Webinar on Indian public services
On October 11, I will moderate a discussion on improving accountability for public services in India. More details here.
Oct 4
New book project
My next book project, with the working title of “The Adaptable Country,” is now under contract with McGill-Queen’s University Press.
Monroe-Paine Distinguished Lecture
I’ll deliver the Monroe-Paine Distinguished Lecture at the Truman School of Public Affairs on September 22. Details here. PPT here.
Talks at Doha Institute for Graduate Studies
On September 4-7 I’ll give three talks at the School of Economics, Administration and Public Policy at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies:
On September 4, I’ll give a public lecture about my forthcoming book, Superstates: Empires of the Twenty-First Century. Title for the talk: “Superstates: What Empires Teach Us About Running Large Countries.” PPT slides for that talk here.
On September 7, I’ll talk to PhD students about my 2020 book Strategies for Governing. PPT slides for that talk are here.
On the same day, I’ll talk to SEAPP students about my 2018 book, Can Government Do Anything Right? PPT slides for that talk here.
While in Doha I also participated in a book launch at the HBKU College of Public Policy. Story here.
Recommendations for “Superstates”
Ian Bremmer, President of Eurasia Group, recommends Superstates: “Analysts focus on what the world’s largest and most powerful countries can do to confront climate change, pandemics, and other dangerous threats. Roberts’s Superstates flips the script and asks how these threats will affect the structure, borders, and even existence of the world’s most populous countries. Drawing from the history of empire, the book is a sobering warning of the difficulties our unprecedentedly complex ‘superstates’ will face to survive the next century unscathed.”
Christopher Hood, University of Oxford: “A fascinating and provocative account of the governance challenges facing the rulers of today’s four ‘superstates,’ who must grapple not only with the issues that have beset imperial rulers over the centuries, but also those arising from modern technology and culture.”
Donald Moynihan, Georgetown University: “Superstates looks ahead at the future of governance, where more and more people will be crammed into a few massive polities. Roberts shrewdly considers the lessons from past empires and the challenges of running a modern nation state. The result is an extraordinarily accessible, insightful and challenging field guide to governance around the world in the coming decades.”
Geert Bouckaert, KU Leuven Public Governance Institute: “Are ‘Superstates’ governance utopias or dystopias? And are they self-denying or self-fullfilling? We, the people, want to know. This book makes us understand what to do, and even more, what not to do.”
“This book is expertly informed, extensively well documented, crafted for interesting study, and importantly useful for professional and popular understanding.” – International Journal of Public Administration.
UPES panel on liberal studies
I’ll participate on a June 16 panel at the UPES School of Liberal Studies. Topic: “‘The What, Why, and How of Liberal Studies.” Details about the panel here. Summary of the discussion here.
Address at CAPPA conference
I’ll be the opening plenary speaker at the 2022 conference of the Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration, in Victoria on May 25. Title of my talk: “The case for scholarly nationalism in public administration.” Program here. Slides here.
Talk to South Asia Network for Public Administration
On May 7 at 7AM EDT, I’ll be the keynote speaker for the first seminar of the new South Asia Network for Public Administration. I’ll talk about my book Strategies for Governing. Powerpoint for the presentation here. Zoom details here.
“Strategies for Governing” discussed in The Print
In The Print, Sanjeev Chopra draws on my book Strategies for Governing to discuss geopolitics in South Asia. Read the article.
Address to IGPP conference
I’ll speak at the “Driving Good Governance” conference organized by the Institute of Government and Public Policy, University of East London, on May 30. Conference details here. Powerpoint here.
Alasdair S. Roberts 
