Peace Picks April 8-12

 1. From war to peace: the Balkans, Middle East and Ukraine| Wednesday, April 10, 2019 | 12:30am- 2:30| The Middle East Institute | 1319 18th St. NW, Washington D.C. 20036| Register Here |

The Middle East Institute (MEI) is pleased to host a book talk with MEI Scholar Daniel Serwer, the director of John Hopkins SAIS’s conflict management and American foreign policy programs and the author ofFrom War to Peace: the Balkans, the Middle East and Ukraine.

In his book, Serwer explores how lessons learned from peacebuilding initiatives in the Balkans in the 1990s can be applied to conflicts in the Middle East. Serwer draws comparisons between the sectarian, ethnic, and religious divides of the Balkans in the 1990s and similar tensions in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. He also explores the impact of policies such as conflict prevention, engagement of neighbors, the establishment of safe zones, partition, decentralization, and power sharing arrangements, and how they can be effectively utilized, or not, in the Middle East.

Speakers

Daniel Serwer, , author
Scholar, MEI; director, Conflict Management and American Foreign Policy program, John Hopkins SAIS

Randa Slim, discussant
Senior fellow and director of Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues program, MEI

Paul Salem, moderator, President, MEI

2. Youth: the missing peace | Tursday, April 11, 2019 | 10:00am – 12:00pm | United States Institute for Peacr | 2301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037| Register Here|

Join USIP and the Global Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security for an interactive, intergenerational conversation with the study’s lead author, Graeme Simpson, as well as youth and peacebuilding experts and young peacebuilders from around the world. 

The event will look at the two-year evidence gathering process—which engaged more than 4,000 young people around the world and has been heralded as “possibly the most participatory process ever undertaken by the U.N.”—to draw out key lessons and recommendations regarding what works in the field of youth, peace and security, and what prevents youth’s meaningful inclusion in peace and security efforts. The conversation will also look forward, with an eye toward sustaining UNSCR 2250’s momentum and cementing our commitment to the role of youth people in preventing conflict and contributing to sustainable peace. 

Speakers

Nancy Lindborg, welcoming remarks,

President, U.S. Institute of Peace

Aubrey Cox, Program Officer, Youth, U.S. Institute of Peace

Giannina Raffo, Youth Peace Leader, Venezuela 

Graeme Simpson, Lead Author of the Progress Study and Director, Interpeace USA

Noella Richard, moderator, Youth Team Leader, United Nations Development Program 

Saji Prelis, closing remarks
Director of Children & Youth Programs, Search for Common Ground 

3. Will Sisi be Egypt president for life | Monday, April 8, 2019 | 2:30pm – 4:00pm | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace| 1779 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington, DC 20036-2103| Register Here|

The Egyptian parliament is in the process of finalizing amendments to the 2014 constitution that would allow President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to stay in office for twenty years, increase military control of politics, and end judicial independence. U.S. President Donald Trump has invited Sisi to Washington for a visit prior to a public referendum on the proposed amendments.

Please join the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Project on Middle East Democracy for a discussion of the ramifications of the amendments and Sisi’s visit for the future of Egypt, the U.S.-Egypt relationship, and for regional peace.

Speakers:

MOATAZ EL FEGIERY, general coordinator for the Egyptian Human Rights Forum. 

MAI EL-SADANY, legal and judicial director for the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy. 

MICHELE DUNNE, Director and senior fellow of the Carnegie Middle East Program. 

SUSAN B. GLASSER, staff writer at the New Yorker. 

4. The Taiwan Relations Act at Forty and U.S.-Taiwan Relations| Tuesday, April 9, 2019 | 8:30 am – 5:00pm | Center for Strategic and International Study | 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036| Register Here|

The Taiwan Relations Act, enacted by the United States Congress in April 1979, authorized continued “commercial, cultural, and other relations between the people of the United States and the people of Taiwan” in the wake of the U.S. decision to establish diplomatic ties with the People’s Republic of China. By authorizing the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and other provisions, the TRA created a framework for relations between the U.S. and Taiwan which has enabled their partnership and friendship to thrive in the absence of diplomatic relations. 

In observance of the 40th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act, this daylong public conference will feature analysis of the creation and implementation of the TRA, and how it continues to guide U.S.-Taiwan relations and interaction among Taiwan, China, and the United States.

This conference is co-hosted by CSIS, the Brookings Institution, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

8:35am         Opening Remarks

John Hamre (President and CEO, CSIS)
 8:45am         Welcome Speech

Stanley Kao (Representative, Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States) (Introduced by Bonnie Glaser)

8:55am         Speaker Introduction

Richard Armitage (President, Armitage International and CSIS Trustee)

9:00am         VTC Speech and Q&A

Her Excellency President Tsai Ing-wen of the Republic of China (Taiwan)

Q&A Moderator: Michael Green (Senior Vice President for Asia and Japan Chair, CSIS / Director of Asian Studies, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service)

9:45am         Coffee Break
 
10:00am       Panel One: Looking Back on U.S.-Taiwan Relations Since 1979

Moderator: Richard Bush (Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution)

Panelist 1: The TRA and the U.S. One-China Policy

Stephen Young (Former Director, American Institute in Taiwan)

Panelist 2: Cross-Strait Relations and U.S.-Taiwan Relations

Steven Goldstein (Associate, Harvard Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies)

Panelist 3: The Evolution of the U.S.-Taiwan Security Partnership

Shirley Kan (Former Specialist in Asian Security Affairs, Congressional Research Service)

