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Peace Picks | October 7 – 11

A Vision for the Future of Missile Defense | October 7, 2019 | 9:30 am – 12:00 pm | 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036 | Register Here

The CSIS Missile Defense Project is pleased to welcome Vice Admiral Jon Hill, Director of the Missile Defense Agency, to speak on his vision and intent for the Agency. An industry panel will follow his remarks. 

Event Schedule 

9:30-10:30 Conversation between VADM Jon Hill and Dr. Tom Karako, Director, Missile Defense Project. 

10:30-10:40 Coffee break

10:40-12:00 Panel discussion featuring Sarah Reeves, Vice President of Missile Defense Programs, Lockheed Martin Space, John Schumacher, Vice President, Washington Operations, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Paul Smith, Vice President and Program Director of GMD, Boeing, Dr. Mitch Stevison, Vice President, Raytheon Missile Systems, and Brig. Gen. Kenn Todorov (USAF, ret.), Vice President of Missile Defense Solutions, Northrop Grumman Corporation. 

More than a Wallet: The Role of the Private Sector in Development | October 7, 2019 | 10:00 am – 11:30 am | 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036 | Register Here

The international community predominately sees the private sector as the answer to the gap in financing for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but what other roles can the private sector play in development? Large multinational corporations have been operating in some of the most fragile contexts for years and could offer technical assistance to NGOs and aid agencies. The private sector also supplies 9 out of 10 jobs in developing countries and can help encourage foreign direct investment. Development agencies could also learn from the private sector’s longstanding and resilient value chains throughout emerging markets. This event will explore these topics and feature representatives from the U.S. government, multinational corporations, SMEs, and development practitioners. 

FEATURING

Richard Crespin

CEO, CollaborateUp

Melissa Scudo Gasmi

Senior Vice President, Middle East and North Africa, Chemonics International

Ky Johnson 

Senior Advisor, mClinica

Michael Eddy

Private Sector Engagement Coordinator, USAID

New Strategic Visions and Power Competition in the Middle East |October 8, 2019 | 9:00 am | Atlantic Council, 1030 15^th St NW, 12^th Floor, Washington, DC 20005 | Register Here

In collaboration with the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the conference will discuss new strategic visions and power competition in the Middle East. The event is organized within the framework of the fifth edition of MED – Rome Mediterranean Dialogues, which will take place later this year in Rome.

The growing power of China and the renewed assertiveness of Russia seem to be a prelude to a new phase of depreciation of Western impact on the rest of the world, if not the opening of a great competition for the redistribution of power and international status. In the context of this global reassessment, the configuration of regional orders has come into question, illustrated by the current collapse of the Middle Eastern order. The idea of a “Russian resurgence’” in the Middle East set against an American withdrawal has captured the attention of policymakers and scholars alike and warrants further examination of renewed power competition in the region. 

We hope you will join us for this important event, which will also mark the release of a new collected volume, “The MENA Region: A Great Power Competition,” edited by Karim Mezran and Arturo Varvelli.

9:00 a.m. Introductory remarks

Amb. Giampiero Massolo
President
Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI)

H.E. Armando Varicchio
Ambassador
Embassy of Italy to the United States

9:30 a.m. Update on current US strategy toward the region

Mr. David Schenker
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs
US Department of State

10:15 a.m. Transatlantic foreign policy in the MENA region

Amb. Barbara Leaf
Senior Fellow
The Washington Institute

Dr. Haizam Amirah-Fernández
Senior Analyst
Elcano Royal Institute

Mr. William Wechsler
Director, Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East Programs
Atlantic Council

11:40 a.m. New policies for old actors: Russia, China, Iran, and Turkey

Dr. Jon Alterman
Director, Middle East Program
Center for Strategic and International Studies

Dr. Mark N. Katz
Nonresident Senior Fellow
Atlantic Council

Dr. Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi
Research Fellow
Royal United Services Institute

Dr. Gönül Tol
Director, Center for Turkish Studies
Middle East Institute

1:00 p.m. Lunch Served

1:20 – 2:30 p.m. Keynote Address: A new strategic vision for the United States

Gen. Joseph Votel
Former Commander
US Central Command (CENTCOM)

Moderators

Dr. Karim Mezran
Senior Fellow, Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East
Atlantic Council

Dr. Arturo Varvelli
Senior Research Fellow and Co-Head, Middle East and North Africa Center
ISPI

The Global Challenge of Political Polarization | October 8, 2019 | 12:15 pm – 1:45 pm | 1779 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington, DC 20036 | Register Here

Political polarization is tearing at the seams of democracies around the world, from Bangladesh, Brazil, and India, to Poland, Turkey, and the United States.  Why is polarization coming to a boil in so many different places at once? Is polarization similar everywhere or marked by substantial differences?  How can severely divided democracies restore at least some national political consensus?  Are there relevant lessons for the United States from polarized democracies elsewhere? Thomas Carothers will address these questions, drawing on the new book he has co-edited with Andrew O’Donohue, Democracies Divided: The Global Challenge of Political Polarization. Anne Applebaum, Naomi Hossain, and Sarah Yerkes will provide in-depth perspectives on key country cases.

THOMAS CAROTHERS

Thomas Carothers is senior vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. In that capacity he oversees all of the research programs at Carnegie. He also directs the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program and carries out research and writing on democracy-related issues.

