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Peace Picks | May July 05-09, 2021

1. The Gaza Ceasefire: What’s Next? | July 06, 2021 |  10:00 AM ET | Wilson Center | Register Here

The Wilson Center’s Middle East Program invites you to this seminar on the recent conflict in the Gaza Strip and the tenuous ceasefire that continues to hold by a thread. The panel will discuss the perspectives from Egypt, the Biden administration, as well as those of Israel, Palestine, and the broader Middle East region.

Speakers:

Amb. Motaz Zahran
Ambassador of Egypt to the United States

Joey Hood
Acting Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, US Department of State

David Makovsky
Ziegler Distinguished Fellow, The Washington Institute; Director, Koret Project on Arab-Israel Relations

James F. Jeffrey
Chair of the Middle East Program, Wilson Center; Former Ambassador to Iraq and Turkey, and Special Envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS

Amb. Mark Green (introduction)
President, Director & CEO, Wilson Center

Merissa Khurma (moderator)
Program Director, Middle East Program, Wilson Center

2. The Future of U.S.-China Proxy War | July 06, 2021 |  3:00 PM ET | Foreign Policy Research Institute | Register Here

How will great power military competition between the U.S. and China evolve in the coming years? FPRI’s Aaron Stein and Dominic Tierney will address the possibility of Washington and Beijing aiding rival actors in an intrastate conflict and the future of Sino-U.S. competition.

Speakers:

Dominic Tierney
Senior Fellow, Program on National Security, Foreign Policy Research Institute; Associate Professor of Political Science, Swarthmore College

Aaron Stein
Director of Research, Director of the Middle East Program & Acting Director of the National Security Program, Foreign Policy Research Institute

3. Report launch: Reimagining the US-India trade relationship | July 07, 2021 |  9:00 AM ET | Atlantic Council | Register Here

Despite the well-documented growth in commerce between the United States and India in the past decade, efforts to reach a bilateral trade agreement in the last three years have grown increasingly strained. Longstanding and new disagreements over market access, intellectual property protection, and India’s new data governance frameworks, among other issues, mar attempts to reach even a mini trade deal and highlight the need to find common ground amid an evolving strategic relationship and COVID-19 woes.

How has the US-India trade relationship evolved under the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations? What mechanisms can be implemented to move forward, whether a mini trade deal or FTA negotiations? What challenges still remain?

The Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center hosts a conversation on US-India trade and a path forward to mark the launch of the Center’s latest report, Reimagining the US-India trade relationship.

Speakers:

Amb. Robert Holleyman
Partner, President & CEO, Crowell & Moring LLP

Amb. Jeffrey Gerrish
Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates

Susan Ritchie
Vice President, Trade & Technology Policy, US-India Strategic Partnership Forum

Sahra English
Vice President, Global Public Policy, MasterCard]

Mark Linscott (moderator)
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center

Irfan Nooruddin (introduction)
Director, Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center

4. The Future of Humanitarian Operations: Aid and Politics in Syria | July 07, 2021 |  9:30 AM ET | CSIS | Register Here

While humanitarian access and sovereignty have clashed in other crises, the savviness of aid manipulation has been unprecedented in scale and scope in Syria. What are the larger implications of debates at the Security Council on humanitarian access? How can the aid community adhere to humanitarian principles and not do harm? Should there be red lines?

As we approach the expiration date of the UN mandate to provide cross-border assistance to Syria, our panel of experts will delve into these questions and assess the consequences of business as usual for the aid sector and for long-term stability.

Speakers:

Jake Kurtzer (introduction)
Humanitarian Agenda Director and Senior Fellow, CSIS

Dr. Jon B. Alterman (moderator)
Senior Vice President, Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy, and Middle East Program Director, CSIS

Dr. Zaher Sahloul
President and Co-Founder, MedGlobal; Associate Professor in Clinical Medicine, University of Illinois

Charles Petrie OBE
Former Assistant Secretary-General, UN

Natasha Hall
Senior Fellow with the Middle East Program, CSIS

5. The Next Chapter in U.S.-Pakistan Relations | July 07, 2021 |  12:30 PM ET | United States Institute of Peace | Register Here

As U.S. troops leave Afghanistan, the regional landscape that has dominated the last two decades of U.S.-Pakistan relations is shifting significantly. The Biden administration’s focus on competition with China and increasing climate concerns — coupled with the Pakistani government’s desire to shift focus to geo-economic ties with the United States — offer potential new parameters for the U.S.-Pakistan relationship. Meanwhile, both countries remain vested in the outcome of the Afghan peace process and regional peace and security in South Asia. Can the United States and Pakistan move beyond the persistent challenges in the bilateral relationship to cooperate on the priorities they share?

