{"id":3838,"date":"2021-09-28T14:21:58","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T14:21:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mortenson\/?page_id=3838"},"modified":"2024-07-24T20:45:35","modified_gmt":"2024-07-24T20:45:35","slug":"2020-mike_thomson","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mortenson\/lectures\/2020-mike_thomson\/","title":{"rendered":"30th Annual Mortenson Distinguished Lecture"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div class=\"shortcode sh-p-4 sh-rounded sh-drop-shadow-sm sh-bg-neutral-300 !sh-text-black \"><div><div class=\"\"><div class=\"shortcode sh-p-4 sh-rounded sh-drop-shadow-sm sh-bg-white !sh-text-black !sh-border  \"><div><div class=\"\"><\/p>\n<h2><strong>30th Annual Mortenson Distinguished Lecture<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n<div class=\"shortcode sh-p-4 sh-rounded sh-drop-shadow-sm sh-bg-blue-100 !sh-text-black \"><div><div class=\"\">\n<h3><strong>Mike Thomson, BBC World Affairs Correspondent, Presenter and Author<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><\/div><\/div><\/div><br \/>\n<div class=\"shortcode sh-p-4 sh-rounded sh-drop-shadow-sm sh-bg-white !sh-text-black !sh-border  \"><div><div class=\"\">\u00a0<strong>16 November 2020 | 12:00-1:30 pm CT <\/strong><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-3124 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mortenson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2020\/10\/DistLecture_ImagePlaceholderWebsite_10212020-1-1024x682.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mortenson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2020\/10\/DistLecture_ImagePlaceholderWebsite_10212020-1-1024x682.png 1024w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mortenson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2020\/10\/DistLecture_ImagePlaceholderWebsite_10212020-1-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mortenson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2020\/10\/DistLecture_ImagePlaceholderWebsite_10212020-1-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mortenson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2020\/10\/DistLecture_ImagePlaceholderWebsite_10212020-1-1536x1024.png 1536w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mortenson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2020\/10\/DistLecture_ImagePlaceholderWebsite_10212020-1.png 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>CO-SPONSORED BY:<\/strong>\u00a0Center for Global Studies through support from the US Department\u00a0of Education\u2019s Title VI NRC Program;\u00a0Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies;\u00a0Department of Journalism, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign;\u00a0Mortenson Center for International Library Programs;\u00a0School of Information Sciences;\u00a0University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign<\/p>\n<p><strong>Flyer (<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mortenson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2020\/11\/1pageLandscape_DistinguishedLecture2020Flyer_FINAL.jpg\">jpg<\/a><\/span> \/ <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mortenson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2020\/11\/1pageLandscape_DistinguishedLecture2020Flyer_FINAL.pdf\">pdf<\/a><\/span>)<\/strong>\u00a0 |\u00a0 <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mediaspace.illinois.edu\/media\/t\/1_8wanwcql\/160939361\">Recording<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\n  <div id=\"ui_lib_panel\" class=\"shortcode sh-w-full !sh-border !sh-border-gray-300 sh-drop-shadow-sm sh-mb-2\">\n    \n    <div class=\"shortcode sh-w-full sh-px-3 sh-py-1.5 sh-bg-neutral-300 !sh-text-black sh-flex sh-justify-between sh-items-center sh-relative\">\n      <div><span class=\"shortcode sh-text-base sh-font-semibold sh-no-underline\">Biography &amp; Details<\/span><\/div>\n      <div>\n        <div class=\"sh-flex sh-flex-col\"> \n          <div><span class=\"shortcode sh-text-xs sh-transition sh-duration-500 sh-ease-in-out sh-bg-neutral-300 !sh-text-black !sh-no-underline ui-lib-coll-pan-id1_label\" > expand <\/span><\/div>\n          <div class=\"sh-flex sh-justify-center -sh-mt-1\"><i class=\"shortcode fa-solid fa-caret-down sh-text-xl sh-font-semibold sh-transition