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Peace Picks September 30-October 4

Reducing Threats and Building Stability|September 30, 2019|5:00PM-7:30PM|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 in partnership with CARE addressing possibilities for reducing threats and building stability. To address these topics, Ambassador William Burns, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, will be interviewed by reporter Michelle Kosinski. The two will discuss Burns’ book The Back Channel: A Memoir of American Diplomacy and the Case for Its Renewal. Following Ambassador Burns’ presentation, former Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and former Under Secretary of Defense Michele Flournoy will continue the conversation on threat reduction and stabilization, moderated by MEI President Paul Salem.

Ambassador William Burns is president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Michelle Kosinski is CNN’s senior diplomatic correspondent responsible for covering the State Department

Michèle Flournoy is CEO of WestExec Advisors and is the former CEO of CNAS, an organization she co-founded

Ernest Moniz is new chief executive officer and co-chair by the Board of Directors of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) 

Ernest Moniz is chief executive officer and co-chair by the Board of Directors of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) 

Paul Salem (moderator) is president of The Middle East Institute. He focuses on issues of political change, transition, and conflict as well as the regional and international relations of the Middle East

The Struggle for Inclusive Citizenship in Arab Countries|October 1, 2019|2:00PM|Atlantic Council|1030 15th St NW, 12th Floor, Washington DC 20005|Register Here

The Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East and the United Nations Development Programme invite you to a presentation previewing the forthcoming 2019 Arab Human Development Report, followed by a panel discussion. The report will focus on the struggle for citizenship in all its dimensions in Arab countries. Dr. Adel Abdellatif, Senior Strategic Advisor at the Regional Bureau for Arab States, and Paola Pagliani, Policy Specialist from the United Nations Development Programme will present the conceptual framework for the forthcoming report (briefly outlined in this research paper) and preview some of the preliminary results of surveys conducted in twelve Arab countries.

Since the 2011 uprisings, Arab countries have struggled to define a new social contract that would insulate their citizens from forces of exclusion—forces that range from poverty, inequality and unemployment to water scarcity, corruption and gender discrimination. In some cases, reforms and policies aiming at modernization have, as an unintended consequence, generated greater inequality rather than greater inclusion. In other cases, exclusion has fueled societal tensions, instability and ultimately violence, putting people at greater risk of marginalization. If ongoing conflicts are not resolved and demographic projections do not deviate from current trends, 40 percent of people in Arab countries will live in crisis and conflict conditions by 2030.

Presenters

Dr. Adel Abdellatif
Senior Strategic Advisor, Regional Bureau for Arab States
United Nations Development Programme

Ms. Paola Pagliani
Policy Specialist
United Nations Development Programme

Discussants

Dr. Amaney A. Jamal
Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Politics
Princeton University

Dr. James Zogby
Managing Director
Zogby Research Services

Moderator

Ambassador Richard LeBaron
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East
Atlantic Council

The Kashmir Crisis: A Discussion with President Masood Khan|October 1, 2019|12:30PM-2:00PM|Middle East Institute|1763 N St. NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20036|Register Here

On August 5, 2019, India stripped the special status of Kashmir and absorbed the state into the Indian Union. Prime Minister Modi’s decision and the imposition of a communications blackout and strict curfew was denounced in Pakistan and questioned elsewhere. For decades, Pakistan has been trying to draw international attention to legal and human rights issues in Kashmir. The actions of the prime minister have now forced Kashmir on to the world stage and India into a defensive role. Thus far, however, the reactions of major regional and global powers have been muted. Pakistan remains determined to sustain Kashmir’s high profile by pointing out new humanitarian concerns and the growing danger of armed, possibly nuclear conflict. 

Masood Khan is a Pakistani diplomat who serves as the 27th President of Pakistan administered Kashmir

Raza Rumi is the president of INDUS-Moblizing People’s Power, a Washington D.C. based Non Profit research organization

Marvin Weinbaum (moderator) is the director for Afghanistan and Pakistan studies at MEI

Venezuela: From UNGA Commitments to a Global Action Plan|October 2, 2019|1:00PM|Atlantic Council|1030 15th St NW, 12th Floor, Washington DC 20005|Register Here

Venezuela is front-and-center at the United Nations annual meetings in New York. On Monday, in a significant step, governments party to the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR) overwhelmingly voted to invoke it. But what happens if inaction settles in post-UNGA? What is clear is that a deepening of the crisis would trigger new, even more concerning reverberations across Latin America, the Caribbean, the United States, Europe, and beyond. 

To seize the moment for renewed attention to the rapidly-deteriorating situation in Venezuela, the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, in partnership with Foreign Policy Magazine and Florida International University’s Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy, invite you to a post-UNGA discussion on how the international community is likely to coordinate a global action plan to avert further threats to regional and global stability.

