Past Events

The Transatlantic Alliance and the Western Balkans: Regional Challenges and Options for a Common EU and US Response

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Amid a growing number of foreign policy rifts between the United States and the European Union, the Western Balkans remains one region where the new US administration has identified an opportunity for close cooperation with Brussels.

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Yet while the United States and European Union remain committed to a number of common policy objectives in the Western Balkans, they frequently disagree on how best to achieve them.

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Especially in the most vulnerable states, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), an overarching EU-US approach has not yet been developed and agreed upon. Differences include whether to use political tools such as sanctions to deter challenges to BiH's sovereignty and territorial integrity. There is also a disagreement about the timing and sequencing of critical reforms needed to remove bottlenecks in the governance system and move BiH closer to EU and NATO membership.

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Many Balkans watchers recall Lord Ashdown’s tenure as High Representative and EU Special Representative to BiH as a time when the Europeans and Americans worked well together in developing and executing a common strategy. As European political leaders convene in Sofia for the Western Balkan Summit, we will talk about the past and present challenges to transatlantic cooperation in the Western Balkans and how these might be overcome. The timing for such a discussion is critical, given the renewed secessionist threats in the region and the need for a joint US and EU response to grapple with this challenge.

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Rt Hon Lord Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon GCMG KBE PC was born in New Delhi on 27 February 1941, the eldest of 7 children. Ashdown served as a Royal Marines Officer from 1959 to 1972 before joining the British Foreign Service. He first ran for office as a Liberal candidate in 1976 and was elected leader of the Liberal Democrats in 1988. He was made a Knight of the British Empire (KBE) in 2000 and a peer in 2001. Between 2002 and 2006 Ashdown served as High Representative and EU Special Representative to Bosnia and Herzegovina. He continues to serve as a Member of the House of Lords.

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The author of numerous articles on foreign affairs and politics, he has published nine books, including two volumes of Diaries, a book on peacekeeping, a best-selling memoir and three historical narratives based around the French resistance in World War II. He was recently commissioned by Collins to write his tenth book, A German Tragedy – the story of the German Resistance to Hitler during the Second World War. In 2016, he was made a Companion of Honour (CH) by her Majesty, reflecting his contribution both to politics and to the world of literature. He serves on the Board of MoreUnited.uk and the Advisory Boards of Silverline and G3.

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Ms. Marsaili Fraser worked with international missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2000 until 2016, most recently as head of the EU Special Representative's political department, seconded by the UK government's Stabilisation's Unit. She has worked in other countries in the region and was a political advisor to Paddy Ashdown when he was High Representative in Sarajevo. She is a member of the board of Remembering Srebrenica Scotland and has published work on postwar political relations between Croatia and the Bosnian Croats and Serbia and the Bosnian Serbs. She holds degrees from the University of Oxford, the Central European University and the European University Institute. She is currently working on a comparative study of power-sharing in Bosnia and Northern Ireland.

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Mr. James O’Brien is the Vice Chair of Albright Stonebridge Group (ASG). He has served two US administrations as special presidential envoy, securing the release of Americans held hostage abroad and overseeing US policy planning toward the Balkans. He has been senior advisor to the US Secretary of State and served as the principal deputy director of policy planning at the State Department. He worked to end armed conflicts in Europe, helped develop non-proliferation initiatives after the Cold War, negotiated environmental agreements, and supported initiatives to investigate and prosecute persons responsible for war crimes.

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Dr. Majda Ruge is a Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute at Johns Hopkins SAIS. Previously, she was a research fellow at the Gulf Research Centre based in Jeddah/Geneva/Cambridge. From 2012 to 2014, she was a lecturer at the Otto-Suhr-Institute at the Free University of Berlin in the field of international relations and nationalism. Dr. Ruge has worked in management and advisory capacities for the Delegation of the European Commission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the OSCE Mission to BiH between 2001-2005. She holds degrees from the European University Institute (Ph.D., 2011 and M.A., 2006), Central European University in Budapest (M.A. in International Relations and European Studies, 2001) and Agnes Scott College in Atlanta, GA (B.A. in International Relations, Summa Cum Laude, 2000).

Reflections on a Life Lived Fully with Gloria Estefan

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Johns Hopkins SAIS was honored to welcome Gloria Estefan as part of the Women Who Inspire lecture series. Estefan shared her experiences as a Cuban-American woman and generously dispensed advice for not just the students of the school but all members of the community. The discussion was moderated by Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli, Senior Fellow at the Johns Hopkins SAIS Foreign Policy Institute.

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To understand the beginning, sometimes it’s necessary to start from the end: Estefan spoke about how she has the luxury of choice today–when starting out, we may have to do things that we may not necessarily want to and “ride on the momentum.” Today though, Estefan can choose where to focus her energies: on family, for example. She highlighted the role her husband, Emilio, has played throughout her life–balancing her out, being each other’s best cheerleader, and their combined desire to maintain who they were in the music industry and evaluating the value of their work in order to ultimately stick to that commitment. “[You] don’t want to succeed [while] not doing what you like. [If] you’re going to do that for the rest of your life, you better like it!” Estefan advised.

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Estefan also talked about the power of example and how being around the women in her family who did everything showed her that there was no glass ceiling. In the same vein, she encourages cultural diplomacy in her music by broadening the scope of her songs to reach as many people as possible, while pushing open the doors for other artists such as Shakira, Ricky Martin, among others. On speaking about her accident, she pointed out that fame was never the goal and it can easily be taken away. Instead, she emphasized the power of connectivity–that everything we do can make a difference in someone else’s life.

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Gloria Estefan, Singer-Songwriter and Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient

Moderated by Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli, Senior Fellow at the Johns Hopkins SAIS Foreign Policy Institute

Political Risk in the 21st Century: A Book Discussion with Condoleeza Rice and Amy Zegart

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Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Professor Amy Zegart of Stanford University visited the school for a discussion on their new book, Political Risk: Facing the Threat of Global Insecurity in the Twenty-First Century.

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Rice and Zegart explained that their book's purpose was to describe how technology has forever changed who counts as a 'political actor.' The field of political risk has traditionally centered on governments, central banks, and politicians as risk factors. Today, however, major disruptions can be caused by Twitter users, terrorists, activists, hackers, and insurgents.  

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Technology has enabled virtually anyone to publish and promote their views at will, which has changed the landscape of political risk and made it a factor that every business, no matter their size or location, needs to prepare for, Rice and Zegart said.

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For the audience of students and alumni—many of whom are current or aspiring practitioners of political risk consulting—the discussion was an excellent extension of the material and cases they have studied in the classroom.  

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Condoleezza Rice, 66th U.S. Secretary of State and Senior Fellow in Public Policy, Hoover Institution at Stanford University
Amy Zegart, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and Co-Director, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University
Moderated by Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute

Diversity in the U.S. Military and the Contributions of the Sikh-American Community

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Johns Hopkins SAIS was honored to host members of the Sikh-American community for a dialogue on diversity in the U.S. military, and the intersection of core values in Sikhism and military service.

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To kick off the event, a documentary short film was shown detailing the struggles of Bhagat Singh Thind as one of the first Sikhs to serve in the U.S. Army. This was followed by a panel discussion on religious accommodation and the challenges to and opportunity for broader diversity in the U.S. Army.

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The Honorable Ravi Bhalla spoke of his experiences with the British Air Force and how discipline takes a different, though no less effective, form for Sikhs in military service. Retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, U.S.A. highlighted that the pragmatism of uniformity in the military is balanced by diversity and the strength of the individual, wherein these individuals become “valuable pieces [for] forming a more perfect union.” Dr. Tammy Schultz notes that the U.S. is slower to address diversity in its military compared to developing nations. 

LTC Kamal S. Kalsi, D.O., FACEP, U.S.A.R. thanked the panelists for their insights and introduced a musical performance in celebration of Vaisakhi, the South Asian harvest festival and the birthday of the Sikh faith. Following the presentation, guests enjoyed a reception and an art exhibit.

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The Honorable Ravi Bhalla, Mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey
Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, U.S.A., Retired, Former Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe
Dr. Tammy S. Schultz, Director of National Security and Joint Warfare, and Professor of Strategic Studies at U.S. Marine Corps War College
LTC Kamal S. Kalsi, D.O., FACEP, U.S.A.R., President of the Sikh American Veterans Alliance (SAVA)
Moderated by Shamila Chaudhary, Senior South Asia Fellow at New America, Fellow at the Johns Hopkins SAIS Foreign Policy Institute, and Senior Advisor to Dean Vali Nasr at Johns Hopkins SAIS

Kaleidoscope Pakistan

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The Foreign Policy Institute, Asia Programs, Muse District, & Indus hosted Kaleidoscope Pakistan, an exhibition of works by Naureen Bokhari, curated by Muse District.

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The photography exhibit and reception were hosted in association with Pakistan Beyond Seventy: The Long View, a conference hosted by Johns Hopkins SAIS Asia Programs & Lahore University of Management Sciences. The event was on the record and open to the media.

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Decades of war on terror and militancy in Pakistan have dominated headlines about a complex culture and country that has shown tremendous resilience against rising militancy and fundamentalist narratives. Under the headlines that scar the image, there also lies a Pakistan that is remarkably rich in culture and heritage, ranging from soulful and eclectic music, poignant Sufi poetry, creative cinema dominated by young filmmakers, and a thriving visual arts scene.

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Kaleidoscope Pakistan is an exhibit of works by photographer Naureen Bohkhari which seeks to dismantle stereotypes of Pakistan by celebrating its architectural heritage through photography. It compels viewers to rethink the rich heritage, arts, and craftsmanship that has thrived for centuries. The photographs capture stunning visuals of the inner city of Lahore, which, today, is a bustling city of 11 million people and a thriving center for the arts.

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About the Photographer

Naureen Bokhari is a professional portrait photographer based out of Virginia. She has been shooting weddings, events and portraits since 2004. She also ran one of the first online weekly web magazines called "The Saturday Post," which was the first Pakistani web magazine based out of the United States with a global audience of 100,000 month. She bid farewell to the magazine in 2011 and focused full time on her passion: photography. Naureen has a flair for depicting humor through her poems, which are mostly about everyday life and frustrations that come from a clash of American and Pakistani cultures and traditions. She also loves to travel and document her travels through pictures of cities and landscapes. This collection is from a series of her travels to Pakistan.

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Muse District is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. and a space for creative expression and intellectual collaboration across the South Asian diaspora in the United States. Built along the premise that the language of arts and culture is an integral tool for communicating with the global community, Muse District showcases the work of artists, writers, filmmakers, and musicians from South Asia and beyond.

Governance and Accountability in India

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The SAIS Foreign Policy Institute and the SAIS Master of Arts in Global Policy Program jointly presented the launch event of "Governance and Accountability in India,"an FPI Study in Policy.

Attendees joined for breakfast and a conversation featuring four of the paper's co-authors and India experts Dr. Bilal Baloch and Dr. Irfan Nooruddin.

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Introduction

Dr. Daniel S. Markey, Johns Hopkins SAIS

Presenters

Devynn Birx-Raybuch, SAIS MAGP '16
Wang Guan, SAIS MAGP '16

Shauna Marvel, SAIS MAGP '16

Rebecca Zylberman, SAIS MAGP '16

Discussants

Bilal Baloch, Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI), University of Pennsylvania

Irfan Nooruddin, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University

The INF Treaty at 30: Origins, Impact, and Challenges

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The negotiation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty was a turning point in the Cold War. It did not come easily, and only after extended high-stakes diplomacy and politically fractious deployment of new US nuclear missiles in Europe. But after the “global zero” breakthrough, the US and the Soviet Union agreed to eliminate their entire class of intermediate-range missiles, globally and permanently. Today, this cornerstone arms control treaty is being challenged by Russia's deployment of a treaty-violating cruise missile, and US military commanders in the Pacific have raised concerns that large numbers of intermediate-range missiles deployed by China are not constrained by the treaty.

