Dr. Marc Sageman will join us for a discussion about the evolution of Al Qaeda, and the causes of the radicalization of European Jihadi networks. Dr. Sageman has analyzed the role of religion, poverty, and education, in forming the views and behaviors of Jihadi recruits. His work charts the trajectory of Muslim expatriates, both second …
Dr. Robert A. Pastor, Director, Center for Democracy and Election Management at American University, will join us for a discussion on the outcome and the implications of the 2007 Nigerian Elections. The elections which marked the first democratic transition in Nigeria from one civilian head of state to another, were marred by widespread violence, disruption …
Nigeria’s Elections and Its Implications for US Foreign Policy Read More »
Ambassador Anderbrhan Giorgis, Africa Director for the International Crisis Group, discusses political developments in Zimbabwe. President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF government has undertaken a violent crackdown against political opposition and civil society. Zimbabwe has the highest rate of inflation in the world, 2,200 percent. The combination of an economic meltdown, rampant corruption, humanitarian crisis and repression, …
Larry Wilkerson, U.S. Army Colonel (retired) and former Chief of Staff of the State Department, leads part two of the SNC series on National Security Reform where he discusses his experiences in conducting inter-agency operations within the national security framework. According to Wilkerson, “Interagency cooperation, let alone interagency effectiveness, in implementing Presidential decisions is virtually …
Sheikha Lubna Al Qassimi, the Minister of Economy and Planning of the United Arab Emirates, addressed an audience of Washington-based Gulf watchers at The Henry L. Stimson Center on March 12, 2007. The event was moderated by Lincoln Bloomfield, a member of the Center’s Board of Directors and a former Assistant Secretary of State for …
General Sir Rupert Smith (ret), former Deputy Supreme Commander Allied Powers Europe, discusses whether we are facing a new age of warfare. He contends that war as we traditionally know it, no longer exists. The ends for which we fight are changing. We fight in populated areas, without a distinct battlefield. Our conflicts tend to …
Dr. Lael Brainard, Vice President, The Brookings Institution, and Director of the Global Economy and Development Program, joined Ken Ballen, President of Terror Free Tomorrow, for a discussion on resolving international security challenges and advancing US national interest through effective foreign aid. Ballen will discuss recent research that highlights the relationship between foreign assistance and …
US Foreign Assistance and America’s Image Abroad Read More »
Lawrence Scheinman, Distinguished Professor of the Monterey Institute Center for Non Proliferation Studies, and Laura Holgate, Vice President for Russia/New Independent States Programs, Nuclear Threat Initiative, discuss the concept of a nuclear fuel bank to assure the international supply of nuclear fuel. NTI has offered $50 million to help establish a low enriched uranium stockpile …
A Nuclear Fuel Bank: Risk and Response in the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Read More »
Dr. Julia Sweig, Senior Fellow, Council of Foreign Relations, discusses the current situation in Cuba and the prospects for the country post Castro. After undergoing surgery for a serious, yet undisclosed medical condition, Fidel Castro temporarily handed power over to his brother Raul. All signs suggest that after five decades, Castro’s tenure in power may …
Dr. Steven Spiege from the University of California discusses the most recent meetings of the Conference on Regional Security in the Middle East which took place in Athens. A separate military-to-military meeting also took place in Turkey. These track-two diplomacy meetings were held in the midst of four regional crises-the Israeli-Hezbollah war in Lebanon, the …
Ed O’Connell, Senior Analyst with the RAND Corporation, discusses counterinsurgency and information operations. A key concept in counterinsurgency is to create a strategy to win hearts and minds among the population: to separate the insurgency from its base of support, disrupt the recruitment of insurgents and influence them to turn if possible. Evidence from Iraq …
Gary Roughead (Commander, US Pacific Fleet) shared the efforts by the US Navy to maintain the stability in the Asia-Pacific region.
