The coming week’s peace picks

Too  much this week, and most of it happening Wednesday:

1.  Are economic sanctions the key to resolving the nuclear dispute? CSIS, February 27, 6-8 pm.

The Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) is pleased to invite you to a debate on the recent sanctions imposed on Iran. These sanctions target Iran’s banking sector and are widely believed to have had significant effects not just on Iran’s ability to acquire materials for its nuclear program, but also its energy sector and economy as a whole. Although many agree that Iranian development of a nuclear weapon would have serious security implications for the Middle East, questions about whether or not this is truly Iran’s intent and what the United States should do about it remain hotly contested. Does diplomacy still offer a means of resolving this issue and, if so, are the economic sanctions being passed on Iran making a diplomatic solution harder or easier to achieve?

Two highly distinguished scholars will come to CSIS to present opposing views on this issue and debate the policy of sanctioning Iran on its merits. The debate will feature:

Dr. Suzanne Maloney,

Senior Fellow, Saban Center for Middle East Policy, Brookings Institution

and

Mr. Michael Rubin,

Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute

Dr. Maloney will present her argument that sanctioning Iran has become counterproductive and that the U.S. “cannot hope to bargain with a country whose economy it is trying to disrupt and destroy.” Mr. Rubin will take the opposing view that “only overwhelming pain” will convince the Iranian leadership to cooperate fully with the IAEA.

A cocktail reception with appetizers will begin at 6:00pm and the debate will commence at 6:30pm. 

RSVP to David Slungaard at dslungaard@csis.org.

Webast: For those that cannot attend, the debate will live streamed. A link to the webcast will posted on this page on the day of the debate.

This event is the 13th installment of PONI’s ongoing Live Debate Series, which is an extension of the PONI Debates the Issues blog. The objective of the series is to provide a forum for in-depth exploration of the arguments on both sides of key nuclear policy issues. Please join us for what promises to be an exciting debate on a crucial issue of concern for the nonproliferation community, international security analysts, and regional specialists focusing on the Middle East.

2. Policing Iraq, USIP, February 29, 9:30-11:30 am

Under Saddam Hussein, a complex web of intelligence and security institutions protected the regime and repressed the Iraqi people.  Underfunded and mismanaged, the Iraqi police were least among those institutions and unprepared to secure the streets when Coalition Forces arrived in 2003 and disbanded the rest of the security apparatus.  Iraq’s police forces have made important strides, and some 400,000 Iraqi police have been trained and stationed across the country.  However, with the U.S. drawdown in Iraq, the future of the Iraqi police and U.S. police assistance is uncertain.

On February 29, the United States Institute of Peace and the Institute for the Study of War will co-host a panel of distinguished experts who will discuss the history of the Iraqi police and the U.S. police assistance program in Iraq.  This public event will introduce a new USIP Special Report by Robert Perito on “The Iraq Federal Police: U.S. Police Building under Fire.”

Speakers

• General Jim Dubik (U.S. Army, ret.), Panelist
  Senior Fellow, Institute for the Study of War
  Former Commander, Multi National Security Transition Command-Iraq
• Dr. Austin Long, Panelist
  Assistant Professor, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs
  
• Ginger Cruz, Panelist
  Former Deputy Inspector General, Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR)
• Robert Perito, Moderator
  Director, Security Sector Governance Center, U.S. Institute of Peace
  Author, USIP Special Report, “The Iraq Federal Police: U.S. Police Building under Fire”
• Tara Sonenshine, Introduction
  Executive Vice President, U.S. Institute of Peace
• Marisa Cochrane Sullivan,Introduction
  Deputy Director, Institute for the Study of War
  

3. Webs of Conflict and Pathways to Peace in the Horn of Africa: A New Approach? Woodrow Wilson Center, 6th floor auditorium, February 29, 10-11:30 am

9.   Measuring and Combating Corruption in the 21st Century, SAIS Rome building rm 200, March 2, 12:30-2 pm

Summary: Nathaniel Heller, co-founder and executive director of Global Integrity, will discuss this topic. For more information and to RSVP, contact developmentroundtable@jhu.edu.