The 'Papiers d'actualité/ Current Affairs in Perspective' are starting into a new year. This year's first contributor, Nathaniel Powell, discusses the 30th anniversary of the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan in the light of recent developments there. The papers from last year can be found here.

15 January (deadline)

Two new Pierre du Bois Scholarships for the academic year 2010-2011 will be awarded to Latin American students preparing a PhD in International History and Politics at The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva (called hereafter The Graduate Institute). The first two scholarship holders, from Chile and Colombia, started their PhD research in the academic year of 2008-2009. For the academic year of 2009-2010, a third scholarship was offered to a Masters student from Mexico.

18 and 19 March

The Foundation will participate in the Symposium «Les Amériques latines: Héritages et mirages des Indépendances (1810-2010)» to take place at The Graduate Institute in Geneva.
It will offer the dinner in the honour of participants.
Auditorium Jacques-Freymond, Rue de Lausanne 132, 1202 Genève

20 May

The Pierre du Bois Foundation Annual Lecture, co-organised with The Graduate Institute, will be given in Geneva by

Daniel Cohn-Bendit,

Member of the European Parliament, Co-President of the GREENS/EFA Group in the Europe Parliament, on

"L'Europe post-nationale: un défi, une chance, un espoir?"

Thursday, 20 May 2010, 18h30

Auditoire Jean Piaget, 24 rue Général-Dufour, Uni Dufour, Geneva.

25 June

The Foundation will participate in and support the workshop «La construction d'un espace euro-méditerranéen. Genèses, mythes et perspectives.» organised by the International Research Network of Young Historians of European Integration (RICHIE) to take place in Paris, at the Sorbonne University.

17 September

The Prix Pierre du Bois will be awarded to the best PhD thesis in the field of current history presented in the Unit of International History and Politics of The Graduate Institute in the academic year of 2009-2010. The two first laureates were Dr. Katrin Milzow in 2008 and Dr. Sophie Huber in 2009.

14 and 15 October

The Symposium «Europe Twenty Years after the Cold War. The New Europe, New Europes?», co-organised with The Graduate Institute, will take place at the Graduate Institute in Geneva.
Auditorium Jacques-Freymond, Rue de Lausanne 132, 1202 Genève

The Foundation will continue to regularly publish on its website the «Papiers d'actualité/Current Affairs in Perspective».

A network of young researchers has been formed within the Foundation. Specialized working groups will be created and the network is open to new people and new ideas.

Vladimir Tismaneanu

Professor of Politics, University of Maryland (USA) Chair of the Presidential Advisory Commission for the Analysis of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania.

It dealt with

"The Revolutions of 1989 and Their Legacies"

The lecture was a great success with almost 200 people attending. The complete text of Prof Tismaneanu's speech as well as the video of the conference will be available online shortly.

Further information

Update Read the full text of Prof. Tismaneanu's speech

Watch the video of his speech

The Prix Pierre du Bois has been awarded for the second time, on 25 September 2009, to Dr. Sophie Huber for her thesis on «Polyphonie sur l'identité européenne. Aux origines d'un discours identitaire, 1962-1973».

The Pierre du Bois Foundation's papers series "Papiers d'actualité/ CurrentAffairs in Perspective" puts current events into a historical perspective in order to better understand them.

To-day, maybe more than ever, it is difficult, if not impossible, to understand the world we are living in without knowing the past that led to it. Therefore, "Papiers d'actualité/ Current Affairs in Perspective" emphasise the value of historical phenomenon and their commemoration in today's world.

Are you interested in a particular subject? Do you want to contribute to "Papiers d'actualité/Current Affairs in Perspective", or react to one of the published papers?
Contact us!

New! No 1, February 2010
Thirty Years of War: Soviet Legacies and Today's Challenges in Afghanistan 
Nathaniel Powell, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva