Peace Picks | February 24 – 28

After Suleimani: Crisis, Opportunity, and the Future of the Gulf | February 24, 2020 | 9:00 AM  – 12:15 PM | Center for Strategic and  International Studies | Register Here

The killing of Gen. Qassem Suleimani in January 2020 sent conflicting signals about the depth of U.S. engagement in the Gulf. The United States seems intent to diminish its presence while keeping an active hand in regional affairs. Meanwhile, Russia and China are exploring ways to reshape their own presence in the region.

Please join the CSIS Middle East Program for a conference to examine the Gulf region in the wake of General Qassem Suleimani’s death. Two expert panels will explore security threats and new opportunities for diplomacy in the region. General Joseph L. Votel will then deliver a keynote address on Great Power competition in the Gulf, followed by a Q&A moderated by Jon B. Alterman, senior vice president, Zbigniew Brzezinski chair in global security and geostrategy, and director of the Middle East Program.

Speakers:

General Joseph L. Votel, President and CEO, Business Executives for National Security

Ambassador Anne Patterson, Former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, U.S. State Department

The Honorable John McLaughlin, Distinguished Practitioner in Residence, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)

Dr. Ali Vaez, Iran Project Director, International Crisis Group

Ambassador Douglas Silliman, President, the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington

The Honorable Christine Wormuth, Director, International Security and Defense Policy Center, RAND Corporation

Jon B. Alterman, Senior Vice President, Zbigniew Brzezinkski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy, and Director, Middle East Program

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Solving the Civil War in Libya | February 24, 2020 | 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM| Brookings Institute | Register Here

With armed factions vying for control of the country’s strategic assets and United Nations-facilitated negotiations leading nowhere, 2020 has seen no improvement to the turmoil that has plagued Libya since the ouster of Moammar al-Gadhafi in 2011.While the self-styled Libyan National Army of General Khalifa Haftar continues, unsuccessfully, to try to take over the country militarily, the internationally-recognized government of Prime Minister Fayez Serraj in Tripoli, propped up by militias opposed to Haftar, retains control over major institutions and sources of national wealth. With the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt backing Haftar, and Turkey and Qatar backing Serraj, weapons of increasing sophistication are flowing to opposing sides, pitting foreign powers against each other and violating U.N. sanctions.

Meanwhile, facing a stagnant economy and constant threats to infrastructure, the Libyan people are caught in the crossfire of this protracted jockeying. Unchecked migration and the threat of extremist groups taking hold in the country’s contested spaces likewise make Libya’s internal situation a security concern for Europe and the United States. Solving the civil war in Libya would restore needed stability to a strategically vital part of northern Africa, while laying the groundwork for the prosperity of the Libyan people.

On February 24, the Brookings Institution will host an event to discuss these issues. Moderated by Michael O’Hanlon, the conversation will feature Federica Saini Fasanotti, whose new book “Vincere: The Italian Royal Army’s Counterinsurgency Operations in Africa 1922-1940” provides timely and salient insight into the history of warfare in Libya.

Speakers:

Michael E. O’Hanlon (moderator), Senior Fellow and Director of Research for Foreign Policy at Brookings Institute

Federica Saini Fasanotti, Nonresident Senior Fellow for Foreign Policy and Center for  21^st Century Security and Intelligence at Brookings Institute.

Karim Mezran, Resident Senior Fellow, Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East at the Atlantic Council

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Turkey Forging Its Own Path: Looking at the Changing  US – Turkish Relations | February 24, 2020 | 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM | Middle East Institute| Register Here

Turkey’s relations with the West are at an all-time low. Scarcely a day passes without a report or headline on the front page of leading newspapers questioning Turkey’s reliability as a Western ally. The widening gulf between Turkey and the West and the increasing number and the growing complexity of the issues over which the two sides differ make it imperative to understand the dynamics of the relationship between Turkey and the West. The Middle East Institute (MEI) is pleased to host a launch event for Dr. Oya Dursun-Özkanca’s new book, Turkey–West Relations: The Politics of Intra-alliance Opposition. In her book, Dr. Dursun-Özkanca seeks to explain how and why Turkey increasingly goes its own way within the Western alliance and grows further apart from its traditional Western allies. 

Please join us for a discussion on US-Turkish relations with Dr. Dursun-Özkanca and the director of MEI’s Center for Turkish Studies Dr. Gönül Tol. Books will be available for purchase at the event.

Speakers:

Oya Durson- Özkanca is the endowed chair of International Studies and Professor of Political Science at Elizabethtown College.

Gönül Tol, moderator, is the founding director of The Middle East Institute’s Center for Turkish Studies. 