sh-duration-500 sh-ease-in-out sh-bg-neutral-300 !sh-text-black !sh-no-underline ui-lib-coll-pan-id1_arrow\" ><\/i> <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n      <button type=\"button\" id=\"ui-lib-coll-pan-id1\" class=\"shortcode sh-absolute sh-top-0 sh-left-0 sh-w-full sh-h-full sh-bg-transparent focus:sh-outline-none focus-visible:sh-ring focus-visible:sh-ring-orange-700\" data-toggle=\"ui_lib_collapse\" data-target=\".ui-lib-coll-pan-id1\" aria-controls=\"ui-lib-coll-pan-id1\" aria-expanded=\"false\" title=\"Biography &amp; Details\"><\/button>\n    <\/div>\n  <div class=\"shortcode sh-text-black sh-block sh-h-auto sh-max-h-0 sh-overflow-hidden sh-transition-max-height sh-duration-500 sh-ease-in-out ui-lib-coll-pan-id1\"  inert>\n      <div class=\"shortcode sh-px-2 sh-py-2\"> Mike Thomson is one of the BBC\u2019s most distinguished and experienced World Affairs correspondents. During his career, he has interviewed many military and political leaders including, Margaret Thatcher, George Bush, Joseph Kabila, King Hussein, Meles Zenawi and most recently the Liberian President, George Weah.<\/p>\n<p>Over the last two decades, Mike has memorably covered many of the world\u2019s most newsworthy events, including the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake, three US Presidential elections, the fall of Muammar Gaddafi and the death of Nelson Mandela. His agenda-setting reporting has taken him to many of the world\u2019s biggest trouble spots. These range from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan to Somalia, Eastern DR Congo, Darfur and the FARC controlled jungles of Colombia.<\/p>\n<p>Mike has also carried out world exclusive interviews with North Korean government ministers in Pyongyang, worked undercover in Zimbabwe, Libya and\u00a0Sudan and carried out highly acclaimed investigations into such harrowing subjects as North Sinai\u2019s kidnapping trade, Sex trafficking in Ukraine, death squads in Honduras and Europe\u2019s sweatshops of Southern India.<\/p>\n<p>Mike has won more than twenty major awards for his work. These include: News Journalist of the Year (Sony Radio Academy 2012); Broadcast Journalist of the Year (One World Media Awards 2008) and War Correspondent of the Year (Prix Bayeux Calvados Awards 2008-Radio) These prestigious prizes are in addition to four Amnesty International Media Awards (three of them in consecutive years), five Sony Radio Academy Awards and four Foreign Press Association Awards.<\/p>\n<p>Mike is also a renowned BBC presenter, Editor of: The Raqqa Diaries: Escape from \u2018Islamic State\u2019 (Hutchinson 2017) and author of Syria\u2019s Secret Library (Orion 2019).<\/p>\n<p>More information on Mike Thomson <a href=\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/mike-thomson\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">here<\/span><\/a>.<br \/>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n\n  <div id=\"ui_lib_panel\" class=\"shortcode sh-w-full !sh-border !sh-border-gray-300 sh-drop-shadow-sm sh-mb-2\">\n    \n    <div class=\"shortcode sh-w-full sh-px-3 sh-py-1.5 sh-bg-neutral-300 !sh-text-black sh-flex sh-justify-between sh-items-center sh-relative\">\n      <div><span class=\"shortcode sh-text-base sh-font-semibold sh-no-underline\">About Syria's Secret Library by Mike Thomson<\/span><\/div>\n      <div>\n        <div class=\"sh-flex sh-flex-col\"> \n          <div><span class=\"shortcode sh-text-xs sh-transition sh-duration-500 sh-ease-in-out sh-bg-neutral-300 !sh-text-black !sh-no-underline ui-lib-coll-pan-id2_label\" > expand <\/span><\/div>\n          <div class=\"sh-flex sh-justify-center -sh-mt-1\"><i class=\"shortcode fa-solid fa-caret-down sh-text-xl sh-font-semibold sh-transition sh-duration-500 sh-ease-in-out sh-bg-neutral-300 !sh-text-black !sh-no-underline ui-lib-coll-pan-id2_arrow\" ><\/i> <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n      <button type=\"button\" id=\"ui-lib-coll-pan-id2\" class=\"shortcode sh-absolute sh-top-0 sh-left-0 sh-w-full sh-h-full sh-bg-transparent focus:sh-outline-none focus-visible:sh-ring focus-visible:sh-ring-orange-700\" data-toggle=\"ui_lib_collapse\" data-target=\".ui-lib-coll-pan-id2\" aria-controls=\"ui-lib-coll-pan-id2\" aria-expanded=\"false\" title=\"About Syria's Secret Library by Mike Thomson\"><\/button>\n    <\/div>\n  <div