Events

September 21-22. 2009 FPI Forum: Advancing and Defending Democracy.

The Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI) invites you to the 2009 FPI Forum on September 21 and 22, to discuss how the United States and its allies can advance and defend democracy around the world. Please RSVP by registering at www.foreignpolicyi.org/events.

The Obama administration is facing critical decisions regarding the war in Afghanistan and its policies toward countries such as Iran and Russia. The FPI Forum will offer a unique opportunity to reflect on recent developments and to examine the direction of American foreign policy under the leadership of President Obama. The conference will also discuss the role of human rights and democracy in American foreign policy. The 2009 FPI Forum will feature addresses from leading political figures and discussions with American and international policy experts and dissidents.

Monday morning, September 21

Sessions include:

9:30 AM Afghanistan: The War in Washington – Panelists: Congressman Mark Kirk (R-IL), Member, Appropriations Subcommittee on State-Foreign Operations and U.S. Navy Reserve Intelligence Officer with Recent Service in Afghanistan; Brig. Gen. Mark T. Kimmitt, USA (Ret.), Former Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs; Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, Counselor, Center for Strategic and International Studies; Moderator: William Kristol, Board Member, Foreign Policy Initiative and Editor, The Weekly Standard

• 2:30 PM Russia: Roadblocks to Reset – Lilia Shevtsova, Senior Associate, Carnegie Moscow Center; Ivan Krastev, Chair, Centre for Liberal Strategies; Moderator: Fred Hiatt, Editorial Page Editor, The Washington Post
• 5:00 PM Democracy Promotion: The Bush Doctrine in the Age of Obama – Elliott Abrams, Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies, Council on Foreign Relations; Kenneth Wollack, President, National Democratic Institute; Moderator: Doyle McManus, Columnist, The Los Angeles Times
• 8:00 PM Voices of Freedom: A Conversation with Dissidents – Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Egyptian Academic and Democracy Activist; Ali Afshari, Iranian Affairs Analyst and Board Member, Association for Civil Society and Democracy; Moderator: Jeff Gedmin, President, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
• 8:30 AM Iran: After the Elections – Reuel Gerecht, Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies; Ray Takeyh, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations; Karim Sadjadpour, Associate, Middle East Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Moderator: Barbara Slavin, Assistant Managing Editor for World and National Security, The Washington Times
• 10:00 AM Iraq and Afghanistan: Sustaining Success and Achieving Victory – Lt. Gen. David Barno, USA (Ret.), Director, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University, Michael O’Hanlon, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution; Kenneth Pollack, Director, Saban Center for Middle East Policy, The Brookings Institution; Moderator: David Brooks, Columnist, The New York Times

Tuesday morning, September 22

Sessions include:

September 22^nd, 2009, 12.30 – 2pm.

The Henry Jackson Society, Stockholm Network and Fundacion FAES (Spain) are pleased to invite you to a presentation of the new FAES report on:‘Europe: Proposals for Freedom’

In this report, FAES analyses the major challenges that Europe is facing and proposes a series of measures the Union can adopt to address them. European integration after World War II was a success. The desired goals were fully achieved: peace and reconciliation for the European nations; security to ward off the threat of a totalitarian and expansionist model; cooperation based on freedom to reach goals shared by democratic nations and a common ambition for prosperity based on a free market economy. Today, the goals might seem different, but they are not. We are at peace, but peace is not guaranteed. We need to avoid temptations such as diluting the Nation States into a superstructure lacking legitimacy or creating state-like entities which would only revive old conflicts. Overcoming the economic crisis requires openness, competition and integration so that European economies are more dynamic and create employment and wealth.

The event will feature: The Hon José Maria Aznar, (Prime Minister of Spain, 1996-2004); The Rt Hon The Lord David Trimble, (Nobel Prize laureate and former First Minister of Northern Ireland); and Alberto Carnero (Director of the International Section of Fundacion FAES and author of the report). 

Venue: The David Lean Room, BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, London (A sandwich lunch and refreshments will be served between 12.30 and 1pm) FREE to attend but RSVP required and please note that places are limited. Please RSVP to richard.phelps@henryjacksonsociety.org 

September 22, 2009. 10 a.m. – Enlargement of the European Union

The Woodrow Wilson Center holds a director’s forum with Michael Leigh, director-general of enlargement at the European Commission. WWC, One Woodrow Wilson Plaza, Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C.

CONTACT: 202-691-4000. Full details here.  

September 22^nd, 2009, 12:00 – 2:00 PM. “Populist Threats to Democracy in Central America”. As the Honduran crisis unfolds in the early months of the Obama administration, Venezuelan-style populism continues to imperil democratic institutions and the dynamics of international trade in Central America. At the same time, organized crime, drug trade, and gang violence continue to affect regional security.  Hudson Institute’s Center for Latin American Studies — in partnership with the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis — is convening a panel to discuss the political and economic challenges to democracy in the region. Speakers: Eduardo Ulibarri, former editor in chief of La Nacion; former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for the Americas Regina Vargo; nuclear physicist and energy expert Thomas O’Donnell; Diana Villiers Negoponte, nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution; former Foreign Minister of Honduras Roberto Flores Bermudez; and Jaime Daremblum, senior fellow and director of the Center for Latin American Studies at the Hudson Institute. Lunch will be served. To RSVP, please email isaratsis@hudson.org

September 22^nd, 2009 – September 23^rd, 2009. – “China’s Emerging Middle Class: Beyond Economic Transformation”

