Tuesday, July 9th, 2013
U.S.-Russia Plutonium Disposition: Adventures With MOX
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
2:00PM – 3:30PM
The Carnegie Endowment’s Nuclear Policy Program will convene a special briefing and discussion on this controversial effort to reduce plutonium stockpiles. Panelists will discuss the program’s objectives and its difficulties, as well as options for minimizing plutonium that are now being explored. Speakers include Douglas Birch and R. Jeffrey Smith from the Center for Public Integrity, who have recently published four articles on this topic, and Frank von Hippel of Princeton University.
10th Anniversary of the Proliferation Security Initiative
Center for Strategic and International Studies
3:30PM – 5:00PM
The Bush administration created the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) ten years ago to improve global efforts to interdict shipments of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their dual-use components. This voluntary arrangement has primarily relied on bilateral shipboarding agreements and exercises to help improve responses to suspect shipments. Beginning with 11 ‘core’ states, PSI now has 102 member states. Despite this, there are still gaps in the system. Recently, the Obama administration has declared its intention to turn PSI into a ‘durable international effort.’ Please join our distinguished panel of speakers as we discuss how PSI has developed, and how it might move forward into the future.
Wednesday, July 10th, 2013
Senator Carl Levin on the Conflict in Syria and America’s Role
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
9:00AM – 10:00AM
The conflict in Syria continues unabated and despite President Obama’s recent decision to send small arms and ammunition to the rebels, there remains significant pressure on the United States to do more. Following his return from a visit to Turkey and Jordan, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin will discuss the impact the situation in Syria is having on the region and the implications for U.S. national security interests. Jessica T. Mathews will moderate.
Joint Subcommittee Hearing: The Terrorist Threat in North Africa: Before and After Benghazi
House Committee on Foreign Affairs
10:00AM
Witnesses: Mr. Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Director, Center for the Study of Terrorist Radicalization, Foundation for Defense of Democracies; Mr. Aaron Zelin, Richard Borow Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy; Daniel L. Byman, Ph.D., Professor, Security Studies Program, Georgetown University; Mr. Mike Lovelady, Brother of Algerian gas plant terrorist attack victim, Victor Lovelady
Thursday, July 11th, 2013
AAAS Science and Human Rights Coalition
American Association for the Advancement of Science
8:30am – 5:00PM Thursday, 9:00AM – 5:00PM Friday
This meeting of the AAAS Science and Human Rights Coalition will focus on Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which guarantees everyone the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications. Since the launch of the AAAS Science and Human Rights Coalition in 2009, its core activities have focused on engaging scientists and engineers in an international process to define this right and create opportunities to integrate the right into the activities of scientists, engineers and their professional organizations. The aim of this meeting is to enrich the Coalition’s contributions to ongoing discussions about the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress in regional human rights bodies and at the United Nations by exploring challenging conceptual questions about the meaning of the right and its application in practice.
(image courtesy of Dell)
The Pandora Report 