Peace Picks October 15-21

Posted in Rory Coleman - October 14, 2018 - 0 Comment

Defusing the South China Sea Disputes: A Regional Blueprint | Monday, October 15, 2018 | 10 am – 12 pm | Center for Strategic and International Studies | 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036 | Register Here

Please join us for the launch of Defusing the South China Sea Disputes: A Regional Blueprint by the CSIS Expert Working Group on the South China Sea, which brings together prominent experts on maritime law, international relations, and the marine environment from China, Southeast Asia, and beyond. Members of the group gathered three times between July 2017 and July 2018 to discuss issues that they consider necessary for the successful management of the South China Sea disputes, and produced blueprints for a path forward on each. The members believe these three proposed agreements add up to a robust model for managing the South China Sea disputes, one which would be both legally and politically feasible for all parties.

The working group includes a diverse set of 27 experts from claimant states and interested countries, including the United States. It is chaired by Gregory Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at CSIS. All members take part in their personal capacities, not as representatives of their home institutions. They are invited to join the group based on their subject matter expertise and willingness to reach creative compromises.

Agenda

Summary of Blueprints
Gregory B. Poling, Director, Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, CSIS

Panel Discussion with Members
Bonnie S. Glaser, Senior Adviser for Asia and Director, China Power Project, CSIS
Prashanth Parameswaran, Senior Editor, The Diplomat
Amy Searight, Senior Adviser and Director, Southeast Asia Program, CSIS

This report was made possible by general funding to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.

Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the Iranian regime has spent considerable energy capitalizing on chaos in Syria to establish transit routes from Iran to the Mediterranean. Israel has followed the movements of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its proxies in Syria warily, laying out clear red lines to deter Iranian overreach. The IRGC-Quds Force rocket attack on Israeli military posts in the Golan in May 2018 instigated Israeli retaliation against Iranian-backed ground forces. Although Iran did not respond in kind, tensions along Israel’s northwestern border and in southern Syria persist, and the potential for an Israeli-Iranian conflict looms.

Please join the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft and Rafik Hariri Centers on Wednesday, October 17 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. for the launch of nonresident senior fellow Nader Uskowi’s issue brief on Iran’s evolving strategy in Syria and the implications for regional security. This discussion will focus on the possibility for future conflict between Iran and Israel as the Syrian conflict enters its next phase, as well as how the United States can adapt its own policies to reflect the altered power structure in the region.

A conversation with:

Nader Uskowi
Nonresident Senior Fellow
Atlantic Council

Assaf Orion
Military Fellow
Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Jennifer Cafarella
Director of Intelligence Planning
Institute for the Study of War

The countries of Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine stand at a crossroads. Perched between Russia and the West, they have chosen a path of economic and political reform and closer relations with the West. They face substantial challenges dealing with the systemic legacy of the Soviet period as they pursue reform, while also confronting Kremlin interference in their affairs and occupation of their land. Once described as part of a geopolitical “grey zone,” these countries are working to instead be seen as states on the “frontlines of freedom” with futures as free, whole, and secure European states.

At this conference, the Atlantic Council will convene a group of experts to discuss topics such as the historical origins of the so-called “grey zone,” the Kremlin’s use of frozen conflicts, transatlantic policy toward the region, and democratic progress in these states.

This event will include a spotlight address from the Hon. A. Wess Mitchell, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, on US strategy in Central and Eastern Europe.

Agenda

Introduction

Mr. Damon Wilson, Executive Vice President, Atlantic Council

Keynote Remarks

The Hon. Roger Wicker, US Senator for Mississippi, US Senate

Address: The Historical Origins of the Frontlines of Freedom

Dr. Serhii Plokhii, Director, Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard University

Address: “Grey Zone” Past and Future

The Hon. Kurt Volker, US Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations, US Department of State

Fireside Chat

Dr. Serhii Plokhii, Director, Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard University

The Hon. Kurt Volker, US Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations, US Department of State

Moderated by: Mr. Mark Simakovsky, Senior Fellow, Eurasia Center, Atlantic Council

Panel I: Frozen Conflicts and the Kremlin’s Agenda

Mr. Denis Cenusa, Researcher, Institut für Politikwissenschaft, Justus-Liebig-Universität

