Deep Roots: Understanding Afghanistan and Her Centuries of War, with Dr. Austin Knuppe

Want to know more about why the news matters? Want to know more about the headlines spread across your newsfeed? On his show, Michael Popa II explores current events and hot topics from a historical perspective to better understand the current affairs of our community, country, and world. For centuries, foreign policy has been the cornerstone to America’s prominence on the world stage. What once was a predominantly isolationist precedent has now transformed into an overly hawkish tendency. Whether it be through direct involvement with the enemy or power contests conducted through proxy states, the U.S. has made itself both friend and foe to the nations of the world. While just a minute part of its history, one particular nation has tugged at not only the U.S.’ coffers, but also its news channels’ chyrons and citizens’ attention.

 

On this episode, Michael talks with special guest Dr. Austin Knuppe, a Utah State University political science professor and Middle-East politics expert, on the development of foreign relations with Afghanistan and the dynamics of terrorism in the region.

 

"Austin Knuppe is an assistant professor in the department of political science at Utah State University. Prior to USU, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College. He received his Ph.D. in political science from The Ohio State University in 2019. His research interests include post-conflict state building, Middle East politics, and the study of religion in international politics.

In his current book project, he investigates the conditions under which civilians survive civil war. Specifically, he focuses on Iraqis survived the occupation of their communities by Islamic State insurgents between 2013 and 2018. He argues that civilians evaluate combatants based on three heuristics--proximity, capacity, and identity--to determine whether migration, collaboration, resistance, or autonomy best ensures their survival.

Austin is also one of the co-founders of the Conflict to Peace Lab at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies at The Ohio State University. C2P works with local peacebuilding and development organizations in conflict-afflicted state in order to link innovative research, effective practice, and sound policy to foster durable peace. At C2P, Austin leads a research team of American, British, and Yemeni scholars studying the determinants of community resilience across urban and rural locations in Yemen."

Taken from www.austinknuppe.com