Pictured Above: The St. Petersburg Conference on World affairs took place from Feb. 23 to 26.
Courtesy of St. Petersburg Conference on World Affairs
The annual St. Petersburg Conference on World Affairs is a four day event that brings together diplomats, military, media and academic experts to discuss current social, political and economic issues.
The conference, which attracted thousands of people in past years, returned virtually for its ninth year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s conference addressed topics such as the handling of the pandemic, authoritarianism, foreign policy and systemic racism.
Here are some of the notable panels that were held throughout the week:
Pro sport teams improvised and adapted to the pandemic
By Candice Lovelace
Bestselling author and sports journalist Peter Golenbock interviewed Rays President Brian Auld and Lightning forward Alex Killorn virtually at the St. Petersburg Conference on World Affairs on Friday.
Courtesy of Alex Killorn
The Tampa Bay Rays and the Tampa Bay Lightning have had to adapt to new procedures after the pandemic halted everything in 2020.
Even with new procedures in place, both teams went on to win big, with the Rays winning the American League Division and the Lightning bringing home the Stanley Cup.
Almost one month after the Rays started spring training, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. The next day, spring training was canceled, according to the Auld.
No one knew what the future held, or if they would play the 2020 baseball season.
During this time, Auld said “communication was incredibly important,” as there were tons of uncertainty up until games started.
“All of the players were sent home and reminded that “whatever you do influences everyone else,” Auld said.
The team spoke with the league and doctors daily, while the training staff developed a health plan.
“The trainers had expert advice every step of the way,” said Auld.
When the MLB gave the go-ahead for the shortened 2020 season on July 6, new protocols were put in place to keep the players and staff safe.
No fans were allowed to attend games and all teams were to play their games in empty stadiums.
“After the first couple of games we were used to it,” Auld said.
Even with no fans allowed at the games and being away from their families, the Rays still found a way to make it to the World Series, winning the American League Pennant.
Auld credited this to the resilience of the coaches, staff and players, “Playing as a team we can knock anybody off.”
Unlike the Rays, the Lightning were nearing the end of its 2019-2020 season when it was put on hold.
When the league decided to resume play, the players had to vote on whether or not they wanted to go back and play in the playoffs, according to Killorn.
The team ultimately decided to play – and it certainly paid off.
“We felt we owed it to the fans,” Killorn said.
When the National Hockey League season resumed, the remainder of the regular season was canceled. Instead, the Stanley Cup playoffs started in August.
Like the Rays, the playoffs were held in a bubble and no fans were present.
According to Killorn it was “very weird” to play in empty arenas, but they eventually got used to it.
“A lot of times the players became the fans,” Killorn said. “When you were screaming on the bench, it’s all you could hear.”
The players weren’t allowed to see friends and family. At one point, the team tried to bring in the families, but due to restrictions at the Canadian border they ultimately couldn’t make it work.
Being away from friends and family for several weeks was mentally challenging for members of the team.
“The longer the process went on the more important winning became, because you had already dedicated, given up a month of your life to this bubble,” Killorn said. “Why not go win the entire thing?”
And “win the entire thing” is exactly what they did.
Panel discusses the framework, trends and threats of global leadership
By Trevor Martindale
The “Global Leadership: From Mandela to Maduro” panel discussed the various global leadership styles of world leaders.
Courtesy of USF St. Petersburg
Author and journalist Donald Morrison moderated the panel, which was started off by Adrian O’Connor, a USF St. Petersburg history professor. Marie-Roger Biloa, an adviser on African affairs with Africa International, Amanda Makki, a former Republican congressional candidate, and Joseph Wright, a political scientist at Pennsylvania State University, were also on the panel.
The panel’s discourse ranged from the tenets of leadership, to the threat posed by certain leadership styles.
O’Connor presented leadership through the lens of Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle, who outlined forms of government through “corrupted” and “uncorrupted” forms. According to O’Connor, there is a clear trend in the deterioration of government.
“With each step of degeneration from the philosopher king monarch down to the scoundruless tyrant; at each stage the form of government becomes more and more self interested,” O’Connor said. “More and more directed towards the power, the wealth and the preservation of those, among those in power – as opposed to public service.”
Biloa explained the relationship between leaders and the strength of government institutions.
“One thing we have learned from the Trump era in the United States, is that strong institutions can be subverted by a strong man,” she said. “And that the strong man can literally get away with it, while a whole nation is left soul searching, in division, and scrambling for identity.”
Makki centered her speaking time around promoting the memory of Donald Trump’s presidency and casting doubt on President Biden’s leadership abilities.
Makki compared Trump’s leadership style to that of former President Lyndon B. Johnson.
“Both (Lyndon B. Johnson) and Trump most certainly employed bullying tactics to achieve their desired incomes and they both ignited populist passions in people,” Makki said.
Wright, like Biloa, discussed the threat posed by “strong man” leaders.