Just 20 years ago, a distinct socio-economic middle class was virtually non-existent in China. Today, no thorough discussion of the country’s economic, social or political trends is complete without taking into account the rapid emergence of China’s middle class and its impact on the country’s social structure and political system. Falk Auditorium, The Brookings Institution, 1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC. Map  Contact: Brookings Office of Communications. E-mail: events@brookings.edu Phone: 202.797.6105

September 23^rd, 2009, 1:00 PM. – “Elections in Iran, Lebanon, and Indonesia: Implications and Future Developments”

The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding invites you to attend this discussion. In recent months, critical elections have taken place in Iran, Lebanon, and Indonesia. The results of these elections and the events that followed in their wake offer key insights to the contemporary political situation and possible trajectory of future developments in each country. For example, the Indonesian elections reflected improved economic and political circumstances. In Lebanon, the pro-West coalition won, but this victory did not erase the country’s long-standing sectarian and political divisions. Iran’s presidential elections exposed the country’s significant social, economic, and cultural cleavages, as well as deep divisions within its leadership.

ACMCU will host a panel discussion of three experts focusing on these important issues: Augustus Richard Norton, currently Professor of Anthropology and International Relations at Boston University, will discuss Lebanon; Shireen Hunter, Visiting Professor at ACMCU, will discuss Iran; and Imtiyaz Yusuf, Malaysia Chair of Islam in SE Asia at ACMCU, will discuss Indonesia. We hope that you will join us for this timely exchange of ideas. Please RSVP here.  

September 24, 2009. 5 p.m. – Film screening of “Burma VJ: Reporting From a Closed Society,” with Jessica Einhorn, dean of SAIS. Venue: SAIS, Nitze Building, 1740 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. Contact: Felisa Neuringer Klubes, 202-663-5626, fklubes@jhu.edu; http://www.sais-jhu.edu

September 28^th, 2009, 7:30pm. – “How should the left engage with British Muslims?”

Speakers: Rt Hon John Denham MP, Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government; Ed Husain, co-Director, Quilliam; Martin Bright, journalist and commentator; Dr Tahir Abbas, Birkbeck, University of London; and chaired by Jessica Asato, Acting Director, Progress.

Location: West Pier Suite, Umi Hotel, 64 Kings Road, Brighton, BN1 1NA

September 29^th, 2009, 12-2:00 p.m. The Center for International Media Assistance at the National Endowment for Democracy invites you to a luncheon discussion of “Challenges to U.S. Government Support for Media Development”. Featuring: Andrew Green, Author, Challenges to U.S. Government Support of Media Development. With comments by: Troy Etulain U.S. Agency for International Development and Mark Whitehouse IREX. Moderated by: Marguerite Sullivan, Center for International Media Assistance. (Lunch served from 12:00–12:30 p.m.) 1025 F Street, N.W., Suite 800, Washington, DC 20004. RSVP (acceptances only) with name and affiliation by Friday, September 25 to CIMA@ned.org

October 7^th, 2009, 12.30pm. –“What would a real counter-extremism policy look like?”

Policy Exchange and Quilliam- With speakers Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones, National Security Advisor to Rt Hon David Cameron MP; Maajid Nawaz, Director, Quilliam; Paul Goodman, Shadow Communities Minister; and Azhar Ali, Labour Party National Policy Forum. Chaired by Charles Moore, Chairman of Policy Exchange. Location: Rylands Suite, Novotel, Dickinson Street, Manchester, M1 4LX, UK.

2009 Emerging Leaders for Democracy (Cairo, Egypt: November 4 -6, 2009)

The Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) in cooperation with the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Georgetown University’s Center for Democracy and Civil Society, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) are now accepting applications for our 3rd annual regional conferences in the Middle East.  The conferences will examine political reform dynamics in Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt and the impact of U.S. foreign policy.  The purpose of the conferences is to generate recommendations for U.S. policymakers for how to improve its impact and to effectively encourage democratic reform.

To apply to participate in one of the conferences, please fill out and  submit the online application by following the links to the application in English or Arabic.
Applications must be received no later than the following dates: Cairo conference: September 25, 2009 Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, but early applications will be given priority. If you have any questions, please e-mail 2009conferences@pomed.org.

October 27^th, 2009, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. “Democracy that Delivers”

The Center for International Private Enterprise invites you to an international conference on improving the quality of democratic governance and economic growth. Building market economies and building democracies are not mutually exclusive. They are mutually reinforcing. Come and discuss how and why resilient democracies need resilient markets, and vice versa, with renowned international scholars, practitioners, and reformers from around the world.

Sessions will address: How to solidify linkages between democratic governance and sustainable economic growth? What is a market economy and how can it deliver? What are the tools for building democracies that deliver? What is the role of the private sector in strengthening democracy and improving the quality of economic growth? Confirmed speakers: Hernando de Soto, Institute for Liberty and Democracy (Peru); Larry Diamond, Hoover Institution (Stanford University); Robert Litan, Kauffman Foundation; Michael D. McCurry, Former White House Press Secretary; Karen Kerrigan, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council; Jesus Estanislao, Institute for Solidarity in Asia (Philippines); Boris Begovic, Center for Liberal-Democratic Studies (Serbia); Daniel Cordova, Universidad del Pacifico (Peru); Mohammad Nasib, CIPE Afghanistan Office; Ira Millstein, Yale University; Alan Larson, Transparency International; John D. Sullivan, CIPE Location: The Pavilion Room, Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Washington, DC. Full details here.