Welcome to the latest edition of the CIS Newsletter and thank you for your continued interest in our activities. Established in 2001, the Centre for International Studies at DCU seeks to co-ordinate and promote research, learning and training in the field of international studies. Sited in the School of Law and Government, CIS takes an interdisciplinary approach to international studies. This newsletter aims to keep up to date with what is happening at the Centre. We always like to hear from our key stakeholders, former students or anyone interested in international politics. Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments or suggestions you may have.

Sincerely,
Shane Martin
Director, CIS

Ambassador Gertrude Mongella of Tanzania will be speaking at the CIS celebration of the 50th anniversary of Tanzania's independence, 7pm on 30 November 2011 in the Irish Aid building, O'Connell Street. It will be followed by a reception. This event is open to every one with an interest in Tanzania. It has been organised by David Nyaluke of CIS and is supported by Irish Aid.

Ambassador Mongella will also hold a seminar on 'Women in Tanzania - 50 years of progress?' in DCU, details to be announced.

Ambassador Gertrude Mongella

Ambassador Mongella was the Secretary General of the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, UN Under-Secretary and special envoy to the Secretary General of the United Nations on women's issues and development (1996-97, and the founding President of the Pan-African Parliamentary Union (2004). She has been a Government Minister, and a member of the Tanzanian Parliament. Dublin City University are delighted to be centrally involved in these celebrations with the Tanzanian community in Ireland.

For more information contact David Nyaluke

Congratulations to Dr. Michael Breen who has been awarded the 2011 Basil Chubb prize for best PhD thesis at an Irish university in 2011. Named after Basil Chubb, this award seeks to recognise an outstanding contribution to the research of politics undertaken in Ireland and is awarded by the Political Studies Association of Ireland. Dr. Breen teaches international political economy on our undergradaute and MA Programmes. He recently presented highlights of his ongoing research on the sovereign debt crisis at the London School of Economics.

Congratulations to Dr. Francesco Cavatorta and Dr. Paola Rivetti who have been awarded a Euro 55,000 grant from the Gerda Henkel Foundation to undertake a project on 'The Transformation of Political Islam in the Middle East'. The other scholars involved are Dr. Vincent Durac (UCD), Hendrik Kraetzschmar (University of Leeds) and Dr. Emanuela Dalmasso (University of Turin). Dr Cavatorta is the principal investigator and the project will run for two years. The funding will cover the costs of field work and dissemination of findings.

In late October, Dr. John Horgan of Penn State's International Centre for the Study of Terrorism , along with Dr. Max Taylor from the Center for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence (CSTPV) at the University of St. Andrews, welcomed invited academic and counterterrorism experts from around the world to the Future of Terrorism II Conference at PSU. The group, which included our colleague Dr. Maura Conway, assembled at Penn State to identify and discuss possible future developments in terrorism and political violence, including in the area of violent online political extremism. Other speakers included Dr. Mia Bloom (PSU), Prof. David Rapoport (UCLA), Dr. Marc Sageman, and Prof. Leonard Weinberg (UNV). The proceedings will be published as a special issue of Terrorism and Political Violence in 2012.

Professor Robert Elgie is currently a visiting researcher in the Centre d'etudes européennes at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po). As part of the visit, he is giving a seminar entitled 'Political Leadership in Old and New Democracies'.

Dr. Niamh Gaynor spent 6 weeks in Burundi during the months of August-September researching opportunities for citizen participation in the country's local governance process. The research was carried out in collaboration with Trocaire-Burundi's Governance and Human Rights programme. Niamh presented preliminary findings at a 2-day conference with programme partners in Bujumbura in September and the ensuing report will shortly be available through Doras.

Congratulations to Dr. Adam McAuley who was recently appointed to the Health Information and Quality Authority's Advisory Group on Regulation of Research Ethics Committees.

During September and October, Dr Donnacha Ó Beacháin has conducted field research as part of the IRCHSS funded project on the past and potential role of the OSCE and EU in the protracted conflicts in the former Soviet Union. This has included interviews with the OSCE in Vienna and with political actors in Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia.

Dr Donnacha Ó Beacháin gave a ten minute interview to RTE Radio 1's Drivetime about the EU Eastern Partnership Summit in Warsaw (30 September 2011) and a six minute interview on the same programme on 11 October about the sentencing of former Ukrainian premier Yulia Tymoshenko and its impact on EU-Ukraine relations.

On 11 October Dr Ó Beacháin gave a 15 minute interview to Armenian Television to discuss the role of the EU and OSCE in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Dr. Francesco Cavatorta recently appeared on the Tonight with Vincent Browne (October 7th) to talk about recent developments in Italian politics. That interviewed was followed October 8th by an appearance on the the Pat Kenny show to discuss the same topic.

Niamh Gaynor has three new publications:

Gaynor, Niamh. 2011. "Associations, Deliberation and Democracy: The Case of Ireland's Social Partnership". Politics And Society, 39, 4, pp497-520.

with and Anne O'Brien. 2011. Community Radio in Ireland: 'Defeudalising' the Public Sphere?. Javnost-the Public, 18, 3, pp23-38.

with Anne O'Brien. 2011. "Because it all begins with Talk: Community Radio as a Vital Element in Community Development". Community Development Journal, Advance Access: doi:10.1093/cdj/bsr058, (September).

Congratulations to our PhD student Joseph Hiney who has been awarded an IRCHSS Government of Ireland PhD scholarship for his work on privatisation in the international container port sector. Joe worked in Dublin Port for many years and brings significant real-world experience as well as academic insight to the project.

Interested in furthering your interest in development? Check out our short video here (on YouTube)

Democratisation and New Media Conference

The 2011 Royal Irish Academy International Affairs Conference, entitled Democratisation and New Media, will be taking place in Academy House on Friday 25th November. The Tánaiste, and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr Eamon Gilmore, TD will be delivering the opening address.

Some key note speakers include:

* Mr Mark Little (former RTE journalist and founder of @storyful)

* Ms Susan Pointer (Google, Director of Public Policy)

* Professor Sarah Oates (Professor of Political Communication, University of Glasgow)

* Professor Philip Seib (Director, USC Center on Public Diplomacy and Professor of International Relations, University of Southern California)

The conference will be followed by a reception in Iveagh House, hosted by the Department of Foreign Affairs, to mark the launch of the Academy's Journal Irish Studies In International Affairs.

For further details please see the RIA website (www.ria.ie)

New Challenges to East Asian Security

Wednesday 23 November 2011 from 4.00 to 6.00pm

Arts Building, Trinity College Dublin

TCD's The Policy Institute will host a special seminar being organised by Dr Koji Kagotani, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Trinity College. For additional details please visit the Policy Institute website. There is no charge to attend this seminar. However, as places are limited advance booking is essential. For additional information or to register please contact The Policy Institute (policy.institute@tcd.ie).

DSA Ireland Postgraduate meeting

The Development Studies Association Ireland proposes to all the Postgraduates to meet in preparation of the DSA Steering Committee. The meeting will take place on Friday 2nd December, place and hour to be confirmed.

The DSAI Postgraduate Network will also offer a workshop for all Postgraduates working in relation with Development Studies. The first workshop was organised by University of Limerick and was very successful among the participants, who asked during Maynooth University meeting in September, for another workshop.

For more information, please visit http://www.dsaireland.org/ or contact Dug Cubie.