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On the 30th anniversary of the INF Treaty’s signing, a distinguished panel will discuss its negotiation and international security impact, current challenges to the Treaty, and possible responses. 

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Panelists

Dr. Susan Koch, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Threat Reduction Policy, Former Director for Proliferation Strategy, National Security Council

Hon. Walter B. Slocombe, Former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy

Amb. Alexander R. Vershbow, Former Ambassador to Russia & Deputy Secretary-General of NATO

Moderator: Jeffrey Pryce, FPI Fellow & SAIS Prof'l Lecturer

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On the 30th anniversary of the INF Treaty’s signing, a distinguished panel will discuss its negotiation and international security impact, current challenges to the Treaty, and possible responses. 

The Trump Effect

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Experts in US politics held a panel discussion to examine the Trump administration's impact on diplomacy and public sector job prospects. Speakers reassured students that government careers will continue to be available to graduates, despite morale challenges and budget cuts. In fact, the current administration would have very little to do with the work of someone in the early stages of their career – at this level, government jobs are all about accomplishing day-to-day tasks, speakers explained.  

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Panelists agreed that public service is such an important part of the heritage of the school that students should not give up on public jobs or postpone their careers for a later administration. While budget cuts will likely have a negative effect on employee morale, they will not eliminate the need for a steady stream of recent graduates to staff the federal agencies.

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Eliot Cohen, Director of Strategic Studies and Director of The Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies
Mara Karlin, Associate Director of the Strategic Studies Program and Executive Director of The Merrill Center for Strategic Studies
Vali Nasr, Dean of Johns Hopkins SAIS
Moderated by Shamila Chaudhary, Foreign Policy Institute Fellow

Opening Reception: "From the Land of Peacocks"

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Muse District & the Johns Hopkins SAIS Foreign Policy Institute jointly hosted the Opening Reception for: "From the Land of Peacocks," a mixed media art exhibition of works by Sadia Hussain. The exhibition was accompanied by live traditional music.

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Over 1 million Indian soldiers volunteered and fought in World War I. They fought alongside the British and French in some of the bloodiest battles on mainland Europe. Many never made it back home. Their stories are rarely featured in the popular narrative of the Great War. The work of Sadia Hussain, an artist trained at Pakistan’s prestigious National College of Arts, is inspired by the stories of these unsung heroes, whose memory still resonates in the mustard fields of Kallar Kahar, a village in Pakistani Punjab.

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With layers of printing, photography, acrylic, and graphite, Hussain memorializes the forgotten soldiers from India who had an indelible impact on the Great War. Legend has it that many of the men of the village who left were never to return. The town center of Kallar Kahar today is marked by a large canon to commemorate the sacrifices of these soldiers.

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About Muse District:

A non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., Muse District is an exciting space for creative expression and intellectual collaboration across the South Asian diaspora in the United States. Built along the premise that the language of arts and culture is an integral tool for communicating with the global community, Muse District showcases the work of artists, writers, filmmakers, and musicians from South Asia and beyond. Muse District also aims to foster greater interaction and an inclusive dialogue among South Asian artists that challenges political and cultural boundaries and pre-conceived notions. It will especially highlight the interaction of South Asia with the contemporary Western world, and ultimately build bridges across continents, ideas and cultures.

Art of Diplomacy Lecture Series: A Discussion with Ambassador Eric Edelman

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Ambassador Eric S. Edelman retired as a career minister from the US Foreign Service on May 1, 2009. He has served in senior positions at the Departments of State and Defense as well as the White House, where he led organizations providing analysis, strategy, policy development, security services, trade advocacy, public outreach, citizen services, and congressional relations. As undersecretary of defense for policy (August 2005-January 2009), he was DoD's senior policy official, overseeing strategy development with global responsibility for bilateral defense relations, war plans, special operations forces, homeland defense, missile defense, nuclear weapons and arms control policies, counterproliferation, counternarcotics, counterterrorism, arms sales, and defense trade controls. He served as US ambassador to Finland in the Clinton administration and Turkey in the Bush administration and was Vice President Cheney's principal deputy assistant for national security affairs.

He is a distinguished fellow at the Center of Strategic and Budgetary Assessment and a senior associate of the international security program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. He also serves on the National Defense Panel, and on the bipartisan board of directors of the United States Institute of Peace.

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Discussion is off-the-record and open only to current SAIS students, faculty, and staff.

Ambassador Eric S. Edelman, Roger Hertog Distinguished Practitioner-in-Residence at the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies, Johns Hopkins SAIS
Moderated by Dr. Eliot Cohen, Director, Strategic Studies Program, Johns Hopkins SAIS

Iraq's Political Compact and Regional Priorities

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The Conflict Management program and the Middle East Institute hosted a discussion with political experts on Iraq’s future prospects amid the decline of ISIS.

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Joseph Pennington of the US Department of State opened the floor by offering remarks on the current and expected challenges facing Iraq. After a brief account of Iraq since ISIS claimed its caliphate, Pennington shared thoughts on Iraq’s progress in fighting the militant group, such as the successful Iraqi-led battle of Mosul, and highlighted ways the US military remains committed to the war effort. To ensure a stable and secure Iraq, the US government is funding more than 350 stabilization and reconstruction projects in war-torn areas, he said. The US military is also de-mining inhabited zones, recovering so far up to 10,000 landmines.

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Pennington also discussed the financing of infrastructure and the necessity for economic opportunities in Iraq. A successful Iraqi state-building effort relies on developing shared interests with regional partners, Pennington said, adding that efforts to bolster economic relations with Jordan would have beneficial economic ramifications in Sunni regions. With the looming potential of further sectarian divide, Pennington urged the Iraqi government to implement its constitution, while ensuring that ethnic and religious diversity is respected. However, he argued it was not in US interests at this time0 for Kurdish independence and forewarned against influence campaigns in Iraq being conducted by Iranian groups.

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Joseph Pennington, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iraq Policy, US Department of State
Randa Slim, Foreign Policy Institute Fellow and Director of the Track II Dialogues Initiative at The Middle East Institute

Risks and Consequences of Foreign Interventions

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Foreign policy experts visited the Johns Hopkins SAIS community for a panel discussion about foreign interventions hosted by the Middle East Studies program and the Institute of Current World Affairs (ICWA). 

The discussion analyzed conflicts and interventions in Syria, Afghanistan, and other regions of the world experiencing unrest. During the discussion, emphasis was placed on the role and timing of the United States interventions in these areas at a time of mounting global instability and shifting geopolitics.

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Shamila Chaudhary of the Foreign Policy Institute (FPI) raised concerns about the United States' wavering commitment to leading global security and its role in ongoing interventions. Andrew Tabler of the Washington Institute discussed the US need for a strategic approach in managing multiple conflicts.

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Hashim Wahdatyar of the UNODC observed that western troops and diplomats have a trust problem with the citizens of Afghanistan which cannot be overcome without defining the goals of the US-led mission to restore security in the country. 

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ICWA's Gregory Feifer stated that Vladimir Putin is fulfilling his promise of restoring Russia as a global power, although he emphasized that Putin's actions are serving his own personal interests and are damaging Russia's long-term future. The panelists noted that Russia makes an interesting case study in exercising global influence as it strengthens its hand in the Middle East while US leadership in the region is increasingly challenged.

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Panelists

Shamila Chaudhary, Foreign Policy Institute Fellow
Gregory Feifer, Interim Executive Director of the Institute of Current World Affairs
Andrew J. Tabler, Martin J. Gross Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Hashim Wahdatyar, Program Officer, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

US-China Relations in the Era of Trump and Xi Jinping

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As China prepares to hold its 19th Party Congress, an event with momentous policy implications, SAIS China hosted a discussion by David Lampton to highlight trends in the US-China relationship. He spoke about the friction in the economic and military ties between the two nations prior to the Xi Jinping administration and the uncertainties and risks that have developed since the inauguration of US President Trump.

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Lampton spoke about how the United States has in recent decades fostered the emergence of new power centers, including China. He stressed that the US must win cooperation rather than compel it and will increasingly have to negotiate with China. He argued that the US needs to get its domestic house in order to remain an effective competitor.

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While China and the US strive for cooperation on North Korean denuclearization, frictions have accumulated as a result of the US doing business with Taiwan and the economic sanctions on specific Chinese trading and financial entities. He mentioned that the US administration has been all over the lot and has left stakeholders in the region confused on its China policy.

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In concluding, Lampton noted the United States' relative economic strength has declined while China's has risen. He stated that the shortening economic leg of US power in Asia weakens its capacity to maintain a balance of influence. The US and China must manage these challenges and prioritize their objectives, Lampton said.

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Following Lampton's remarks, SAIS China Associate Director Carla Freeman moderated questions from the audience which covered issues including the era of post-American leadership, increasingly stringent social and political controls employed by the Xi administration, and the government's campaign to fight corruption.  

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Carla Freeman, Director of the Foreign Policy Institute and Associate Director of SAIS China
David M. Lampton, Director of SAIS China and George and Sadie Hyman Professor of China Studies

The Art of Diplomacy with Antony Blinken

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The Foreign Policy Institute hosted a discussion betwen Vali Nasr and Antony Blinken on pressing diplomatic issues facing the United States and the world, marking the beginning of a new academic year and the continuation of its series, The Art of Diplomacy. 

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Nasr began by examining conflict with North Korea and the interpretation of threats from Pyongyang. Blinken noted that the US is in a difficult position as a result of Pyongyang’s development of intercontinental ballistic missiles. He mentioned that the Obama administration pushed back on a number of fronts—including China—a similar approach now employed by the Trump administration. Blinken dismissed the idea of launching a preemptive military operation, as Pyongyang has the capacity to launch a reprisal attack which would cause severe civilian casualties. 

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Next, Nasr spoke about the success of severing North Korea's diplomatic relationships with other countries. Blinken agreed with the approach and further stressed that China, which represents 90% of North Korea trade relations, remains a unique option. The US should build on its missile defense, military defense, and also create additional incentives for China to sever its trade relationship with Pyongyang, Blinken said. He added that individuals and companies trading with Pyongyang must be sanctioned. 

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Finally, Blinken spoke about the decline in the US-Russia relationship over the years and how Russia’s disruption of Ukrainian sovereignty contributed to the rift. Blinken concluded by emphasizing the importance of the US role in the international system and encouraged students to continue to pursue careers in foreign policy.

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Antony Blinken, Herter/Nitze Distinguished Scholar at the Foreign Policy Institute and Managing Director, Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement
Vali Nasr, Dean of Johns Hopkins SAIS

A Presentation on Northern European Security, with His Excellency Peter Hultqvist

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His Excellency Peter Hultqvist joined the Johns Hopkins SAIS community for a discussion on European security and transatlantic relations. Hultqvist gave an overview of longstanding ties between the US and Sweden, noting that the nations share a commitment to respect for human rights, democracy, and the international order established after World War II.

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Sweden has undertaken many responsibilities for the global good, Hultqvist said. The nation is currently working to deepen its international relationships and upgrade its military capabilities in order to protect stability in the region. European cooperation on security was dealt a setback when Russia annexed Crimea and began stirring conflict in Ukraine, he said. Russia's increased military activity in the Arctic is also putting pressure on its neighbors.

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Hal Brands of the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs asked if Russian incursions would convince Sweden to formally join NATO, to which Hultqvist argued that growing NATO would upset the balance of power and provoke Russia into more aggression. Vali Nasr asked for the Swedish perspective on the fight against ISIS and the challenge of integrating refugees in Europe. Hultqvist explained Sweden's contributions to the campaign against ISIS in Iraq and highlighted Sweden's leadership in the resettlement of refugees from Syria. Additional questions touched on cybersecurity and the Arctic Council. 

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His Excellency Peter Hultqvist, Minister for Defense of Sweden
Hal Brands, Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor of Global Affairs, SAIS
Vali Nasr, Dean of Johns Hopkins SAIS

Democracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom, with Condoleeza Rice

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Author and former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited the Johns Hopkins SAIS community to discuss international affairs and share insights from her new book, "Democracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom."