“Throughout history, at least in the 20th century, strong men who have ruled politics are the most likely to initiate international conflicts; they are the least likely to cooperate in international agreements; they are are the most likely to invest in nuclear weapons and they are the most likely to lead to political violence in their own countries,” Wright said.
NYU professor discusses the dynamic of “strong men” and tyranny
By Trevor Martindale
Courtesy of Ruth Ben-Ghiat on Twitter
Author, historian and New York University professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat decided to investigate the trends and patterns of authoritarianism after specializing in Italian fascism for her undergraduate research.
“Mussolini was a pioneer of propaganda,” Ben-Ghiat said. “And Hitler really watched him and learned from him, so I thought there was something that could be said that hadn’t been said before.”
USF St. Petersburg political science professor and associate dean of the Judy Genshaft Honors College, Dr. Thomas Smith, interviewed Ben-Ghiat about “A Century of Tyranny” and Ben-Ghiat’s book Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present.
Courtesy of USF St. Petersburg
Ben-Ghiat discussed the formula of a “strong man authoritarian,” comparing the rhetorical strategies of leaders such as Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Narendra Modi, Jair Balsonaro and Donald Trump.
Smith first asked Ben-Ghiat about the modernity of “authoritarian impulses,” pointing out that Italian fascists used cinematography and graphic design as mediums for propaganda.
Ben-Ghiat agreed that authoritarian tendencies have sprouted from many modern social and political dynamics.
“(Hitler and Mussolini) were playing on anxieties that modernity elicited in people,” Ben-Ghiat said. “Anxieties about being dehumanized by mass production, or secularization, or the emancipation of women after World War I, or changes in racial hierarchies.”
Ben-Ghiat noted that the world saw significant change in the 20th century, and that change often opens the door for “authoritarian figures.”
Later in the interview, Ben-Ghiat explained that the United States saw “a little taste of” authoritarianism with the Trump administration.
She pointed to Trump’s “hiring and firing and surrounding himself with sycophants rather than experts,” as well as his rhetoric.
Ben-Ghiat said a common trend she saw among authoritarian figures was their charisma and expertise in mass communications.
“Many of them who had success, when they started running for office or they came to politics – they had a background in mass communications,” Ben-Ghiat said. “Mussolini was a journalist, Mobutu in the Congo was a journalist… Trump was in reality TV.”
Ben-Ghiat explained that developing loyalty and a “leader-follower relationship” is integral to the “strong man” authoritarian formula.
“Having an unmediated, direct connection to their people, which they do through the start through rallies and speeches – and again because they know how to entrance the crowd,” Ben-Ghiat said. “They are superb actors in a way. They will be whatever people need them to be. But having this direct connection is really important with forming the bonds of loyalty.”
Ben-Ghiat acknowledged that the relationship between the use of media and the “strong man” leader has changed, but that the overall formula has not.
“The media has changed,” she said. “Hitler used the radio because he had a very emotional voice. And (Narendra) Modi uses Instagram. But the mechanisms of bonding and selling yourself as a leader and telling your story have not changed and that is very interesting.”
On the whole, Ben-Ghiat stressed that the “strong man” authoritarian formula is common, widespread and alive and well.
Exploring a ‘clean energy future’
By Tara Zimmerman
Environmental Activist Dagmar Graczyk discussed ways the world can be working towards a clean energy future throughout her 20-minute session, COVID Impacts: Moving Towards a Clean Energy Future.
Graczyk covered what action needs to be taken to get to net zero emissions, that the energy system being established needs to be climate-flexible and how that can be achieved, low carbon technologies, and the hope that there is towards improving energy consumption.
“An increasing number of countries, for example, including Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom and the European Union, have recently made pledges to reducing emissions to net zero by 2050,” Graczyk said.
Despite COVID-19 being a global focus, Graczyk said many countries are taking action to get to the forefront of new environmental initiatives like solar energy and wind power.
Graczyk’s talk focused on electricity and net zero emissions — meaning that energy usage is balanced, so the return to the environment balances the energy used.
Graczyk also explained the idea of smart grid technology.
Smart grid and smart home technology allows for digitalized energy, which allows consumers to produce their own power through environmentally friendly means. The smart grid allows consumers the ability to also filter their produced power back out into the smart grid for other energy consumption.
Graczyk said that while clean energy relies on industry, people will also have to work for it.
“As much as politics, industry and research can do to bring us to the clean energy future, we, the people, also have to do our share,” Graczyk said.
Civil Unrest in Tampa Bay
By Edyn Gottlieb
Former Time Inc. editor Ann Morrison spoke with Tampa Bay Times reporter Kathryn Varn about her experience covering the Black Lives Matter protests.
Varn, a graduate of the University of Florida’s journalism undergraduate program, began working as a government and human interest reporter at the Tampa Bay Times in 2015. In 2016, Varn began to cover criminal justice and breaking news in Pinellas County, which she has continued to do for the past four and a half years.
