Human Trafficking and Freedom
December 3, 2007, 10:00am-12:00pm
Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Building, SAIS, 1740 Massachusetts Ave, NW

The SAIS Protection Project and Freedom House will host a forum to examine the relationship between a country’s level of freedom and the efforts its government makes to fight trafficking. Mark Lagon, ambassador-at-large and director of the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, will give the keynote address. Congressman Chris Smith (R.-N.J.), special representative on human trafficking issues for the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, also has been invited to give remarks. Panelists include Jennifer Windsor, Freedom House executive director; Mohamed Mattar, Protection Project executive director; Holly Burkhalter, vice president of government relations at the International Justice Mission; and Neha Mistra, Solidarity Center migration and trafficking coordinator.

Boumediene v. Bush and the Rights of Enemy Combatants in Wartime

POLICY FORUM
Monday, December 3, 2007
12:00 PM (Luncheon to Follow)

Featuring Timothy Lynch, Cato Institute and Jeremy Rabkin, George Mason University Law School.

The Cato Institute
1000 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001

The war on terror has presented U.S. courts with many thorny legal issues relating to civil liberties and national security. On December 5 the Supreme Court takes up the case of Boumediene v. Bush, which centers on the right of "enemy combatants" being held in Guantanamo Bay to have their detention reviewed by American civilian courts. On one hand, what right does the president have to hold people indefinitely without recourse to judicial review? On the other, does the Constitution really require that everyone picked up by our military in wartime have access to our courts? Fundamentally, how do you balance liberty and security during a war without end where the enemy doesn't play by the traditional laws of war? Please join us for a spirited debate of these and related issues.

Collapse of an Empire: Lessons for Modern Russia When

Monday, December 03, 2007
1:00 PM to 2:30 PM

Where

Falk Auditorium
The Brookings Institution
1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC
Directions

Iraq After the Surge: The Perspective of H.E. Sayyed Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim

Date: Monday, December 3, 2007

Time: 4:00 PM- 5:30 PM

Location: U.S. Institute of Peace
2nd Floor Conference Room
1200 17th St, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Get Directions

Overview

With the apparent success of the surge, Iraq is at a crossroads. Will it take those steps necessary to build on the security improvement and develop political stability? Or will it falter and lose this opportunity? Many issues confront the Iraqi people. Progress toward national reconciliation at both the central and local levels; the effect of the "Sunni Awakening" on Iraq's political stability; Iran's influence and growing Shia resistance toward Tehran; and the inability of the parliament to pass election laws are only some of the hurdles facing Iraq. Please join us as H.E. Sayyed Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim addresses these and other issues.

"Kosovo's Final Status in Historical Context": A panel discussion with Professors Ivo Banac, Larry Wolff and Susan Woodward, Moderated by Anna Di Lellio

Kosovo's controversial final status talks are due to conclude in December. The stakes are high, with Kosovo seeking independence, Serbia opposing it, the prospects for compromise bleak and the current situation untenable. The outcome of the talks will have serious implications for the Balkans, the European Union, US-Russian relations and beyond. Come hear a panel of eminent scholars of the region take a step back from the confrontation and situate these unfolding events in historical context.

PLEASE NOTE THE REVISED TIME.   THE EVENT START TIME HAS BEEN MOVED TO 6:30 PM

These days, it can be a struggle to tell whether relations with Iran are moving closer to or farther from war. In recent months, the U.S. has marked the elite Iranian Quds force as a terrorist group and pushed for stronger sanctions at the United Nations, while engaging in direct talks with Iranian officials in Iraq and releasing Iranians held by the U.S. military. What do the final months of the Bush administration hold for the U.S. and Iran? Is the President willing to let the counter-proliferation problem fall to his successor, or does he intend to resolve it on his watch?

To discuss these issues and more, please join Danielle Pletka, Vice President for Foreign Policy and Defense Studies. The discussion will be held from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. on Monday, December 3. To attend, please register by responding to events@ypfp.org with your name and affiliation.

Danielle Pletka

Danielle Pletka is the vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at AEI. Her research areas include the Middle East, South Asia, terrorism, and weapons proliferation. While at AEI, Ms. Pletka has developed a conference series on rebuilding post-Saddam Iraq and a project on democracy in the Arab world. She recently served as a member of the congressionally-mandated Task Force on the United Nations, established by the United States Institute of Peace. Before coming to AEI, she served for ten years as a senior professional staff member for the Near East and South Asia on the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. She received a B.A. from Smith College and an M.A. from Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies.

