In August 2021, a small group of cadets pursuing research on the Chinese genocide of the Uyghurs presented its initial research at the 12th International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS12), a global platform that brought together over 2000 Asia specialists and representatives of civil society in order to facilitate an exchange of views on a variety of Asia-centric issues. The live presentations were attended by over two dozen scholars and were available to view for several months on the conference’s virtual platform. The cadets and the papers they delivered at the ICAS12 were:
- Elisabetta Aversa (Chinese): “Eugenics: The Culprit of Xinjiang’s Slow, Reproductive Genocide.”
- Jacob Lapin (Defense Strategic Studies): “Strategic Implications of Uyghur Genocide.”
- Jacob Foster (International History): “Politicizing History to Embolden Territorial Claims: A Comparative Analysis of Han and Yuan Dynastic Territorial Boundaries and Chinese Historiography.”
- Dennis Rice (International Relations): “Authoritarian Learning from China’s Xinjiang Surveillance Apparatus.”
- Aaron Hall (Law): “Jurisprudence for the Uyghur Genocide.”
- Josiah Spain (Chinese): “White Paper or White Lies: Discourse Analysis of the CCP on Xinjiang.”
In addition, Cadet Jacob Lapin presented his paper, “The Timeless Leader: Harnessing Disruptions from the Past Two Decades” at the SAFTI International Cadets’ Conference (virtual) in Singapore in November 2021. The Singaporean Armed Forces Officer Cadet School organizes an International Cadets’ Conference (SICC) that invites dozens of cadets from many different nations to engage in “cross-sharing and discussions.” 2021 marked the third year of the annual conference, bringing together over 45 international cadets from countries that included China, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, France, and Germany. Jacob’s presentation examined the differences between the West Point attrition model and the current developmental model. Cadet Lapin’s paper further synthesized and compared US Army leadership and the leadership development process with international cadets.
On March 23rd, 2022, Cadet Tommy Hall, in collaboration with the International Affairs Forum and the Chinese Language and Cultural Arts Association, hosted the second part in a panel series on U.S.-China Strategic Competition. The panel, “China’s Human Rights Violations: What the West Can (and Cannot) Do About Them,” also featured research and commentary by Dr. Sophie Richardson of Human Rights Watch, Dr. Thomas Lynch III of the Institute of National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University, and Ali Wyne of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and USMA’s Modern War Institute.
In 2022, cadets Tommy Hall, Josiah Spain, Jacob Foster, Megan Nkamwa, and Jacob Lapin won the prestigious 100Reporters China Essay Contest, a global essay contest about how the US should respond to China’s treatment of the Uyghurs, beating out graduate and postgraduate teams from around the world. 100reporters, a news organization dedicated to forging new frontiers on responsible journalism, chose the topic of this year’s competition as “How should the US government respond to the genocide in Xinjiang?” The cadets’ essay, entitled “The Agony of Inaction: Reimaging a Human Rights Regime to Resist China’s New Era,” argued that the US government has “lost the urgency of its commitments formed during the UN’s 1949 genocide convention.” To respond, “the US must assume leadership on two key fronts: preventing genocide and propagating truth.” The paper will be published on the 100Reporters website, as well as ChinaFile, an online magazine published by the Center on US-China Relations at the Asia Society, dedicated to promoting informed public conversations about China, in the US and around the world.
In mid-January 2023, the CHGS, the Dean’s Office, and the Department of Foreign Languages collaborated to send seven cadets to 2023 Southern Political Science Association Conference in St. Petersburg, FL. CDTs Elisabetta Aversa, Sarah Cao, Hunter Dunnington, Jessica Ho, Jacob Lapin (Cadet in Charge), Olivia Raykhman, and Andrew Sarff presented papers on a range of topics including “Uyghur Suppression for Strategic Gain,” “Rethinking America’s Support for Syrian Refugees in Jordan,” “From Venezuela to Curaçao: Corruption, Economic Insecurity, and Human Trafficking,” and “Cryptocurrency and Cyber-security in Russophone Spaces.” The conference provided an excellent chance for these young scholars to showcase their research in a professional setting and gain insight from experienced scholars.
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