Speakers:

H.E. Dr. Asad Majeed Khan
Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States

Amb. Richard Olson (moderator)
Senior Advisor, U.S. Institute of Peace

6. The U.S. Legacy in Afghanistan: Past, Present, and Future | July 07, 2021 |  13:00 PM ET | CSIS | Register Here

Two decades after the 9/11 attacks and the overthrow of the Taliban regime, the United States is withdrawing its military forces from Afghanistan. But the war is far from over. Please join the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Transnational Threats Project on Wednesday, July 7 for a conversation on the U.S. legacy in Afghanistan, the current U.S. withdrawal, and the future trajectory of the war. 

Speakers:

Carter Malkasian
Former Special Assistant, Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Author of The American Way of War in Afghanistan

Gina Bennett
Senior Counterterrorism Advisor, National Counterterrorism Center

Seth G. Jones (moderator)
Senior Vice President, Harold Brown Chair, and Director of the International Security Program, CSIS

7. Rising Tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean | July 08, 2021 |  4:00 AM ET | International Crisis Group | Watch the seminar here

The Eastern Mediterranean has always been an important political and cultural region. The most recent additions include the findings of natural gas and the internationalization of the Libyan civil war. In combination with political shifts, these developments sparked a new escalation between Turkey and its neighbors, namely Greece and Cyprus. After reaching a peak in 2020, the tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean have most recently decreased and international actors hope to return to a more constructive partnership.

The panel will discuss the tensions between Turkey and Greece, the roles of the EU and the US in the region, and the regional dimensions of energy competition and disputes in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Speakers:

Tareq Baconi
Senior Analyst for Economics of Conflict, International Crisis Group

Alissa De Carbonnel
Deputy Program Director for Europe and Central Asia, International Crisis Group

Charles Ellinas
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council

Ioannis Grigoriadis
Senior Research Fellow, Head of Turkey Programme, Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy

Berkay Mandıracı
Analyst for Turkey, International Crisis Group

8. Reconstruction in Gaza: Between Israel’s Siege and the Politics of International Funding | July 08, 2021 |  9:30 AM ET | Arab Center Washington DC | Register Here

This webinar will focus on the current situation in Gaza and reconstruction efforts following the recent Israeli attacks. Speakers will discuss the continuous cycle of destruction and reconstruction in Gaza, the challenges to rebuilding and development programs, the effects of the 14-year Israeli blockade, and the politics of international funding.

Speakers:

Yara M. Asi
Non-Resident Fellow, Arab Center Washington DC; Post-Doctoral Scholar, University of Central Florida

Sean Carroll
President and CEO, American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera)

Joseph P. Saba
Senior Adviser, Fragile and Conflict States, The World Bank; Adjunct Professor, Rule of Law for Development Program, Loyola University Chicago

Khalil E. Jahshan (moderator)
Executive Director, Arab Center Washington DC

9. Paper launch: How Hezbollah holds sway over the Lebanese state | July 08, 2021 |  10:30 AM ET | Chatham House | Register Here

Hezbollah is a hybrid actor, enjoying state legitimacy in Lebanon and operating both within and outside the state without being accountable to the state.

A new Chatham House paper on How Hezbollah Holds Sway over the Lebanese State provides insight into Hezbollah’s journey to power and argues that it has achieved this by consolidating control through elite pacts and by taking advantage of weaknesses in the Lebanese state system and infrastructure.

At this webinar, panellists explore the paper’s findings and consider what the future may hold for Hezbollah, particularly in the context of rapid deterioration in Lebanon and the renewed drive by Western policymakers to achieve reform in the country.

Speakers:

Joseph Daher
Visiting Professor, University of Lausanne

Lina Khatib
Director, Middle East and North Africa Programme, Chatham House

Mona Yacoubian
Senior Adviser, U.S. Institute for Peace

Emile Hokayem (moderator)
Senior Fellow for Middle East Studies, IISS

10. Rural/urban divide: A call for action | July 09, 2021 |  9:00 AM ET | Atlantic Council | Register Here

Panel discussion on the economic divide between rural and urban populations. If the post COVID-19 recovery is to be truly inclusive, then it is critical to understand the geographical distribution of growth, an issue which still receives less attention than other dimensions of inequality. Economists, international financial institutions, governments, and think tanks all need to devote more resources to identifying policies that lift the fortunes of “forgotten” places. These panelists will discuss policy options to address this critical global issue. 

Speakers:

Timothy J. Bartik
Senior Economist, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research

Era Dabla-Norris
Division Chief, Asia and Pacific Department, International Monetary Fund

Martin Mühleisen
Special Advisor to the Managing Director, International Monetary Fund

Andrés Rodriguez-Pose
Princesa de Asturias Chair and Professor of Economic Geography, London School of Economics

Dr. Nicole Goldin (moderator)
Managing Principal, NRG Advisory; Nonresident Senior Fellow at the GeoEconomics Center, Atlantic Council