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Human rights researcher/advocate to discuss Thailand’s shifting role in Southeast Asia

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Human rights researcher/advocate to discuss Thailand’s shifting role in Southeast Asia

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia School of Law’s Dean Rusk International Law Center will host Benjamin Zawacki, a human rights researcher and advocate, to discuss his book Thailand: Shifting Ground between the US and a Rising China on March 20 at 11:45 a.m. in the Larry Walker Room of Dean Rusk Hall located on North Campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Zawacki’s book, published by the University of Chicago Press last year, explores Thailand's evolving foreign relations and the geo-political implications in Southeast Asia.

After many post-World War II years as a key strategic ally of the United States, Thailand has begun a sharp pivot toward China, according to Zawacki. He will describe how, in his view, consistent with U.S. policy drift since the turn of the century and Thailand's deepening adoption of China's model of “authoritarian capitalism,” the country is increasingly within the orbit of Beijing. Zawacki will opine as to the factors and forces behind this shift, as well as what it means for a new administration in Washington. Joining him in a discussion around these issues is UGA History Department Associate Professor Ari D. Levine, who specializes in the cultural and intellectual history of early modern China.

A former policy adviser to U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Zawacki has served as a visiting fellow in Harvard Law School’s Human Rights Program, as a term member on the Council on Foreign Relations and as an Amnesty International Southeast Asia researcher.

This event is co-sponsored by the International Law Society and the UGA Department of History. Please register at http://law.uga.edu/registration-thailand-shifting-ground-between-us-and-rising-china.

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Writer: Heidi Murphy, 706-583-5487, hmurphy@uga.edu Contact: Christine Keller, 706-542-4351, cmkeller@uga.edu

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