World Affairs Council Foreign Policy Series

Pakistan: At the Brink
With Ahmed Rashid

Ahmed Rashid, journalist and writer on Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia reports on Pakistan’s deepening political crisis and implications for US policy in the region.

Ahmed Rashid is a Pakistani journalist based in Lahore. He is author of three books including Taliban and most recently Jihad. He has covered Afghanistan’s changing fortunes since the 1978 Soviet invasion, the rise of Osama bin Laden, and the destabilization of the entire strategic area. He writes for the ‘Far Eastern Economic Review,’ the ‘Daily Telegraph,’ and “The Wall Street Journal.� Rashid has been awarded the Nisar Osmani “Award for Courage in Journalism, British-Kuwait Society for Middle Eastern Studies� book prize in 2001, “The Media Personality of the Year,� and “ The Daniel Pearl Award (OMFA), which gives cash grants to newly starting print media in Afghanistan. So far it has distributed over $300,000 to newspaper and magazine entrepreneurs.

Wild Pitch: Curveball and Selling the Iraq War

Tuesday, December 4, 2007
12:15 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.

New America Foundation
1630 Connecticut Ave, NW, 7th Floor
Washington, DC

In 1999, a mysterious Iraqi applied for political asylum in Munich. The young chemical engineer offered compelling testimony of Saddam Hussein’s secret program to build weapons of mass destruction. He claimed that the dictator had constructed germ factories on trucks, creating a deadly hell on wheels. His German hosts passed along his account to their CIA counterparts, but denied CIA agents access to their star informant. The Americans dubbed him with an unforgettable code name: Curveball. After September 11, 2001, the Bush administration seized on Curveball’s account as evidence that Saddam’s government needed to be overthrown—in spite of numerous indicators that the informant’s credibility was unraveling. Bob Drogin answers the crucial question of the Iraq war: how and why was America’s intelligence so wrong?

Please join Common Cause President Bob Edgar and our partners at a Town Hall Meeting to discuss potential U.S. conflict with Iran. Common Cause has a long history advocating that Congress do its duty under the Constitution as it pertains to declaring war. We are working with allies in the peace community and others to ensure that Congress exercises its legal role in any potential conflict in Iran.

Where: George Washington University, Jack Morton Auditorium (21st and H Streets NW in downtown DC)

Who: Secretary of State Colin Powell's former Chief of Staff, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson (ret.); former Assistant to Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and President of the National Defense University, Lt. General Robert Gard (ret.); and former Congressman and House Armed Services Committee Member, Tom Andrews (D-ME)

Internet Development in China: Its Impact on Politics and Society

When

Tuesday, December 04, 2007
10:00 AM to 12:00 pm

Where

Saul/Zilkha Room
The Brookings Institution
1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC
Directions

Iraq's Displacement Crisis and the International Response

Thursday, December 6, 2007 9:00 am - 2:30 pm

The Iraq War has caused the largest population displacement in the Middle East since 1948. However, the dire situation has elicited neither a major international humanitarian response nor a policy debate over U.S. responsibility for the crisis. Sectarian fighting, political and criminal violence, lack of basic services, loss of livelihoods, spiraling inflation, and uncertainty about the future have pushed some 4 million Iraqis from their homes. Neighboring states, burdened by the influx of refugees and concerned for their own security, have imposed visa restrictions and effectively cut off entry. The Iraqis that have fled to neighboring countries face tremendous uncertainties, including the threat of deportation. Regional governments, coalition forces, and international organizations are grappling with the crisis while protecting against security vulnerabilities. The recent flow of Iraqis returning home may be a promising sign, but until security in Iraq improves and people can safely go back, critical attention must be paid to the remaining options: improved conditions inside Iraq, temporary placement in a host country, or resettlement in a third country.

Congressional Human Rights Caucus (CHRC)

CHRC Taskforce on International Religious Freedom (TIRF)

Congressional Caucus on Vietnam (CCV)

Briefing:

Religious Freedom in Vietnam:

An Update

Thursday, December 6, 2007

10:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon

2255 Rayburn HOB

Please join the Congressional Human Rights Caucus for a briefing on religious freedom in Vietnam. The briefing will be held on Thursday, December 6th, 2007, from 10:30 a.m. to noon in room 2255 Rayburn House Office Building.

