I got to interview Dr. Walter Dorn of Canadian Forces College about his work on technology and peacekeeping for my TechChange course on technology for conflict management and peacebuilding - a good interview that lends some operational and political insight for using these tools in peacekeeping settings!
Peace and Conflict
Peacekeeping, Peace Enforcement, Peacemaking, Non-violence…how is tech affecting these things
Upcoming events!
Unfortunately the last few months have been fairly low output in terms of blog posts. This can be credited to resettling after returning from Samoa, getting back to work with the tech community in D.C, and of course getting a dissertation written. I have had the chance to get myself on a few panels this … Continue reading Upcoming events!
The talk I gave at USAID Sept. 4
For those who were curious about what I discussed with USAID's Office on Conflict Management and Mitigation on September 4, wonder no more. TechChange's video guru got me on camera to record the presentation - hopefully it's useful (or leads to some good arguments at least).
TC-109: Technology for Conflict Management and Peacebuilding
I'll be teaching a course for TechChange on ICTs and peacebuilding next month. I'm really excited to be facilitating it, and I was really thrilled to see the final cut of the course introduction video we produced today: Hopefully you'll join us, it's going to be a lot of fun and some awesome guests will … Continue reading TC-109: Technology for Conflict Management and Peacebuilding
Big News: The GDELT Global Dashboard
GDELT just released their new Global Visualization dashboard, and it's pretty cool. It blinks and flashes, glows and pulses, and is really interesting to navigate. Naturally, as a social scientist who studies conflict, I have some thoughts. 1) This is really cool. The user interface is attractive, it's easy to navigate, and it's intuitive. I … Continue reading Big News: The GDELT Global Dashboard
Rigor Versus Reality: Balancing the field with the lab
I am finally able to respond (add) to a post by Chris Moore about the problem of mathematicization and formalization of political science, and social science more generally, as it relates to how the social sciences inform real policy issues. As I'm finishing a Fulbright fellowship in Samoa, where I worked specifically on research supporting policy … Continue reading Rigor Versus Reality: Balancing the field with the lab
Call for abstracts! Proposed ISA panel on Crowdsourcing and Violence
My colleague Dr. Pamina Firchow and I are organizing a panel for next year's ISA meeting in New Orleans (Feb. 15-21, 2015) on crowdsourcing and the study of violence and violence prevention. Below you'll find our panel description, and instructions for submitting an abstract to us. We'll need them by May 23 so we can make … Continue reading Call for abstracts! Proposed ISA panel on Crowdsourcing and Violence
When Radio Goes Bad: RF communications and the increased violence in South Sudan
I was reading an update about the increasing ethnic violence in South Sudan forwarded to me by a colleague, and noted the fact that radio is being used to organize and encourage violence in South Sudan. For those who have studied or read about the genocide in Rwanda, radio was one of the key mediums employed by … Continue reading When Radio Goes Bad: RF communications and the increased violence in South Sudan
NATO, the U.S. and Ukraine: A political economy of bad options?
Since I'm not an expert on Ukraine, the greater region it's situated in, or much of the history, I've primarily observed and absorbed the various op-eds, arguments and blog posts I've seen from others. I don't really have much to add about Ukraine or the politics of the region itself, but I have found the … Continue reading NATO, the U.S. and Ukraine: A political economy of bad options?
The Prevention Problem: Thinking about Rwanda 20 years later
Of my areas of interest, the two that stand out are violence prevention and technology. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide, and I've been keeping track of the media coverage which has included the usual themes of never again, and a call to seek the tools and capacity to prevent such … Continue reading The Prevention Problem: Thinking about Rwanda 20 years later
Charles P. Martin-Shields 