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Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli moderated the off-the-record discussion, which touched on the efforts and specific challenges for advancing democracy in nations at vastly different stages of development. The main theme of the book explains that the perfect conditions for creating democracy never exist in the real world. The transition process will be different in each country because each starts from a different place.

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Questions from the audience explored the current conditions in Ukraine, Cuba, Colombia, Russia, and China. Rice shared her insights on the paths forward for these nations and the potential barriers to overcome.

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Condoleezza Rice, Denning Professor in Global Business and the Economy, Stanford University, former US Secretary of State and former National Security Advisor
Moderated by Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute       

The Future of Liberalism in Europe: Taking Stock After the French Election

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Foreign policy experts suggested that French voters made a statement by rejecting nationalism and electing centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron to the presidency May 8. The result represented a strong French endorsement for the EU and globalization at a time when voters in Britain, the US, and throughout Europe have admonished their own political elites in a populist uprising. Panelists at Johns Hopkins SAIS discussed Macron's victory and what it means for the future of liberalism in Europe.

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Antony Blinken explained the political divide as a matter of protectionism versus openness. Catherine Fieschi noted the Macron victory is an important signal to the rest of Europe, but is by no means decisive and the struggle for liberalism will continue. Constanze Stelzenmüller contrasted the Macron victory to the recent Dutch election in which the liberal candidate also won but used a hefty dose of populist rhetoric. The most important lesson, Stelzenmüller said, is that even when populists lose elections or fail to fix the problems they campaigned against, they have succeeded in permanently changing the debate.

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Ambassador Daniel Fried said Macron's victory gives liberal parties a chance to come back, but only if they seize the opportunity. The rise of populism should be expected considering the economic struggles that have persisted, he said. James Traub stated that it is too easy for those in a place of privilege to judge others and we must keep in mind that many of these people have a profound sense of dislocation and anxiety about their place in the world. In Europe especially, Traub said, the problem of integration is a huge issue and that even if nations succeed economically, these identity problems will still be difficult to resolve.

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Panelists

Catherine Fieschi, Senior Contributor, Macro Advisory Partners
Ambassador Daniel Fried, former Senior Career Diplomat, US Department of State
Constanze Stelzenmüller, Robert Bosch Senior Fellow, Center on the United States and Europe, Brookings Institute
James Traub, Senior Fellow, Center on International Cooperation, New York University
Moderated by Antony Blinken, Herter/Nitze Distinguished Scholar, Johns Hopkins SAIS, and and Managing Director of
Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement      

A Conversation with Anne Hillerman, Best-Selling Author of Song of the Lion

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Anne Hillerman has been honored and delighted to continue the mystery series created in 1970 by her father, Tony Hillerman. She debuted with Spider Woman’s Daughter, which follows the further adventures of the characters her father made famous, Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. She has just released her third book in the series, Song of the Lion, which became a New York Times bestseller. One of the inspirations for this work was her enthusiasm for creating a leading female character in the mystery genre. Hillerman also said that rescuing one of the characters, police officer Bernadette Manuelito, from relative obscurity and placing her into the leading role helped to make the series her own.

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She shared key influences that developed her writing and imagination including her childhood – she grew up in a big family, in which reading and story writing was always encouraged and nurtured by her parents. Her research and visits to the places she writes about also inspire her books, which are located in around New Mexico and take the readers to various Native American reservations surrounding it. She also listed her mother and writer friends as important sources of artistic appraisal and encouragement, thanking them for their wise and gentle critique.

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Anne Hillerman, New York Times best-selling author of Song of the Lion
Moderated by Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli, Senior Fellow at the Johns Hopkins SAIS Foreign Policy Institute

A Conversation on Building Europe's Future, with His Excellency Wolfgang Schäuble

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With euroscepticism and anti-globalism on the rise, His Excellency Wolfgang Schäuble met with students, faculty, alumni, and guests to discuss the way forward to a stronger future for the European project.

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Schäuble began with context on the European political developments and argued that the challenges of globalization make unilateral regulations obsolete—cooperation is critical. He contended that despite its complexity, the EU is by far the most advanced model for global governance and it deserves further enhancement.

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He acknowledged the role that social media has played in contributing to people's defensive reactions to the changing demographics around them and their increased demand for national identity. However, he emphasized the need for nations to work together to solve complex issues of migration, security, economics, and monetary policy, noting the current refugee situation is merely a harbinger of the problems to come, unless stability can be brought to the Middle East region. For the security of Europe, a uniformed regime for external borders is crucial, he said.

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Schäuble concluded with the necessity of reforms to enhance productivity and global competitiveness for European nations, noting that implementing such reforms may not be pleasant in the short-term. He was optimistic that tighter cooperation within Europe and with America can be achieved.

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Wolfgang Schäuble, Federal Minister of Finance, Germany
Moderated by John Lipsky, Peterson Distinguished Scholar at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs and Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute

The 4th Industrial Revolution: Opportunities and Challenges

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By now the disruptive power of the internet has been harnessed by today's businesses, however, the wide application and diffusion of technology are the new driving forces behind the "Fourth Industrial Revolution" according to BBVA's José González-Páramo. The distinctive features of this revolution include the pace of new technological advancements, changes in consumption patterns, and new business models, González-Páramo said.

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Hyper-connectivity and mobile technology are especially important to this trend. The "internet of things" has allowed massive amounts of data to be collected and analyzed. Increasing automation and artificial intelligence will redefine the connections between humans and machines, González-Páramo explained. Meanwhile, consumer demand for non-stop, multi-channel access to services have led them to expect a personalized experience and to value quality over loyalty.

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González-Páramo acknowledged that new opportunities come with new challenges, including the associated costs of data protection and cyber crime, and the potential job loss if human employees are replaced by artificial intelligence. Despite the challenges, he assured the audience that never has he known a society to be better off by stopping technological progress.

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José M. González-Páramo, Executive Board Member of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (BBVA)
Moderated by John Lipsky, Peterson Distinguished Scholar at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs and Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute

The Future of the Religious Party: SAIS Review of International Affairs

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The relationship between religion and politics has captured the attention of esteemed scholars; to explore this relationship in greater detail, the SAIS Review of International Affairs has released a special issue on The Future of the Religious Party.

At the issue release event, SAIS Faculty discuss the future of religious political parties around the world.

Featured Panelists:

Further issue information is available on the SAIS Review website, and the full issue can read in full on Project MUSE.

Pakistan Today: The Case for US-Pakistan Relations

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The Foreign Policy Institute hosted a conference to launch its latest white paper and to discuss U.S.-Pakistan relations with leading scholars and policy experts.

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Co-author of the white paper and former World Bank vice president Shahid Javed Burki, gave an optimistic outlook on the future of Pakistan’s economy. He analyzed its impressive historical growth, which shows that on average Pakistan’s GDP grew at 4.6% per year, resulting in today’s GDP that is 17 times greater than it was in 1947. Looking at Pakistan’s future prospects, Burki emphasized the need for strategic thinking in the government. Instead of dealing with crises as they occur, national political leaders should plan for the future, he said. Most importantly, they should cleverly utilize Pakistan’s unique endowments, especially its location, agricultural capacity, human resources, diaspora, and the IT sector.

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Shamila Chaudhary and Josh White analyzed the relationship between Pakistan and the United States. They discussed diverse factors, risks, and opportunities that could enhance or preclude the two states’ cooperation and emphasized the strategic value of Pakistan in the region. The panelists welcomed Pakistan’s attempts to diversify its economic base, noting its structural reforms and Pakistan’s growing ability to raise funds on international capital markets. Positive development on the economic front and the states’ willingness to pursue mutual interests and manage their differences could lessen the feelings of dependence and resentment present in their relationship.

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These and other panel discussions resulted in a fascinating and comprehensive narrative, which covered an array of issues including the U.S.-Pakistan relationship in a new world order, China’s role in the region, Pakistan’s economy, its army and strategic issues in the region, energy and natural resources, and future developments.

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Panelists:

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources for the Government of Pakistan; and Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan
Maleeka Bokhari, Barrister for the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf
Shahid Javed Burki, Former Vice President of The World Bank
Shamila Chaudhary, Senior Advisor to the Dean, Johns Hopkins SAIS, and Senior South Asia Fellow, International Security Program, New America
General Mahmud A. Durrani, Former Pakistan National Security Advisor
Carla Freeman, Director of the Foreign Policy Institute and Associate Director of China Studies, Johns Hopkins SAIS
Daniel Markey, Senior Research Professor in International Relations and Academic Director, Global Policy Program
Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Vice Chairman of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf, Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, and former Foreign Minister
Salman Sufi, Senior Member of the Punjab Chief Minister’s Special Monitoring Unit, Law and Order
Joshua White, Associate Professor of the Practice of South Asia Studies at Johns Hopkins SAIS and Fellow, Edwin O. Reischauer Center for East Asia Studies
Moderated by Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli, Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute, Johns Hopkins SAIS

US-Asia Relations: Past and Future

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“Nowhere in the world are the economics and strategic interest and the opportunities of the US clearer or more compelling than in the Asia-Pacific [region],“ said keynote speaker Antony Blinken at the 2017 Johns Hopkins SAIS Asia Conference. Blinken shared his view on the "rebalancing" to Asia by the United States. Expecting Asia to help define the next century, Blinken stated that by what rules, by which means, and to what ends Asia acts are the vital questions for US foreign policy. The US should ensure the energy, focus, and resources devoted to the region are commensurate with its importance, Blinken argued. 

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Examples of rebalancing actions include deeper cooperation with China, increasing engagement with institutions of the region like Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and vigorous promotion of trade and investment to unlock shared prosperity. 

North Korea's nuclear weapons and rapidly developing missile systems are threats that belong among the Trump administration's top priorities, Blinken said. He urged international cooperation to pressure the North Korean regime to accept a monitored freeze and rollback of its nuclear weapons program. 

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Lastly, Blinken reminded the audience of what constantly attracts people of other countries to the US: the culture of innovation, the unwavering belief in freedom, rights, and dignity of all human beings, the rich tradition of scholarship and research, and the acknowledging of the common set of ideals to form a strong union. The US cannot afford to compromise these values in the future, Blinken said. 

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Antony Blinken, Herter/Nitze Distinguished Scholar, former United States Deputy Secretary of State and former Deputy National Security Advisor 

The Unraveling of the Global Order: Asia Adjusts

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The Johns Hopkins SAIS community of alumni and friends in Hong Kong gathered for a special forum featuring Kishore Mahbubani, who spoke about the return of Asia as a leader on the global stage. Mahbubani touched upon the need for populations of countries in the West to recognize the growing influence of populations in the East and to embrace globalization rather than reject it. A resurgent Asia, he said, is good for the United States and the West. He pointed to the success of ASEAN in brokering peace in Southeast Asia, a region historically fraught with wars and cultural tensions, as a beacon of hope and example of the potential of international cooperation. Finally, he cited the inevitable disruptiveness of technological innovation, particularly as mobile phones become more popular in developing regions like India and connect market actors in new ways.

Following the keynote address, a panel of elite members of the Johns Hopkins SAIS community discussed changes in the global system on the horizon, including the political undertones of China’s international policies, the importance of multilateral institutions and the corrosion of the consensus upon which they were founded, and how multilateral actions can be implemented with the force of internationally respected customs and laws. Alumnus David Frey ’95 moderated the discussion. Questions from the audience of over 130 alumni and friends explored subjects like security in the South China Sea and the recent US border tax proposal.

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Keynote address
Kishore Mahbubani, Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore and former President of the UN Security Council

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Panelists
Laura Cha, Chairman of the Financial Services Development Council of Hong Kong SAR and non-official member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong SAR
Moderator, David Frey ’95, Partner in Markets Strategy and National Head of U.S.-China Strategic Corridor for KPMG China
David M. Lampton, SAIS China Director and George & Sadie Hyman Professor of China Studies
John Lipsky, Peter G. Peterson Professor of International Economics at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs and Foreign Policy Institute Senior Fellow

A Conversation on Asia's Economic Challenges

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Frederic Neumann took on the imposing task of analyzing challenges facing Asia today and deliberating over its future prospects. Neumann described the present situation as a balancing act involving delicate and difficult choices in the midst of miscellaneous pressures.

