India-China in Latin America and Africa
There has been much media attention given to China's new relationships with African countries through direct aid, investment, import/export, and resource extraction. A new research initiative, ICI and the World, will broaden the scope of this inquiry to include India and Latin American countries. It aims to look beyond bipolar models of colonizer/victim to examine various modalities of engagement, such as capital flows, urbanization, and governance. This initiative will be launched with a symposium entitled China Global, which is cosponsored with the graduate program in International Affairs at The New School.
Nepal is currently facing an unprecedented opportunity to develop a truly inclusive democracy and embark on a path toward sustainable development. The Nepal Democracy and Development Initiative (NDDI) at ICI is aimed at supporting and enhancing the capabilities of those who are committed to understanding the needs and aspirations of marginalized communities in Nepal. It aims to convene, connect, and facilitate critical inquiry, debate, and dissemination of analysis and findings on topics of fundamental importance to Nepal's governance and development. Its short-term goal is to deepen the debates directly related to the current rewriting of Nepal's constitution, especially in terms of federal structure and social inclusion. Its long-term goals include increasing knowledge sharing, production, and networking relevant to democracy and development and building capacities to sustain democracy among the diverse stakeholders of Nepal's future. On a global scale, this initiative will contribute to a greater understanding of democratization processes and strategies for addressing social inclusion in societies with deep, complex social stratification.
The India-China Interactions course is a key component of the
India-China Knowledge and Capacity Building Initiative (ICKCBI), a
multi-year program generously supported by a $525,000 grant from the
Ford Foundation and administered by India China Institute (ICI) at The
New School. ICKCBI's objective is to link individuals and institutions
in the pursuit of new scholarship and three-way conversations and to
nurture a growing community interested and investigating international
relations and cultural and other interactions between India and China.
ICKCBI aims at nothing short of surmounting the limitations of area
studies in order to foster the a unique trilateral vision of
cross-disciplinary perspectives and a collaborative approach to
problem-solving.