
Dennis Smith, co-director of PIPS, adds, “PIPS was founded on belief that undergraduates can meaningfully contribute to policy debates — their intelligence, creativity and energy are an untapped resource. We look forward to showing what the students have accomplished.”
In addition to the presentation in Washington, D.C., PIPS will hold an encore symposium at William & Mary on Wednesday, April 23, 3:30-5:00 p.m. at the Sadler Center in Chesapeake Room C.
The fellows’ presentations will cover a range of security challenges:
• Promoting the benefits of U.S. foreign aid conditionality among Africans to offset growing Chinese involvement in Africa;
• The potential threat of and methods for regulating cryptocurrencies;
• Using U.S. facilitated natural gas deals to stabilize the Saudi Arabian economy in the medium term to enable long-term reform;
• A “soft pivot” to Asia that emphasizes the creation of numerous small capacity-building bases that rely on the logic of deterrence to defend allies and avoid provoking China;
• The promise of geographic information systems for understanding the connection between foreign aid and militancy;
• Combating urban no-go zones in the developing world by encouraging grassroots security initiatives and governance.
For more information on PIPS, visit the website.
