Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law is housed in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Conflict
Scholarly Publications
Pandemic Spikes and Broken Spears: Indigenous Resilience after the Conquest of Mexico
In a new paper for the Journal of Historical Political Economy, Alberto Diaz-Cayeros and Saumitra Jha examine the conditions under which indigenous communities in Mexico were able to overcome the...
Living in Fear: The Dynamics of Extortion in Mexico’s Drug War
January 2020
Why do drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) sometimes prey on the communities in which they operate but sometimes provide assistance to these communities?
The Economic Costs of Drug-Trafficking Violence in Mexico
June 2017
The levels of violence in Mexico have dramatically increased in the last few years due to structural changes in the drug trafficking business.
Other Publications
U.S.-Russia Relations in the Aftermath of the Georgia Crisis
September 2008
Russia's invasion of Georgia last month seriously undermined peace and security in Europe for the first time in years.
A Diplomatic Offensive for Iraq
June 2007
While the debate to "surge" or "withdraw" troops continues, Larry Diamond, Coordinator of the Democracy Program at CDDRL, along with Carlos Pascual, writes on the need for a diplomatic strategy to...
News
A History of Unity: A Look at FSI’s Special Relationship with Ukraine
April 2022
Since 2005, the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies has cultivated rich academic ties and friendships with Ukrainian scholars and civic leaders as part of our mission to support...
‘A Monkey with a Grenade’: Russia's Attacks on Nuclear Reactors Cross a Dangerous Line
March 2022
Firing on civilian nuclear facilities is an unacceptable disregard for the rules of war that endangers the entire world, not just Ukraine.
The Colors of Worry
March 2022
“Red means air raid warning. Green means my family is back online.” How it feels to be a Stanford student from Ukraine right now.
Old Events
Routines and Ruptures in Protests and Policing in Jordan
March 16, 2017
ABSTRACTPolitical protests in non-democratic settings are not always contentious.
Competing Narratives on Syria amid International Escalation
October 4, 2016
ABSTRACTBy now, those following the news on Syria have been saturated with analysis, data, information, and misinformation on developments there since 2011.
Accidental State: Chiang Kai-shek, the United States, and the Making of Taiwan
September 26, 2016
AbstractThe existence of two Chinese states—one controlling mainland China, the other controlling the island of Taiwan—is often understood as a seemingly inevitable outcome of the Chinese civil war...
Projects
Economic Consequences of Violence
The Poverty and Governance Program has an ongoing research agenda aiming to evaluate the impact of drug-related violence on economic activity.
English
Indigenous Peoples Rights
This project seeks to promote the collaboration between the Center for Latin American Studies and the Program on Human Rights in conducting an interdisciplinary faculty/graduate student research...
English
The Dynamics of Violence in Mexico’s Drug War
Since December 2006, more than 50,000 drug-related murders have taken place in Mexico.
English
Multimedia
Bassam Haddad Analyzes the Root Causes and Dynamics of the Syrian Uprising
February 2016
As part of the Program on Arab Reform and Democracy's speaker series, George Mason University scholar Bassam Haddad explained the roots and dynamics of the tragic Syrian uprising, with particular attention to its background and to the recent...
People Power - the Phenomenon that Shakes and Shapes the World in the 21st Century
November 2015
On Thursday, November 12, CDDRL welcomed founding members of the Center for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies [CANVAS], Srdja Popovic and Slobodan Djinovic, who spoke on best practices for nonviolent campaigns against autocratic governments...
Remarks at MIT: Renewal or Retrenchment - U.S. Grand Strategy in a Volatile World
June 2015
Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, a distinguished fellow in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, presented remarks at the MIT Senior Congressional and Executive Office Branch Seminar, "Renewal or Retrenchment: U.S.
People
Carlos Schmidt-Padilla Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford Impact Labs (SIL), affiliated with PovGov at CDDRL