In May 2020, George Floyd was killed while in police custody, which sparked demonstrations in over two thousand cities across the globe, including Tampa and St. Petersburg.
As one of the main reporters covering the protests, Varn was on the ground documenting and gaining insight on the protests throughout all of Tampa Bay.
“St. Pete and Tampa both had distinct protest movements but there was some overlap,” Varn said.
As a breaking news reporter, Varn attended a vast variety of protests throughout the summer and was able to gain insight on how communities all across the bay found their voice through the protests.
“St. Pete was very focused on trying to have a number of consecutive days of protest, they were trying to go for a long time and make a statement with that longevity,” Varn said. “Whereas in Tampa, it wasn’t consecutive, but a lot of times the Tampa protests had more people because they weren’t as frequent.”
Tampa had an active activist movement before Floyd’s death, so when demonstrations began in May, organizers had more experience and were more prepared.
St. Petersburg seemed to have a significantly smaller, less experienced activist community, but when people wanted to protest they quickly found their feet and place in the movement.
“Seeing St. Pete sort of build up from the ground was really interesting,” Varn said. “A couple weeks in they started having people responsible for first aid. They had traffic control people who would ride ahead on bikes to control traffic and stop traffic at intersections to ensure that protestors were safe and wouldn’t get hit.”
Varn also covered the differences between police presence in Tampa and St. Petersburg. She said that while the police presence in St. Petersburg remained minimal throughout the majority of the summer, in Tampa, the police were significantly more visible and had more direct contact with the protestors.
Varn used her connections through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to find out when and where the protests were occurring. She would also keep in contact with people she met at protests who would alert her if another protest was happening.
The directive from the Times to its reporters was to cover the protests like they would any other story. That meant going to the protests and talking to people about why they were there and what their message was.
As a member of the media, connecting with the community was really important to Varn. She felt that the best way for her to report on the protests was by talking to people about why they were there and having them share their stories.
“It was really important to be really clear about who we were, why we were there and what we were trying to do,” Varn said. “We had to be sensitive to the fact that, yes, the protests are in a public place and people are there out in the open, but at the same time this is a sensitive issue.”
Video also played a large role in helping Varn understand the context around the event because it provided a basic replay of the events that is unaltered, unedited and unbiased.
“This is really important and we want to make sure we get it right, especially with an issue as sensitive as these protests and what they are protesting for,” Varn said.
After a long summer of covering protests, Varn wrote an article outlining all the changes that occurred as a result of the Black Lives Matter protests.
However, she felt her personal impact was minimal.
“I think our coverage made a difference in the sense that it informed people about what was going on and gave a wider voice to people involved in the protests, but it wasn’t our journalism that made a difference as much as the protestors themselves,” Varn said
As a result of the protests, the St. Petersburg Police Department formed a unit dedicated to responding to cases related to mental health and substance abuse, it is scheduled to roll out this year. In Tampa, the police formed a community policing task force and there was a policy change regarding warrants.
Pursuing activism through music
By Alexendra Davis
Sonny Ochs, older sister to late musician Phil Ochs, sat down with interviewer Ann Morrison at the conference.
“[Activism in music is] definitely not over… It’s sort of under the radar,” Sonny Ochs said in response to a question posed by Morrison.
Phil Ochs was active in the 1960s and 70s and had many songs released in response to the Vietnam War and other movements of the era.
Lyrics have been a source for protest or political activism in the United States since the American Revolution. During the counterculture movement in the 1960s, protest songs went mainstream and many artists sang in protest against various decisions made by the U.S. government.
Protest songs have been on the airways since then, with music groups like N.W.A. and Rage Against the Machine filling the airways during the ‘80s and ‘90s. The Early 2000s had groups like Green Day singing in response to the media’s coverage of the Iraq War. In more recent years, songs like Childish Gambino’s “This is America,” have been released, criticizing the country’s current state of affairs.
Some of Phil Ochs most notable songs are: “I Ain’t Marching Anymore,” and “Draft Dodger Rag.”
“I’ve got a dislocated disc and a wracked up back, I’m allergic to flowers and bugs and when the bombshell hits, I get epileptic fits,” is one of the stanzas from “Draft Dodger’s Rag.”
“It doesn’t matter if you’re with or against the draft dodgers,” Sonny Ochs said. The song is about all the ways men tried to evade the draft. “You can appreciate the humor in the song.”
Using headlines from the New York Times as titles for many of his tracks, he wrote hundreds of songs and captured the nation’s attention. He performed at numerous civil rights rallies and student-led events.
Ochs has continued her brother’s legacy. Every year, the Phil Ochs Award is given to singer-songwriters whose music and activism embody the spirit and commitment of Phil.
Morrison and Ochs also talked about Tom Prasada-Rao, who released a song called “$20 Bill,” in response to the killing of George Floyd in May 2020.
“There is a cycle, but not a pleasant one,” Morrison said. “It shows we haven’t come very far in the years since Phil was actively protesting.”
