果冻传媒

Omer Manhaimer, who graduated in 2022 in Politics, International Studies and Quantitative Methods, won the European Global Undergraduate Award for his essay 鈥楴onviolent action types and state responses: an empirical test鈥�. Please see below for Omer鈥檚 brief description of the essay and the GA summit that brought together the winners in different categories. Very many congratulations to Omer.

Omer Manhaimer

Under the patronage of the President of Ireland, The Global Undergraduate Awards is the world鈥檚 largest undergraduate awards programme. Winning entries are selected by a panel of 640 judges from over 2,800 entries across 25 subjects. All entries must have received a mark of distinction to be eligible for submission.

Approaching the end of my degree programme—amidst essay deadlines, exams, dissertation writing, and final preparations for my graduate role—a reminder I had set eight months prior reappeared, prompting me to submit an essay to the Global Undergraduate Awards.

I graduated from 果冻传媒 in July 2022 with BA (Hons) Politics, International Studies and Quantitative Methods. This PAIS degree programme, run in conjunction with the Q-Step Centre, is unique within the UK social science undergraduate education landscape in its specialised focus on quantitative empirical research. I am very pleased to have been part of a university and a faculty that focus on equipping students with independent and innovative interdisciplinary research tools already at the undergraduate level.

I decided to apply for the Global Undergraduate Awards and submitted a paper that I deemed a paragon of my undergraduate writing. I had originally submitted it for my final-year module SO32Q: Applying Quantitative Methods to Social Research. My essay, "Nonviolent action types and state responses: an empirical test鈥�, assesses the ability of nonviolent action types to explain variation in state responses to nonviolent collective action in Pakistan. In addition to addressing a geographical gap in existing literature, my study employs multinomial logistic models to address a quantitative gap in prior research. It made early findings of a relationship between non-violent action and state responses for protests and political engagement action types.

In September, I was informed that my entry was 鈥楬ighly Commended鈥�. This meant that it was within the top 10% of entries in the Politics and International Relations category. Two weeks later, I was delighted to be announced as European winner for this year. As winner, I was invited to attend the three-day UA Global Summit held in November in Dublin, Ireland. In addition, my paper will be published on UA鈥檚 Undergraduate Library.

The Summit was held at Blackhall Place, home to the Law Society of Ireland. During the Summit, winners had the opportunity to present their research findings. It was fascinating to learn about my peers鈥� innovative research in various disciplines, and exciting to see their dedication to their respective subject areas. My appreciation of interdisciplinarity has only crystallised as my fascination often turned into interesting conversations. It was great to be challenged to consider the implications of my research by those that study seemingly far-removed subjects.

In addition, we were able to listen to insights from various keynote speakers and engage in breakout workshops. The Summit also included a wine reception, a visit to the Jameson Distillery, and a Gala Dinner at King鈥檚 Inns. Attendees represented many countries and institutions, so it was great to form strong bonds with people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives. Finally, it was my first time visiting Dublin—a city with rich culture and history—which made this experience all the more enjoyable.

Winning this award is a culmination of several years of rigorous training in independent quantitative political research. To be recognised on a global scale is truly fulfilling, and I am thankful to the Global Undergraduate Awards for this opportunity. This achievement would not have come to fruition without the support of the Faculty of Social Sciences, as well as the 果冻传媒 Q-Step Centre and the Department of Politics and International Studies. Through enrichment opportunities and events, like Q-Step Masterclasses and the Research Assistant program that I was fortunate to engage with, I was constantly pushed toward academic excellence at 果冻传媒. For that, I am very grateful.

You can learn more about the Global Undergraduate Awards .

Garren Mulloy is a Professor in the Faculty of International Relations and Graduate School of Asian Area Studies, Daito Bunka University, Saitama, Japan, and also teaches intensive courses on peace operations for the University of Tsukuba Business School, having previously taught at Keio University. His research has focused primarily upon Japanese security, having completed a PhD on Japan Self-Defense Forces鈥� (JSDF) overseas operations at Newcastle University (2011), and he has written on contemporary defence, security, diplomacy and related issues, as well as historical studies of Japan, the UK, and war memorialisation. He is currently a visiting scholar in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge (April 2022-March 2023), focusing primarily upon how the UK and other states and institutions engage with the Japanese Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) Vision, as well as continuing research into Japan's post-war period, memories of war, and development of defence institutions and policies. He is also researching a range of other issues, including a project with Catherine Jones (St. Andrews) and Vanessa Newby (Leiden) on Ocean Governance. 