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez will serve as Briefing Chair.

The Wilson Center's Asia Program is hosting a panel discussion on the situation in Afghanistan, six years later.

The panel will feature William C. Martel (The Fletcher School, Tufts University); Seth G. Jones (RAND Corporation); William Byrd (World Bank); and Malaly Pikar Volpi (U.S.-Afghanistan Reconstruction Council)

Event to occur December 6, 2007, 3:30-5:30pm, in the Woodrow Wilson Center's 5th floor conference room.

More information can be found at www.wilsoncenter.org/asia. RSVPs not required but media are asked to contact asia@wilsoncenter.org in advance.
The Center is located in the southeast wing of the Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. The closest Metro station is Federal Triangle on the blue and orange lines. For detailed directions, please visit the Center’s website, www.wilsoncenter.org/directions.

"IRAN-U.S. RELATIONS: ON THE BRINK OF DISASTER?": Relations between the U.S. and Iran have long been marked by mutual acrimony, hyperbole and intransigence, and prospects appear grim. Is there a possibility for compromise and coexistence? A panel of experts will reflect on the continuum of U.S.-Iran confrontations: from the 1979 Revolution against a U.S.-backed Shah to the present nuclear confrontation; from 12 years of U.S., and UN sanctions on Iran to recent collisions over Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Israel.

They will consider oil, religio-cultural factors, regional politics and domestic realities inside each country as factors impelling the present crisis, including the likelihood of U.S. military intervention as a second regional "war of choice";, and means for its avoidance. Audience discussion follows.

The Five Front War: The Better Way to Fight Global Jihad

Monday, December 10, 2007
12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

New America Foundation
1630 Connecticut Ave, NW, 7th Floor
Washington, DC

Noted middle east and terrorism expert Daniel Byman offers a new approach to fighting the war on terrorism in his new book, The Five Front War. He argues that two of the main solutions to terrorism offered by politicians -- military intervention and the democratization of the Arab world -- shouldn't even be our top priorities. Instead, he presents a fresh way to face intelligence and law enforcement challenges ahead: conduct counterinsurgency operations, undermine al-Qaeda's ideology, selectively push for reforms, and build key lasting alliances.

Taiwan's Upcoming Elections

Speakers:
Session One - 2:00 - 3:00 p.m.: Taiwan's 2008 Legislative and Presidential Elections

Dr. Yu Ching-hsin, Director, Election Study Center, National Chengchi University

Session Two - 3:30 - 5:00 p.m.: Impact of Taiwan's Elections on Cross-Strait and International Relations

Dr. Cheng Tuan-yao, Director, Institute of International Relations, National Chengchi University

• Tuesday, December 11, 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
• Location: Chung-wen Shih Conference Room, The Sigur Center for Asian Studies, Suite 503, 1957 E Street, NW

Congressional Human Rights Caucus

Briefing:

Consumer Power and Responsibility: Genocide-free Investing

Tuesday, December 11

3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Room: 2200 Rayburn HOB

Please join the Congressional Human Rights Caucus (CHRC) for a briefing on genocide-free investing. This briefing will take place on December 11th from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in room 2200 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The briefing is open to the public and the media.

Ever since the Sullivan principles were successfully employed to fight apartheid in South Africa, human rights activists have sought ways to harness the tremendous economic power of the United States and the international community for the defense of global human rights norms. The State Department report to the OECD puts U.S. private capital flows abroad at $69.2 billion for 2006, and the OECD's Development Assistance Committee reported private European capital flows of $81.1 billion for 2005. These rather conservative numbers illustrate the huge economic leverage investors have if they were united in the support of socially responsible investment policies.

Parsing the Iran Challenge

Polenz, a senior CDU Member of the Bundestag, is one of the most powerful German voices on his country's foreign policy and national security policy issues. He has been focused on what is real, what is not, and what policy contours America and Europe should take towards Iran for some time. In addition, his Foreign Affairs Committee determines, with the government and the full Bundestag, whether or not German forces will be deployed, so he is keenly interested in NATO operations in Kosovo and Afghanistan and will speak to these topics in his remarks.


