This week’s peace picks

Another quiet week in DC as the summer nears its end

1. U.S. Drones Policy: Strategic Frameworks and Measuring Effects, American Security Project, Monday August 20, 12:00pm-1:30 pm

Venue: American Security Project, 1100 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 710w, Washington, DC

Join us for a fact-based discussion with leading experts on counterterrorism about how we can better understand the effects and effectiveness of America’s drone campaign.
Are drones effective at containing al-Qaeda? Can we measure the social and political effects of a drone campaign? Is there a way to empirically determine what effects lethal drone strikes have on a country, on a terrorist movement, and on the broader global war on terrorism?

Speakers:

Aaron Zelin is the Richard Borow Fellow at The Washington Institute and the editor of Jihadology.net.
Will McCants is a research analyst at CNA, adjunct faculty at the John’s Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and the editor of Jihadica.com.
Christine Fair is an assistant professor in the Center for Peace and Security Studies (CPASS) at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. She is a renowned expert on South Asia and Islamist groups.

Moderated by:

Joshua Foust 
Fellow for Asymmetric Operations at ASP who researches the strategic uses of drones, terrorism, insurgencies, and national security strategy – focused on Central and South Asia. He is also a columnist for PBS and The Atlantic Monthly.

This discussion will be on the record

The discussion will begin promptly at 12:30 p.m. Please arrive by 12:15 p.m. for registration.

2. Three Elections that Might Change the World, Center for National Policy, Tuesday August 21, 12:00pm-1:00pm

 Venue: Russel Senate Office Building, Room SR-485, Washington, DC 20510

In 2012, elections in the United States and Taiwan, along with the leadership transition in the PRC will all take place in less than a year’s time. What are the prospects for continuity and change in the complex triangle that is the US-PRC-Taiwan relationship?

Featuring:

Richard Bush 
Director, Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies
The Brookings Institution

Wei (Victoria) Hongxia 
Visiting Scholar
Carnegie Endowment’s Asia Program

Anil Mammen 
Fellow for American Government and Politics
Center for National Policy

*A light lunch will be served*