Happy Martin Luther King Day, everyone! Congratulations to those of you who have today off – we hope you’re out volunteering! Here’s the week’s best (free) events in DC.
Tuesday, January 21st, 2014
What Will 2014 Bring for North Korea’s Nuclear Program?
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
9:00AM – 12:00PM
2013 witnessed new levels of threatening behavior from North Korea: a satellite launch that could portend an improved long-range ballistic missile capability; a third nuclear test; and declarations that the Korean peninsula would witness “an all-out war, a nuclear war.” Recent perturbations among the North Korean leadership also raise the possibility of greater instability and unpredictability. What will 2014 bring in terms of North Korean nuclear behavior? The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Asan Institute for Policy Studies invite you to a discussion on what to expect from North Korea on nuclear matters in 2014. Five experts will discuss the status of North Korea’s nuclear activities, what negotiating tactics North Korea might attempt, and whether there are lessons to be drawn in managing North Korea’s nuclear ambitions from the Iranian and South Asian experiences.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Day – Film Screening: More Than A Dream
GMU School for Conflict Analysis & Resolution
2:00PM -4:00PM
Join S-CAR in a film screening followed by a discussion of the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Technology, Policy, and National Security Series: Cybersecurity, the Much-Admired Problem
Elliot School of International Relations
3:00PM – 4:30PM
Cyberspace, the ubiquitous fusion of information and communication technologies, has transformed the way that Americans work and play, and has also markedly changed the U.S. national security landscape. Threats in and to cyberspace are causing anxiety at all levels in this country, encouraged by news of identity theft, intellectual property piracy, the Mandiant report on Chinas cyber activities against US institutions, and repeated warnings of an impending cyber Pearl Harbor. A key issue is the fact that the cybersecurity problem is not well understood; it is much admired but not resolved. This talk will review the historical technical and policy drivers that created this hydra-headed beast, and their implications for cybersecurity. It will also provide a high-level overview of current cyber threats and attack objectives. The metaphor of public health will be used to posit approaches for significant containment of cybersecurity risk through scientific understanding, public cyber hygiene, and their integration with national and international legal and policy frameworks.
Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014
Making Sense of Nuclear Negotiations with Iran: A Good Deal or a Bad Deal?
RAND Corporation
10:00AM – 11:00AM
Negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 (US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany) have resulted in a first step agreement of a possible comprehensive deal on the Iranian nuclear program. However, aspects of the deal have proved controversial, not only with U.S. allies such as Israel and Saudi Arabia, but with some members of the U.S. Congress as well. Please join us as we hear from a panel of experts examining the negotiations, the potential for a deal that could effectively halt Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapons capability, and implications for U.S. national security.
Managing China’s Rise
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
3:00PM – 5:00PM
The United States must confront the uncomfortable reality that China’s economic and military might may eventually rival or even surpass its own. This prospect is particularly ironic because China has risen as a result of benefiting disproportionately from American investments in sustaining a liberal international economic order. Washington needs a new strategy to meet this challenge—the containment policies that helped defeat the Soviet Union are unlikely to work today given China’s deep integration into the global economy. This event will launch Balancing Without Containment: An American Strategy for Managing China, a new report by Carnegie’s Ashley J. Tellis that explains how the United States can bolster its position at home and abroad to ensure its continued prosperity and global leadership. Eric Edelman, Arvind Subramanian, and Nicholas Eberstadt will join Tellis for the discussion. Carnegie’s Michael D. Swaine will moderate.
Thursday, January 23rd, 2014
Science and Technology to Prevent and Respond to CBRN Disasters: U.S. and South Korean Perspectives
American Association for the Advancement of Science
9:00AM – 10:30AM
The workshop will focus on prevention and remediation of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear disasters that could occur either through accidental (caused by, for example, facility problems, personnel issues, a natural disaster, or some combination of events) or intentional means. Discussions will involve various scientific disciplines including the behavioral and environmental sciences.
Rethinking Islamist Politics: A Panel Discussion
Elliot School of International Affairs
12:00PM
Join POMEPS on January 23, 2014 to analyze the state of Islamist politics in the Middle East. The panel will examine the current directions of the Muslim Brotherhood and electoral politics, Salafism, and jihadist movements, as well as trends in the broader Islamic context.
How Osama Bin Laden Escaped Afghanistan: Lessons for Future Counter-Terrorism Missions
Brookings Institute
2:00PM
During the early hours of May 2, 2011, the elite U.S. Navy special operations unit known as SEAL Team Six famously hunted and killed Osama bin Laden at his personal three-story compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Less known, however, is that nearly a decade earlier, and just three months after the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center, the United States had found and cornered Osama bin Laden in the eastern mountains of Tora Bora, Afghanistan, only to then watch him and his al Qaeda and Taliban affiliates escape into Pakistan. In his new book, 102 Days of War – How Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda & the Taliban Survived 2001 (Potomac Books, 2014), U.S. Foreign Service Officer Yaniv Barzilai provides a detailed account of the failures in tactics, policy and leadership that enabled such an escape in December 2001. On January 23, the Brookings Intelligence Project will host author Yaniv Barzilai to examine how such an escape was allowed; the strategic, policy and managerial mistakes made; and what lessons can be learned for future counter-terrorism operations. Brookings Senior Fellow Bruce Riedel, director of the Intelligence Project, will provide introductory remarks and moderate the discussion. Following their remarks, Riedel and Barzilai will take questions from the audience.
The Pandora Report 