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WORLD POLICY INSTITUTE EVENTS 2006 Selected webcasts are available at www.fora.tv.
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January 24, 2006
When Islam and
Democracy Meet: Sponsored by The Program on Citizenship and Security at The World Policy Institute.
Islam has become a major theme in
political, social, and religious life in the United States and
Europe, amid debates over increased immigration from Muslim
countries and the role of Islam in democratic states. Based on her
book, When Islam and Democracy Meet - Muslims in Europe and in the
United States, which will be released in paperback in January 2006,
Jocelyne Cesari examines how Muslims in the West are challenging the
notion that a clash of civilizations is inevitable. Comparing the
relationships of Muslims with their U.S. and European host
societies, she shares insights into the implications of increased
Islamic visibility, evaluates the likelihood of violent
confrontations, and articulates a path to beneficial cooperation.
Professor Cesari is Visiting Professor in Anthropology and Religious
Studies at Harvard University, and Senior Research Fellow at the
National Center for Scientific Research in Paris. February 2, 2006 Why Turkey and Why Now? More than any other time in the past few decades, Turkey can play a pivotal role in advancing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and become a major political and economic force in the Middle East. Unlike the European nations and even the United States, Turkey enjoys good relations with all the major players in the region. To achieve this, it has improved relations with Iran, mended a conflict over water with Syria, refrained from being dragged into the war in Iraq, made far reaching constitutional and legislative reforms, dramatically expanded economic trade and military cooperation with Israel, and has become directly involved in Palestinian economic development. Turkey’s role as a bridge between the Islamic world and Europe will also be explored. Turkey has gone through a broad reform process to qualify for EEC membership. How far will it go with its reforms? With Omer Onhon, Turkish Counsel General in New York, and former Head of the Department for the Middle East in the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Moshe Maoz, Professor of Middle Eastern studies at Hebrew University and author of 14 books and 50 articles on Arab-Israeli relations, Syrian history, and Palestinian politics. Moderated by Alon Ben-Meir, World Policy Institute Project Leader on the Middle East.
February 9, 2006 Bush’s Second Term: The Same Old Foreign Policy?
Most second term
presidents have difficult tenures. President Bush's second go-round
seems to be suffering that fate, especially in the field of foreign
policy. With three years to go, Bush is facing growing confusion and
anger among the Americans over the unresolved Iraq war, the nuclear
arming of North Korea and Iran, the unfettered spying by the
National Security Agency, the fallout from the CIA agent Valerie
Plame imbroglio, the claim of unbounded executive power to fight
terrorism, the extraordinary and expanding trade imbalance, and
America's unpopularity around the globe. At first, Bush's response
was that he would moderate his global policies and multilateralize
his approach to world issues. His Secretary of State, Condelezza
Rice, has pursued a modest course correction, but the president's
fundamental attitudes toward the rest of the world appear unchanged.
As a most recent example, he gave a recess appointment to a
right-wing hardliner as America's envoy to the UN, John Bolton. How
will the US conduct its global business over the next three years?
Are there alternatives today to Washington's unilateralism? Is the
Bush era really at an end? If not, how do progressives survive the
final three years? Moderated by Stephen Schlesinger, Director, World Policy Institute.
Old Europe vs. New Europe
The issues of
migration, immigration and security lie at the heart of the evolving
relationship between the 'old' and the 'new' Europe. Squaring the
circle for all of the competing interests, from the need for new
workers to keep economies vibrant, to increasing anti-immigrant
feelings among key sector of Europe's working class, to the
challenges of integrating disparate immigrant populations, are among
the issues this panel will address. As Eastern European states add
their voices to the already discordant note all too often being
sounded by the British government in Brussels, how is the political,
economic, ideological and indeed philosophical map of Europe going
to change as the EU seeks to define a common identity and set of
interests for the continent? Moderated by Ian Cuthbertson, Senior Fellow, World Policy Institute.
The Party of Davos: How Globalization has Reshaped America
Jeff Faux, President Emeritus of the
Economic Policy Institute, and Sherle R. Schwenninger, Senior Fellow
at the World Policy Institute at The New School, will discuss the
themes of Mr. Faux's new but already widely acclaimed book, The
Global Class War: How America’s Bipartisan Elite Lost Our Future—And
What It Will Take to Win It Back. Thanks to globalization, political
leaders in Washington have more in common with the rich and powerful
of other nations than with ordinary Americans—forming what Mr. Faux
calls the Party of Davos. And as a result, they support an economic
constitution that principally protects the interests of the
corporate investor at the expense of the economic well-being and
security of most Americans. Mr. Faux and Mr. Schwenninger will
discuss how the economic rules of globalization can be reshaped to
work for everyone.