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The discussion started with a brief history of how the West and the East have gotten where they are today; the former stagnating and the latter soaring. He attributed the troubles in the West as the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis, and said Asia's strong growth is due to the region’s ability to push up leverage and offset slow demand from the West. Neumann argued that the problem with debt-driven growth is that it is not sustainable and the region must pursue export-led growth to restore the balance. Yet the demographic trends, growing labor costs, surging protectionism and changing consumption patterns all slow trade and suggest a new reality for Asia, he contended. Most of the factors that drive these bleak prospects are structural and there is no quick medicine for solving them. Neumann argued that the answer to regional problems lies in raising productivity growth, which means that hard domestic choices await. 

Questions from the audience covered a broad range of topics, including China’s dwindling forex reserves, demonetization in India, deflation in Japan, and innovation in China.

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Frederic Neumann '00, PhD '05, Co-Head Of Asian Economic Research and Managing Director, Global Research, The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC)

Moderated by John Lipsky, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute and Peter G. Peterson Distinguished Scholar, Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs

New Challenges for the Refugee Regime

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Experts gathered at the Washington, DC campus for a discussion on the consequences of President Trump’s executive order, “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States.” The order suspends the US refugee admission program, severely restricts entry from seven majority-Muslim countries, and bars all Syrian refugees from entering the country indefinitely.

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Michel Gabaudan said that the order risks conflating victims with perpetrators by associating refugees with terrorists. He also reminded the audience that the situation in the United States is completely different from that in Europe. Refugees who were able to enter the US were all vetted before arrival, while those in Europe are evaluated once they are already on European soil.

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Anne Richard talked about the previous administration’s efforts to show leadership on the issue of refugees. She also noted that while many have called for “extreme vetting,” it is unclear what this means. Maureen White pointed out that vetting for refugees is already very thorough. It currently involves eight federal agencies, six security databases, five background checks, four biometrics security checks, three separate in-person interviews and two inter-agency security checks.

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Ruth Wedgwood argued against the flawed notion that 'if the US does not welcome refugees someone else will.' In the case of refugees, the United States' identity as the indispensable nation holds true, Wedgwood said.

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Panelists:

Anne C. Richard, Former Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration
Michel Gabaudan, President, Refugees International
Ruth Wedgwood, Edward B. Burling Professor of International Law and Diplomacy
Moderated by Maureen White, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute

A Conversation with TIAA CEO Roger W. Ferguson, Jr

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The outlook for the American economy continues to be bright and improving in the near term, according to Roger Ferguson of financial services giant, TIAA. The consensus view among economists is for sustained growth globally, although at a slower rate than recent expansions, Ferguson reported.    

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Asked by moderator John Lipsky to comment on the most pressing economic challenges for the new US administration, Ferguson said these issues include boosting growth, managing tax cuts and reforms, infrastructure building, and controlling inflation. Regarding the effectiveness of post-2008 financial sector reforms, including Dodd-Frank regulations, Ferguson acknowledged that capital in the banking sector has increased and that a drive has emerged toward stronger management culture. However, he added that the slow progress of rebuilding public trust in financial markets is still troublesome.

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On the challenge of ensuring financial security in retirement, Ferguson said the major roadblocks include the issues of poor enrollment rates in retirement programs, low savings among Americans, and the changing expectations for retirement age. Ferguson concluded by offering lessons learned through his leadership in boardroom diversity efforts, tying the event into the school's celebration of Black History Month 2017.

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Roger W. Ferguson, Jr, President and CEO of TIAA
Moderated by John Lipsky, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute and Peter G. Peterson Distinguished Scholar, Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs

Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies

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Islam inherently promotes peace and mutual understanding, argued the scholar Shaykh Abdullah Bin Bayyah at a special roundtable conversation hosted by the Foreign Policy Institute. Bin Bayyah, listed by the Muslim 500 as the 9th most influential Muslim in the world, discussed how his organization, the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, uses Islamic traditions to challenge the view that religion is often used to justify rather than solve problems of violence.

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Bin Bayyah's forum uses a methodology based on Islamic texts and traditions and refutes the argument that Islam promotes violence by showing that it encourages peace.  Forum scholars also challenge other thinkers, who claim that Islam does not encourage peace, by teasing out the lack of logic in their claims. The forum is notably in favor of protecting minority rights and supports equality and notions of modern citizenship. The works of Bin Bayyah and other forum scholars aim to explain how Islamic thought largely supports modern, progressive goals. 

Women Leaders Making a Difference on the Global Stage

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Award-winning magazine editor and Daily Beast co-founder Tina Brown was the speaker for the latest installment of the Johns Hopkins SAIS series, Women Who Inspire. Brown spoke with ambassador and moderator Shirin Tahir-Kheli about her efforts to create, through her Women In the World Summits, a platform for local women leaders to tell their stories to make a difference in their communities.

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For Brown, one of the keys to driving positive change on seemingly intractable problems is to emphasize the story before the issue: people do not respond to an issue without a story they can identify with, she said. With her summits, Brown is finding stories with the power to address global challenges specifically because they are told through the voices of women.

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Brown shared striking stories from past summits, and explained that women's leadership is not only an end unto itself, but a tool to realize many global benefits including better health outcomes, rising household earnings, and improved organizational decision making.    

The Current State of US-Russian Relations with Ambassador Kislyak

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Russian-American relations are tense but not unsalvageable, said Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. The ambassador discussed his country’s positions on various global issues and explained, in Russia’s view, why relations between the two countries are deteriorating.

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Speaking to a crowded room full of students and alumni, Kislyak cited NATO’s expansion, differing views of Ukraine and Syria, and economic sanctions as sources of conflict that have pitted Russia and the US against each other. However, Russians and Americans have been able to work together in tense moments before, and Kislyak believes that our cooperation can be extended and strengthened in areas where it already exists, such as the global fight against terrorism.

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Questions from the audience focused on current Russian involvement in Ukraine, Russia’s position on Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the protection of minority rights in Russia and Crimea, and Russia’s involvement in the US presidential election.

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Ambassador Kislyak currently serves as the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States, and previously as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2003 to 2008. Prior to that, he served simultaneously as the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Kingdom of Belgium and as the Permanent Representative of Russia to NATO in Brussels, Belgium, from 1998-2003.Ambassador Kislyak has worked in the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation since 1997, including a variety of high-level positions. He graduated from Moscow Engineering Physics Institute in 1973, as well as from the USSR Academy of Foreign Trade in 1977.

Emerge85: A New Lab for Global Connectivity

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The global middle-class is projected to grow by 3 billion people in the next 20 years. What will these growing economies produce and consume? How will their cities develop, and how will they connect with the world? The Emerge85 Lab is a new partnership of the Foreign Policy Institute and the Delma Institute which aims to explore these trends among the 85 percent of world population living outside of Europe and North America. 

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Co-directors Afshin Molavi and Mishaal Al-Gergawi were joined by Sarah Alexander for a discussion of the lab's mission and the economic and human stories it will tell. Speakers shared their personal experiences of working in the ‘85’ world and the potential for growth, investment and south-south trade in those countries. Molavi and Al-Gergawi said that as Emerge85 explores geo-economic trends, the lab will analyze how economies in the global south adapt, adopt, or challenge the typical "western-centric" models and values for growth and development. As Molavi and Al-Gergawi write in their lead essay, "the 85 world is transforming how we all produce, consume, connect, and live."

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Panelists:

Sarah Alexander, Principal, Emerging Markets Private Equity Association
Mishaal Al-Gergawi, Managing Director, Delma Institute
Afshin Molavi, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute

Dealing with Systemic Corruption, a discussion with Dr. Francis Fukuyama

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How can we effectively engage with corruption? Dr. Fukuyama, Professor of Political Science at Stanford University, Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies & the Mosbacher Director of FSI's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, uses a critical lens to address corruption within the development arena, while still engaging with political, cultural, and economic spheres of influence. Dr. Fukuyama uses an interdisciplinary approach to creative analysis.Francis Fukuyama is the Mosbacher director of the Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University. He was previously Bernard Schwartz Professor of International Political Economy at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), John Hopkins University, and Hirst Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University. He has worked at the Rand Corporation and as a member of the Policy Planning Staff of the US Department of State. Francis Fukuyama received his B.A. from Cornell University in classics, and his Ph.D. from Harvard in Political Science. He has written widely on questions concerning democratization and international political economy. His book, The End of History and the Last Man, was published by Free Press in 1992 and has appeared in over twenty foreign editions. His latest book, Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy was published in September 2014.

"Crisis Stability in Space: China and Other Challenges" Study in Policy Launch

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The Foreign Policy Institute hosted a panel discussion and reception as we launched our latest study in policy "Crisis Stability in Space: China and Other Challenges", authored by Bruce MacDonald with Adm. Dennis Blair, Dean Cheng, Karl Mueller, and Victoria Samson.

Shining a light on the instability currently inherent in the space domain, how political and military crises could spill over into space, the danger of possible space war with China, and steps the United States can take to reduce these dangers, Crisis Stability in Space identifies and explains the major features of space's strategic landscape, a new and often misunderstood domain of potential conflict. This publication assesses these challenges and how they affect space deterrence and incentives to escalate or go to war in space.

Panelists:

Bruce MacDonald, SAIS
Dean Cheng, Heritage Foundation                                                                  
Karl Mueller, Georgetown University; RAND Corp.                                  
Victoria Samson, Secure World Foundation

Author Meets His Critics session, featuring Professor Amitai Etzioni

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The Foreign Policy Institute and the Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies welcomes George Washington University Professor Amitai Etzioni to discuss his newly published book, Foreign Policy: Thinking Outside the Box. The volume is a publication in the Chatham House series, “Insights,” on critical issues in international affairs.

In this "Author Meets His Critics" discussion, leading foreign policy experts commented on and critiqued the book, to which Professor Etzioni responded.

Panelists:

Professor David Lampton, Director, China Studies, SAIS

Professor Dan Serwer, Director, Conflict Management, SAIS

Professor Michael Green, Senior VP for Asia & Japan Chair, CSIS; SFS, Georgetown

Moderator:
Professor Carla Freeman, Director, FPI, SAIS

Responding to Lebanon's Syrian Refugee Crisis

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As a result of Lebanon's open border policy, Syrian refugees now make up nearly a quarter of the country's population, placing an enormous strain on its limited resources. The government has responded with visa restrictions, placing new pressures on a vulnerable refugee population amid a prolonged political impasse, heightening Lebanese frustrations over a breakdown in services.

Against this backdrop, United Nations (UN) agencies in Lebanon are working to address refugee needs as well as the economic and social burden their presence is having on their host country. The Middle East Institute and The Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) were pleased to host Philippe Lazzarini, Deputy UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, for a discussion of these issues.

Randa Slim (MEI and SAIS) moderated the discussion.

Speaker Biographies:

Philippe Lazzarini
Deputy Special Coordinator for Lebanon, United Nations
Philippe Lazzarini is UN deputy special coordinator for Lebanon, resident and humanitarian coordinator, and UN Development Programme resident representative in Lebanon. He has extensive experience in humanitarian assistance and international coordination in conflict and post-conflict areas, including in his assignment until spring 2015  in the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia. Prior to that, he held a number of senior positions in the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and in various field positions in Iraq, Angola, Somalia, and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Prior to joining the United Nations in 2003, Mr. Lazzarini headed the marketing department of a private bank in Geneva. He also served for 10 years with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as the deputy head of communication, head of the ICRC delegations in Rwanda, Angola, and Sarajevo, and as an ICRC delegate in Southern Sudan, Jordan, Gaza, and Beirut.