Featuring:
Ruprecht Polenz
Chairman, Foreign Affairs Committe, German Bundestag

Moderated by:
Steve Clemons
Director, New America Foundation/American Strategy Program

Date & Time:
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
10:30 am-12:00 pm

Location:
New America Foundation
7th Floor Conference Room
1630 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20009

RSVP directly to this email or to communications@NewAmerica.net
or call Liz Wu at 202-986-2700, ext. 315

CSIS cordially invites you to a

Smart Power Speaker Series Event:

Lael Brainard
Vice President and Director, Global Economy and Development Program,
the Brookings Institution

CSIS is pleased to host Lael Brainard, vice president and director of the Brookings Institution’s Global Economy and Development Program and former Deputy National Economic Advisor for President Clinton. Ms. Brainard will discuss the role of foreign assistance in restoring America’s inspirational power and her vision for reform of the foreign assistance system.

The Smart Power Speaker Series features opinion leaders from around the country and across the political spectrum to engage in a discussion on U.S. Smart Power. The series is a spin-off of the CSIS Commission on Smart Power.

The Commission on Smart Power, chaired by Harvard’s Joseph Nye and former deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage,issued a report on November 6, 2007 on how to revitalize America’s image and influence in the world. To read the report or obtain further information, go to   www.csissmartpower.org.

Coffee, tea, and soda will be served.


Tuesday, December 12, 2007
1:00 –2:00 pm

1800 K Street NW
CSIS B-1 Conference Center
Washington DC, 20006


Please RSVP by emailing Peter Hering at phering@csis.org

Invitation
The Peterson Institute and the InfoShop at the World Bank
invite you to attend a book discussion:

Cline Discusses Global Warming and Agriculture

Speaker: William R. Cline, Peterson Institute

Time: 12 noon to 2:00 pm

Location:

InfoShop at the World Bank
Room J1-050
701 18th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20433    

  Registration:  

Please RSVP to infoShopevents@worldbank.org.

The Uses and Abuses of Expertise in War and Reconstruction in Iraq


Featuring:

Juan Cole
Richard P. Mitchell Distinguished University Professor of History at the University of Michigan And author of Informed Comment (www.juancole.com)

McGuire Gibson
Professor in the Oriental Institute and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago And former consultant to UNESCO on the subject of Iraqi antiquities

Moderated by:

Steve Clemons
Director, New America Foundation/American Strategy Program

Date & Time:

Thursday, December 13, 2007
12:00-1:30 PM
Location:

New America Foundation
7th Floor Conference Room
1630 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20009

RSVP directly to this email or to communications@NewAmerica.net
or call Liz Wu at 202-986-2700, ext. 315

Nuclear Meltdown: Rebuilding a Coherent Policy Towards Iran

A book discussion with Barbara Slavin and Trita Parsi
December 13, 2007, 12:30pm – 2:00pm

A light buffet lunch will be served at 12:00 p.m.

Featured Panelists:
Barbara Slavin, Senior Diplomatic reporter for USA Today (on leave this year as a fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace) and the author of Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the U.S., and the Twisted Path to Confrontation

Trita Parsi, President of the National Iranian American Council and author of Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States

Student Movement DC Happy Hour

Finally, the much anticipated Happy Hour in Washington DC hosted by the Student Movement for Real Change!

Come join your friends and other folks interested in changing the world at Mandu at 18th and S streets just off Dupont Circle.

Event is Thursday, December 13th from 6pm to 8pm.  All are invited, so bring your friends from work and tell everyone you know to join in.  We can’t wait to see you there.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DATE AND TIME FOR THIS EVENT HAS BEEN REVISED - THE EVENT WILL NOW HAPPEN ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13th FROM 6:30-7:30pm

Young Professionals in Foreign Policy is pleased to present you the first in a non-partisan series of events that aim to offer our members rare insight into the presidential campaign process as it unfolds. These events are not opportunities to showcase particular candidates, but to talk to the influential foreign policy advisors of Republican and Democratic campaigns about their experiences and opinions, the challenges of life on the campaign trail, the complex interactions between domestic politics and foreign policy, and the momentous choices that will face the next President.

