Why did you decide to offer a course on MINT497 Contemporary Conservative Revolutions: Comparative Perspectives? Why is it an important topic for MINT Students?
The re-election of Donald Trump has confirmed that we have entered a ‘global age’ of conservative revolution. Until now, only authoritarian regimes or countries in the ‘Global South’ came under this model: Putin's Russia, Narendra Modi's India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the new military regimes in the Sahel or well-established sub-Saharan authoritarian regimes such as that of Yoweri Museveni in Uganda. But political developments in Central and Eastern Europe, the rise of far-right identitarian movements in Western Europe, and sometimes their arrival in power as in Italy, and of course the return of Donald Trump and his first decisions show that democracies are not immune to this wave of conservative revolution. India itself was once a parliamentary democracy, and the most recent elections in Senegal, which were perfectly democratic, saw a party with similar leanings come to power. It is therefore vital that an institute like ours seizes this historic moment. In the space of a few weeks, the international system has been completely transformed.
Can you share 3 real-world examples or highlights of the course that would captivate student's interests and stress the course's practical relevance?
The course will cover the various situations that fall under this model in all their singularity. And forgive the understatement! The United States, Russia, India, Europe and Israel are not insignificant. Especially if we add that the rather different cases of China, Japan and South Korea could also be usefully illuminated in the light of this concept. Then there is the essential question of the relationship between the major corporations and the conservative revolutions: firstly, because they now support Donald Trump and even participate in his administration; secondly, because the new technologies offer unprecedented and dangerous instruments for controlling the population. Finally, the conservative revolutions are radically reformulating the issues of gender and sexuality, as Donald Trump's initial measures and declarations and the recurrent discourse on homosexuality of Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Yoweri Museveni remind us.
What skills do you believe students will acquire through this course, and how can these be applied in various academic and professional contexts
It is no longer possible to analyse most immediately contemporary conflicts, and more broadly international relations, without taking account of the ‘global time’ of conservative revolutions. To take just three examples: Gaza, Ukraine, the United Nations multilateral system, development aid and international migration - these are all issues that have been turned upside down in the space of two or three weeks by Donald Trump's arrival in the White House. How can you ignore these issues when you study at IHEID, whatever your intended career: journalist, diplomat, NGO professional, entrepreneur, academic?
What's more, the course method can interest students intellectually and even civically. It will replace identitarian and culturalist reasoning and awareness, directly inherited from Orientalism and the colonial vision of the world, with historical awareness, showing the lines of continuity and also, of course, of rupture with the conservative revolutions of the inter-war period. Important note: the course is given in French, but students can of course express themselves and validate the course in English, as the institute is bilingual.