October 14, 2014
U.S. Postal Inspection Service: Managing Global Threats to U.S. National Security and International Commerce
Date: October 14, 4:00pm
Location: Institute of World Politics, 1521 16th Street NW, Washington DC
U.S. Mail comprises nearly 50% of the world’s total mail volume, and a significant amount is sent to or from countries around the globe. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, one of the oldest federal law enforcement agencies, and its Global Security and Investigations Team of U.S. Postal Inspectors, ensures the security of all U.S. Mail, including military and diplomatic mail, which transits to and from foreign postal administrations and U.S. installations overseas. Postal Inspectors protect postal revenues generated by international business development, liaison with foreign stakeholders and international organizations, and ensure that the sanctity of the mail is not hindered as it crosses national borders.
Join us as Postal Inspector in Charge Gregory S. Crabb of the Postal Inspection Service’s Revenue, Product & Global Security Group, discusses various topics, including:
– The Global Security and Investigations Team mission
– International mail security, including United Nations activities
– Post-Yemen parcel bomb security
– National security requirements, particularly export screening
– Prohibited mail, including intellectual property offenses and drugs and guns in inbound international mail
– Cyber security threats
Following the presentation, recruiters from the Postal Inspection Service will discuss how you can apply for a position as a federal U.S. Postal Inspector. Information on Inspector assignments and investigations will be shared as well.
Register here.
Marine Corps Intelligence and the “New Normal”
Date: October 14, 5:00pm
Location: Institute of World Politics, 1521 16th Street NW, Washington DC
General Michael S. Groen will address the convergence of chaos, instability and advanced technology and the Marine Corps’ approach to dealing with these factors. He will review the Marine Corps philosophy towards professional development, the current state of affairs which he characterizes as the “New Normal,” and the Marine Corps’ plan for adapting to this new circumstance: the Marine Corps Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Enterprise Plan.
Register here.
October 15, 2014
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Has the U.S. Failed?
Date: October 15, 9:30am
Location: Phoenix Park Hotel, Ballroom, 520 North Capitol Street NW, Washington DC
The Middle East Policy Council invites you and your colleagues to our 78th Capitol Hill Conference. Live streaming of this event will begin at approximately 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 15th and conclude at noon. A questions and answers session will be held at the end of the proceedings. Refreshments will be served.
RSVP acceptances only: info@mepc.org, 202-296-6767
Senator Levin on the New U.S.-Afghan Partnership
Date: October 15, 9:30am
Location: United States Institute of Peace, 2301 Constitution Ave NW, Washington DC
The inauguration on September 29th of Dr. Ashraf Ghani as the new president of Afghanistan, and head of a national unity government that includes runner-up candidate Abdullah Abdullah as chief executive, marks the first democratic and peaceful transition of power of one elected president to another in Afghanistan’s history. One of the first acts of the new government was to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement with the United States. This long-awaited agreement enables US troops to remain in Afghanistan beyond 2014, supporting the Afghan security forces and the new government, and paved the way for NATO to sign a similar agreement. This shift offers an opportunity for Afghanistan and the US to restore a bilateral relationship that was badly strained during the final years of President Karzai’s term. For a discussion of the opportunities and pitfalls ahead, please join us in welcoming Senator Levin, closely involved with the U.S. effort in Afghanistan since 2001, and Stephen J. Hadley, Chairman of the Board at USIP and former assistant to the president for National Security Affairs.
RSVP here.
Crisis Communications: Protocols, Pitfalls, and Perceptions
Date: October 15, 12:00pm
Location: Bread for the World Institute, 425 3rd Street SW, Suite 1200, Washington DC
Join us for an off-the-record conversation about crisis communications led by Media Expert Ainsley Perrien of FleishmanHillard, a leading global public relations and communications consultancy. Perrien has significant expertise in print and new media, risk management, brand development, crisis communications, and litigation support.
Ainsley will lead a discussion about how development organizations should navigate the tricky waters of crises that happen in the field, and in the home office, with DAI’s Director of Communications, Steven O’Connor, and USAID’s Evan Matthew Papp, who manages the Public Affairs and Outreach portfolio for USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives in the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance.
RSVP here.
Afghanistan’s National Unity Government: The Road Ahead
Date: October 15, 12:30pm
Location: Georgetown University, 37th and O Streets NW, Edward B. Bunn, S.J. Intercultural Center, ICC 270, Washington DC
Afghanistan just underwent a brutal political crisis that almost broke its executive office and significantly damaged Afghans confidence in electoral processes. With the direct intervention of the US government, President Ashraf Ghani and CEO Abdullah Abdullah formed a unity government that stands to be fraught with discord and power-wrangling. On the other hand, both leaders have committed to a range of much needed reforms; the recently inaugurated Ghani has already taken a number of steps to suggest that he is committed to their enactment. After the successful conduct of the first round of elections in April, what happened? And where will Afghanistan’s executive take the country from here?
Register here.
Fighting ISIS: The Future of American Foreign Policy in the Middle East
Date: October 15, 3:00pm
Location: American University School of International Service, Atrium, New Mexico and Nebraska Ave NW, Washington DC
Speakers include: Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University’s School of International Service; Susan Glasser, Editor of POLITICO; and David Ignatius, Foreign Affairs columnist at the Washington Post. Moderated by David Gregory, Distinguished Journalist-in-Residence at American University’s SIS.
RSVP here or stream live here.