Dr. Yasuhiro Matsuda, the 2006 Joji Konoshima Distinguished Scholar at the US-Asia Institute, discusses the rise of China as perceived through a Japanese lens. Japan plays a critical role in the current U.S. security architecture within the Asia Pacific region. As China’s regional influence increases, the U.S. appears to be increasingly reliant on its relationship …
China and Japan National Security: A Japanese Perspective Read More »
Kevin Woods from the Institute for Defense Analysis, joined us to discuss the inner workings and behavior of Saddam Hussein’s regime. The fall of Baghdad in April 2003 opened one of the most secretive and brutal governments in history to outside scrutiny. For the first time since the end of World War II, American analysts …
Ami Ayalon, Israeli Labor Party Knesset member joined us for a discussion on the current political situation in Israel and the Middle East and prospects for the future. While the construction of a physical separation between Israelis and Palestinians has many supporters in Israel, the route and nature of this separation is highly debated. This …
Israel-Palestine: Disengagement and the Prospects for Peace Read More »
Tim Carney, former US Ambassador to Haiti and Mark Schneider, Senior Vice President of the International Crisis Group discussed the recent economic and political changes in Haiti, a month after new president Rene Preval took office in May 2006. Speakers discussed the challenges facing the Preval government, as they attempt to recover from decades of …
William Lind, Free Congress Foundation and Chet Richards author of “Neither Shall the Sword” will join us for a discussion of fourth generation warfare and the implications of the shift away from large-scale state-vs-state conflicts. Both writers have been critical of the Defense Department’s efforts at transformation, as well it’s ability to meet current and …
Baron Paul von Maltzahn, German Ambassador in Tehran will join us for a discussion of German policy towards Iran. The Ambassador is a mideast expert who has served in Tehran since 2003. Previously he served as German Ambassador in Cairo, he has also served tours in Damascus, Algiers and Beirut. “Security for a New Century” …
Michael Shifter, Vice President for Policy at the Inter-American Dialogue, discusses ending impunity and the search for truth and reconciliation in Chile. General Augusto Pinochet seized power in a coup in 1973. Under his seventeen year rule an estimated 3,000 people died or disappeared, while some 28,000 were tortured. Chilean Courts stripped the former military …
Chile: The Search for Justice and Accountability Read More »
Simone Monasebian of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) discusses the challenge posed by human trafficking. Each year an estimated one million people – mostly women and children – are trafficked in the United States and around the world and forced to live in slavery-like conditions of forced labor and sexual exploitation. …
Ross Anthony, Associate Director, RAND Corporation and Jim Prince, President of the Democracy Council, discuss economic and social development in Palestine. The recent Palestinian elections highlighted the issues of economic opportunity and corruption. The Palestinian Authority is heavily dependent on foreign donors who make up a substantial part of the budget, including schools, health care …
Ambassador Robert Hunter, Senior Advisor, and Seth Jones, Political Scientist, both with the RAND Corporation and Rob Malley from the International Crisis Group, discuss the current security challenges in Israel and Palestine. After the Hamas victory in the Palestinian elections, President Mahmoud Abbas has declared that Hamas cannot form a government unless it renounces violence. …
Security in Israel and Palestine: After the Rise of Hamas Read More »
Dr. Fiona Hill, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Dr. Anatol Lieven, Senior Research Fellow, at the New America Foundation, discuss the political and security outlook for Chechnya and the North Caucasus in the wake of the recent elections. As predicted the pro-Kremlin United party “won” 60% of the vote, in the first elections …
Chechnya and the North Caucasus: Radical Islam, Insurgency and Human Rights Read More »
Andrew McLaughlin, Senior Policy Counsel for Google, discusses China’s efforts to control the internet. China has developed one of the most sophisticated efforts to filter and regulate the web, involving multiple agencies and layers of government. It attempts to censor web pages, blogs, online chat, and email. The attempts to filter and control the web …
The Southwest Asia project hosted a roundtable discussion on Syria on December 19, 2005. David Ignatius of the Washington Post and Joshua Landis of the University of Oklahoma and Syriacomment.com spoke about Syrian domestic and foreign developments. Landis’ presentation focused on Bashar Assad’s own perception of Syria’s situation and predicament. Landis argued that Bashar, by …
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