GNSI Policy Dialogues Archive

A key marker of sovereignty for any country is the control over police powers within its borders. Yet today, the People’s Republic of China has established police stations in countries around the world, including the United States, and uses these installations as key nodes in a systematic global effort to monitor, harass, and intimidate both Chinese and third-country citizens. 

This TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION by the Chinese party-state has particularly targeted the overseas Uyghur, Tibetan, and Hong Kong communities. Chinese Communist Party (CCP) operations have also targeted college campuses to intimidate both students and educators, while broadly shaping the academic discourse on China. While the FBI and other law enforcement agencies have begun taking action to stop the CCP’s most aggressive efforts, the majority of Americans remain unaware of the degree to which the CCP is exporting its repression into American communities and targeting their fellow citizens.

In partnership with:  
The Global and National Security Institute at the University of South Florida invites you to join us for a day-long summit to bring together lawmakers, experts, and stakeholders to explore the multifaceted challenges posed by the CCP’s ongoing efforts to suppress Americans’ freedoms of expression and association, harass family members of political prisoners, and interfere in U.S. domestic political processes.

In addition to raising awareness about these tactics among the university community, the summit will explore effective strategies communities can take on their own and in cooperation with law enforcement to identify, combat, and mitigate transnational repression.

In March 2024, the Islamic Republic of Iran will hold its legislative election, during which voters will elect members of the Consultative Assembly and the Assembly of Experts. Among these two, the former typically holds more sway in Iranian politics. However, this time, the latter may be the key stakeholder, as the Assembly of Experts is responsible for selecting a new Supreme Leader in the event of the death of the 85-year-old current Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. While Iran's domestic politics face high stakes, its foreign policy is equally critical. Iran's uranium enrichment has reached 60% purity, the closest ever to weapons grade, and its support for Shia militias across the region, from Iraq to Yemen, has once again brought the country to the brink of conflict with the West. These developments signal that Iran might be on the verge of another significant transformation, analyzing its latest developments more crucial than ever.

On April 10th, 2024, the University of South Florida’s Global and National Security Institute and College of Arts and Sciences and the Center for Strategic & Diplomatic Studies will host a day-long conference to bring together lawmakers, experts, and stakeholders to explore the complexities of Iran's regional policies, dissect the evolution of social movements, with a spotlight on the status of women, and delve into the nation's relations with the United States. Discover how these topics impact political instability and threaten both global and national security.

Leading voices from the World Food Programme, International Committee of the Red Cross, Tufts University, Yale University, the University of South Florida and Feeding Tampa Bay (part of Feeding America) will gather, appropriately, in the Patel Center for Global Solutions at the University of South Florida for the first GNSI Policy Dialogues. The theme for this first event is: Hunger as a Weapon.

The use of HUNGER AS A WEAPON of manipulation, oppression and control is as old as history itself. But, the last several decades have seen slow but steady progress in the global  renouncement and eradication of this abhorrent practice. 

Partnering with the USF College of Arts and Sciences, as well as the Center for the Advancement of Food Security and Healthy Communities (CAFSHC), the GNSI Policy Dialogues: Hunger as a Weapon conference is going to explore how food insecurity and hunger are used by state and non-state entities as weapons of control, manipulation and suppression. Global hunger is a generator of social, economic and political instability and a threat to global and national security. 

The two panel discussions:
PANEL 1  Global Hunger: Generator of Social, Economic and Political Instability
PANEL 2  Food Insecurity in the United States: A Domestic Policy Challenge

Three Breakout sessions:
#1: Fireside Chat with Peter Cloutier, Professor of Development and Human Security at Joint Special Operations University, conducted by David Himmelgreen, Director of the Center for Advancement of Food Security and Healthy Communities
#2: Dangerously Hungry: The Link Between Food Insecurity and Conflict, an in-depth analysis and discussion of this latest report from the World Food Programme with Dr. Chase Sova, lead author and Senior Director, Public Policy and Thought Leadership, World Food Program USA
#3: Finding Solutions to Weaponized Hunger: A Multidimensional Approach, moderated by Patrick Hamilton, Regional Delegation (United States and Canada), International Committee of the Red Cross