Peace Picks | December 2 – December 6

Lessons for Building Creative Economies | December 3, 2019 | 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM | CSIS Headquarters, 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036 | Register Here

Many countries around the world have large populations of impoverished people and high unemployment rates. In order to improve conditions in these countries, national governments must come up with effective economic growth strategies, and strengthening the creative industries should be at the forefront of these strategies. Over 100 countries have national plans for their creative economies, but few have made significant progress toward creating the enabling environment for creative industries—film, fashion, music, art, gaming, etc.—to thrive. World trade in creative goods and services grew at an average annual rate of 14 percent between 2002 and 2008, even during the 2008 global financial crisis. The countries with the largest creative economies in 2013 were the United States, China, Britain, Germany, Japan, France, and Brazil. The creative economy is a major driver of job creation, and countries that are implementing policies to boost their creative industries are already reaping the benefits. The longer countries wait, the more difficult it will be to create an enabling environment needed for culture and creative industries.

Overtaking Europe and North America, the Asia-Pacific is now the world’s leading region in CCIs, producing $743 billion in revenue in 2013. Through the launch of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy under President Donald Trump’s administration, the United States is rapidly expanding its engagement in Asia. Similarly, Taiwan launched the New Southbound Policy (NSP) in 2016, aiming to expand its development impact among its neighbors. One country that is looking for partners on the creative economy is Indonesia, which has enormous potential for growing both its creative imports and exports.

As part of this public event, CSIS will be releasing a report, Lessons for Building Creative Economies, based on recent case study trips to Taipei, Taiwan and Jakarta, Indonesia. The report will be posted on this webpage on December 3, and hard copies will be available at the public event.

This event is made possible with generous support from the Ministry of Culture of Taiwan.

FEATURING

Hsiao-ching Ting

Chairperson, Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA)

Carlos Díaz-Rosillo

Senior Deputy Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)

Patrick Kabanda

Author, The Creative Wealth of Nations

Lin Neumann

Managing Director, American Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia

The Afghan People Make Their Voices Heard | December 3, 2019 | 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM | 2301 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20037 | Register Here

The past year has been marked by great uncertainty for the people of Afghanistan. Continued attacks, record-high levels of civilian deaths, and the repeated postponement of presidential elections have taken a toll on Afghan society. Meanwhile, unprecedented talks between the U.S. and Taliban inspired both hope and fear before they broke down in September. With confidence in a peace process still tempered by concerns over an abrupt U.S. withdrawal and the implications for Afghan women, the importance of comprehensive, reliable data on the views of Afghan citizens cannot be overstated.

Join USIP as we host The Asia Foundation for the launch of their 15th Survey of the Afghan People. First commissioned in 2004, the annual survey provides an unmatched barometer of Afghan public opinion over time and serves as a unique resource for policymakers, the international community, the Afghan government, and the broader public in Afghanistan. This year’s survey added new questions to further explore Afghan attitudes toward the peace process, elections, and the prospects for reconciliation.

Based on face-to-face interviews with a nationally representative sample of 17,812 citizens across all 34 Afghan provinces, the results reveal citizens’ views on a wide range of key issues, including security, the economy, corruption, justice, reconciliation with the Taliban, access to media, the role of women, governance, and political participation.

Speakers

Nancy Lindborg, opening remarks
President and CEO, U.S. Institute of Peace

David D. Arnold, opening remarks
President and Chief Executive Officer, The Asia Foundation 

Abdullah Ahmadzai
Country Director, Afghanistan, The Asia Foundation

Tabasum Akseer
Director of Policy and Research in Afghanistan, The Asia Foundation

Amb. Daniel Feldman
Asia Foundation Trustee, Senior of Counsel, Covington & Burling; Former U.S Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan

Scott Worden, moderator
Director, Afghanistan and Central Asia Programs, U.S Institute of Peace 

The Seas as the Next Frontier: Is Maritime Security in the Gulf a Flashpoint or Starting Point? | December 4, 2019 | 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM | 1050 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 1060, Washington, DC 20036 | Register Here

On December 4, AGSIW hosts a panel discussion on the issue of maritime security in the Gulf.

The recent attacks on oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz were a potent reminder of the need for the Gulf Arab countries as well as their neighbors and international partners to address an issue of fundamental importance to the region: maritime security.

Until recently, most Gulf Arab countries paid scant attention to maritime security, despite its centrality to their economies. However, the situation has changed considerably in the last decade, as a result of a realization that their lack of military readiness in the Gulf waters and Indian Ocean is a substantial vulnerability. Regional ambitions and a desire to participate in international security initiatives also have served as catalysts for Gulf Arab states’ action.

Yet, even as tensions in and around the Gulf have grown so has a perception that maritime security may provide a sorely needed starting point for discussions between Gulf Arab states and Iran. How do recent events in the Gulf of Oman and elsewhere around the Arabian Peninsula figure into the broader context of regional maritime security? Do the Gulf Arab states share the same threat perceptions and agree on the remedies? What role can international partners play in helping to ensure freedom of navigation in these waterways, which are crucial to global commerce?

Speakers

Nick Childs

Senior Fellow, International Institute for Strategic Studies

Vice Admiral John W. Miller

Consultant and Policy Advisor

Becca Wasser

Senior Policy Analyst, RAND Corporation

Moderator

Emma Soubrier

Visiting Scholar

The Middle East Institute’s 10th Annual Turkey Conference | December 4, 2019 | 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM | National Press Club, 529 14^th Street NW, Washington, DC 20045 | Register Here

The Middle East Institute (MEI) and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) are pleased to host the 10th Annual Conference on Turkey. The conference will bring together policymakers and experts to discuss the challenges Turkey faces domestically and its relations with the Middle East and the West.