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Colombian Human Rights Leaders Protect Their Peace | February 24, 2020 | 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM | United States Institute of Peace | Register Here | Will be live webcast

Since the agreement with the FARC was signed in 2016, human rights leaders in Colombia have been operating in an increasingly high-risk climate. Just last month, the U.N. released a report detailing the elevated numbers of threats and assassinations targeting human rights leaders throughout 2019—particularly in rural areas and against those advocating on behalf of women and ethnic groups such as indigenous and Afro-descendant communities. But despite this growing security risk, the winners of the 2019 National Prize for the Defense of Human Rights have worked tirelessly to advance and protect core tenets of the peace agreement in their communities.

Organized by the Swedish humanitarian agency Diakonia and the ACT Church of Sweden, the Colombian National Prize for the Defense of Human Rights honors social leaders as they continue to defend their communities’ right to security, land, education, health, reparations, and access to justice under the 2016 deal.

Join the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Washington Office on Latin America, and the Latin America Working Group Education Fund as we host the winners of the 2019 awards. These leaders will discuss how they engage diverse social sectors as well as local, regional, and national institutions and authorities to promote peace and ensure democratic spaces for civic engagement. 
 
The event will be streamed live. To follow the conversation on Twitter, use #ColombiaPeaceForum.

Speakers:

Clemencia Carabali, 2019 National Prize for the Defense of Human Rights “Defender of the Year” Award Winner, Director, Association of Afro-descendant Women of Norte del Cauca

Ricardo Esquivia, 2019 National Prize for the Defense of Human Rights “Lifetime Defender” Award Winner; Executive Director, Sembrandopaz

Lisa Haugaard, Co-Director, Latin America Working Group Education Fund; Juror, National Prize for the Defense of Human Rights

Annye Páez Martinez, Representative of  the Rural Farms Association of Cimitarra River Valley; 2019 National Prize for the Collective Experience or Process of the Year

Marco Romero, 2019 National Prize for  the Defense of Human Rights “Collective Process of the Year” Award Winner, Director, Consultoría para los Derechos Humanos y e Desplazamiento

Gimena Sánchez- Garzoli, Director for the Andes, Washington Office on Latin America; Juror, National Prize for the Defense of Human Rights

Keith Mines (moderator), Senior Advisor, Colombia and Venezuela, U.S. Institute of Peace

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After Parliamentary Elections: Iran’s Political Future | February 26, 2020 | 10:00 AM – 11:15 AM | Woodrow Wilson Center | Register Here | Event will be live webcast

Iran’s parliamentary elections are set for February 21, 2020. Reformists won a plurality in 2016, but the balance of power is up for grabs after the failure of the reformists’ domestic and foreign agendas, growing discontent reflected in multiple rounds of protests, the tightening security crackdown, and economic woes spawned by the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign.

Speakers:

Robin Wright (moderator), USIP- Wilson Center Distinguished Fellow, Journalist and author of eight books, and contributing writer for The New Yorker

Ali Vaez, Iran Project Director, International Crisis Group

Ariane Tabatabai, Visiting Assistant Professor, Georgetown University

Kenneth Katzman, Specialist, Middle East Affairs, Congressional Research Service

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What’s in store for U.S. – Turkey relations in 2020? | February 27, 2020 | 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM | Turkish Heritage Organization | Register Here

Speakers:

Jennifer Miel, Executive Director, U.S.- Turkey Business Council, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Col. Richard Outzen, Senior Advisor for Syrian Engagement, U.S. Department of State

Mark Kimmit, Brigadier General (U.S. Army, ret)

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José Andrés on Humanitarian Relief | February 27, 2020 | 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace | Register Here

For a decade, Chef José Andrés and his nonprofit, World Central Kitchen, have been on the humanitarian frontlines. What have they learned? And how can the humanitarian sector renew and revitalize itself for the coming decade?

Carnegie President Bill Burns will host Chef Andrés for a wide-ranging and timely conversation, part of The Morton and Sheppie Abramowitz Lecture Series. The series honors former Carnegie president Morton Abramowitz and his wife Sheppie, two renowned leaders in the world of humanitarian diplomacy, and highlights prominent thinkers and doers who follow in their extraordinary footsteps. NPR’s Nurith Aizenman will moderate.

The event will be preceded by a light reception from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.

Speakers:

José Andrés is an internationally-recognized culinary innovator, New York Times bestselling author, educator, television personality, humanitarian, and chef/owner of ThinkFoodGroup. In 2010, he founded World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit that provides smart solutions to end hunger He was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in both 2012 and 2018, and awareded Outstanding Chef and Humanitarian of the Year by the James Beard Foundation.

Nurith Aizenmanis NPR’s correspondent for global health and development. She reports on disease outbreaks, natural and manmade disasters, social and economic challenges, and innovative efforts to overcome them. Her reports can be heard on the NPR News programs Morning Edition and All Things Considered.

William J. Burns is president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He previously served as U.S. deputy secretary of state. He is the author of The Back Channel: A Memoir of American Diplomacy and the Case for Its Renewal.