class=\"shortcode sh-text-black sh-block sh-h-auto sh-max-h-0 sh-overflow-hidden sh-transition-max-height sh-duration-500 sh-ease-in-out ui-lib-coll-pan-id2\"  inert>\n      <div class=\"shortcode sh-px-2 sh-py-2\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.publicaffairsbooks.com\/?s=Syria%27s+Secret+Library\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">About Syria&#8217;s Secret Library by Mike Thomson (from U.S. From Public Affairs)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Before writing and publishing Syria\u2019s Secret Library: The True Story of How a Besieged Syrian Town Found Hope, Mike had two broadcasts on the BBC about it:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/b07lhh6x\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Syria\u2019s Secret Library\u00a0Radio 4 Crossing Continents<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Broadcast August 1st\u00a02016<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/magazine-36893303\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Syria\u2019s Secret Library\u00a0BBC Online<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Published July 28th\u00a02016<\/p>\n<p><\/div><\/div><\/div><br \/>\n\n  <div id=\"ui_lib_panel\" class=\"shortcode sh-w-full !sh-border !sh-border-gray-300 sh-drop-shadow-sm sh-mb-2\">\n    \n    <div class=\"shortcode sh-w-full sh-px-3 sh-py-1.5 sh-bg-neutral-300 !sh-text-black sh-flex sh-justify-between sh-items-center sh-relative\">\n      <div><span class=\"shortcode sh-text-base sh-font-semibold sh-no-underline\">Foreign Affairs Magazine SSL Review<\/span><\/div>\n      <div>\n        <div class=\"sh-flex sh-flex-col\"> \n          <div><span class=\"shortcode sh-text-xs sh-transition sh-duration-500 sh-ease-in-out sh-bg-neutral-300 !sh-text-black !sh-no-underline ui-lib-coll-pan-id3_label\" > expand <\/span><\/div>\n          <div class=\"sh-flex sh-justify-center -sh-mt-1\"><i class=\"shortcode fa-solid fa-caret-down sh-text-xl sh-font-semibold sh-transition sh-duration-500 sh-ease-in-out sh-bg-neutral-300 !sh-text-black !sh-no-underline ui-lib-coll-pan-id3_arrow\" ><\/i> <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n      <button type=\"button\" id=\"ui-lib-coll-pan-id3\" class=\"shortcode sh-absolute sh-top-0 sh-left-0 sh-w-full sh-h-full sh-bg-transparent focus:sh-outline-none focus-visible:sh-ring focus-visible:sh-ring-orange-700\" data-toggle=\"ui_lib_collapse\" data-target=\".ui-lib-coll-pan-id3\" aria-controls=\"ui-lib-coll-pan-id3\" aria-expanded=\"false\" title=\"Foreign Affairs Magazine SSL Review\"><\/button>\n    <\/div>\n  <div class=\"shortcode sh-text-black sh-block sh-h-auto sh-max-h-0 sh-overflow-hidden sh-transition-max-height sh-duration-500 sh-ease-in-out ui-lib-coll-pan-id3\"  inert>\n      <div class=\"shortcode sh-px-2 sh-py-2\"><em><strong>Foreign Affairs Magazine SSL Review of Syria&#8217;s Secret Library<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Assad or We Burn the Country: How One Family\u2019s Lust for Power Destroyed Syria \u00a0BY SAM DAGHER. Little, Brown, 2019, 592 pp.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Syria\u2019s Secret Library: Reading and Redemption in a Town Under Siege<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>BY MIKE THOMSON. Public Affairs, 2019, 320 pp.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>These two books offer wildly contrasting portrayals of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the hugely destruc\u00adtive civil war that has raged in Syria since 2011. Dagher started reporting from Damascus for The Wall Street Journal in 2012. He interviewed key actors and dissidents, among them Manaf Tlass, once a close friend of the ruling Assad family. Manaf\u2019s father was a regime stalwart, a longtime defense minister, and a key liaison between the Alawite Assads and the majority Sunni population of Syria. Manaf eventually defected from the regime after Assad brutally suppressed the largely Sunni opposition. Dagher tells a story of paranoia and unbridled violence. He is unequivocal in his condemnation of the Assad regime and catalogs the world\u2019s acquiescence in the regime\u2019s brutality, enabled in part by the focus on battling the Islamic State (or isis). Dagher interviewed some survivors of Assad\u2019s torture centers, who afford hope for a better future, but otherwise, this book chronicles the triumph of evil.