ANNE APPLEBAUM

Anne Applebaum is a columnist for the Washington Post and a Pulitzer-prize winning historian. She is also a senior fellow at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

NAOMI HOSSAIN

Naomi Hossain is a political sociologist at the Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, currently based at the Accountability Research Center at American University. She is the author of The Aid Lab: Understanding Bangladesh’s Unexpected Success.

SARAH YERKES

Sarah Yerkes is a fellow in Carnegie’s Middle East Program, where her research focuses on Tunisia’s political, economic, and security developments as well as state-society relations in the Middle East and North Africa.

CARLOS LOZADA

Carlos Lozada is the nonfiction book critic of the Washington Post and a Carnegie Endowment visiting scholar. He is also an adjunct professor of political journalism with the University of Notre Dame’s Washington program.

Trade, Development, and Security: A Discussion on the Potential of a US-Egypt Free Trade Agreement | October 9, 2019 | 9:00 am – 10:30 am | Middle East Institute, 1763 N St. NW Washington, District of Columbia 20036 | Register Here

The Middle East Institute (MEI) is pleased to host an event addressing the possibility of a US-Egypt Free Trade Agreement within the wider context of Egyptian development, economy, and security. A US-Egypt Free Trade Agreement has been under discussion, on and off, for the better part of two decades. A new report launched by MEI, “Trade, Reform and Revitalization: Towards a Free Trade Agreement,” finds that a free trade agreement would be mutually beneficial, but its success will depend on the adoption of the kind of reforms integral to the growth of Egypt’s economy. Without vibrant growth, powered by an active private sector, Egypt’s economy may falter, affecting its political and economic stability and security.

To address this topic, CEO of the AmCham Egypt Inc in Egypt Hisham Fahmy will be accompanied by Deborah Lehr, CEO of Basilinna, and Mirette F. Mabrouk, the director of MEI’s Egypt Studies program. Ambassador Gerald Feierstein, MEI’s senior Vice President, will moderate the discussion.

Belt and Road in Latin America: Where does the future lie? | October 9, 2019 | 9:00 am – 10:30 am| 1030 15^th St NW 12^th Floor, Washington DC, 20005 | Register Here

Over the past six years, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has expanded across the globe, drawing varied reactions ranging from full-on support to deep-running skepticism. Latin America and the Caribbean, long considered peripheral to the BRI, is increasingly engaging with the initiative – 19 countries have already signed on. As BRI continues to evolve, what are some new areas and trends to watch? What are the implications of BRI for regional governments and the business community? In what ways could BRI affect the United States and its interests?

Join the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center on Wednesday, October 9, 2019, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. (EDT) for a high-level conversation on the BRI in Latin America and its implications for the region.

*Speakers to be Announced*

By, With, and Through: A Closer Look at CENTCOM’s Approach in the Middle East | October 10, 2019 | 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm | Middle East Institute, 1763 N Street NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20036 | Register Here

The effective prosecution of America’s new global priority of competing with China and Russia requires the reallocation of U.S. military resources from the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific region and elsewhere. This in turn places a higher premium on U.S. security cooperation with partners in the Middle East.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM)’s “By, With, and Through” approach can help further the goals of security cooperation and specifically develop closer ties with partner forces in the region. But is it working? And if it isn’t, what are the main challenges both at home and abroad, and what will it take to generate better results?

The Middle East Institute (MEI) is pleased to convene a panel of experts to reflect on this subject. Bilal Y. Saab, MEI’s Senior Fellow and Director of the Defense and Security Program, will discuss some of the key findings of an upcoming publication in the 2019 Fall issue of The Washington Quarterly entitled, “Broken Partnerships: Can Washington Get Security Cooperation Right?.” He will be joined by General Joseph Votel, former CENTCOM Commander and currently a nonresident distinguished senior fellow at MEI; Dana Stroul, senior fellow in The Washington Institute’s Beth and David Geduld Program on Arab Politics; and Kenneth Pollack, author of Armies of Sand: The Past, Present, and Future of Arab Military Effectiveness and a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. The conversation will be moderated by Eric Schmitt of the New York Times.

Elections, Peace Talks, and U.S. Policy: What’s Next for Afghanistan? | October 10, 2019 |1:00 pm — 2:30 pm | One Woodrow Wilson Plaza 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20004 6th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center | Register Here

Eighteen years after U.S. forces entered Afghanistan, the country is not only still at war—it is also in a state of flux. Its political future is uncertain, with the final results of a September 28 presidential election not expected until November. The fate of a fledgling peace and reconciliation process has been unclear since U.S. President Donald Trump called off talks with the Taliban. The direction of U.S. policy, and particularly the future American military presence, is also a major question. This event will take stock of Afghanistan’s various challenges amid so much uncertainty; discuss what we can expect to see in the coming weeks and months; and consider the best—and worst—ways forward for Kabul and Washington.

Speakers

Karen Coats

Independent Consultant

Jonathan Schroden

Director, Center for Stability and Development, CNA Corporation

Munaza Shaheed

Journalist and TV Host, Voice of America

Johnny Walsh

Senior Program Officer for Afghanistan, U.S. Institute of Peace

Mariam Wardak

Social Activist and Co-Founder, Her Afghanistan