peacefare.net

Peace picks, June 11 – June 17

1. Avoiding Nuclear War – A Discussion with the Mayor of Hiroshima | Monday, June 11| 10:00 am – 11:30 am | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace | Register Here

Nuclear war remains the top man-made threat to global stability and the dramatic diplomacy around North Korea’s nuclear program highlights the challenge of averting it. Cities are mobilizing to counter this threat, including Hiroshima—a city which has already borne the brunt of nuclear conflict.

Join Carnegie for a discussion with the mayor of Hiroshima, Kazumi Matsui. Mayor Matsui will describe what the people of Hiroshima and other cities are doing to reduce risks of nuclear war. An expert discussion on diplomatic progress with North Korea and broader disarmament issues will follow, with Mayor Matsui commenting from the perspective of a municipal government. Panel also includes Jon Wolfsthal (Director, Nuclear Crisis Group) and James L. Schoff (Senior Fellow, Asia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace).

2. Shaping a New Balance of Power in the Middle East: Regional Actors, Global Powers, and Middle East Strategy | Tuesday, June 12 | 9:00 am – 3:00 pm | Johns Hopkins SAIS | Register Here

The Gulf and the Middle East are suffering a paroxysm of conflict involving virtually all the regional states as well as the US and Russia and many different non-state actors. What dynamics are driving this chaos? What can be done to contain or reverse the damage? How might a new balance of power emerge?  Conference schedule and speakers:

9-9:30: Registration
9:30-9:45: Opening Remarks

• Ezzedine Abdelmoula, Manager of Research, Aljazeera Centre for Studies, Aljazeera Media Network

9:30-11:00: Dynamics of Political Geography in the Middle East

• Chair: Daniel Serwer, Director, SAIS Conflict Management Program
• Ross Harrison, Non-resident Senior FellowMiddle East Institute
• Kadir Ustun, Executive Director, SETA Foundation
• Khalid al Jaber, Gulf International Forum
• Suzanne Maloney, Deputy Director, Foreign Policy Program and Senior Fellow, Center for Middle East Policy and Energy Security and Climate Initiative, Brookings Institution

11:00-11:15: Coffee Break

11:15-12:45: Non-State Actors and Shadow Politics

• Chair: Paul Salem, Senior Vice President for Policy Research & Programs, Middle East Institute
• Randa Slim, Director of Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues Program, Middle East Institute;  Fellow, SAIS Foreign Policy Institute
• Fatima Abo Alasrar, Senior Analyst, Arabia Foundation
• Crispin Smith, Harvard Law School
• Anouar Boukhars, Non-Resident Scholar, Middle East Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Associate Professor of International Relations, McDaniel College

12:45-1:30: Lunch

1:30-3:00: New Balance of Power

• Chair: Mohammed Cherkaoui, Aljazeera Centre for Studies, and George Mason University 
• Jamal Khashoggi, independent writer
• Terrence Hopmann, Professor of International Relations, SAIS, Conflict Management Program
• Camille Pecastaing, SAIS, Middle East Studies 
• Hussein Ibish, Senior Resident Scholar, Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington 

3. Denuclearization or Deterrence? Evaluating Next Steps on North Korea | Tuesday, June 11 | 11:00 am – 12:30 pm | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace | Register Here

Negotiations to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear program remain highly uncertain. While diplomacy plays out, the United States and its allies in Asia will continue strengthening their deterrence capabilities to hedge against future threatening North Korean behavior. Yet, these actions could further exacerbate tensions in East Asia.

Please join the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace for an expert panel discussion on denuclearization diplomacy, the potential Trump-Kim summit, and Plan B options to deter North Korean coercive behavior. At the event, Carnegie will release a new report, “Security Spillover: Regional Implications of Evolving Deterrence on the Korean Peninsula.” Panel includes Chung Min Lee (Nonresident Senior Fellow, Asia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace), Narushige Michisita (executive advisor to the president and director of the Security and International Studies Program, Strategic Studies Program, and Maritime Safety and Security Policy Program at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo), Tony Zhao (Fellow, Nuclear Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace), and Toby Dalton (Co-director, Nuclear Policy Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace).

