"Dictatorship, Development and Punctuated Violence in Central Asia"

Brent Hierman, assistant professor of international studies and political science at Virginia Military Institute, will discuss how the political economy of authoritarianism has fostered occasional social conflicts (especially ethnic riots in Southern Kyrgyzstan), state-sanctioned violence and repression, and is related to Islamist terrorist recruitment among Central Asian migrants in places like Russia. Sponsored by the Department of Political Science, Pi Gamma Mu Social Sciences Honor Society and the University Theme Committee. This event is free and open to the public.