Next week’s “peace picks”

1. Looking to the Future of Pakistan

With each passing day, Pakistan becomes an even more crucial player in world affairs. Home of the world’s second largest Muslim population, epicenter of the global jihad, location of perhaps the planet’s most dangerous borderlands, and armed with nuclear weapons, this South Asian nation will go a long way toward determining what the world looks like ten years from now.

Event Information

When

Monday, December 05, 2011
2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Where

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

Email: events@brookings.edu

Phone: 202.797.6105

RELATED CONTENT

Out of the Nuclear Loop

Stephen P. Cohen
The New York Times
February 16, 2004

Armageddon in Islamabad

Bruce Riedel
The National Interest
July/August 2009

The Pakistan Time Bomb

Stephen P. Cohen
The Washington Post
July 3, 2007

More Related Content »

On December 5, Foreign Policy at Brookings will host the launch of The Future of Pakistan(Brookings Institution Press, 2011), which evaluates several scenarios for how the country will develop and evolve in the near future. A team of 17 experts from Pakistan, the United States, Europe and India, led by Brookings Senior Fellow Stephen P. Cohen, contributed chapters to the book, looking at pieces of the Pakistan puzzle. Several of the authors will join other Pakistan experts on two panels to examine the issues, relevant actors and their motivations, different outcomes they might produce, and what it all means for Pakistanis, Indians, the United States, and the entire world.After each panel, participants will take audience questions
Participants

2:00 PM — Opening Remarks

Stephen P. Cohen

Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, 21st Century Defense Initiative

2:10 PM — Panel 1 – Paradoxical Pakistan

Moderator: Teresita C. Schaffer

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, 21st Century Defense Initiative

C. Christine Fair

Assistant Professor
Georgetown University

William Milam

Senior Scholar
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Shuja Nawaz

Director, South Asia Center
The Atlantic Council

Moeed Yusuf

South Asia Adviser
U.S. Institute of Peace

3:10 PM — Panel 2 – Pakistan: Where To?

Moderator: John R. Schmidt

Professorial Lecturer
The George Washington University

Pamela Constable

Staff Writer
The Washington Post

Bruce Riedel

Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Saban Center for Middle East Policy

Marvin Weinbaum

Scholar-in-Residence
Middle East Institute

Joshua T. White

Ph.D. Candidate
Johns Hopkins University, SAIS

2. Which Way Forward for Egypt?

Wednesday, December 7, 2011 – 12:15pm – 1:45pm

New America Foundation

1899 L Street NW Suite 400

Washington, DC 20036

Egypt’s first parliamentary elections since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak began on November 28th. The vote for the People’s Assembly will stretch over six weeks into January 2012.

An outpouring of enthusiastic voters has for the moment raised a note of optimism in Egypt. Yet following days of mass protest over the military’s continued rule, state violence, and deepening political and social polarization, it appears that Egypt’s transition will be long and rocky.

Join us for a conversation co-hosted by the Egyptian American Rule of Law Association about the election’s impact, transitional prospects, and implications for the wider MENA region and U.S. foreign policy.

A light lunch will be served.

Participants

Featured Speakers
Randa Fahmy
Vice President, Egyptian American Rule of Law Association

Nathan Brown
Professor, Political Science & International Affairs, George Washington University
Nonresident Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Michael Wahid Hanna
Fellow, The Century Foundation (will have just returned from Egypt)

Moderator
Leila Hilal
Co-Director, Middle East Task Force
New America Foundation

3. Islamist Terrorism and Democracy in the Middle East

A Book Launch for a USIP-funded study by Katerina Dalacoura

Wednesday, December 7 from 3:00-4:30

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Choate Room
1779 Massachusetts Avenue Northwest
Washington, DC 20036

The putative relationship between political repression and terrorism remains a matter of active debate in scholarly and policymaking circles.  Based on investigations into individual Islamist movements and the political environments in which they operate, this study assesses whether the emergence of Islamist terrorism is linked to the absence of political participation and repression.

The U.S. Institute of Peace is pleased to sponsor an in-depth discussion with Dalacoura centered on her recently-published work.

Funded by a grant from USIP, the volume draws on a series of case studies that include al Qa’eda, Hamas, Hezbollah, Groupe Islamique Armé, Gamaa Islamiyya, the Jordanian and Egyptian Muslim Brotherhoods, the Tunisian Nahda Movement, the Turkish Justice and Development Party, and Iranian Islamist movements.

“Drawing on her deep knowledge of Middle East politics, Dalacoura powerfully challenges past assumptions about a simple link between democratic deficits and the spread of Islamist terrorism,” said Thomas Carothers of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “Conceptually rigorous, empirically rich, incisive and searching, this is a major study.”

Speakers

  • Daniel Brumberg, Chair
    U.S. Institute of Peace
  • Katerina Dalacoura, Author
    London School of Economics and Political Science
  • Dafna Rand
    Department of State
  • Eric Goldstein
    Human Rights Watch

4.  The Arab Spring:  Implications for US Policy and Interests

A publication launch and discussion featuring

Middle East Institute scholars:

Allen Keiswetter

Principal Coordinator and Author
with

Charles Dunne
Amb. Art Hughes

Amb. Molly Williamson

Thursday, December 8, 2011

12:00pm-1:30pm

SEIU Building, Room 2600

2nd Floor

1800 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

*Please note that this event is not being held at MEI. An ID is required for entrance into the building.*

The Middle East Institute is proud to present its first ever policy paper produced exclusively by MEI scholars.  Entitled “The Arab Spring: Implications for US Policy and Interests,” it draws upon the broad expertise of 25 Middle East Institute scholars to examine the impact of this year’s popular uprisings in the Arab world on a variety of sectors and issues, including oil and energy, Iran, the peace process, and democratization and reform.  The paper is based on a series of roundtable discussions amongst MEI scholars in response to the historic and unprecedented changes taking place in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, and beyond, and offers and offers insights and recommendations for US policymakers recalibrating America’s approach to the Middle East.  Please join us for the launch of this MEI featured publication and a discussion with principal coordinator and author Allen Keiswetter and contributors Amb. Molly Williamson, Amb. Art Hughes, and Charles Dunne.  You can read the full paper in advance of the event here.