October 16, 2014
Pakistan: Audience Realities in an Unstable Media Landscape
Date: October 16, 9:00am
Location: Gallup World Headquarters, 901 F Street NW, Washington DC
The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and Gallup invite you to attend a research briefing on media use in Pakistan.
Pakistan remains relatively dangerous for journalists. In recent months, the two most-watched broadcasting channels — government broadcaster PTV and independent TV station Geo News — have been stormed by anti-government protesters. The country’s government also uses blasphemy laws to stifle both online and offline dissent.
Please join the BBG and Gallup for a conversation about media trends in Pakistan. The speakers will share data from research conducted June 3-30, 2014 on media use in the country, and review attitudinal data from the Gallup World Poll.
Register here.
The Future of European Collective Defense
Date: October 16, 10:00am
Location: Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1616 Rhode Island Ave NW, Washington DC
Please join us for a dialogue with Major General Walter Piatt on the future of European collective defense and our relationship with regional NATO and non-NATO partners. MG Piatt will discuss Secretary General Rasmussen’s concept of a Connected Forces Initiative and U.S. Army Europe’s participation in the Connected Training Initiative.
Register here.
Terrorist Financing Networks in the Middle East and South Asia: A Comparative Assessment
Date: October 16, 12:00pm
Location: Middle East Institute, 1761 N Street NW, Washington DC
The ascent of the Islamic State has raised critical questions about how terrorist organizations are being financed. A comparison of terrorist financing networks in South Asia and the Middle East can offer insights into the differences and similarities in the funding of global terrorist efforts and how money is making its way into the hands of violent terrorist groups.
The Middle East Institute’s Louis R. Hughes Lecture Series is pleased to present Dr. Amit Kumar (Center of National Policy, Georgetown University) for a discussion on the methods, motivations, and efficacy of terrorist financing networks. By comparing financing networks in South Asia and the Middle East, Dr. Kumar will explore possible linkages between the two regions and how these similarities can inform strategies to prevent terrorist financing. He will also examine implications for policy. MEI’s Marvin Weinbaumwill moderate.
Stabilizing Iraq: Lessons for the Next Chapter
Date: October 16, 4:45pm
Location: Center for Strategic and International Studies
The Center for Strategic and International Studies presents: The CSIS-Schieffer Series Dialogues Stabilizing Iraq: Lessons for the Next Chapter. This event is hosted by: Bob Schieffer, Chief Washington Correspondent, CBS News, Anchor, CBS News “Face the Nation.” It will include panelists: Dr. Kathleen Hicks, Senior Vice President; Henry A. Kissinger Chair; Director, International Security Program, CSIS; Stuart W. Bowen Jr., Former Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (2004-2013), Senior Adviser, CSIS; Karen DeYoung, Associate Editor and Senior National Security Correspondent, The Washington Post.
Register here.
October 17, 2014
Modi’s Transformative Moment?
Date: October 17, 9:00am
Location: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1779 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC
The first one hundred days of a new government can be tumultuous as power shifts hands and leaders make dramatic decisions, as evidenced by then Indian prime minister Vajpayee’s nuclear test soon after he assumed office in 1998. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi has thus far proceeded in a more nuanced fashion, making an assessment of his first four months in office more complicated.
Has continuity prevailed in India’s economic and foreign policies? Or does the new budget, new developmental initiatives, and recent summits with leaders of Japan, China, and the United States reflect a fundamentally new dispensation? Has change come about through Modi’s leadership, or through larger shifts in India’s social and institutional landscape? Christophe Jaffrelot and Milan Vaishnav will discuss Modi’s first few months in office and what it could mean for India.
Register here.
The North Korea Human Rights Act: A Decade Later
Date: October 17, 9:30am
Location: Korea Economic Institute, 1800 K Street NW, Suite 1010, Washington DC
While much of the attention on North Korea relates to its nuclear weapons program, the regime has a long record of human rights violations. In the fall of 2004, the United States Congress took up this issue with the intent of finding ways to improve the human rights situation in North Korea. The culmination of those efforts were the North Korea Human Rights Act, which was signed into law on October 18, 2004 by President George W. Bush. As the recent UN Commission of Inquiry report indicates, the issue of human rights in North Korea remains one of grave importance.
RSVP here.
Can the Obama Administration’s ISIS Strategy Work?
Date: October 17, 12:00pm
Location: Hudson Institute, 1015 15th Street NW, 6th Floor, Washington DC
Criticism of the Obama administration’s Middle East strategy is no longer restricted to the president’s usual opponents. Former defense secretary and CIA director Leon Panetta – the latest in a series of departed senior officials to go public with their misgivings – now suggests that the president’s own policies helped make possible the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. “When we stepped out of Iraq,” Panetta observed in a recent interview, “we created this vacuum” – and ISIS is currently filling the space.
Can the same administration now make good its mistakes and repair the damage? Will a strategy limited to coalition aerial bombardment and ancillary assistance to local fighters be sufficient to “degrade and destroy” ISIS, or are the U.S. military officials and regional allies who argue that ground troops will be required correct? In either case, to what extent are longstanding, region-wide issues – like the anti-Sunni policies pushed by Iranian assets in Iraq and Syria – a fundamental obstacle to complete success against ISIS?
To address these and other directly related questions of Middle East strategy and diplomacy, Hudson Institute will host a timely discussion on October 17 with Lee Smith, Andrew J. Tabler, Faysal Itani, andHussain Abdul-Hussain.
Register here.
The Pandora Report 