Randa Slim
Director for Track II Initiatives, The Middle East Institute and Fellow, The Foreign Policy Institute, SAIS
Randa Slim is director of the Track II Dialogues initiative at The Middle East Institute, and a non-resident fellow of The Foreign Policy Institute at Johns Hopkins-SAIS. Former vice president of the International Institute for Sustained Dialogue, Slim has been a senior program advisor at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, a guest scholar at the United States Institute of Peace, a program director at Resolve, Inc, and a program officer at the Kettering Foundation. A former member of the Dartmouth Conference U.S.-Russian regional conflicts taskforce, she was involved from 1992-2005 in conflict management activities in Central Asia working in Tajikistan and the Ferghana Valley. Since 2002, Slim has developed and managed a number of dialogue and peace-building projects in the Middle East. The author of several studies, book chapters and articles on Middle Eastern politics, dialogue processes and post-conflict peace building, Slim has written for, appeared with, or been cited by several U.S. and international media outlets.

The New World Bank’s Russia Economic Report: The Long Journey to Recovery

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Dean Vali Nasr, the SAIS Foreign Policy Institute and the Russia-Eurasia Club

hosted a discussion on The World Bank's New Russia Report: The Long Journey to Recovery

with

Dr. Birgit Hansl, Lead Economist and Program Leader for the Russian Federation, The World Bank

Moderated by Dr. John Lipsky, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute

Birgit Hansl, a German national, is the World Bank’s Lead Economist for the Russian Federation, and Country Sector Coordinator in the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network in the Europe and Central Asia Region. 

Since joining the Bank in 2005 through the Young Professionals Program, Birgit worked for the World Bank’s programs in Asia, Africa, and Europe. Prior to joining the Moscow-based Russia team in May 2013, she worked at the World Bank’s headquarter in Washington DC covering public finance and macroeconomic issues in South East Europe, with focus on Macedonia and Romania. 

Before joining the Bank, Birgit worked in academics and a number of bilateral and multilateral organizations, including the British Department for International Development and the United Nations Development Program.

Birgit holds a Ph.D. in Economics and a Master’s Degree from the London School of Economics. She completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the University of California San Francisco and Berkeley. Her first degree was a Masters’ in Economics from the Humboldt University Berlin. 

The IMF's April 2016 Global Financial Stability Report: What Policies Could Normalize Markets?

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Dean Vali Nasr and the SAIS Foreign Policy Institute hosted a discussion on "The IMF's April 2016 Global Financial Stability Report: What Policies Could Normalize Markets?" with  Mr. José Viñals, Financial Counsellor, Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department, International Monetary Fund and Mr. Douglas Elliott, Partner, Oliver Wyman

This event was moderated by Dr. John Lipsky, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute, Johns Hopkins SAIS

Over the last six months, risks to global financial stability have risen, according to the International Monetary Fund’s April 2016 Global Financial Stability Report.

In advanced economies, the outlook has deteriorated because of heightened uncertainty and setbacks to growth and confidence. Disruptions to global asset markets have added to these pressures. Declines in oil and commodity prices have kept risks elevated in emerging markets, while greater uncertainty about China’s growth transition has increased spillovers to global markets. These developments tightened financial conditions, reduced risk appetite, and raised credit risks, weighing on financial stability. The situation in markets appears significantly improved, but is the turmoil of the past months now safely behind us, or is it a warning signal that more needs to be done to secure financial stability? The IMF’s April 2016 GFSR addresses this key question and many others. 
 

José Viñals is currently the Financial Counsellor and Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He is a member of the Financial Stability Board, representing the IMF.

His professional career has been closely tied to the Central Bank of Spain, where he served as the Deputy Governor after holding successive positions.

He has also held the positions of Chairman of the European Central Bank International Relations Committee; and Chairman of Spain’s Deposit Guarantee Funds.

He has been a member of: the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Committee on the Global Financial System; the European Central Bank Monetary Policy Committee; and the high-level group appointed by the President of the European Commission to examine economic challenges in the European Union. He was also a member of the European Union Economic and Financial Committee and a Board Member of the Spanish Securities Authority, the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores.

He holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Valencia; a Master’s degree in Economics from the London School of Economics; and Master's and Doctoral (Ph.D.) degrees in Economics from Harvard University. He is a former Faculty Member of the Economics Department at Stanford University. His awards include the Premio Rey Jaime I (King James I Prize) in Economics in 2001.
 

Douglas J. Elliott is a Partner in the financial services consulting practice of Oliver Wyman, where he focuses on public policy and its implications for the global financial sector. From 2009 to 2015, he was a Fellow in Economic Studies at The Brookings Institution, specializing primarily in financial institutions and markets and their regulation and on the Euro Crisis. He has written extensively on financial regulation and its international coordination (seehttp://www.brookings.edu/experts/elliottd.aspx).

He has been a Visiting Scholar at the International Monetary Fund, as well as a consultant for the IMF, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. Prior to Brookings, he was a financial institutions investment banker for two decades, principally at J.P. Morgan.

He has testified multiple times before both houses of Congress and participated in numerous speaking engagements, as well as appearing widely in the major media outlets. The New York Times has described his analyses as “refreshingly understandable” and “without a hint of dogma or advocacy.”

Mr. Elliott graduated from Harvard College magna cum laude with an A.B. in Sociology in 1981. In 1984, he graduated from Duke University with an M.A. in Computer Science.

Global Governance: An Assessment

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Dean Vali Nasr and the SAIS Foreign Policy Institute hosted a discussion on "Global Governance: An Assessment" with Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Former Deputy Chairman of India’s Planning Commission

This event was moderated by Professor Pravin Krishna, Chung Ju Yung, Distinguished Professor of International Economics and Business
 

Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia has served as a high-level government official in India, as well as with the IMF and the World Bank. He has been a key figure in India’s economic reforms since the mid-1980s. Most recently, Mr. Ahluwalia was Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India from July 2004 till May 2014. In 2011, he was awarded the prestigious “Padma Vibhushan”, India’s second highest civilian honor, by the President of India for his outstanding contribution to economic policy and public service. Dr. Ahluwalia received a BA (Hons) degree from St. Stephens College, Delhi University. He went to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and received an M.A. and an M.Phil. degree in Economics from Oxford University. He has received several honorary doctorates, including the Doctor of Civil Law (Honoris Causa) from Oxford University.

Challenges in Environmental Diplomacy

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The SAIS Foreign Policy Institute presents a discussion with Deputy Assistant Secretary Daniel A. Reifsnyder, led by Dr. Lynn Wagner (’91, PhD ’98) on Challenges in Environmental Diplomacy

What are the challenges in conducting environmental diplomacy? How does it differ from the usual practice of US diplomacy? How are historic agreements, such as the recent Paris agreement, negotiated?

Dr. Reifsnyder has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environment in the State Department’s Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Science since March 2006.  He oversees the Environment Directorate, which deals with international environmental issues such as environmental quality, conservation of natural resources, water, and global climate change.  In these areas, Dr. Reifsnyder leads US delegations under multilateral conventions and bilateral agreements. Dr. Reifsnyder served as Co-Chair of the UN climate change negotiations that led to the Paris Agreement in December 2015.  Before that, he served as Chair and Vice Chair of the UN climate negotiations that led to the Durban and Cancun outcomes in 2011 and 2010.  In 2012, he led the US Delegation in the final negotiating session that adopted the Minamata Convention on Mercury. He has been deeply involved in US efforts to phase down HFCs under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. He earned his Ph.D. in international relations from Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 2014.  

Lynn M. Wagner received her Ph.D. from SAIS in 1998. Her research interests focus on the relationship between negotiation processes and outcomes, particularly for environmental negotiations. Dr. Wagner analyzes multilateral environmental negotiations through her work with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). She began working with IISD in 1994 and is currently the Senior Manager of IISD Reporting Services’ Knowledge Management Projects. She is also Reporting Services’ thematic expert for Sustainable Development and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.

Asian Economic Outlook and the Roles of the Asian Development Bank

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Edwin O. Reischauer Memorial Lecture Series, Foreign Policy Institute, and International Development Program Development Roundtable presents:

Asian Economic Outlook and the Roles of the Asian Development Bank with Takehiko Nakao President and Chairperson, Board of Directors

President Nakao will discuss the economic situations and outlook for Asia, as well as the policy challenges of Asian developing countries. The lecture will include the roles of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in promoting development, the reform efforts to fulfill its roles such as strengthening financing capacity, and the cooperation with AIIB and other partners.

Takehiko Nakao is the President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Chairperson of ADB’s Board of Directors. He was elected President by ADB’s Board of Governors and assumed office in April 2013. Before joining ADB, Mr. Nakao was the Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs at the Ministry of Finance of Japan. He has held senior positions in the Ministry of Finance in Japan, which he joined in 1978, including Director-General of the International Bureau, where he fostered close ties with leading figures in the Asia-Pacific region, and G20 nations. He was assigned as Minister at the Embassy of Japan in Washington D.C., between 2005 and 2007, and from 1994 to 1997 served as economist and advisor at the International Monetary Fund. He has published books and numerous papers on financial and economic issues, and in 2010 and 2011 was a Visiting Professor at the University of Tokyo. Mr. Nakao holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Tokyo and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley.

The Gray Rhino: A New Framework for Foreign Policy Risks

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The SAIS Foreign Policy Institute hosted a conversation with Michele Wucker about her latest book "The Gray Rhino: A New Framework for Foreign Policy Risks," moderated by Jeff Leonard.

A "gray rhino" is a highly probable, high impact yet neglected threat: kin to both the giant but ignored elephant in the room and the improbable, unforeseeable black swan. Gray rhinos are not random surprises, but occur after a series of warnings and visible evidence. Many of today's biggest foreign policy challenges are gray rhinos: Syria and the resulting refugee crisis, economic and social fractures within the European Union, consequences of the Chinese economic slowdown, the consequences of climate change, and the social unrest and aggressive nationalist politics stemming from global inequality. Gray rhinos follow predictable paths, with different opportunities and obstacles as they unfold -- even as they differ in speed, complexity, and prognosis. At this event, policy analyst Michele Wucker, author of the provocative new book THE GRAY RHINO, and Foreign Policy Institute senior fellow Afshin Molavi discuss how the gray rhino concept can help decision makers to better understand and respond to global risks before it's too late.

Michele Wucker is the author of THE GRAY RHINO: How to Recognize and Act on the Obvious Dangers We Ignore (St Martin’s Press, April 5, 2016), as well as LOCKOUT: Why America Keeps Getting Immigration Wrong When Our Prosperity Depends on Getting It Right and WHY THE COCKS FIGHT: Dominicans, Haitians, and the Struggle for Hispaniola. She has been honored as a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and a  Guggenheim Fellow, and delivered speeches on five continents. In 2015, she founded Gray Rhino & Company to help leaders and organizations to identify and strategize their responses to known risks. Her previous positions include Vice President for Studies at The Chicago Council on Global Affairs; President of the World Policy Institute, which she re-launched in 2007; and Latin America Bureau Chief at International Financing Review. Her writing has appeared in publications including CNN.com, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal; and she has been interviewed by many media including National Public Radio, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, and Fox News. Visit her website at www.wucker.com and follow her on twitter @wucker.

Jeffrey Leonard is CEO and co-founder of Global Environment Fund, a middle market private equity firm that invests worldwide in growth companies that enable renewable energy, energy efficiency, environmental control and clean up.   Jeff is a member of the Board of New America, chairman of the Board of the Washington Monthly, and previously was chairman of the Board of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA).  He holds a PhD from Princeton, an MSc from London School of Economics and a BA from Harvard. Jeff is the author of 5 books and numerous articles on energy policy, international trade and environmental issues.  His book, Pollution and the Struggle for the World Product (Cambridge Press 1988) was awarded the best book on comparative policy studies by the International Studies Association in 1990. 