March 9, 2006 Exiting Iraq: Is There Any Strategy? The Bush administration has made withdrawal of the American forces from Iraq conditional on the building up of an Iraqi army and the establishment of a working government even though these goals appear to be increasingly illusory. Others favor increasing America's commitment of forces, arguing that an American pullout would lead to a full-scale civil war and further chaos, turning Iraq into a haven for terrorists. Yet others contend that the presence of American forces may themselves be a catalyst for the insurgency and a contributing cause of the intensifying civil war, and argue for an American withdrawal. Three knowledgeable experts weigh the merits of these positions and offer their own informed view of the unfolding civil war in Iraq and what the United States should do. With James H. Nolt, Senior Fellow, World Policy Institute; Rajan Menon, Monroe J. Rathborne Professor of International Relations, Lehigh University, and Fellow, New America Foundation; and Nir Rosen, Fellow, New America Foundation and author of In the Belly of the Green Bird: The Triumph of the Martyrs in Iraq, forthcoming from Simon and Shuster. Moderated by Sherle Schwenninger, Senior Fellow, World Policy Institute.
March 16, 2006 What’s Happened to Women’s Rights Around the Planet? Michelle Bachelet is elected President of Chile! Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson of Liberia becomes Africa's first female head of state!! And the Chancellor of Germany, the "fatherland," now has a female Chancellor, Angela Merkel!!! The world of politics, power and participation is finally changing for women. No longer is the idea of female political leadership confined to Scandinavia or Asia--or even to widows with custodial power as was true in Nicaragua, Panama and Guyana. Does the Bush Administration's advocacy of women's rights in the Middle-East advance female participation in the region? Where will this sea change in participation go next (Peru? the US?) and how will international politics be transformed? With Dr. Blanche Wiesen Cook, prize-winning biographer of Eleanor Roosevelt, Distinguished Professor, John Jay College, CUNY Graduate Center; Patricia Ellis, Executive Director, Women’s Foreign Policy Group; Nadine Hack, President, beCause Global Consultants, and advisor on international cause related strategies; and Jennifer Whitaker, Senior Fellow, Ralph Bunche Institute, CUNY. Moderated by Claudia Dreifus, Senior Fellow, World Policy Institute, and writer for New York Times/Science Times.
March 23, 2006 Privatizing America’s Foreign Policy
With Douglas Brooks, Founder and President, International Peace Operations Association (IPOA); Marcela Gaviria and Martin Smith, Co-Producers, PBS Frontline documentary “Private Warriors,” chronicling the activities of private military companies in Iraq; and William Hartung, President’s Fellow at the World Policy Institute and Director of the Institute’s Arms Trade Project.
Moderated by Michael A. Cohen,
Co-Project Leader, Privatization of Foreign Policy Project, World
Policy Institute.
March 23-25, 2006
Immigration
and Security:
Rabeya Mueller, Mira Kamdar, and Claudia Koonz discuss religion and immigration at the Heinrich Boell Foundation March 25, 2006 Cosponsored by the Program on Citizenship & Security at the World Policy Institute, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik (German Council for Foreign Relations).
April 6, 2006 Fortress America’s Barriers to Global Talent
America has long
been seen as the destination of choice for the world's best and
brightest. But in the past few years, hastily implemented post-9/11
security measures and a long-neglected immigration system created
a bottleneck in visa processing. Applications from foreign students
to U.S. universities dropped precipitously, and businesses reported
a conservative estimate of over $30 billion in losses because of
visa delays. Even as the government has worked to resolve bureaucratic
glitches, an increasingly rancorous debate over whom to let in to
America threatens to undermine our ability to attract global talent.
How are these developments affecting America's status as a center
of innovation, and what should be done to keep America competitive
in face of growing global competition for talent?
Mariam Assefa, Executive Director of World Education Services and 2006 President of NAFSA: Association of International Educators; Richard Garnick, President of North American Services, Keane, Inc.; and Michael Panzner, Vice President, Rabo Securities, and author of The New Laws of the Stock Market Jungle: An Insider’s Guide to Investing in a Changing World (Prentice Hall, 2005). Moderated by Michele Wucker, World Policy Institute Senior Fellow and Author of Lockout: Why America Keeps Getting Immigration Wrong When Our Prosperity Depends on Getting It Right (Public Affairs, May 2006). Webcast available at www.fora.tv
April 13, 2006 With a global trend toward democracy plus its remarkable success at economic development the question often arises whether China will make commensurate progress in democratization. There have been a few hopeful signs at the local level, including some competitive elections, but even there democratization is limited. Unrest has been growing among peasants and others left behind by economic progress and frustrated by corruption and lack of political responsiveness. At the national level there are some indications that toleration for dissent, essential for democracy, is actually decreasing. What are the obstacles to democratization in China? Are there now more pressures for democratization because of the vast expansion of education and the middle class? Is it possible China could experience top-down democratization initiated by the Communist authorities as happened throughout much of the former Soviet Bloc?
