Peace picks September 21- 26

No Reconciliation, No Peace: Building Ways for People to Live Together After Violent Conflict | Monday, September 21st | 10:00 – 11:30 | United States Institute of Peace | REGISTER TO ATTEND | On the United Nations-declared International Day of Peace, September 21, USIP highlights an essential process for any country to heal from a violent conflict: reconciliation.USIP is convening this reconciliation discussion as part of a daylong celebration of the international day of peace. If you would like to take some action for peace, share it with us at #PeaceDayChallenge.For a society that has lived through war or other violent conflicts, a reconciliation process is fundamental to finding a way to live in lasting peace. Reconciliation allows grievances to be heard and addressed, and the social contract to be renewed.A forum led by USIP President Lindborg will explore how collaborative reconciliation processes can ensure a more inclusive peace for the community and for individuals. USIP practitioners will discuss their recent reconciliation work, which combines the Institute’s research and thought leadership with work alongside its partners in conflict zones. Speakers include Nancy Lindborg, President, USIP, Elizabeth A. Cole, Senior Program Officer, Center for Applied Research on Conflict, Virginia M. Bouvier, Senior Advisor for Latin American Programs, Sarhang Hamasaee, Senior Program Officer, Center for Middle East and Africa, Susan Hayward, Director, Religion and Peacebuilding, Center for Governance, Law and Society.
Photo Credit United Nations Photo Flickr
U.S. Policy Against ISIS: Protecting Minorities in the Middle East | Monday, September 21st | 11:00 – 1:00 | Syrian American Council and Muslim Public Affairs Council | REGISTER TO ATTEND by emailing ssolh@gmail.com | Since March 2011, religious and ethnic minorities in Syria have been brutally oppressed under the Assad regime and at the hands of ISIS. Join this discussion about the future of Christians and minorities in Syria, the role of the Assad regime in fanning the flames of sectarianism, and recommendations for US policymakers. Speakers include: Sheikh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi, former preacher of the Grand Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Hind Kabawat, Director of Interfaith Peacebuilding at the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution, George Mason University.
Multiple Security Challenges in Central Europe: Migration Crisis and Relations With Russia | Monday, September 21st | 6:00 | Women’s Foreign Policy Group | REGISTER TO ATTEND | This special event is part of the embassy series. Embassy Series events are held at embassies, consulates, and diplomatic residences in Washington and New York and highlight issues pertinent to the host country. The evening will be held at the resident of Ambassador Reka Szemerkenyi and will include a program and reception. Please note there is a fee. H.E. Szemerkenyi was appointed Ambassador of Hungary to the United States in 2015.
Is nuclear war risk growing? | Monday, September 21st | 6:30 – 8:30 | Project for the Study of the 21st Century | REGISTER TO ATTEND | Is great power nuclear war back on the agenda? Ahead of the publication of PS21’s landmark survey of national security experts on conventional and nuclear conflict risk, we bring together a panel to discuss just how real the risks might be. This discussion — which comes ahead of the survey’s publication in the first week of October — will focus on where the greatest risk of superpower conflict might lie and how it might be avoided. Speakers include: Elbridge Colby, senior fellow, Center for a New American Security, Scott Cheney-Peters, founder, Center for International Maritime Security, Rachel Rizzo, program assistant, Strategy Initiative, Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, Atlantic Council.
The ISIS Apocalypse: The history, strategy, and doomsday vision of the Islamic State | Tuesday, September 22nd | 10:00 – 11:00 | Brookings Institution | REGISTER TO ATTEND |The Islamic State is one of the most lethal and successful jihadist groups in modern history, surpassing even al-Qaida. How has it attracted so many followers and conquered so much land in its relatively brief existence?In The ISIS Apocalypse (St. Martin’s Press, 2015), Will McCants examines the Islamic State’s tactics and goals, and the many ways in which it is more ruthless, more apocalyptic, and more devoted to state-building than any of its predecessors or current competitors. Based almost entirely on primary sources in Arabic—including ancient religious texts and secret al-Qaida and Islamic State letters that few have seen—The ISIS Apocalypse explores how religious fervor, strategic calculation, and doomsday prophecy shaped the Islamic State’s past and foreshadow its dark future.On September 22, McCants will discuss ISIS’ strategy and the future of jihadi terrorism. NPR Counterterrorism Correspondent Dina Temple-Raston will moderate the discussion, after which McCants will take audience questions.
