Archives for December 2017

 If you ask any longtime member of the Democratic party or moderate member of the Republican party, what the number one question on their mind is, they would likely reply, “ What is going on?”.  The political landscape that was well known by longtime policy makers, bureaucrats, academics, and engaged citizens, has changed dramatically, in what seems overnight. We all might be fighting over the same issues, but it seems like for radically different reasons and in incredibly different ways. Name calling used to be frowned upon. We all thought it was unacceptable to tweet about nuclear war. Now things have changed. For those of us who thought we knew what we were doing, we are finding ourselves in uncharted territory. Our compasses don’t work, our maps are out of date, and the batteries in our flashlight are dead. We are forced to adapt to this new terrain and come up with a new strategy.

 Instead of talking about the mess our political environment as a whole, I want to particularly focus on our dialogue and the new concept “safe spaces”. If you would have asked my opinion on safe spaces a few years ago, I would have laughed at them dismissively. Safe spaces hardly seem practical in the real world, and if you can’t handle the heat, maybe you shouldn’t be playing in the first place. This entire perspective changed for me, when I became someone who needed a safe place. As a survivor of sexual assault, I found myself extremely grateful for people, institutions, and laws that were put in place to make me safe. They were not a luxury to me, they were something that was a necessity. Without them, there was no room for me in the “real world”. I commend the Democratic party for pushing and championing for safe places, within the atmosphere of political discussion.

  I also challenge them to provide the same safe places for Republicans. This is where things get messy. The ultimate question always looming over our liberals heads, “If I empathize with this person who believes harmful things, am I turning my back on myself and people less privileged than me? Am I empathizing with an abuser?”. This is a hard question to handle in the face of pervasive racism, sexism, and discrimination that is running rampant in our country. Two things we know for sure must happen. We must for certain engage with the “other side”. The side we forgot about, that reared its angry and forgotten head, the side we thought didn’t matter. We also must figure out a way to engage with people who believe in different things than we do, while still holding onto our values and protecting those who need safe places.

 If no other conclusion is drawn from this discussion, we must conclude, now more than ever, people of privilege must step up to challenge and enter into “unsafe places” of discussion, where some of us can not go yet. If it is wrong to say racist slurs, it is equally wrong to ask someone who has been traumatized by racism, to engage with a racist, in order to benefit their country. As someone who has recovered, I feel that it is my responsibility towards those who are still in recovery, to have hard discussions about rape culture and consent with people who think differently. Ignoring our fellow citizens who think differently is not going to work. Yelling angry chants at them will not change our situation. If it could, we would not be here right now, on the brink of having Title IX revoked. There is no guarantee this dialogue will work quickly, painlessly, or even work at all. There is only the hope of trying something different than our previous approach. Most importantly, like any good strategist would say, for every strategy there is a reevaluation period, where we can all come together and see where have failed and where we have healed. At least the academics will be glad to crunch some numbers again.

 

My interest in Chinese development finance policy lead me to interview LBJ Assistant Professor of Public Affairs, Dr. Joshua Eisenman. Dr. Eisenman is an expert on Chinese politics. He has written several books on China, including his upcoming book Red China’s Green Revolution: Technological Innovation, Institutional Change, and Economic Development Under the Commune and China and Africa: A Century of Engagement. Dr. Eisenman also teaches policy courses on China, like China and the World, at the LBJ School of Public Policy, and is a visiting faculty member at Peking University in Beijing, China.

I had the opportunity to ask Dr. Eisenman about his own career, his experiences with Chinese policy, and his recommendations on influencing foreign policy, especially in China. I left with four key points and a better understanding of Chinese culture and politics and how those two domains of society impacts how a foreigner should act in China, engage in Chinese policy, and more broadly, understand the world around them.

According to Dr. Eisenman, here are some tips on influencing Chinese foreign policy.

First, you must recognize how Chinese diplomacy and negotiation tactics impact you. China have been having foreign relations for 5000 years and they are now experts at telling foreigners what they want to hear. Dr. Eisenman emphasized the fact that China understands that the ego is a driver of people’s behaviors.

So the Chinese lay it on thick intending to create feelings of gratitude, awe, and helplessness. To do this Dr. Eisenman explains, they treat you well. He says that, “everyone is nice, no one is disagreeable, the culture is beautiful and the food is good.”  And as a result and naturally, you are full of gratitude. Then, the Chinese will overwhelm you with the grandeur of their cities, their palaces, and cultural practices. “You are in awe of them,” Dr. Eisenman speaks from his experiences of living in China.  Finally, you are helpless. As a foreigner, chances are you don’t speak Mandarin and you become dependent on them. The Chinese, by creating these feelings, create feelings of obligation in their foreign guests.

In fact this leads to Dr. Eisenman’s second point. You must recognize that you can’t really influence Chinese foreign policy. Meanwhile, they are always trying to influence you. Chinese diplomacy sees the long term. They will first cultivate a relationship which they may be able to leverage to their advantage in the future. Dr. Eisenman adds to this, “essentially, if you think you can influence Chinese policy as a foreigner, then you are the fool.”