Though the entire world confronts the threat of climate change, developing countries are poised to bear the brunt of its ill effects. Clustered in tropical areas, they risk experiencing increased natural disasters and facing dramatic declines in agricultural productivity. Moreover, developing countries are least able to afford the precautionary measures necessary to protect against global climate change. On the other hand, developing countries may also use the climate change threat as an opportunity to "leapfrog" the dirtier technologies of the industrialized world. A growing number of scholars and development practitioners are addressing these questions, and YPFP is delighted to welcome David Wheeler, Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development, to speak on this important issue.

This discussion will take place from 6:30-8:00 pm on Thursday, December 13. To attend, please register by responding to events@ypfp.org.

Addressing Internally Displaced Persons in a Peace Process

Date and Time
Friday, December 14, 2007
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM

Location
U.S. Institute of Peace
2nd Floor Conference Room
1200 17th St, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Directions

RSVP Today

There is growing momentum within the international community and the UN system to address internal displacement in peace processes and mediation efforts. Resolving displacement is inextricably linked with achieving peace, especially where the scale of displacement is significant. Helping displaced populations to return and reintegrate can simultaneously address the root causes of a conflict and help prevent further displacement. However, IDPs often have needs that are different both from refugees and other war-affected civilian populations, and thus they require special attention in peace processes.

Project on National Security Reform (PNSR) Roundtable on Interagency Reform:
U.S. Landmine Policy and the Ottawa Process

Speaker:
COL. Dennis Barlow (ret.), Director of the Mine Action Information Center, James Madison University

* Friday, December 14, 2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
* Location: Hudson Institute, Betsy and Walter Stern Conference Center, 6th floor auditorium, 1015 15th Street, NW
* Sponsor: Hudson Institute
* Please RSVP by sending your name and current institutional affiliation to Richard Weitz at Weitz@hudson.org.

Can Democracy Survive Globalization? Lessons From Taiwan

Keynote Speaker:
Senator Bob Dole, former Senate Majority Leader

• Monday, December 17, 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
• Location: Jack Morton Auditorium, 805 21st Street, NW
• Sponsored by: the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Formosa Foundation
• Please RSVP with your name, organization/ GW affiliation, and email to gsigur@gwu.edu by December 14.

Energy Security, Energy Urgency: Key Issues Facing the Next President

Event Information When

Tuesday, December 18, 2007
9:00 AM to 10:30 AM

Where

Falk Auditorium
The Brookings Institution
1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC
Directions

On December 2nd, Venezuelan voters narrowly rejected a slate of 69 constitutional amendments backed by President Hugo Chavez. This marks a major electoral setback for President Chavez and may change the course of Venezuelan politics. Given the increased tension between the United States and Venezuela in recent years, there is a unique opportunity to examine the relations between the two countries. How did U.S.-Venezuelan relations arrive at their current state and where are they going? How will this vote affect Venezuelan politics at home and its role in the region? To discuss these issues and more, please join Bernardo Alvarez Herrera, Ambassador to the United States from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The discussion will be held from 7:00-8:30 pm on Tuesday, December 18th. To attend, please register by responding to this events@ypfp.org.

Should Haiti Violate its Constitution One Last Time?

Date and Time
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Location
U.S. Institute of Peace
2nd Floor Conference Room
1200 17th St, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Directions

RSVP Today

President René Préval has termed Haiti's constitution the single greatest threat to the county's long-term stability. Préval has suggested specific changes and others have called for comprehensive reform. Haiti's constitution is among the worlds most liberal, but honoring its provisions may overtax Haiti's fledgling democracy. Following the prescribed amendment process could take decades.

The Road from Bali

Featured Speaker:
Senator John Kerry (D - MA)

Introduction by:
Melody Barnes, Executive Vice President for Policy, Center for American Progress Action Fund

After years of denial, delay, distraction and distortion, climate change is changing the political climate. Australia's John Howard recently became the first national leader voted out of office in large measure because of his failure to respond to citizens' concerns about global warming. Newly elected Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has made global warming his first priority in office. Australia's awakening is not an isolated example. Eighty-three percent of Chinese support action on climate change. Between 2006 and 2010 China plans to improve energy efficiency by 20 percent. The dialogue in the United States is also shifting, albeit too slowly. Fifty-nine percent of Americans now endorse taking major steps soon to combat global warming, and 33 percent more think we need modest steps. Unfortunately this 92 percent of the American public is still looking to President Bush for action on this key issue.