Preparing for Peace: Challenges for Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Yemen | Tuesday, September 22nd | 12:00 – 1:30 |The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington | REGISTER TO ATTEND | Yemen is in the grip of its most severe crisis in years, with a Saudi-led military campaign against the rebel Houthis now in its sixth month. Civilian casualties continue to mount, the internally displaced population grows, and Yemen’s already weak infrastructure teeters on the verge of collapse.Amidst the chaos and suffering of the ongoing war, what are the prospects for a political solution, and how does Yemen tackle the urgent need for reconciliation and reconstruction in a post-conflict scenario? What will be the immediate priorities, and how quickly can the international community mobilize resources to help stabilize and rebuild Yemen? The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington is pleased to host a panel discussion on these and other aspects of the challenges that will face Yemen and the international community following the cessation of the ongoing conflict. Speakers include: Amatalalim Alsoswa, Formerly United Nations Development Programme, Leslie Campbell, National Democratic Institute, Fatima Abo Alasrar, Independent policy analyst from Yemen.
Charting NATO’s Future | Thursday, September 24th | 9:00 – 2:00 | Atlantic Council | REGISTER TO ATTEND | The transatlantic community faces urgent challenges on multiple fronts. In the East, the crisis in Ukraine continues unabated, coupled with Russian assertiveness and pushing West-Russia tensions to an all-time high in the post-Cold War environment. In the south, conflicts in the wider Middle East have fueled the rise of new terrorist groups and catalyzed one of the worst refugee crises that Europe has faced since World War II. At the same time, the transatlantic community faces challenges in political unity, from ongoing debates about burden-sharing and defense spending to the rise of fringe political parties to new cracks and fissures in European unity and solidarity. The Atlantic Council is convening leading experts from across Europe and North America to analyze these critically important issues, what they mean for NATO’s future, and what policies and strategies NATO and its members should consider ahead of the Warsaw Summit in 2016. Speakers include: Chuck Hagel, former Secretary of Defense, Frederick Kempe, President and CEO, Atlantic Council,
Fabrice Pothier, Director, Policy Planning, Office of the Secretary General, NATO, and others.
Getting With It: Putting Momentum behind the U.S. – India Nuclear Deal | Thursday, September 24 | 12:30 – 2:00 | Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies | REGISTER TO ATTEND | Speakers include: Vijay Sazawal, nuclear industry expert, and Paul Murphy, Special Counsel at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy.
The Islamic State: The Face of Sectarian Violence and Extremism in the Middle East | Thursday, September 24 | 6:00 – 8:00 | Elliot School of International Affairs | REGISTER TO ATTEND | What is behind the rise of sectarianism and extremism in the region? What is the appeal of the Islamic State — a search for a new religious/cultural identity, religious zealotry, or an excuse for legitimized violence? Why has mainstream traditional Islam failed to challenge the appeal of extremist groups? How should governments, clerics and communities confront religious extremism and sectarianism? Speakers include: Joseph Bahout, visiting scholar in Carnegie’s Middle East Program.
Russian Military Forum: Russia in the Middle East | Friday, September 25 | 2:00 -3:30 | Center For Strategic & International Studies | REGISTER TO ATTEND | Please join us for a discussion on Russia’s rising influence in the Middle East.
After being virtually shut out of the region for many years, Russia has lately increased its influence by capitalizing on recent developments, such as the Arab Spring, the Syrian crisis and the Iran nuclear accord. This has allowed Russia to enhance relations and expand military-to-military ties with various states in the region. But Russia’s objectives and strategy for the region remain unclear. Long-time Russia experts Michael Kofman and Stephen Blank will explore these developments in greater detail, including their implications for the region, and for the U.S. more generally. Speakers include: Michael Kofman, Public Policy Fellow, Kennan Instiute, Woodrom Wilson Center, Stephen Blank, Senior Fellow for Russia, American Foreign Policy Council.