Speakers

Luis Guillermo Solís
Former President
Republic of Costa Rica

Amb. Marcel de Vink
Director of Western Hemisphere Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Kingdom of the Netherlands

**Additional speakers to be announced.

Oil, Money, and U.S.-Saudi Relations Since 1954|October 2, 2019|2:00PM-3:30PM|Middle East Institute|1763 N St. NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20036|Register Here

The Middle East Institute is pleased to host a book talk with Thomas Lippman to launch his new book, Crude Oil, Crude Money: AristotleOnassis, Saudi Arabia, and the CIA. In conversation with MEI Senior Vice President Gerald Feierstein, Lippman will delve into 70 years of economic and strategic partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia, examining the ways in which this long standing relationship has withstood deep disagreements and disputes. The talk will focus on the circumstances surrounding King Saud’s agreement with Aristotle Onassis in 1954 for a shipping contract which would affect American business in the kingdom, as well as the Eisenhower administration’s reaction.

Thomas W. Lippman is an award-winning author and journalist who has written about Middle Eastern affairs and American foreign policy for more than three decades, specializing in Saudi Arabian affairs, U.S.- Saudi relations, and relations between the West and Islam

Ambassador (ret.) Gerald Feierstein is senior vice president at MEI. He retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in May 2016 after a 41-year career with the personal rank of Career Minister

Venezuela’s Water Crisis and the Path Forward|October 3, 2019|8:30AM-2:00PM|Center for Strategic and International Studies|1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036|Register Here

Please join CSIS Americas and Future of Venezuela Initiative in collaboration with Plan País for a conference on the water crisis in Venezuela affecting citizen access to drinking water, farmer’s access to irrigated land, and the water management system of the country. Venezuela’s water system is currently facing a number of critical issues and a clear path forward is needed to address the country’s water crisis in the short term and to identify a roadmap for longer term structural reforms addressing all aspects of the national water management system. 
 
The purpose of this conference is to analyze the current threats endangering the nation’s watersheds, the capacity of the water management system to protect the nation’s water resources, and the conditions of multiple entities responsible for assuring access to safe and clean water throughout the country. 
 
Keynote remarks will be provided by Bonnie Glick, Deputy Administrator for USAID. The first panel will cover the diagnostics of the water crisis in Venezuela. The second panel will cover solutions and action plans to help the country rebuild its water management system. Panelists will include Venezuela-based Plan País experts, as well as experts on water management systems from U.S.-based institutions.

This event will take place in both English and Spanish. Simultaneous translation will be available.

Conference Agenda:
8:30 AM – Coffee and Guest Arrivals
9:00 AM – Event Begins
9:10 AM – Keynote Remarks
9:20 AM – Introductory Remarks
9:40 AM – Panel #1: Diagnostic of Water Crisis
10:30 AM – Coffee Break
10:45 AM – Panel #2: Solutions and Action Plans
12:15 PM – Networking Lunch
2:00 PM – Conclusion

Speakers

Juan Andrés Mejía: President, Plan País Committee; Deputy, National Assembly of Venezuela

Bonnie Glick: Deputy Administrator of the US Agency for International Development

José María de Viana: Technical Coordinator for Public Services, Plan País

María Julia Bocco: Water and Sanitation Lead Economist, Inter-American Development Bank

Germán Uzcategui: Mechanical Engineer at the Universidad de los Andes; Adviser to the Executive Director for Eastern Production, PDVSA

Moises Rendon: Director, The Future of Venezuela Initiative and Fellow, Americas Program

Mark L. Schneider: Senior Adviser (Non-resident), Americas Program and Human Rights Initiative

Michael A. Matera: Director and Senior Fellow, Americas Program

Katherine Bliss: Senior Fellow, Global Health Policy Center

Security, Stability, and the Future of Kashmir|October 4, 2019|9:45AM-11:30AM|Hudson Institute|1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 400Washington, DC 20004|Register Here

Hudson Institute will host a discussion on recent developments in Kashmir. Panelists will include the Heritage Foundation’s Jeff Smith, Indian politician and writer Salman Anees Soz, and the Atlantic Council’s Shuja Nawaz. The discussion will be moderated by Aparna Pande, Hudson research fellow and director of the Initiative on the Future of India and South Asia.

On August 5, India revoked the special status of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, dividing the one-time state into two union territories – Jammu and Kashmir as one territory and Ladakh as another. This ushered in security, administrative, and political issues both inside and outside India. Panelists will address these issues, including the domestic security implications of this decision by the Indian government, responses from the international community, and the implications for U.S. foreign policy in the region.

Speakers

Salman Anees Soz: Indian Politician and Author, The Great Disappointment: How Narendra Modi Squandered a Unique Opportunity to Transform the Indian Economy

Shuja Nawaz: Distinguished Fellow, South Asia Center; Former Director, South Asia Center, Atlantic Council

Aparna Pande: Research Fellow and Director, Initiative on the Future of India and South Asia, Hudson Institute

Jeff Smith: Research Fellow, Asian Studies Center, Heritage Foundation