His EASG research seminar is based on his latest book: Defenders of Japan: The Post-Imperial Armed Forces, 1946-2016-A History (London: Hurst & Co., 2021). In it, he charts the development of Japan's post-imperial forces that preceded the JSDF, and the JSDF themselves as existentially challenged and unorthodox military institutions serving a civil society that decries militarism. The talk investigates how the forces developed during the Cold War, adapted to post-Cold War events, their contributions to Japanese and global security and possible reconfiguration for Japan's future security needs. The book and talk examine the internal structures and cultures of the Forces and deconstructs how the JSDF have adapted and will continue to adapt within domestic norms, caught between unresolved legacies of Japan's imperial past and a dynamically shifting balance of regional and global power.

Moch Faisal Karim is a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at BINUS University, Indonesia. His primary research interest lies in the intersection of political economy and International Relations (IR) with an emphasis on the role of state institutions and state-society relations in explaining transnational issues faced by Southeast Asian countries. His research has been published, among others, in Territory, Politics, and Governance, International Relations, Foreign Policy Analysis, Asian Studies Review, Pacific Review, and Contemporary Politics.

The transformation of forest governance in low- and middle-income countries has been accelerated due to increased international pressure for climate change adaptation. These endeavours, however, have been severely limited by inefficiencies within the forest-related state institutions tasked with addressing governance challenges, such as coordination, mediating political interests, and strategy-setting. His paper aims to contribute to the discussion of forest governance by providing an alternative view of such limitations. Using the case of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) program in Indonesia, his paper examines the institutionalization process of the climate agenda in the forestry sector and how it influences forest governance transformation.

Date: 17/11/2022
Time: 16:15-17:30
Venue: FAB4.73, Faculty of Arts Building

Yee Kuang HENG is Professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy, The University of Tokyo. Yee Kuang is on sabbatical at Cambridge University鈥檚 Centre for the 果冻传媒 of Existential Risks as a Senior Academic Visitor. His recent publications include 鈥淯K-Japan military exercises and mutual strategic reassurance鈥�, Defence Studies, Vol. 21 Issue 3 (2021); 鈥淛apan鈥檚 significance for the United Kingdom鈥檚 shaping ambitions in the Indo-Pacific鈥�, East Asian Policy (forthcoming 2022), 鈥淓nhancing Europe鈥檚 Global Power in Asia 2030鈥�, Global Policy, Vol. 11 Issue 1 (2020); 鈥淪haping the Indo-Pacific? Japan and Europeanisation鈥�, LSE IDEAS Strategic Update (2021); 鈥淢ilitary Evolution and Japan鈥檚 Self-Defense Forces鈥� in Nicole Jenne and Alan Chong (eds) Asian Military Evolutions (Bristol University Press, forthcoming 2023).

Although the constitutional status of its Self-Defence Forces (SDF) remains a subject of intense political debate, Japan鈥檚 participation in military exercises has in fact grown quite rapidly over the years. Drawing from interviews with SDF officers and civilian policymakers, his paper explores what strategic cost-benefit calculations help explain Japan鈥檚 choice of specific partners or exercise formats (bilateral/multilateral) in the region. Were exercises valued or developed according to some political, strategic, capacity-building, military/operational, or other benchmark? To what extent do those exercises help Japan maintain or achieve its desired vision of regional order?

Time: 16:15-17:30
Date: 11/11/2022
Venue: S0.13, Social Sciences Building

Saori N. Katada is Professor of International Relations at University of Southern California, and she is currently a Banque de France/Fondation France-Japon Fellow at L鈥櫭塩ole de Haute Etudes en Sciences Sociales (FFJ/EHESS) in Paris France. Her book Japan鈥檚 New Regional Reality: Geoeconomic Strategy in the Asia-Pacific was published from Columbia University Press in 2020, and its Japanese version in 2022. She has co-authored two recent books: The BRICS and Collective Financial Statecraft (Oxford University Press, 2017), and Taming Japan鈥檚 Deflation: The Debate over Unconventional Monetary Policy (Cornell University Press, 2018). She was the vice president of International Studies Association (ISA) from 2021 to 2022. She has her Ph.D. is from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Political Science), and her B.A. from Hitotsubashi University (Tokyo). Before joining USC, she served as a researcher at the World Bank in Washington D.C., and as International Program officer at the UNDP in Mexico City.

This project examines the infrastructure investment 鈥榗ompetition鈥� between Japan and China in the context of privatization of development finance in the post-global financial crisis world. As geoeconomic challenge to China鈥檚 infrastructure 鈥榖ig push鈥� through its Belt-and-Road Imitative, Japan and the Quad powers responded by establishing Blue Dot Network to certify bankable infrastructure projects with the hope that such certification will invite institutional investors to infrastructure financing in the Indo-Pacific region. By examining contrasting financing features and risk consideration of infrastructure financing between China and Japan, the project illustrates the foundation of quantity versus quality competition among the financial suppliers of infrastructure investment.

Date: Friday, 4th November

Time: 17:15-18:30

Venue: S0.13, Social Sciences

For additional information, please contact the EASG at easg@warwick.ac.uk