TO RSVP for this event, please click here.
5.  Getting Rights…Right: How Companies are Implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

Thursday, December 8, 2011
9:00 AM – 4:30 PM

Grand Ballroom, 3rd Floor
Marvin Center, 800 21st Street, NW

To mark International Human Rights Day 2011, George Washington University, the UN Global Compact US Network, and the US Institute of Peace will host a one day conference on the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. These principles, approved by the UN Human Rights Council in June, are designed to help business monitor its human rights impact. These guidelines clarified both the human rights responsibilities of states and firms and made them clear and actionable. Our speakers, representing business, civil society, the US Government, and academia, will focus on practical approaches to implementing the Guiding Principles (the GPs).

9:00-9:10 – Welcoming Remarks
Stephen C. Smith, Professor of Economics and International Affairs; Director, Institute for International Economic Policy, GW

Dave Berdish, Manager of Sustainable Business Development, Ford Motor Company

9:10-9:45 – “Why Firms Should Advance Human Rights: Manpower’s Approach”
David Arkless, President, Corporate and Government Affairs, ManpowerGroup

9:45-11:15 – Panel 1 – “Addressing the Problems of Slavery and Human Trafficking”
Brenda Schultz, Manager of Responsible Business, Carlson Hotels Worldwide Samir Goswami, Director of Corporate Responsibility, Rule of Law, Lexis Nexis

Jean Baderscheider, Vice President, Global Procurement, Exxon Mobil

Indika Samarawickreme, Executive Director, Free the Slaves

Moderator:
Pamela Passman, President and CEO, CREATe

11:15-11:30 – Coffee Break

11:30-1:00 – Panel 2 – “How Business Should Operate in Conflict Zones”
Bennett Freeman, Senior Vice President for Social research and Policy, Calvert Group

Charlotte Wolff, Corporate Responsibility Manager, Arcellor Mittal

Olav Ljosne, Regional Director of Communications, Africa, Shell Corporation

Moderator:
Raymond Gilpin, Director, Center for Sustainable Economies, U.S. Institute of Peace

1:00-2:15 – Luncheon Keynote
Ursula Wynhoven, General Counsel, UN Global Compact

Gerald Pachoud, Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary General, UN and former Senior Advisor, Special Representative on Business and Human Rights

2:15-3:45 – Panel 3: General Implementation of the Guiding Principles Is it difficult to get buy in? Is it costly? What recommendations or roadblocks have you found?
Mark Nordstrom, Senior Labor & Employment Counsel, General Electric

Dave Berdish, Manager of Sustainable Business

Brenda Erskine, Director of Stakeholder and Community Relationships, Suncor

Meg Roggensack, Senior Advisor for Business and Human Rights, Human Rights First

Moderator:
Susan Aaronson, Associate Research Professor of International Affairs, GW

3:45-4:30 – General Discussion: What should policymakers do to encourage adoption of the GPs?

RSVP at: http://tiny.cc/guidingprinciples

Sponsored by Institute for International Economic Policy, U.S. Institute for Peace, U.N. Global Compact, and the U.S. Network

6.  The Valley’s Edge: A Year with the Pashtuns in the Heartland of the Taliban
Start: Friday, December 9, 2011 4:30 PM
End:   Friday, December 9, 2011 6:00
You are cordially invited to a book lecture with author Daniel R. Green for his new book
The Valley’s Edge: A Year with the Pashtuns in the Heartland of the Taliban Friday, December 9
4:30 PMThe Institute of World Politics
1521 16th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
Please RSVP to kbridges@iwp.edu.This event is sponsored by IWP’s Center for Culture and Security.

About the author

Daniel R. Green is a Soref Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and is pursuing a PhD in political science at the George Washington University. For his work in Afghanistan in 2005-2006, he received the U.S. Department of State’s Superior Honor Award, the U.S. Army’s Superior Civilian Honor Award, and a personal letter of commendation from then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace. He has also received the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Exceptional Public Service Award and in 2007 served with the U.S. military in Fallujah, Iraq. He lives in Washington, D.C.

About the book

In this gripping, firsthand account, Daniel Green tells the story of U.S. efforts to oust the Taliban insurgency from the desolate southern Afghan province of Uruzgan. Nestled between the Hindu Kush mountains and the sprawling wasteland of the Margow and Khash Deserts, Uruzgan is a microcosm of U.S. efforts to prevent Afghanistan from falling to the Taliban insurgency and Islamic radicalism.

Green, who served in Uruzgan from 2005 to 2006 as a U.S. Department of State political adviser to a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), reveals how unrealistic expectations, a superficial understanding of the Afghans, and a lack of resources contributed to the Taliban’s resurgence in the area. He discusses the PRT’s good-governance efforts, its reconstruction and development projects, the violence of the insurgency, and the PRT’s attempts to manage its complex relationship with the local warlord cum governor of the province.

Upon returning to Afghanistan in 2009 with the U.S. military and while working at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul until 2010, Green discovered that although many improvements had been made since he had last served in the country, the problems he had experienced in Uruzgan continued despite the transition from the Bush administration to the Obama administration.

 

Daniel Serwer

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