Prospects for an Economic Growth Rebound in Southeast Asia

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Dean Vali Nasr and the SAIS Foreign Policy Institute hosted a discussion on “Prospects for an Economic Growth Rebound in Southeast Asia” With Gita Wirjawan, Chairman, Ancora Group and Founder, Ancora Foundation

Moderated by Dr. John Lipsky, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute

Mr. Gita Wirjawan is the Chairman of Ancora Group, an Indonesian group with interests in private equity investing, natural resources, real estate, sports, and music, which he founded in 2007. A statesman, entrepreneur, investment banker and musician, Mr. Wirjawan's career spans the highest levels of government and business.

Prior to resuming his role at Ancora, Mr. Wirjawan served as minister of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia (BKPM). For his extraordinary accomplishments as a cabinet member, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono awarded him the BintangMahaputra Adipradana.

As an investment banker, he has held key appointments at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. Mr. Wirjawan played leading roles in many mergers, corporate restructuring, corporate financing and strategic sales involving leading companies in Southeast Asia. His various board roles included service as a Commissioner of state-owned oil giant, Pertamina, and as an Independent Board Director of Axiata Group Berhad.

Outside the world of business, his passion lies in philanthropy, education, sports and music. As a philanthropist, he has endowed scholarships for Indonesians to attend the best universities in the world, including Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, and Sciences Po. In 2008, he established the Gita Wirjawan Graduate Fellowship at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. He is also in the process of establishing 1,000 kindergartens throughout Indonesia. An avid golfer, he has established academies to groom future Indonesian golfers. He is also currently Chairman of the Indonesian Badminton Association. And through Ancora Music, he has produced a range of albums that have been critically acclaimed. Mr. Wirjawan is a member of the advisory board of the Institute for Societal Leadership at Singapore Management University, the international advisory board of ACE Group and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Previously, a he served on the Dean's Leadership Council at the Harvard Kennedy School.

He holds a BS from the University of Texas at Austin, an MBA from Baylor University, and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School. He has an honorary doctorate in business administration from Naresuan University, Thailand. He qualified as a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Texas, USA, and holds a Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

China's New Economic Plans: Implications for China, Asia, and the Global Economy

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China’s One Belt, One Road Strategy (aka OBOR) is “easy to say, hard to do,” according to Professor Liu Mingkang, the first Chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission. Liu discussed the implications of the massive Asian infrastructure development projects planned under OBOR at a Johns Hopkins SAIS conference March 29, sponsored by SAIS China and the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF) in Hong Kong. Now a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Liu Mingkang opened the forum with a keynote address on China’s Approach to Regional Economic Integration: The One Belt, One Road Strategy and then joined other leading financial experts on a panel to discuss the impact of China’s investment plans on global and regional economies and financial markets. The forum continued with a panel of three leading experts on China’s domestic economy, offering lively and differing views on China’s economic transition to a more service-oriented economy and the achievability of growth targets in the country’s new national Five-Year Plan unveiled this month. The afternoon concluded with summary remarks by leading China expert Professor David M. Lampton.

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Panelists:

John Lipsky, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute, Johns Hopkins SAIS
Liu Mingkang, Distinguished Research Fellow at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Former Chairman, China Banking Regulatory Commission
Amy Celico, Principal, Albright, Stonebridge Group
Carla Hills, Chairman and CEO, Hills and Company
Roger Leeds, Senior Research Professor, Johns Hopkins SAIS
David Dollar, Senior Fellow, John L. Thornton China Center, Brookings Institution
Nicholas Lardy, Anthony M. Solomon Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics
Shahid Yusuf, Chief Economist, International Growth Center, and Johns Hopkins SAIS Adjunct Professor
Ling Chen, Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins SAIS
David M. Lampton, George and Sadie Hyman Professor and Director of China Studies, Johns Hopkins SAIS

Long-Term Growth Prospects in the Middle East and Central Asia

Dean Vali Nasr, the SAIS Foreign Policy Institute, and the International Monetary Fund hosted a panel discussion on Long-Term Growth Prospects in the Middle East and Central Asia with Mr. Mitsuhiro Furusawa, Deputy Managing Director, IMF; Mr. Masood Ahmed, Director, Middle East and Central Asia Department, IMF; Dr. Uri Dadush, Senior Associate and Director of the International Economics Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Senior Fellow, OCP Policy Center, Rabat Morocco; 

 Mr. Hung Tran, Executive Managing Director, Institute of International Finance

Moderated by Dr. John Lipsky, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute

Art of Diplomacy Lecture Series: Recovering Diplomatic Agility

The SAIS Foreign Policy Institute presents a discussion with Ambassador Chas Freeman (USFS, Ret.) led by Dr. Daniel Serwer on Recovering Diplomatic Agility

How does diplomacy further American foreign policy goals around the world and what should its role be in our increasingly connected and social global society? What tools are currently being utilized in American foreign diplomacy? What tools should be?

Ambassador Freeman is a senior fellow at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. He was Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs from 1993-94. He served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 1986-1989 and U. S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1989-1992. Chas Freeman served as Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires in the American embassies at both Bangkok (1984-1986) and Beijing (1981-1984). He was Director for Chinese Affairs at the U.S. Department of State from 1979-1981. Ambassador Freeman was also the principal American interpreter during the late President Nixon’s path-breaking visit to China in 1972.

Dr. Serwer is Director of the Conflict Management program at SAIS. As vice president of the Centers of Innovation at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Dr. Serwer led teams working on rule of law, peacebuilding, religion, economics, media, technology, security sector governance and gender.  He was also vice president for peace and stability operations at USIP, overseeing its peacebuilding work in Afghanistan, the Balkans, Iraq and Sudan and serving as executive director of the Hamilton/Baker Iraq Study Group. Prior to USIP, Dr. Serwer was in the U.S. Foreign Service for 21 years serving in Rome as deputy chief of mission and charge' d'affaires, as well as in Brasilia.

The Future of the Global Economy with Dr. Paul Achleitner

Dean Vali Nasr and the Foreign Policy Institute presented The Future of the Global Economy with Dr. Paul Achleitner Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bank AGModerated by Dr. John Lipsky, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute.

Born 1956 in Linz, Austria, Paul Achleitner was educated at the University of St. Gallen (HSG) and Harvard Business School (HBS). He holds a Ph.D. from HSG and an honorary professorship from WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management.After four years at Bain & Co. in Boston he joined Goldman Sachs in 1988 where he served in New York, London and Frankfurt in various capacities, since 1994 as a partner of the firm. Between 2000 and 2012 Paul Achleitner was CFO of Allianz in Munich.Besides chairing the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bank Paul Achleitner serves on the Supervisory Board of Bayer and Daimler as well as on the Shareholders' Committee of Henkel. He also chairs the German Government Commission of Capital Markets Experts and is a member of the International Advisory Board of Allianz, the Board of Trustees of the Brookings Institution, the European Advisory Board of the Harvard Business School and the Advisory Council of the Munich Security Conference. Since 2013, he is Co-Chairman of the Hong Kong / Europe Business Council.

Palestinian Succession Plans: Who Will Replace President Mahmoud Abbas

The SAIS Foreign Policy Institute presents a discussion on:

Palestinian Succession Plans: Who Will Replace President Mahmoud Abbas?

with:

* Ilan Goldenberg, Senior Fellow and Director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security - Discussant

* Grant Rumley, Research Analyst at the Foundation of Democracies - Discussant

* Fadi Elsalameen, Non-Resident Fellow at the SAIS Foreign Policy Institute - Moderator

Domestic Political Economy and China's "Going Out" Strategy

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A roundtable discussion was hosted by the Centre for International Governance (CIGI) and the Foreign Policy Institute (FPI) at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC. It focused on the connection between China's domestic political economy drivers of its new activism in foreign financial policy. The rountdtable discussed the domestic sources of the "going out" strategy, the role of China's domestic institutions in shaping its economic, and the impact of its financial engagement abroad on domestic reform.

Building Peace, Security and Prosperity in Pakistan

Dean Vali Nasr and the Foreign Policy Institute hosted a discussion on "Building Peace, Security and Prosperity in Pakistan" with Senator Sherry Rehman Founding Chair and serving President of the Jinnah Institute 
 

Joining in Discussion was Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli, Senior Fellow, SAIS Foreign Policy Institute, and Dr. Daniel Markey, Senior Research Professor and Academic Director of Global Public Policy Program, SAIS

Senator Sherry Rehman is the founding Chair and serving President of the Jinnah Institute, a leading policy think tank in Islamabad with a strategic focus on regional peace. Senator Rehman is the Vice President of the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian which holds the main opposition lead in both Houses of Parliament. Rehman is also the former Pakistani Ambassador to the United States; Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pakistan and ranking member of the National Security Committee in the Parliament, Rehman also held three additional portfolios of Health, Women Development and Culture as Federal Minister. 

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An award-winning journalist from Pakistan with 20 years of experience in both broadcast and the print media, she is a former editor of the Herald newsmagazine based in Pakistan. Rehman is also the architect of the first parliamentary charter and bill for women empowerment, as well as for the Protection of Religious Minorities, mover of the Hudood Ordinances Repeal Bill, mover of the Anti-Honour Killings Bill, as well as the Freedom of Information Act 2004. Her bills include the removal of colonial press laws in Pakistan, as well as landmark legislation on Sexual Harassment at the Workplace, Domestic Violence and Affirmative Action for women. In August 2008, Rehman's move to repeal amendments in the Print and Publication Ordinance paved the way for constitutional protection for the print media (RTI Bill). Rehman is the recipient of several awards including the title of Democracy's Hero for her services for democracy; The Freedom Award for her work for media independence; the International Peace Award for Democrats, and the Jeanne Kirkpatrick Award for Women. She was ranked ‘Pakistan's Most Important Woman’ by Newsweek Pakistan, and identified as one of 2011's Top Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine. She was awarded the state's highest civil award, the Nishan-i-Imtiaz in March 2013.

Dr. Daniel S. Markey is senior research professor at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He is also the academic director for the SAIS Global Policy Program and an adjunct senior fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

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From 2007-2015, Daniel Markey was senior fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at CFR. While there, he wrote a book on the future of the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, No Exit from Pakistan: America's Tortured Relationship with Islamabad (Cambridge University Press, 2013).

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From 2003 to 2007, Dr. Markey held the South Asia portfolio on the Secretary's Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State. Prior to government service, he taught in the Department of Politics at Princeton University, where he served as executive director of Princeton's Research Program in International Security. Earlier, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard's Olin Institute for Strategic Studies.

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Dr. Markey is the author of numerous reports, articles, book chapters, and opinion pieces. He has written two CFR Special Reports: Reorienting U.S. Pakistan Strategy (2014) and Securing Pakistan’s Tribal Belt (2008). In 2010, he served as project director of the CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force on U.S. strategy in Pakistan and Afghanistan. His commentary has been featured widely in U.S. and international media.

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Dr. Markey earned a bachelor's degree in international studies from Johns Hopkins University and a doctorate in politics from Princeton University.

Dr. Shirin Tahir-Kheli was named by Newsweek in 2011 as one of the "150 Women Who Shake the World". She specializes in South Asia, Nuclear Non-Proliferation, United Nations and U.S. Foreign Policy, Women's Empowerment.

From March 2003 to April 2005, she served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Democracy, Human Rights and International Operations at the National Security Council. She proposed and coordinated the building of the Children's Hospital for treatment of Cancer in Basra, Iraq from 2004-2009. The hospital, the first of its kind in Iraq, and a public-private partnership, opened in 2010.

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During 2004 - 2006 she served as the key U.S. official in the formulation of U.S. policy toward United Nations Reform. She oversaw the diplomatic effort to press for critical changes in the UN system from her position as Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs at the National Security Council and later as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State for UN Reform.

Shirin Tahir-Kheli was appointed by Secretary Condoleezza Rice as her Senior Advisor for Women’s Empowerment on April 5 2006. There, she established the first ever office focused on integrating Women's Empowerment into U.S. foreign policy. She set-up and oversaw the work of the Women Leaders' Working group comprising some sixty female heads of state, foreign ministers, political leaders, attorney generals and speakers of parliaments, focused on political participation, education, economic empowerment and justice. Tahir-Kheli  spear-headed the State Department initiative for "Women's Justice" which brought together at the Department of State on March 12, 2008, judges from around the world to work on measures to alleviate the severity of violence against women and women's lack of access to justice, which continues.

