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.

Resistance and Democratic Resilience in Myanmar and Ukraine with Marcus Brand

Marcus Brand, International IDEA’s Head of Programme for Myanmar and former UN Development Programme Ukraine Director, speaks with Ralph Bunche Institute Director John Torpey about the parallels between the military coup in Myanmar and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including unexpected resistance, humanitarian crises and massive refugee flows, and possible optimism about what it means for the future of democracy.

“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.