4. The Trump Administration’s Post-JCPOA Iran Policy | Wednesday, June 12 | 10:30 am – 12:00 pm | The SETA Foundation at Washington DC | Register Here

On May 8, President Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the Iranian nuclear accord crafted by his predecessor. The withdrawal came after efforts by US allies in Europe to keep the US in the deal, and suggests division between the US and some of its closest partners in the years to come.

In a recent speech at the Heritage Foundation in Washington DC, Mike Pompeo, Trump’s newly appointed Secretary of State and a well-known critic of the Iran deal, declared that the Trump administration will take steps to punish the Iranian regime for regional aggression and impose stiff financial penalties. However, Pompeo also suggested that the administration is open to a new deal that addresses what it sees as the JCPOA’s failings. Under the guidance of Secretary of State Pompeo and Trump’s new national security advisor John Bolton, the Trump administration seems to be charting a much more confrontational policy towards Iran.

Please join the SETA Foundation at Washington DC for an insightful discussion with our panel of experts on this major turning point in US foreign policy as we discuss what it means for US relations with its allies in Europe and the Middle East and what US-Iranian interactions may look like moving forward. Panel includes Hussein Ibish (Senior Resident Scholar, Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington), Reza Marashi (Research Director, National Iranian American Council), Sigurd Neubauer (Middle East Analyst and Columnist), Barbara Slavin (Director, Future of Iran Initiative, Atlantic Council), and Randa Slim (Director of Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues Program, Middle East Institute).  Moderated by Kilic B. Kanat (Research Director, SETA Foundation at Washington DC).

5. Raising the Curtain on the 2018 NATO Brussels Summit | Wednesday, June 13 | 2:00 pm – 5:30 pm | Atlantic Council | Register Here

One month ahead of the July meeting, this event will serve as a primer for the Summit, highlighting many of the top issues on the Alliance’s agenda. The discussions will focus on priorities for strengthening collective defense and deterrence in Northern Europe and beyond, including US proposals to improve capabilities, readiness, and decision-making. The conference will also explore the Alliance’s broader agenda on the road to Brussels, including the way forward for NATO’s southern flank and what the Alliance must do to address terrorism, hybrid threats, and capacity-building in the region.
Convening senior officials, military leaders, top experts, business executives, and media from across the Euro-Atlantic policy community, the conference will provide a unique platform to discuss critical issues for the NATO alliance at a time when the threats have never been more pressing. Speakers include H.E. Raimundas Karoblis (Minister of National Defense, Republic of Lithuania), Dr. Richard Hooker (Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Europe and Russia, US National Security Council), Hon. Michael Turner (OH-10), (Head of the US Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and Member, US House of Representatives), Gen. Frank Gorenc, USAF (Ret.), (Fmr. Commander, US Air Forces in Europe and Africa and NATO Allied Air Command), Amb. Alexander Vershbow (Fmr. Deputy Secretary-General, NATO and Distinguished Fellow, Atlantic Council), Laura Rosenberger (Director and Senior Fellow, Alliance for Securing Democracy, German Marshall Fund), and Dr. Fabrizio Luciolli (President, Atlantic Treaty Association and President, Italian Atlantic Committee).

6. America, Russia, and Vladimir Putin: Russian Opposition Perspectives | Thursday, June 14 | 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm | Center for Strategic and International Studies | Register Here

As of May 7, Vladimir Putin has begun his fourth term as the President of the Russian Federation. The next six years seem poised to be pivotal, with U.S. foreign policy in flux, the world responding, and Russia redefining its roles and responsibilities. Yet, one trend that continues unabated is a downward spiral in tensions between Moscow and Washington. Many western experts see Putin himself as the reason for problems past and present. What, then, does his continued rule mean for U.S. Russian relations, and how might each country adjust its policies to better further domestic, foreign policy, and security goals? Join us in this conversation with past Russian government and opposition leaders regarding what Moscow and Washington can do, and what they are likely to. This event is organized in cooperation with the Institute of Modern Russia (IMR). Panel includes Andrei Kozyrev (Fmr. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation from 1991-1996), Vitali Shkliarov (Russian Political Strategist, Fmr. Senior Campaign Advisor to Ksenia Sobchak), Vladimir Kara-Murza (Vice Chairman, Open Russia and Fmr. Deputy Leader of the People’s Freedom Party), and Olga Oliker (Senior Adviser and Director, Russia and Eurasia Program).