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Dr.Tahir-Kheli was Research Professor of International Relations at the Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Foreign Policy Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Washington DC. From 1999-June 2002, she served as the founding Director, South Asia Program, FPI/SAIS.

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Earlier, in her service in the United States government, Tahir-Kheli served as: Head of the United States delegation to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva in 2001; Alternate United States Representative to the United Nations for Special Political Affairs (1990-93), a post that carries the rank of Ambassador; Member, United States Presidential Commission on the Public Service during 1992-93; Director of Near East and South Asian Affairs (1986-89), White House National Security Council; Director of Political Military Affairs(1984-1986) at the National Security Council. She joined the Reagan Administration in 1982 as Member, Policy Planning Staff in the Office of the Secretary of State.

Ambassador Tahir-Kheli has dedicated her efforts to finding areas of agreement between India and Pakistan that could change their relationship to one of productive peace. Toward that end, she has been chair of the BALUSA Group comprising senior Indian and Pakistani and US participants that is geared to influencing policy toward cooperation.

She is the author and editor of several monographs, including: India, Pakistan and the United States: Breaking with the Past published by the Council on Foreign Relations (1997), and The United States and Pakistan: The Evolution. 

The UAE and the World in an Age of Turmoil

SAIS Middle East Studies and the Foreign Policy Institute presented a discussion with  Ambassador Omar Saif Ghobash UAE Ambassador to Russia

H.E Omar Saif Ghobash, UAE Ambassador to Russia, will discuss a wide range of issues from the Syrian civil war and the rise of ISIS (Da’esh) to the geo-economic rise of the UAE and the economic turmoil in emerging markets. Ambassador Ghobash brings a unique set of experiences to his diplomatic career, from business leader, art gallery founder, philanthropic foundation director, and advanced degree holder in mathematics.

His Excellency Omar Saif Ghobash, the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Russia, took up his post in 2009. Prior to his Ambassadorial post, Ambassador Ghobash was the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Emirates Foundation, a philanthropic initiative launched by the government of Abu Dhabi. He has also worked as a diplomat in the UAE Mission to the United Nations, specializing in legal affairs. Ambassador Ghobash has been active for several years in private business, having established companies in the UAE and overseas in the financial and legal arenas, as well as continuing his work in the technology and education fields. Amongst other interests he is a Board Member of Motif, a UK-based genetic research company and of Third Line Art Gallery in Dubai which nurtures Emirati and other Arab artists. He holds a degree in Law from Balliol College, Oxford, and has completed an advanced degree in Mathematics from the University of London, UK. Ambassador Ghobash speaks Arabic, English, Russian, French, Italian and Spanish.

Afshin Molavi, Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute, moderated the discussion.

This event was open exclusively to the SAIS community and remarks are off-the-record.

SAIS Women's Leadership Initiative Launch

Dean Vali Nasr launched the Johns Hopkins SAIS Women's Leadership Initiative with The Honorable Barbara Barrett, Chairman of the Aerospace Corporation and former United States Ambassador to Finland.
 

This event was moderated by Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute and was part of the Women Who Inspire series.

Barbara Barrett is chairman of the Aerospace Corporation  and a member of the boards of California Institute of Technology, Sally Ride Science, RAND Corporation, Smithsonian Institution, Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans and Lasker Foundation. She and her husband Craig own Triple Creek Ranch in Montana, named by Travel + Leisure as the best hotel in the world for 2014.

In 2012 Barrett served as interim president of Thunderbird School of Global Management. In 2008 and 2009, Barrett was U.S. Ambassador to Finland. Previously, Barrett was senior advisor to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, a fellow teaching leadership at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, CEO of the American Management Association, deputy administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration and vice chairman of the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board. She also served on the boards of Space Foundation, Milton Hershey School and Hershey Trust Company, Mayo Clinic, Exponent Corporation, Raytheon and Piper Aircraft. Barrett was founding chairman of Valley Bank of Arizona and chaired the State Department’s Women’s Economic Empowerment Working Group, the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy and the U.S. Secretary of Commerce’s Export Conference. She was a partner in a large Phoenix law firm and, before she was thirty, she was an executive of two global Fortune 500 companies.

Barrett was president of the International Women’s Forum. As a member of the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council, she founded Project Artemis, a program to train and mentor Afghan women entrepreneurs at Thunderbird School of Global Management. She is a member of the Global Leadership Foundation and Council on Foreign Relations, and has been a frequent participant with Club of Madrid and the World Economic Forum. In her community, Barrett was chairman of the Arizona District Export Council, World Affairs Council, Economic Club of Phoenix and Thunderbird School. In 1994, she was the first female Republican candidate for Governor of Arizona.

Barrett earned her bachelor's, master's and law degrees at Arizona State University. Honorary doctorates have been conferred by ASU, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Thunderbird School of Global Management, the University of South Carolina, Pepperdine University and Finlandia University. The Honors College at ASU was named for Barrett and her husband, Craig, in 2000.

She has been recognized with the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service, Horatio Alger Award for Distinguished Americans, Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship and Sandra Day O’Connor Board Excellence Award. In 2014, Barrett received the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Presidential Medal from President Laurie Leshin.

An instrument-rated pilot, Barrett was the first civilian woman to land in an F/A-18 Hornet on an aircraft carrier. She climbed Tanzania's Mt. Kilimanjaro in August 2007 and bicycled 900 kilometers around Finland while Ambassador. She has trained as an astronaut, and was the backup spaceflight participant for the Soyuz TMA-16 flight to the International Space Station.

Manipulating Religion for Political Gain in Pakistan: Consequences for the U.S. and the Region

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The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies Foreign Policy Institute Studies in Policy paper launch.FPI Studies in Policy: For more than three decades, leading experts and scholars have addressed critical topics in foreign policy and security through the publication of independent, policy relevant analyses through the FPI. The FPI is proud to build on this tradition with the FPI Studies in Policy series, featuring monograph-length studies of politics, economics, and political economy that inform current international policy and security debates.The Foreign Policy Institute and FPI Fellow Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli launched her recent paper, Manipulating Religion for Political Gain in Pakistan: Consequences for the U.S. and the Region. This is the first in the series of FPI Studies in Policy.

Cyberphobia

Dean Vali Nasr, the Foreign Policy Institute and the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies hosted A Conversation with Edward Lucas, senior editor at The Economist and senior vice-president at the Center for European Policy Analysis.  Lucas discussed his new book Cyberphobia and ways in which cyberspace is not the secure zone we may hope, how passwords provide no significant obstacle to anyone intent on getting past them, and how anonymity is easily accessible to anyone – malign or benign – willing to take a little time covering their tracks.

Edward Lucas is a senior editor at The Economist, the world’s foremost newsweekly. His expertise includes energy, cyber-security, espionage, Russian foreign and security policy and the politics and economics of Eastern Europe.

He is also a senior vice-president at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).

In 2008 he wrote The New Cold War, a prescient account of Vladimir Putin’s Russia. In 2011 he wrote Deception, an investigative account of east-west espionage. He is a strong critic of the fugitive NSA contractor Edward Snowden, and author of an e-book>The Snowden Operation. His latest book is Cyberphobia. He has also contributed to books on religion and media ethics.

An experienced broadcaster, public speaker, moderator and panelist, Edward Lucas has given public lectures at Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge and other leading universities. He is a regular contributor to the BBC’s Today and Newsnight programmes, and to NPR, CNN and Sky News. He is regularly cited by Foreign Policy magazine as one of the top 100 Twitterati.

For many years a foreign correspondent, he was based in Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Moscow and the Baltic states. He is currently in London, as a senior editor at The Economist, responsible for the daily news app Espresso. He also writes obituaries. His weekly syndicated column has appeared since 2005; he also writes for the Times, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Foreign Policy and Standpoint.

As well as working for the Independent, the BBC and the Sunday Times, he also co-founded an English-language weekly in Tallinn, Estonia: the Baltic Independent. His undergraduate degree is from the London School of Economics and he speaks five languages — German, Russian, Polish, Czech and Lithuanian.

He is married to the writer Cristina Odone and has three children. His father is the Oxford philosopher JR Lucas.

The Role of the IMF in Greek Financial Reforms

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Elena Panaritis led a discussion on the role of the IMF in Greek Financial Reforms. Professor Jaime Marquez, International Economics and Associate Director of Masters in International Economics and Finance, also joined as a discussant. Professor Cinnamon Dornsife, International Development Program and Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute, moderated the discussion.

Elena Panaritis is an institutional economist, social entrepreneur, and policy innovator. She has served as Member of the Hellenic Parliament and adviser to Greece’s Prime Minister. As an economist at the World Bank, she spearheaded property rights reform in Peru, receiving International Best Practice awards. Her book Prosperity Unbound: Building Property Markets with Trust recounts her experience and expands on her methodology. Elena is the founder of Panel Group LLC, a triple-bottom-line business that focuses on distressed economies. She has also founded Thought for Action, an NGO that creates awareness about transforming informality and countries under solvency crisis, such as Greece.

Forum on U.S. Foreign Policy and National Security: A Conversation with William J. Burns

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Dean Vali Nasr and the Johns Hopkins SAIS Foreign Policy Institute invite you to A Conversation with William J. Burns,
President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State

Moderated by Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute

William J. Burns is president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the oldest international affairs think tank in the United States. Ambassador Burns retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2014 after a thirty-three-year diplomatic career. He holds the highest rank in the Foreign Service, career ambassador, and is only the second serving career diplomat in history to become deputy secretary of state.

Prior to his tenure as deputy secretary, Ambassador Burns served from 2008 to 2011 as under secretary for political affairs. He was ambassador to Russia from 2005 to 2008, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs from 2001 to 2005, and ambassador to Jordan from 1998 to 2001. His other posts in the Foreign Service include: executive secretary of the State Department and special assistant to former secretaries of state Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright; minister-counselor for political affairs at the U.S. embassy in Moscow; acting director and principal deputy director of the State Department’s policy planning staff; and special assistant to the president and senior director for Near East and South Asian affairs at the National Security Council.

Ambassador Burns speaks Russian, Arabic, and French, and he has been the recipient of three Presidential Distinguished Service Awards and a number of Department of State awards, including three Secretary’s Distinguished Service Awards, two Distinguished Honor Awards, the 2006 Charles E. Cobb, Jr. Ambassadorial Award for Initiative and Success in Trade Development, the 2005 Robert C. Frasure Memorial Award for Conflict Resolution and Peacemaking, and the James Clement Dunn Award for exemplary performance at the mid-career level. He has also received the highest civilian honors from the Department of Defense and the U.S. intelligence community. In 2013, Foreign Policy named him “Diplomat of the Year”.

Ambassador Burns earned a bachelor’s in history from LaSalle University and master’s and doctoral degrees in international relations from Oxford University, where he studied as a Marshall Scholar. He is a recipient of four honorary doctoral degrees and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Ambassador Burns is the author of Economic Aid and American Policy Toward Egypt, 1955-1981 (State University of New York Press, 1985). In 1994, he was named to Time magazine’s list of the “50 Most Promising American Leaders Under Age 40” and to its list of “100 Young Global Leaders.”

A Conversation on American Foreign Policy in the Middle East & South Asia with Dean Nasr and Ambassador Tahir-Kheli

Please join Dean Nasr and FPI Senior Fellow Ambassador Tahir-Kheli for a discussion on American foreign policy towards the Middle East. The event will take place over a light breakfast and last for 45 minutes. We will discuss the future of the region, the state of American diplomacy, as well as the Dean’s experiences as an advisor to senior policymakers and world leaders.

Dr. Vali Nasr, in addition to being Dean of SAIS, is a member of the Foreign Affairs Policy Board of the U.S. Department of State. He served as Senior Advisor to U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke between 2009 and 2011. He has previously served as Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and Senior Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government. He is the author of The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat.