 
11:15am       Coffee Break
 
11:30am       Speech and Q&A

Legislator Bi-khim Hsiao (Legislative Yuan)

(Introduced by Bonnie Glaser)

12:15pm       Keynote Remarks

Representative Gerald Connolly (D-Virginia)

(Introduced by Richard Bush)         
1:00pm         Lunch
 
1:30pm         Panel Two: Taiwan’s Strategic Environment Today

Moderator: Bonnie Glaser (Senior Adviser for Asia and Director of the China Power Project, CSIS)

Panelist 1: Taiwan’s Changing Security Environment

Michael Chase (Senior Political Scientist, RAND Corporation)

Panelist 2: How Taiwan Should Ensure Economic Competitiveness

Eric Altbach (Senior Vice President, Albright Stonebridge Group)

Panelist 3: Taiwan’s Options Regarding China

Susan Thornton (Former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs)

Panelist 4: U.S.-Taiwan Economic Ties

Da-nien Daniel Liu (Director of the Regional Development Study Center, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research)

2:45pm         Panel Three: The Next Forty Years

Moderator: Abraham Denmark (Director of the Asia Program, Wilson Center)

Panelist 1: The TRA’s Continuing Relevance to U.S. Policy

Robert Sutter (Professor of Practice of International Affairs, George Washington University)

Panelist 2: China’s Strategies Toward Taiwan and Taiwan/U.S. Responses

Ryan Hass (David M. Rubenstein Fellow – Foreign Policy, Brookings Institution)

Panelist 3: Taiwan’s Future Sources of Strength and Weakness

Jacques deLisle (Professor of Law & Political Science, University of Pennsylvania)

4:00pm         Coffee Break
 
4:15pm         Speech and Q&A

W. Patrick Murphy (Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of State Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs)

(Introduced by Abraham Denmark)

5:00pm         Conference End

5. China’s Influence Activities: Implications for the US-Taiwan Relationship| Monday, April 8, 2019 | 4:00pm-5:15| The Atlantic Council | 1030 15th St NW, Washington, DC 20005| Register Here |

Last week, a bipartisan group of senators introduced the Taiwan Assurance Act, which reaffirms the US commitment to Taiwan forty years after the signing of the Taiwan Relations Act. As China exerts increasing pressure against Taiwan’s position in the region, Taiwan’s leaders have sought greater support from the United States. Given US interests in the Indo-Pacific, what diplomatic, economic, and security steps should the United States take to signal support for Taiwan as a democratic partner in the region? What opportunities and challenges do the United States and Taiwan face moving forward? Where do US-Taiwan relations fit into the broader strategic picture?

KEYNOTE REMARKS BY

H.E. Bi-khim Hsiao, Legislator, Legislative Yuan, Taiwan

FEATURING

Mr. Ian Easton, Research Fellow Project 2049 Institute

Mr. Michael Mazza, Visiting Fellow, Foreign & Defense Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute

Mr. Barry Pavel, Senior Vice President, Arnold Kanter Chair, and Director, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council

6. SSANSE Project: Symposium on Russia and China’s Political Interference Activities in NATO Small States| Monday, April 8, 2019 | 8:45 am – 12:15pm | The Wilson Center | 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, DC 20004-3027| Register Here |

For both Russia and China, foreign political interference activities are a useful and cost-effective method of foreign policy. In Russia it is theorized as “smart power”, while China still uses the Soviet-era term “united front work”. The activities of Russia and China go well beyond accepted norms of public diplomacy and are having a corrupting and corrosive effect on many societies. This half-day symposium focuses on Russia and China’s Political Interference Activities in NATO Small States. The world is seeing a return of both “might is right” politics and spheres of influence. As history has shown, the weakness of small states in a time of rising security threats can undermine the security of larger powers. The Symposium examines case studies of some representative small NATO states experiencing Russia and China’s political interference activities, the patterns of interference to look for, and discusses what is to be done.

Speakers:

Neringa Bladaitė, University of Vilnius
Anne-Marie Brady, Wilson Center/University of Canterbury
Donald J. Jensen, Center for European Policy Analysis
Ryan Knight, Georgetown University
Martin Hála, Charles University
Margarita Šešelgytė, University of Vilnius
Khamza Sharifzoda, Georgetown University
Mark Stokes, 2049 Project
Alan Tidwell, Georgetown University
Baldur Thorhallson, University of Iceland
Moderator: Abe Denmark, Asia Program, Wilson Center

AGENDA:

8:45am – Panel One

Donald J. Jensen: Assessing Contemporary Russian Interference Activities

Anne-Marie Brady: Magic Weapons? An Overview of CCP Interference Activities

Mark Stokes: Huawei and One Thousand Talents: China’s military links and technology transfer activities

Ryan Knight: Russia’s use of the Orthodox Church in Small NATO states

Alan Tidwell: Active Measures: Lessons Learned from the Past

10:10am – Morning tea

10:30am – Panel Two

Martin Hála: The CCP’s Magic Weapons at work in the Czech Republic

Khamza Sharifzoda: Armenia’s Struggle:  Escaping the Kremlin

Baldur Thorhallson: Iceland’s engagements with Russia and China

Neringa Bladaite: Russia’s Political Interference Activities in Latvia

Margarita Šešelgytė: Russia and China’s Political Interference Activities and Lithuania

The Small States and the New Security Environment (SSANSE) Project is funded by NATO-SPS