Ambassador John Herbst, Director, Eurasia Center, Atlantic Council

Minister Tinatin Khidasheli, Former Defense Minister, Republic of Georgia

Ms. Maria Snegovaya, Adjunct Fellow, Center for European Policy and Analysis; Research Associate, Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland

Ambassador James Warlick, Partner and Senior Policy Adviser, Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners

Moderated by: Dr. Michael Carpenter, Senior Director, Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement; Senior Fellow, Eurasia Center, Atlantic Council

Spotlight Address: Strategy in Central and Eastern Europe

The Hon. A. Wess Mitchell, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, US Department of State

Introduced by: Mr. Damon Wilson, Executive Vice President, Atlantic Council

Panel II: Transatlantic Policy Towards the Region

H.E. David Bakradze, Ambassador of Georgia to the United States

Mr. David Kramer, Senior Fellow, Vaclav Havel Program for Human Rights and Diplomacy, Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs, Florida International University

Mr. Alex Tiersky, Senior Policy Adviser, US Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

Mr. Damon Wilson, Executive Vice President, Atlantic Council

Moderated by: Ms. Melinda Haring, Editor, UkraineAlert, Atlantic Council

Panel III: Democratic Progress in the Frontlines of Freedom

Mr. Carl Gershman, President, National Endowment for Democracy

Dr. Laura Jewett, Senior Associate and Regional Director for Eurasia, National Democratic Institute

Mr. Stephen Nix, Regional Director, Eurasia, International Republican Institute

Moderated by: Ms. Eka Gigauri, Executive Director, Transparency International Georgia

Countering traditional notions of balance-of-power theory, smaller states have not joined together militarily to oppose the United States’ rising power at the end of the Cold War, Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, or Russian offensives along its Western border. Instead, balance-of-power politics has taken a different form.

In a new book, Restraining Great Powers: Soft Balancing from Empires to the Global Era, T.V. Paul argues that leading powers have engaged in “soft balancing,” which seeks to restrain threatening powers through the use of international institutions, informal alignments, and economic sanctions. Placing the evolution of balancing behavior in historical context, Paul examines how subtler forms of balance-of-power politics can help states achieve their goals against aggressive powers without wars or arms races. Paul will be joined in conversation by Richard Fontaine and Ellen Laipson. Carnegie’s Ashley J. Tellis will moderate. Copies of the book will be available for sale.

T.V. PAUL

T.V. Paul is James McGill Professor of International Relations in the department of Political Science at McGill University.

RICHARD FONTAINE

Richard Fontaine is the president of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS).

ELLEN LAIPSON

Ellen Laipson is the director of the Master’s in International Security degree program and the Center for Security Policy Studies at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.

ASHLEY J. TELLIS

Ashley J. Tellis holds the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Why do peacebuilders sometimes succeed and sometimes fail, even within the same country? Why can organizations not guarantee the same results from the same policies? Peacebuilders struggle to answer these questions and create programs with consistently positive results. Join the U.S. Institute of Peace as we discuss policy recommendations drawn from new research highlighting unexpected solutions to a long-standing challenge.

Organizations that work to build peace in fragile states often fail to meet the stated goals of the programs they design to resolve violent conflict. In her newly published book, Global Governance and Local Peace: Accountability and Performance in International Peacebuilding, Susanna Campbell dives into why peacebuilding organizations often fail and presents one of the keys to success: local actors that force organizations to stay accountable to local peacebuilding goals. Join experts as they discuss Campbell’s findings and how country-based staff can sidestep normal accountability procedures and empower local actors to push for innovative solutions to local problems.

Speakers

Susanna Campbell
Assistant Professor, School of International Service, American University

Michael Barnett
Professor, International Affairs and Political Science, The George Washington University

Mike Jobbins
Senior Director of Partnerships and Engagement, Search for Common Ground

Kate Somvongsiri
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau of Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance, U.S. Agency for International Development

Leanne Erdberg, moderator
Director, Countering Violent Extremism, The U.S. Institute of Peace

Tags : Georgia, Iran, Moldova, Peace, South China Sea, Syria, The Middle East, Ukraine

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