SPICE is a program of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.
FSI researchers strive to understand how countries relate to one another, and what policies are needed to achieve global stability and prosperity. International relations experts focus on the challenging U.S.-Russian relationship, the alliance between the U.S. and Japan and the limitations of America’s counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan.
Foreign aid is also examined by scholars trying to understand whether money earmarked for health improvements reaches those who need it most. And FSI’s Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center has published on the need for strong South Korean leadership in dealing with its northern neighbor.
FSI researchers also look at the citizens who drive international relations, studying the effects of migration and how borders shape people’s lives. Meanwhile FSI students are very much involved in this area, working with the United Nations in Ethiopia to rethink refugee communities.
Trade is also a key component of international relations, with FSI approaching the topic from a slew of angles and states. The economy of trade is rife for study, with an APARC event on the implications of more open trade policies in Japan, and FSI researchers making sense of who would benefit from a free trade zone between the European Union and the United States.
Despite recent improvements, Japan today still faces some of the same structural problems that triggered its 15 year economic malaise including low productivity growth relative to the past, continuing high consumer prices for basic necessities such as food, and record post-war unemployment rates. Japan's post-war economic rise and its current relative stagnation offers students and teachers opportunities to both learn more about Japan and better understand economic concepts. Through understanding recent Japanese economic history, students gain knowledge about what causes economic growth and the relationship between economic flexibility and continuing prosperity.
Although the rise of China has major international implications, the fact that Japan remains the world's second largest economy is another important reason that it should be a topic for study in American classrooms. Also, Japan and the United States have an extensive relationship with each other. Although the United Kingdom is the leading foreign direct investor in the United States, each year Japan ranks among the top five countries in investment in this country.
This curriculum unit examines three case studies of ongoing regional wars—Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Kashmir—and one past regional war, Guatemala. Students are introduced to these wars in their historical and global context, as well as in the context of efforts to establish and maintain peace.
This unit, based on and including annotated lectures from a Stanford University course, provides students with the background and tools to define terrorism; understand the nature of liberal, democratic societies; evaluate specific counterterrorist measures; and decide on how they think terrorism is best countered.
This curriculum unit introduces students to the concept of political geography. Interactive activities introduce Europe's principal physical features, major cities, and climate. Special attention is devoted to the development of the European Union over time.
Using annotated lectures of a Stanford University course and various activities, students explore five important environmental topics: the environment and security, population, the idea of "sustainable development," free trade and the environment, and climate change.
This unit provides students with geographic and historical context to analyze major issues facing contemporary Indonesia, as well as in-depth examination of its regional and global importance.