Ralph Bunche Institute

Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. The Ralph Bunche Institute offers a wealth of research and public programming on international affairs, human rights, and conflict resolution.

“It is not irrational — It’s about Putin’s Legacy”: The Russian Invasion of Ukraine with Julie George

What is Putin’s mental state? Is this the autumn of Putinism? Is the invasion a legitimate response to NATO expansion? This week, RBI director John Torpey talks to Queens College Professor Julie George about the real motives behind the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the role of NATO and the U.S. in the invasion, the views of Russians and Ukrainians about the war, Putin’s miscalculations of the world’s reaction, and the prospects of nuclear weapons being deployed in the conflict.

Humans, the first species to turn its food supply into a health hazard: Diet for a Small Planet at 50 with Frances Moore Lappé

How is power linked to the way we eat? Has inequality boosted the amount of unhealthy food we consume? How have things changed since Diet for a Small Planet was first published in the early 1970s? This week on “International Horizons,” RBI Director John Torpey talks with Frances Moore Lappé about the politics of food and how the way we eat interacts with structures of power – and what we can do about changing that for the better.

Pragmatism or ideology? A Historical Perspective on the Russia-Ukraine crisis with Susan Smith Peter

How are Russia and Ukraine tied historically? What are the narratives around the national identity of Ukrainians in relation to Russia? How is contemporary Russian nationalism linked to the collapse of the Soviet Union and Putin’s perception of those events? Could the United States have prevented a revanchist Russia by adopting a less aggressive policy towards transition in the 90s?