Dr. Shirin Tahir-Kheli, named by Newsweek in 2011 as one of the “150 Women Who Shake the World”, has held numerous posts in and outside of government including Director of Near East and South Asian Affairs at the White House National Security Council, and the founding Director of the SAIS South Asia program. 

Restructuring Finance for a New Global Economy

Moderated by Dr. John Lipsky, Senior Fellow, SAIS Foreign Policy Institute
Bertrand Badré, was appointed in 2013 as the Managing Director for Finance and World Bank Group Chief Financial Officer (MDCFO). Prior to joining the World  Bank,  Mr. Badré was the Group Chief Financial Officer  at Société Générale.

He also served as the Group Chief Financial Officer of Crédit Agricole from July 2007 to July 2011. Between 2004 and 2007, Mr. Badré was Managing Director of Lazard in Paris responsible for the Financial Services Group. In 2003, he was invited to join President Chirac’s diplomatic team and was closely involved in the preparation of the G8 summit in Evian. Mr. Badré is a graduate of ENA (Ecole Nationale d'Administration) and Institud'Etudes Politiques de Paris. He also studied history at Paris IV University (La Sorbonne), and graduated from HEC (Hautes Études Commerciales in Paris) business school.

The UN in the New Global Landscape

Dean Vali Nasr and the Johns Hopkins SAIS Foreign Policy Institute hosted a presentation on The UN in the New Global Landscape with His Excellency Jan Eliasson, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations.

The event was moderated by Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute

Born in Göteborg, Sweden, in 1940, Jan Eliasson was an exchange student in the United States from 1957 to 1958. He graduated from the Swedish Naval Academy in 1962 and earned a master’s degree in Economics and Business Administration in 1965.

Eliasson served as Diplomatic Adviser to the Swedish Prime Minister from 1982 to 1983, and as Director General for Political Affairs in the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs from 1983 to 1987.

From 1988 to 1992, he was Sweden’s Ambassador to the United Nations in New York where he was part of the UN mediation missions in the war between Iran and Iraq, headed by former Prime Minister Olof Palme. In 1992, he was appointed the first UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and was involved in operations in Somalia, Sudan, Mozambique and the Balkans – taking initiatives on landmines, conflict prevention and humanitarian action.

In 1993 and 1994, Eliasson served as mediator in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Eliasson was State Secretary for Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 2000 and the Swedish Ambassador to the United States from 2000 to 2005. From 2005 to 2006 he served as President of the UN General Assembly.

Eliasson’s distinguished career as a Swedish diplomat culminated in his serving as Minister for Foreign Affairs in 2006. From January 2007 to July 2008, Eliasson was the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Darfur. On 2 March 2012, Jan Eliasson was appointed Deputy Secretary-General of the UN by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He took office as Deputy Secretary-General on 1 July 2012.

Eliasson is married to Kerstin Eliasson, who was Sweden’s State Secretary for Education and Science from 2004 to 2006. They have three grown children.

A Conversation on Public Diplomacy with Amb. Holliday and Dr. Serwer

How effective is the United States at countering ISIS’s narrative? How can it do better? How does public diplomacy further American foreign policy goals around the world and what should its role be in our increasingly connected and social global society? Please join Ambassador Stuart Holliday and Professor Serwer for a discussion on public diplomacy’s role in American foreign policy.

Ambassador Stuart Holliday is President and CEO of Meridian International Center, a leading non-partisan public diplomacy institution. He has served as U.S. Ambassador for Special Political Affairs at the United Nations. His portfolio included responsibility for U.S. policy on U.N. peacekeeping, sanctions, and counterterrorism programs.

Dr. Serwer is Director of the Conflict Management program at SAIS. As vice president of the Centers of Innovation at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Serwer led teams working on rule of law, peacebuilding, religion, economics, media, technology, security sector governance and gender.  He was also vice president for peace and stability operations at USIP, overseeing its peacebuilding work in Afghanistan, the Balkans, Iraq and Sudan and serving as executive director of the Hamilton/Baker Iraq Study Group.

Promoting Sustainable Usage of the Oceans—Security, Collaboration and Development

This day-long conference is the second in a series on the Blue Economy related events at SAIS.  The agenda for the day included the following -

Keynote:    Promoting Sustainable Ocean Development

Panel 1:     Promoting Global Collaboration for Sustainable Oceans Development

Panel 2:     Security and Development in the South China Sea

Panel 3:     Promoting Sustainable Ocean & Water Development in the Middle East

Panel 4:     Sustainable Ocean Development in Latin America

Hosted by The Maritime Alliance, SAIS, and FPI, and co-sponsiored by Conservation International.

China’s Changing Relations with Developing Countries: Implications for U.S. Policy

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Relations between China and developing countries are evolving on multiple fronts.  Through China’s ideational and economic influence in the developing world, its role in the architecture of international development finance, the use of the renminbi in trade and investment,  and its peacekeeping activities and environmental impact, China’s new engagement with developing countries is transforming longstanding patterns of international relations. Opening with a keynote by Suisheng Zhao on the influence of the “China model,” this two-day conference at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) assembles leading experts to explore China’s changing relations with developing countries and to address the implications of these changes for US policy. To the right is Suisheng Zhao's keynote address. Check out the rest of the panel videos here:Panel 1, China and Developing Countries and the Changing International Order.Panel 2, Changes and Continuities in China's Relations with Africa.Special Lecture, The China Dream - What does it Mean for Developing Countries.Panel 3, China as Opportunity for Developing Countries - Is it Delivering or Disappointing?

Worldmaking: The Art and Science of American Diplomacy with David Milne and James Mann

A new intellectual history of U.S. foreign policy from the late nineteenth century to the present

Worldmaking is a fresh and compelling new take on the history of American diplomacy. Rather than retracing a familiar story of realism versus idealism, David Milne suggests that U.S. foreign policy has also been crucially divided between those who view statecraft as an art and those who believe it can aspire toward the certainties of science.

Worldmaking follows a colorful cast of characters who built on each other's ideas to create the policies we have today. Woodrow Wilson's Universalism and moralism led Sigmund Freud to diagnose a messiah complex. Walter Lippmann was an internationally syndicated columnist who commanded the attention of leaders as diverse as Theodore Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, and Charles de Gaulle. Paul Wolfowitz was the intellectual architect of the 2003 invasion of Iraq--an ardent admirer of Wilson's attempt to "make the world safe for democracy." Each was engaged in a process of worldmaking, formulating strategies that sought to deploy the nation's vast military and economic power--or indeed its retraction through a domestic reorientation--to "make" a world in which America is best positioned to thrive.

From the age of steam engines to the age of drones, Milne reveals patterns of aspirant worldmaking that have remained impervious to the passage of time. The result is a panoramic history of U.S. foreign policy driven by ideas and the lives and times of their creators.

EU Migration Crisis

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Dean Vali Nasr and The Human Security Initiative of the Foreign Policy Institute invite you to a discussion on:

The EU Migration Crisis with Michel Gabaudan, President of Refugees International; Ambassador Reka Szemerkenyi (S'95), Ambassador of Hungary; Ambassador Peter Wittig, Ambasador of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Moderated by Maureen White, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute

Michel Gabaudan became president of Refugees International in September of 2010, leading RI forward in its mission to bring attention and action to refugees and displaced people worldwide. Prior to his role with RI, Michel served as the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) Regional Representative for the United States and the Caribbean. Michel’s career with UNHCR spanned more than 25 years, including international service in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific.

Trained as a medical doctor in addition to holding a master’s degree in tropical public health, Michel spent a decade working in Guyana, Zambia, Brazil, London and Yemen before joining UNHCR as a Field Officer in Thailand in 1978. His UN career took him to field operations in Cameroon and Pakistan as well as several years at the agency’s headquarters in Geneva, where he served as the first public health advisor to the organization.

Subsequently, he served as a Secretary to CIREFCA, the International Conference on Refugees in Central America, where he led a joint UNHCR- UNDP team for a year and a half, supporting peace processes in Latin America. He was then assigned as Charge de Mission in Guatemala where he negotiated the first phases of the return of refugees. In 1995, he was appointed as the Regional Representative in Mexico responsible for all Central American countries. That same year, Michel was the recipient of the Order of the Quetzal, Guatemala’s highest honor. The award was bestowed upon him in appreciation for his involvement in the country's peace process.

He then went on to become head of UNHCR’s funding and donor relations service at headquarters in Geneva. Between 2001 and 2004, Michel was the Regional Representative in Australia. Prior to coming to Washington, he served as the Regional Representative for UNHCR in Beijing.

Ambassador Reka Szemerkenyi was appointed Ambassador of Hungary to the United States in 2015. Previously, from 2011 to 2014, she was Chief Advisor on Security Policy to the Prime Minister of Hungary.

Working at the Prime Minister's office she covered Trans-Atlantic issues, Central European regional relations, the Balkans, Russia, with a particular emphasis on energy security and cyber security. Between 2006 and 2011, she was Head of International Public Affairs and Chief Advisor on International Relations to the Chairman of the Board of MOL Group, the Hungarian Oil and Gas Company. In this capacity, her role was to cover European Union energy policy and security developments and the establishment of the Central European regional energy cooperation, as well as to provide professional support for executive decisions on a wide range of issues in international affairs.

Between 1998 and 2002, she was State Secretary for Foreign Policy and National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Hungary. From 1991 to 1994, she was Senior Advisor to the State Secretary of the Ministry of Defense of Hungary.

She completed her Master’s Degree in Strategic Studies as a Fulbright Fellow at SAIS, Johns Hopkins University in Washington DC (1993-5). She earned her Doctoral Degree at Péter Pázmány Catholic University of Budapest in 2006, her PhD Thesis being: Energy Security - West European and Warsaw Pact Energy Strategies between 1945-1990.

Ambassador Peter Wittig has served as German Ambassador to the United States since April 2014.

Prior to this, he was German Ambassador to the United Nations in New York and represented Germany during its tenure as a member of the UN Security Council from 2011 until 2012. There, he drew on his wide expertise in United Nations matters, having previously served as Director-General for United Nations and Global Issues at the German Foreign Office in Berlin and having been posted to the German Permanent Mission in New York in the late 1980s.

Wittig joined the German Foreign Service in 1982. He has also served in Madrid, at the headquarters as the private secretary to the Foreign Minister, and as Ambassador both in Lebanon and then in Cyprus. He was the German Government Special Envoy on the “Cyprus question” (the division of Cyprus). He has acquired extensive knowledge of the Middle East.

Before starting his career in the German Foreign Service, Wittig studied history, political science, and law at Bonn, Freiburg, Canterbury, and Oxford universities and taught as an assistant professor at the University of Freiburg. His wife, Huberta von Voss-Wittig, has worked as both a journalist and a writer. The couple has four children: Valeska, Maximilian, Augustin, and Felice.

China and North Korea: Strategic and Policy Perspectives from a Changing China

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At a time when China's historically close "as lips and teeth" relations with North Korea appear to be changing, this volume provides unique access in English to the diverse perspectives informing China's North Korea policy and insights into how Chinese specialists assess a country that, while both its neighbor and ally, is also a threat to international security and China's national interests. The editor has gathered original essays by some of today's leading Chinese experts on China's foreign policy toward North Korea, the history of Beijing's relations with Pyongyang, and North Korea's politics and economy. Contributors include scholars from China's elite universities and think tanks in Beijing, as well as from provinces bordering North Korea.Join us for the official book launch of this new volume, featuring a discussion with the editor and select contributors.Moderator:  Carla FREEMAN, Editor of China and North Korea: Strategic Policy Perspectives from a Changing China, Director of the Foreign Policy Institute at SAIS, Associate Director of the China Studies Program at SAIS
Panelists:  

Nathan BEAUCHAMP-MUSTAFAGA, Research Assistant at RAND Corporation

• SHI Yinhong, Chairman of the Academic Committee of the School of International Studies and Director of the Center on American Studies at Renmin University of China in Beijing
• CHENG Xiaohe, Associate Professor at the School of International Studies, Renmin University of China in Beijing