<\/p>\n<p>Some of those torture survivors are the subject of Thomson\u2019s moving chroni\u00adcle of the four-year siege of Daraya, a suburb of Damascus that was once home to 90,000 people. Thomson, a BBC correspondent, learned that among those who remained in the suburb were a num\u00adber of young Darayans who collected books to establish a secret, underground library, sheltered from the barrel bombs, snipers, and tanks of Assad\u2019s forces. The library became the embodiment of both resistance and the hope for a more humane future. Thomson never visited Daraya and knew his heroes only through Skype and WhatsApp. Still, he became fast friends with the insurgent librarians. Rebels in Daraya held out for four years, enduring famine and trauma. In the summer of 2016, they were evacuated by the regime to Idlib prov\u00adince, which itself is now under attack by Assad\u2019s forces. Syrian troops unearthed and looted the secret library.<\/p>\n<p>Bashar al-Assad in 2011. It takes some mental gymnastics to see how Hezbollah\u2019s role in Syria either mounts resistance to Israel or defends the territory of Leba\u00adnon. Daher has spent years in the Bekaa Valley close to Hezbollah strongholds. Her portrayal of the organization is rather sympathetic. The book\u2019s strongest feature is its analysis of the charismatic appeal of Hezbollah\u2019s secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah. Daher\u2019s superficial treatment of the organization\u2019s finances\u2014 and the group\u2019s consequent ability to eschew corruption and rent seeking\u2014is less satisfying. The author refutes accusa\u00adtions of terrorism leveled at Hezbollah, particularly the findings of the interna\u00adtional tribunal that investigated the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. She challenges the evidence that Hezbollah was behind this killing and other violent incidents.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-3132\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mortenson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2020\/10\/Picture-1-300x180.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"892\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mortenson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2020\/10\/Picture-1-300x180.png 300w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mortenson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2020\/10\/Picture-1-768x461.png 768w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mortenson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2020\/10\/Picture-1.png 940w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 892px) 100vw, 892px\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>30th Annual Mortenson Distinguished Lecture Mike Thomson, BBC World Affairs Correspondent, Presenter and Author \u00a016 November 2020 | 12:00-1:30 pm CT CO-SPONSORED BY:\u00a0Center for Global Studies through support from the US Department\u00a0of Education\u2019s Title VI NRC Program;\u00a0Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies;\u00a0Department of Journalism, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign;\u00a0Mortenson Center for International Library Programs;\u00a0School [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":606,"featured_media":0,"parent":46,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3838","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mortenson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mortenson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mortenson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mortenson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/606"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mortenson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3838"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mortenson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5295,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mortenson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3838\/revisions\/5295"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mortenson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/46"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/mortenson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}