This week’s peace picks

Are things slowing down, or is it just me?  Still some excellent events:

1. Is the Arab Awakening Marginalizing Women?  WWC, 9 am-12:45 pm May 14

The Middle East Program and the Council of Women World Leaders
of the Woodrow Wilson Center

present

Is the Arab Awakening Marginalizing Women?

Monday, May 14, 2012
6th Floor Flom Auditorium

8:30 – 9:00am  Coffee

9:00 – 9:20am Welcoming Remarks: Haleh Esfandiari, Director, Middle East Program, Woodrow Wilson Center

Opening Remarks: Jane Harman, President, Director and CEO, Woodrow Wilson Center

9:20 – 11:00am   PANEL 1

Fatima Sbaity-Kassem, Former Director, UN-ESCWA Centre for Women
“A Cup Half Full or Half Empty: Is a ‘Women’s Spring’ Inevitable in Transitions to Democracy?”

Lilia Labidi, Visiting Research Professor, Middle East Institute, National University of Singapore; Former Minister of Women’s Affairs, Tunisia; and Former Fellow, Woodrow Wilson Center
“Tunisia: Policies and Programs for Women during a Democratic Transition”

Moushira Khattab, Public Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center; Former Egyptian Ambassador to South Africa and to the Czech and Slovak Republics; and Former Minister of Family and Population, Egypt
“Lost in Translation: The Case of Egyptian Women”

Moderator: Haleh Esfandiari, Director, Middle East Program, Woodrow Wilson Center
11:00 – 11:15am  Coffee Break

11:15 – 12:45pm PANEL 2

Rend Al-Rahim, Executive Director, Iraq Foundation; and Former Iraqi Ambassador to the United States
“Iraq: Frustrated Expectations”

Rola Dashti, Former member of Kuwaiti Parliament and Chairman, Kuwait Economic Society
“Arab Springs without Flowers”

Caryle Murphy, Public Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center
“Awakening Rains on Saudi Desert, Brings Green Shoots of Hope, Change”

Rangita de Silva de Alwis, Director, Women in Public Service Project Institute 2012, Wellesley College; and Director of International Human Rights Policy, Wellesley Centers for Women
“The Way Ahead: Some Lessons from Other Post-Conflict Communities”

Moderator: Robin Wright, USIP-Wilson Center Distinguished Scholar

Read MEP’s latest publication on women in the Arab Spring: Reflections on Women in the Arab Spring

2. Solution or Stall? The Next Round of Talks with Iran, Bipartisan Policy Center, 10-11:30 May 14

On May 23, the United States and its international partners will sit down in Baghdad for another round of talks with Iran. While a diplomatic deal remains the best hope for a peaceful resolution to the international standoff over Iran’s nuclear program, experts disagree over what terms the United States should accept and what can be expected from Iran. Join BPC and a distinguished panel for a discussion of what to expect from, and what is at stake in, the upcoming negotiations.

Featuring

Ambassador Dennis Ross
Counselor, The Washington Institute

Elliott Abrams
Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies, Council on Foreign Relations

Undersecretary Nick Burns
Professor, Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of of Government

Steve Rademaker
Principal, Podesta Group
Member, BPC Iran Task Force

Moderated by

Mortimer Zuckerman
CEO and Chairman, Boston Properties
Member, BPC Iran Task Force

Introduction by

Michael Makovsky
Director, BPC Foreign Policy Project

REGISTER

3. Delivering Dignity in the Arab World through Political and Economic Reform, CIPE, noon-2 pm May 15

CIPE, 1155 15th Street, NW, 7th Floor

May 15, 2012

12:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Lunch will be provided.

RSVP by Friday, May 11, 2012

4.  The U.S. National Security Budget, AEI, 1-2:30 May 15

On Tuesday, May 15, join the American Enterprise Institute, the Center for a New American Security and the New America Foundation to discuss an issue sure to face the next administration: U.S. defense spending in light of American grand strategy. With the “sequestration” mechanism set to cut at least $500 billion from the Department of Defense, on top of budget reductions in recent years, discussants will consider how these cuts could affect defense policy. Former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michèle Flournoy will provide introductory remarks.

This event continues a unique collaboration among these institutions in the presidential campaign season, “Election 2012: The National Security Budget.” Past conversations covered the U.S. role in the world and policy in East Asia, and a later event will consider U.S. relations with the greater Middle East.

This event is the third in a series of four campaign-season seminars on the critical issues of U.S. foreign and defense policy, sponsored by AEI, the Center for a New American Security and the New America Foundation.

5. A Blueprint for Engagement Amid Austerity: A Bipartisan Approach to Reorienting the International Affairs Budget, 10:30-noon, May 16

Featuring report co-authors:
John Norris, Executive Director of the Sustainable Security and Peacebuilding Initiative, Center for American Progress
Connie Veillette, Director of the Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Program, Center for Global Development

And distinguished panelists:
Gordon Adams, Professor, School of International Service, American University, and Distinguished Fellow, the Stimson Center
Andrew Preston, Counsellor for Development, Foreign and Security Policy Group, British Embassy

Moderated by:
George Ingram, MFAN Co-Chair

Wednesday, May 16, 2012
10:30am–12:00pm
The Glover Park Group
1025 F St NW, 9th Floor
Washington, DC

Please RSVP by Monday, May 14th to event@modernizeaid.net. Space is limited.

Please join MFAN for a discussion on a new report from the Center for American Progress and the Center for Global Development. The report, A Blueprint for Better Engagement Amid Austerity: A Bipartisan Approach to Reorienting the International Affairs Budget, calls for a more focused approach to how the U.S. delivers economic and security assistance.

We will be joined by the report’s authors to share their findings and recommendations followed by a reactions from a distinguished panel and Q and A.