America’s modern militia movement emerged in the 1990s, following armed stand-offs with government authorities at Ruby Ridge, Idaho and Waco, Texas. After rising to 370 groups nationwide by 1996, the number of these militias diminished to 68 by 1999—only to surge again when Barak Obama was elected president in 2008. After Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, several militia groups figured prominently in the January 6 Insurrection which sought to prevent the peaceful transfer of power to Joe Biden. What drives US citizens to form militia groups? What role does racism, anti-government sentiments, nostalgia, and economic, social, and political changes play in their emergence? What do these groups want to achieve? How do their profiles, objectives, and activities differ? And can they help safeguard democracy, civil society, and democratic participation in the United States or threaten it?

In this episode of New Frontiers, sociologist Amy Cooter explores the rise, goals, and philosophies of American militia groups. She explains why their actions could mar the 2024 elections and highlights how a more thorough, accurate teaching of American history could address misconceptions and reduce societal tensions that fuel some of these groups’ strongest grievances.

Dr. Amy Cooter is the Director of Research, Academic Development, and Innovation (RADI) at CTEC who focuses on antigovernment extremism. She has studied a range of groups who use a nostalgic understanding of the past to justify their actions. Her primary expertise is on U.S. domestic militias, and groups of armed individuals who see it as their civic duty to uphold the Constitution the way they believe it should be interpreted.

Amy has testified before U.S. Congress about her research, and regularly consults with academics, journalists, and law enforcement around the globe. You may find her quoted in such outlets as NPR, Rolling Stone, FiveThirtyEight, and The Washington Post. Her latest book is “Nostalgia, Nationalism, and US Militia Movement” (Routledge Press).

For more information on the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs at Middlebury College and the New Frontiers podcast series, visit our website.
New Frontiers is a higher education podcast series bringing scholarly research and expertise to bear on national, international, and global affairs.

Show Notes:
Produced and edited by Margaret DeFoor and Mark Williams, director of the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs. Intro by Charlotte Tate, associate director of the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs.

Music Credits
Forte by Kestra - Summer with Sound Album
Soul Zone by Kestra - Light Rising Album

“What’s the one thing about India, that isn’t getting enough attention?” That’s the question we put to three India experts; and not surprisingly, we got three different responses.

In August 2023, India celebrated its first successful moon landing. However, while this achievement made headlines around the world, other developments of equal or greater significance may be going unnoticed. One is India’s drift toward illiberal democracy—or perhaps even autocracy. Could this impede its budding strategic relationship with the United States? Another is the Modi government’s apparent efforts to erase important aspects of India’s multicultural past from the national consciousness, and the repercussions of these pursuits. And finally, how has India harnessed technology to realize remarkable success in combating poverty? In this episode of “New Frontiers”, host Mark Williams and co-host Arjun Kumar ‘25.5, explore these topics with guests Jeff Lunstead, Cynthia Packert, and Sunder Ramaswamy.

Jeffrey Lunstead is a Diplomat in Residence at Middlebury College, and former U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka. He teaches courses on international diplomacy, conflict in South Asia, and the rise of Asia in U.S. policy.

Cynthia Packert is the Christian A. Johnson Professor in the History of Art and Architecture at Middlebury College. She teaches courses on all aspects of Asian and Islamic art, with a particular focus on India. Read more here.

Sunder Ramaswamy is the Distinguished College Professor of International Economics at Middlebury College. He teaches classes on economic development, international trade, and the political economy of India. Read more here.

For more information on the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs at Middlebury College and the New Frontiers podcast series, visit our website.
New Frontiers” is a higher education podcast series bringing scholarly research and expertise to bear on national, international, and global affairs.

Show Notes:
Produced and edited by Margaret DeFoor and Mark Williams. Intro by Charlotte Tate, associate director of the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs. Co-hosted by Mark Williams and Arjun Kumar 25.5. A special thanks to Mehr Sohal.

Music Credits
Forte by Kestra - Summer with Sound Album
Soul Zone by Kestra - Light Rising Album

In June 2023, French police killed 17-year-old Nahal Merzouk during a traffic stop outside of Paris. The killing led to days of street protests, widespread condemnation of racialized police practices, and over 1,300 arrests. This was particularly significant in a country like France, where discussions about race are often avoided or rejected. To gain a deeper understanding of French police practices, Mark Williams sits down with historian Amit Prakash, whose new book—Empire on the Seine—explores how France’s colonial history helped shape how French law enforcement policed North Africans living in Paris from 1925 to 1975. Prakash also details how discrimination and racialized policing persist in a country where officialdom avoids employing race as a demographic category.

Amit Prakash, Visiting Professor of International and Global Studies at Middlebury College, teaches classes on policing, borders and identification, and anti-colonialism. He is a historian specializing in the history of policing, modern imperialism, and decolonization. He has most recently published Empire on the Seine (Oxford University Press, 2022) which is the first history of the Parisian police and North Africans that covers the period from the 1920s to the 1970s. Beyond Middlebury, Prakash has been featured in the documentary The Price of Safety and is the cohost of the history and current events podcast No Politics at the Dinner Table. He holds a B.A. in English from Oberlin College and an M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in History from Columbia University.

For more information on the New Frontiers academic podcast series visit the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs website.

SHOW NOTES:
Produced and edited by Margaret DeFoor and Mark Williams. Intro by Charlotte Tate, associate director of the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs.
Outro by Chris Martucci ‘25.

Music Credits
Forte by Kestra - Summer with Sound Album
Soul Zone by Kestra - Light Rising Album