Agenda:

9:00am-9:15am | Welcome Remarks
Knut Dethlefsen
Representative to the U.S. and Canada, FES
Gönül Tol
Director, Center for Turkish Studies, MEI

9:15am-10:45am | Panel I: Turkey after the Istanbul elections
Ruşen Çakır
Journalist, Medyascope 
Aykan Erdemir
Senior fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies 
Fehmi Koru
Freelance journalist
Giran Özcan
Washington representative, Peoples’ Democratic Party
Gönül Tol (moderator)
Director, Center for Turkish Studies, MEI

10:45am-11:00am | Coffee Break

11:00am-11:45am | Keynote Remarks & Audience Q&A
Hon. Nils Schmid, MP
Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, German Bundestag
Congressman Brendan F. Boyle
Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, House of Representatives, U.S. Congress
Ambassador (ret.) Gerald Feierstein (moderator)
Senior Vice President, MEI

12:00pm-1:30pm | Panel II: Art in the time of authoritarianism
Kenan Behzat Sharpe
Founder & Co-Editor, Blind Field: A Journal of Cultural Inquiry
Ayşe Öncü
Professor, Department of Sociology, Sabancı University
Sarp Palaur
Director & Musician, Susamam
Lisel Hintz (moderator)
Assistant professor of international relations, Johns Hopkins SAIS

1:30pm-2:30pm | Lunch Buffet

2:30pm-4:00pm | Panel III: Turkey between NATO and Russia
Ivan Safranchuk
Associate Research Scholar & Lecturer, MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies, Yale University
Aydın Selcen
Columnist, GazeteDuvar & DuvarEnglish
General (ret.) Joseph Votel
Distinguished Senior Fellow on National Security, MEI
Jim Zanotti
Specialist, Middle Eastern Affairs, Congressional Research Service
Barbara Slavin (moderator)
Director of Future of Iran Initiative, Atlantic Council

4:00pm | Close

US Strategic Interests in Ukraine | December 4, 2019 | 11:30 AM | Capitol Visitor Center, First St NE, Washington, DC 20515, Congressional Meeting Room North (CVC) | Register Here

Perhaps more than ever before, Ukraine dominates the news and the domestic political conversation. Despite the ongoing debate, Russia continues to wage an undeclared war in Ukraine, which has led to the death of 13,000 Ukrainians. Additionally, Ukraine’s newly elected president and parliament face considerable challenges and opportunities as they pursue critical reforms and a just peace in eastern Ukraine and Crimea. This bipartisan event is meant to reaffirm US support for Ukraine, as well as to propose key policy recommendations for US lawmakers.

Speakers

Welcoming Remarks

The Hon. Marcy Kaptur
US Representative for Ohio’s 9th Congressional District

The Hon. Brian Fitzpatrick
US Representative for Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District

The Hon. Andy Harris
US Representative for Maryland’s 1st Congressional District

Special Remarks

The Hon. Chris Murphy
US Senator for Connecticut

Panel: Why does Ukraine matter to the United States?

Leon Aron
Resident Scholar; Director, Russian Studies
American Enterprise Institute

Ilan Berman
Senior Vice President
American Foreign Policy Council

Heather Conley
Senior Vice President for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic; Director, Europe Program
Center for Strategic and International Studies

Ambassador John Herbst
Director, Eurasia Center
Atlantic Council

Dr. Donald N. Jensen
Editor in Chief, Senior Fellow
Center for European Policy Analysis

Moderated by
Myroslava Gongadze
Chief
Ukrainian Service, Voice of America

Special Remarks

The Hon. Ron Johnson
US Senator for Wisconsin

Panel: What can be done to ensure Ukraine succeeds?

Luke Coffey
Director, Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy, Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy
The Heritage Foundation

Glen Howard
President
The Jamestown Foundation

Jonathan Katz
Senior Fellow
The German Marshall Fund of the United States

Dr. Alina Polyakova
Director, Project on Global Democracy and Emerging Technologies
The Brookings Institution

Dr. Paul Stronski
Senior Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Program
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Moderated by
Melinda Haring
Deputy Director, Eurasia Center
Atlantic Council

Global Partnerships to Combat Cybercrime & the Challenge of Going Dark | December 5, 2019 | 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM | CSIS Headquarters, 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036 | Register Here

Digital technologies are creating new challenges for law enforcement agencies around the world. Cybercrime is proliferating due to the growing sophistication of online criminal networks and the difficulties of trans-national enforcement. Investigations of traditional crimes are also becoming more difficult as encryption, ephemerality, and other technical measures create obstacles for accessing digital evidence. This event will examine how global cooperation can help to address these issues in a way that ensures a balance between the protection of civil liberties and the needs of the law enforcement community.

Agenda

2:15 pm – Registration 

2:30 pm – Keynote 
Ferdinand Grapperhaus, Dutch Minister of Justice and Security

2:50 pm – Moderated Panel Discussion

Theo van der Plas, Chief Superintendent, Deputy Chief Constable, National Program Director Cybercrime and Digitization
Jennifer Daskal, Professor and Faculty Director of the Tech, Law, Security Program at American University Washington College of Law
Matthew Noyes, Director of Cyber Policy and Strategy at the U.S. Secret Service

3:20 pm – Audience Q&A

3:50 pm – Closing Thoughts

4:00 pm – END