Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs

Restrictions on abortion are not just a matter of domestic politics. Abortion access has also proven to be a key international policy issue, producing wide ranging impacts.?What are the barriers to ensuring safe and legal abortion access globally, and what are the successful strategies being mounted against them? The Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs convened leading strategists, researchers, medical practitioners and human rights advocates from Colombia, Ireland, Kenya, Poland and the U.S. to shed light on their challenges and successes at our fall quarter Buffett Symposium. Foreign Policy magazine's research and advisory division FP Analytics produced a synthesis report on key takeaways from the convening. Read: https://lnkd.in/gRtaKBxJ

The Buffett Institute welcomed a series of feminist scholars and social activists to Women Life Freedom, a bilingual panel hosted by the Colloquium for Global Iran Studies at Northwestern University's Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities. The event brought together panelists from around the world to speak about women’s rights in Iran, with a dialogue focused on the progression of women’s rights since the advent of "Women Life Freedom," a movement calling for Kurdish women’s rights following the 2022 Iranian uprisings. Learn more in The Daily Northwestern's article: https://spr.ly/6049tO3et

"When I tell people that I want to see a closing plenary, they nearly always say something along the lines of 'Why? They’re so boring.' But they are also unique moments in time," shares Diana K. Elhard, part of the Northwestern University delegation supported by the Buffett Institute at the United Nations's #COP29. Elhard is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science. Read her final reflection: https://spr.ly/6048tOy58 Northwestern University - Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy

"When you slow down to see and feel the little details is when you get a real sense for the people here, the decisions to be made, and the stakes riding on them," shares Cate Osborne, who attended the United Nations' #COP29 through the support of Northwestern University's Buffett Institute. Osborne is a fourth year undergraduate student majoring in history and environmental policy & culture. Read her Day 11 reflection: https://spr.ly/6047tMhkx Northwestern University - Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy

"As a sociologist of migration, I am interested in how climate displacement is discussed at COP29—the global stage where climate change governance is negotiated and set each year," says Michelle Lee, who is currently attending the United Nations' #COP29 through the support of Northwestern University's Buffett Institute. Lee is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology. Read her Day 10 reflection: https://spr.ly/6047t6PTW and check back each day of the conference to hear directly from our delegates. Northwestern University - Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy

"Growing up in Whanganui, Aotearoa (New Zealand), where our Awa (River) has the same legal status as a person, exploring the depth and song of Indigenous voices at COP was a necessary and humbling opportunity," shares Mia Perkins, who is currently attending the United Nations' #COP29 through the support of Northwestern University's Buffett Institute. Perkins is a third-year undergraduate studying economics and international studies. Read her Day 9 reflection: https://spr.ly/6046t6OaE and check back each day of the conference to hear directly from our delegates. Northwestern University - Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy

"From attending COP29, I am increasingly convinced that cross-disciplinary integration is a non-negotiable to solving societal challenges like climate change," shares Siyuan Feng, who is currently attending the United Nations' #COP29 through the support of Northwestern University's Buffett Institute. Feng is a fourth-year MD/PhD candidate in the Feinberg School of Medicine and the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Read her Day 8 reflection: https://lnkd.in/gywBeaQf and check back each day of the conference to hear directly from our delegates. Northwestern University - The Feinberg School of Medicine McCormick School of Engineering Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy

Learn how "COP itself acts as a complex ecosystem of sometimes-subtle signals determining who speaks and when" through Danielle Ortiz's reflection on the United Nations' #COP29. Ortiz is part of a Northwestern University delegation supported by the Buffett Institute and is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science. Read her Day 7 reflection: https://spr.ly/6049sxwTh Northwestern University - Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy

“Cynicism is a very dangerous force and a huge challenge to liberal democracy. It produces a certain narrative of how the world works—a ruthless battle between people and groups where the strongest survive. This is why, domestically, it is a cover for autocracy. Internationally, this presents challenge to the liberal world order, because if you’re ruled by an autocrat like Putin, it can lead to mercurial interactions between states…which makes war more likely. Perhaps we’re entering the era of strongmen—not that they didn’t exist before, but cynicism is on the rise everywhere. Strongmen offer salvation from cynicism, but the way they do it is by weaponizing cynicism. So perhaps this is a kind of warning," said Political Science PhD candidate Dinara U. at the Buffett Institute’s first graduate student colloquium of the year, “Cynicism, Propaganda and Putin’s Aesthetics of Sovereignty.” Learn more about the Buffett Institute’s graduate student programming: https://lnkd.in/gFNQMHdX

The Buffett Institute for Global Affairs has launched a yearlong initiative focused on international diplomacy in turbulent times. The winter-quarter event lineup features a conflict resolution workshop for undergraduates as well as a public lecture series on landmark peace processes of the last few decades, including the Oslo Accords, Dayton Agreement and Good Friday Agreement. Learn more: https://spr.ly/6043sqNY5