Dr. Andrew J. Nathan, Class of 1919 Professor and Chair of Political Science at Columbia University; Dr. Yan Sun, Professor of Political Science at the Graduate Center and Queens College, City University of New York; Dr. Cheng Chen, Assistant Professor of Political Science, State University of New York at Albany; and Sijin Cheng, China Analyst at the Eurasia Group and PhD candidate, Boston University. Moderated by Dr. James Nolt, Senior Fellow, World Policy Institute and Adjunct Professor of Political Science, The New School. Webcast available at fora.tv
April 17, 2006 Ask Me No Questions: Security and Immigrant Families post-9/11 Co-sponsored by The Program on Citizenship & Security and Breakthrough Marina Budhos will read from her newest novel, Ask Me No Questions, about two illegal teenage Bangladeshi girls, snared in a post-9/11 crackdown. When their father is detained at the Canadian border, one of them must find the strength to save her family. Ask me No Questions is a young adult novel. Ms. Budhos is an author of award-winning fiction and nonfiction who frequently writes about the collision of cultures. Ms. Budhos has been a Fulbright Scholar to India, has given talks throughout the country and abroad, and has taught at several universities and colleges. She has also served as an editor and consultant to a variety of projects. She is an assistant professor of English at William Paterson University. Theresa Thanjan will introduce the award-winning documentary she produced and directed, "Whose Children Are These?" Ms. Thanjn has worked within immigrant communities for ten years as a social worker and activist. The film provides a gripping view into the world of three Muslim teenagers impacted by the post 9/11 security measure Special Registration: Navila, who fought to have her father released from prison detention; Sarfaraz, who confronts pending deportation; and Hager, a young woman spurred into activism as a result of circumstances.
April 20, 2006 Mexico’s Perilous Presidential Election
On July 2,
Mexico will hold one of the most critical presidential elections in
its history. Will the country return to the PRI, the party that
dominated the government for seven decades until Vincente Fox's
surprise victory in 2000; or will it complete its transition to a
true, multi-party democracy? Three men are furiously vying for the
position and, according to polls, are separated by only a few
percentage points. Which caudillo will lead Mexico into the future
-- and in what direction? Would a win by populist Andres Manuel
Lopez Obrador be yet another sign that Latin America is turning
Left? And where does Zapatista Subcomandante Marcos' "Other
Campaign" fit into the picture? Moderated by Stephanie Elizondo Griest, Senior Fellow, World Policy Institute.
The Bush Agenda: Sponsored by the Arms Trade Project
With Antonia
Juhasz,
author of the forthcoming book,
The Bush Agenda: Invading the
World, One Economy at a Time,
and former
Project Director of the International Forum on Globalization. The
book tracks the radical neo-liberal economic program the Bush
administration has tried to impose on Iraq, which threatens to leave
Iraq's economy and oil reserves largely in the hands of
multinational corporations. May 6, 2006 Armageddon and Indian Point: A Conversation with Helen Caldicott, Jonathan Schell and William Hartung Dr. Helen Caldicott, president of the Nuclear Policy Research Institute, and Jonathan Schell, Harold Willens Peace Fellow at the Nation Institute, discuss the dangers of a prospective revival of nuclear power and weapons in the 21st century. Co-sponsored by the Wolfson Center for National Affairs and the World Policy Institute at the New School, the conversation emphasizes the fatal nexus of proliferation, terrorist groups, and newly aggressive nuclear policies of the United States and other nuclear powers. Dr Caldicot has devoted the last 35
years to an international campaign to educate the public about the
medical hazards of the nuclear age and the changes in human behavior
that are necessary to stop environmental destruction. She has
founded numerous organizations including Physicians for Social
Responsibility, the STAR (Standing for Truth About Radiation)
Foundation, and most recently the Nuclear Policy Research Institute
(NPRI) where she is also president. In addition to lecturing widely,
she has received a wide-array of honors, has been the subject of
award-winning documentaries, and is the author of five books,
including The New Nuclear Danger: George Bush's Military Industrial
Complex in 2001. December 14, 2006 Trust Building between Police and
Immigrants:
Left to Right: Craig Ferrell, Houston Police Department and MajorCities Chiefs Association; Salma Ahmad, President, Islamic Society of Greater Portland, Bilal Mosque, Portland, Oregon; Anita Khashu, Vera Institute of Justice; and Mohammed Razvi, Council of Peoples Organizations December 14, 2006 Recent federal efforts to deputize local law enforcement agencies in immigration enforcement have profound implications for trust between immigrant communities and police. Some cities have heeded the federal government’s call; others –like Portland, Oregon—have refused, citing the potential damage to their relationships with immigrant communities and resulting ability to fulfill their core public safety mandate. This panel discussion provides varied perspectives from across the United States on the mutual challenges and successes of recent trust-building efforts, and on responses to new and proposed policies that threaten relationships between local law enforcement officials and immigrant communities. Delores Jones Brown (Moderator) Director, Center on Race, Crime, and Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice Marwan Ahmad Director, Muslim Voice, Phoenix, Arizona Dean Esserman Chief of Police, Providence, Rhode Island Salma Ahmad President, Islamic Society of Greater Portland, Bilal Mosque, Portland, Oregon Anita Khashu (Discussant) Director, Center on Immigration and Justice, Vera Institute for Justice, New York City Location: John Jay College of Criminal Justice 899 10th Ave (between 57th and 58th Streets) Room 630 Sponsors: Immigration Policy Center (part of the American Immigration Law Foundation) and John Jay College: International Center for Human Rights; Center on Race, Crime, and Justice; and Center for Crime Prevention and Control. Co-sponsors: Brennan Center for Justice (New York University Law School) and Vera Institute of Justice
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