This Week in DC: Events

April 7, 2014

Afghan Elections: What’s at Stake?
Date: April 7, 10:00 – 11:00 am
Location: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

On April 5, Afghans head to the polls as the country attempts its first-ever peaceful and democratic transfer of power. The election comes at a critical time for Afghanistan, which is struggling to fight a Taliban insurgency amid the withdrawal of international military forces. The Taliban has repeatedly threatened to disrupt the election process, and in recent days has launched a series of attacks on election facilities and foreign nationals, including the deaths of 2 Western journalists. Many international election monitors have left the country, and Afghan officials have announced that nearly 750 polling centers will be closed on election day. Yet many Afghans have vowed to defy the threats and vote anyway.

Join this conversation by phone, while scholars and professionals discuss the election results—to the extent that they are known—and their implications with three on-the-ground experts.

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April 8, 2014

National Security and Foreign Policy Priorities in the FY 2015 International Affairs Budget
Date: April 8, 10:00am
Location: U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Dirksen Senate Office Building 419, Washington DC 20515

Witness, the Honorable John F. Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, will present testimony at this committee meeting chaired by Sen. Menendez.

Financing Global Health in an Era of Austerity
Date: April 8, 12:00pm
Location: Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1616 Rhode Island Ave NW, Washington DC 20036

Please join us for the launch of the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)’s Financing Global Health 2013 report, to be held on Tuesday April 8, 12:00-2:00 PM at CSIS (1616 Rhode Island Ave NW).

Dr. Christopher Murray, Director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), will lead off with a presentation of findings from IHME’s newest report, Financing Global Health 2013: Transition in an Age of Austerity and a new journal article on health financing in Health Affairs. Dr. Murray will highlight how some donors have scaled back their funding while others have been increasingly generous. Using data from the latest Global Burden of Disease study, he will also compare current funding allocations to disease patterns around the world.

Following Dr. Murray’s presentation, there will be a roundtable discussion, moderated by Dr. J. Stephen Morrison, Senior Vice President and Director of the Global Health Policy Center at CSIS that will feature Dr. Christopher Murray and Dr. Ariel Pablos-Mendez, Assistant Administrator for Global Health at USAID. The roundtable discussion will be focused on the policy implications of IHME’s report.

Lunch will be served from 12:00-12:30pm. Register here.

Subcommittee Hearing: Is al-Qaeda Winning? Grading the Administration’s Counterterrorism Policy

Date: April 8, 10:00am
Location: U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, 2172 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515

The following witnesses will testify on the subject of al-Qaeda and the administration’s policy on counterterrorism:

Panel I:

The Honorable Joseph Lieberman, Former United States Senator

The Honorable Jane Harman, Director, President, and Chief Executive Officer, The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Former Member of Congress

Panel II:

Seth Jones, Ph.D., Associate Director, International Security and Defense Policy Center, RAND Corporation

Frederick W. Kagan, Ph.D., Christopher DeMuth Chair and Director, Critical Threats Project, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

Mr. Benjamin Wittes, Senior Fellow, Governance Studies, The Brookings Institution

China’s Hypersonic Weapons Development

Date: April 8, 12:30- 2:00pm
Location: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1779 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC 20036

China tested a hypersonic gliding weapon for the first time on January 9. Although details of the test are murky, it confirms a long-suspected Chinese interest in developing hypersonic weapons. The United States is interested in similar technologies and conducted its first successful boost-glide test in November 2011. What are the implications of the Chinese test for U.S. security? How should the United States respond? Could a new arms race in hypersonic technology emerge? And, if so, can anything be done to prevent it? James M. Acton, Michael D. Swaine, Phillip C. Saunders, and Lora Saalman will discuss these questions. Michael McDevitt will moderate.

Register here.

April 9, 2014

New Avian Influenzas in East Asia: Global Health Security and Policy
Date: April 9, 8:30 – 11:30am
Location: Georgetown University, ICC Auditorium, Washington DC 220057

The SFS Asian Studies Program, as part of its Public Health in Asia Initiative, is teaming up with the Georgetown Medical Center’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology to host a panel discussion with regional, policy, and health experts on the new avian influenzas in East Asia and their global health policy implications.

Full event schedule and registration information available here.

April 10, 2014

International Humanitarian Action: Changing Responses to Conflict and Crisis
Date: April 10, 10:00 – 11:00am
Location: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

From South Sudan to Syria, armed conflict throughout the globe has led to massive humanitarian needs. During a crisis, food relief, critical medical care, and access to safe water and basic sanitation facilities all require a humanitarian as well as a diplomatic response. No one is better placed to help us understand these complex shifts than Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Please join us as he talks with Jane Harman, President of the Wilson Center to give a first-hand update on the key challenges the ICRC faces.

RSVP here.