Despite the impossibility of influencing Chinese foreign policy, according to Dr. Eisenman as you engage with Chinese foreign policy, you will ultimately have to speak at conferences or interact with Chinese policymakers. So, here is the third thing to remember. Be humble, act with humility and modesty. These are valued characteristics in China. If you are a foreigner, it might be worthwhile to acknowledge that status as you interact with Chinese people. If you are making a speech, you might want to recognize that you have no influence over China’s policies but highlight the fact that you will share what you know and they can take that or leave it.  

Finally, in order to engage with Chinese foreign policy you must inform yourself. Dr. Eisenman warns that you should be weary as you engage with any sources in general, and especially on China. Always try to learn who wrote the source and what views they might be presenting. He mentions that, “the purpose of any good propaganda machine is to make you not know the source and the views of that source. The objective of propaganda is to mask fiction in truth the two so that it is difficult to differentiate lie from fact.”

As you research, especially in China, try to identify who is talking, what are they trying to get, and what is their angle in the piece. In addition, in any foreign policy there will information from the other side of the relationship. When researching Chinese foreign policy, it is important to look at outlets in the surrounding countries and to compare the information.

Overall, because of my conversation with Dr. Eisenman, I learned a great deal about engaging with foreign policy, both here in the U.S. and abroad. I think that some of Dr. Eisenman’s advice on engaging with China and how to inform yourself as an analyst is applicable to anyone who is interested in policy. Especially his emphasis on how important it is to read from a wide variety of sources as you learn about policy and how we all need to to critically inform ourselves about sources, the authors, and their intentions in sharing that information.

Daniel Brinks is a true example of how our personal life experiences shape who we become and why we do what we do. I sought his counsel on how he got where he is today and what we as students can do maximize our own potential. As someone whose research focus also pertains to Latin America, I received valuable insights into the region’s affairs.

Currently, Dr. Brinks is an associate professor in the Department of Government as well as the School of Law. He serves as co-director at the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice where he focuses on the role of law in supporting democracies in Latin America. I sat down with him to talk about life and policy work:

Originally from Argentina, Brinks was a high school student during the first years of the country’s last dictatorship. Under Videla’s regime, he recalled living in fear and witnessing large-scale violence and corruption. “The state actors felt pretty free to kill people, and the main thing that we were afraid of walking down the street at 3 o’clock in the morning coming from a club or something was meeting somebody in a uniform – not somebody that was going to rob us.” Unbeknown at the time, these experiences of living in a country that failed to protect its citizens catalyzed deep interests that he continues to explore.

At the end of 1979, Brinks moved to the United States and earned a degree in sociology from Calvin College in Michigan. He went on to attend University of Michigan School of Law where he was in the top 5% of his class. As a future JD candidate, I had to ask his secret for success, and simply put, “It takes commitment and dedication…There’s no mystery to it…One thing that drives me crazy is students who really only want to know what’s going to be on the test…I think you’ll be a more interesting human being if you study the things you are interested in, not just the things that you know will be on the bar or final exam…Do something interesting!” He suggests talking with your professors more and keeping the mindset that they are there to help advance your projects.

After graduating from law school, Brinks worked at small and large firms. With a desire to teach, however, he returned to school ten years later and earned his PhD from the University of Notre Dame. Through mentorship, he was able to dive deeper into political science research and engage the questions he had about the world. “Look around,” he said, “and find something that isn’t explained.” Brinks described this as a sort of normative, experiential process for himself, rather than a wide theoretical one. He wanted to know: What are the benefits of living in a democracy? Why is democracy eroding at the most basic level in a handful of Latin American countries, such as Venezuela and Honduras? And is this erosion a trend or is it limited to these countries?

Brinks pointed to T.H. Marshall’s theory on the disconnect of political citizenship with social and economic citizenship. He described Latin America as having made great political strides as more leaders seek to hear the discontents of the people as well as empower those vocal demands. There have been some strides in social citizenship, such as the inclusion of more marginalized groups, but the severest challenges remain in the realm of economic citizenship. Brinks said we must have full participation in the economy by all groups as well as provide safety for those that are holding the government accountable – they are the opposition, and we cannot persecute them.

In reflection, Dr. Brinks taught me that while life happens on its own, we have full control over choosing whether or not to use our abilities and our platform to do something good, something interesting. It is never too late to go back to school or start asking yourself questions. I realized conducting research and crafting policy can start from the smallest of questions, not necessarily big, attention-grabbing ones. Lastly, Dr. Brinks confirmed grim realizations but still yet the positive outlook I have for the future of Latin America. I walked away with more questions about the region than I asked and hope to explore these on my own in the near future. Stay tuned.

Learn more about Dr. Brinks and the Rapoport Center by keeping up with their projects here.

Written by: Jacquelyn Clark, current Brumley Next Generation Scholar. To see what Jacquelyn and other Scholars are up to, check out this previous post.