U.S. Policy against ISIS: Minorities in the Middle East -Syrian American Council and Muslim Public Affairs Council
Date: Monday, September 21, 2015, 11am-1pm
Location: Rayburn House Office Building45 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC 20515 (map) Room: 2325
Since March 2011, religious and ethnic minorities in Syria have been brutally oppressed under the Assad regime and at the hands of ISIS. Join this discussion about the future of Christians and minorities in Syria, the role of the Assad regime in fanning the flames of sectarianism, and recommendations for US policymakers.
A Post-Iran Deal Security Agenda: Containment, Cooperation, or Both?
New American Foundation
Date: Monday, September 21, 2015, 9am-0:30am
Location: New America Foundation1899 L St., N.W., Suite 400, Washington, D.C. 20036 (map)
Debate on the terms of the nuclear deal with Iran is over, but in the U.S. and in the region, debate on what’s next for security is only beginning. Inside Iran, some voices are calling for reduced engagement — but others seek to reinforce Iranian patterns of influence. In Washington, an influential group of legislators is pushing new legislation with provisions Iran has said would constitute a breach of the deal. Attention is also turning to the extent of Iran’s ties to Houthi rebels in Yemen, as U.S. allies seek military assistance to alter the regional balance. At the same time, some voices suggest Iran could be central to effectively rolling back ISIS and ending Bashar Assad’s reign of terror in Syria.
The ISIS Apocalypse: the history, strategy and doomsday vision of the Islamic State
Brookings Institute
Date: Tuesday September 22, 2015, 10am-11am
Location: Brookings Institution1775 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC (map)
Room: Falk Auditorium
In “The ISIS Apocalypse” (St. Martin’s Press, 2015), Will McCants examines the Islamic State’s tactics and goals, and the many ways in which it is more ruthless, more apocalyptic, and more devoted to state-building than any of its predecessors or current competitors. Based almost entirely on primary sources in Arabic—including ancient religious texts and secret al-Qaida and Islamic State letters that few have seen—“The ISIS Apocalypse” explores how religious fervor, strategic calculation, and doomsday prophecy shaped the Islamic State’s past and foreshadow its dark future.
Looking Towards the Future of the U.S.-Japan Relationship: One Mansfield Foundation Fellow’s Perspective
Elliott School of International Affairs
Date: Wednesday September 23, 2015, 2pm-4pm
Location: Elliott School of International Affairs1957 E Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20052 (map)
PISA proudly invites you to attend a presentation by Mr. Ariel Wyckoff, an Elliott School graduate and former PISA Program Assistant. Mr. Wyckoff will discuss his experience as one of ten Fellows from the Mansfield Fellowship’s 19th class (2014-2015). The Mike Mansfield Fellowship Program (MFP) was established by the U.S. Congress in 1994 to build a corps of U.S. federal government employees with proficiency in Japanese language and firsthand knowledge about Japan and its government. Alumni Fellows have direct responsibility for a wide variety of Japan issues, provide counsel to their home agencies on Japan-related matters, and tend to stay involved with Japan-related issues long after the end of the Fellowship year.
Getting With It: Putting Momentum behind the U.S.-India Nuclear Deal
Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
Date: Thursday September 24, 2015, 12:30pm-2pm
Location: Johns Hopkins SAIS – Rome Building1619 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. (map) Room 806
Vijay Sazawal, nuclear industry expert, and Paul Murphy, Special Counsel at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy will speak on this subject. Walter Andersen, Director of South Asia Studies will moderate.
Welcome to Washington: Policy Players and Creative Networking
Cato Institute
Date: Thursday, September 24, 2015, 6-8pm
Location:vCato Institute 1000 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001 (map)
Each year, thousands of young professionals descend on Washington with the hope of landing the perfect job at a think tank, on Capitol Hill, or in related fields. With so many bright, talented interns and recent graduates vying for the same opportunities, how can you distinguish yourself from the pack?
Join the Cato Institute and America’s Future Foundation for a crash course in creative networking and career advancement — an event specifically designed for young professionals. Speakers will discuss topics related to post-graduate professional success, with a special focus on policy research and analysis, and the role of ideas generated within the nonprofit network in the broad public policy debate.
If you can’t make it to the event, you can watch it live online at www.cato.org/live and join the conversation on Twitter using #CatoEvents. Follow @CatoEvents on Twitter to get future event updates, live streams, and videos from the Cato Institute.
Iran’s Deadly Ambition: The Islamic Republic’s Quest for Global Power
Heritage Foundation
Date: Friday, September 25, 2015, 12pm-1pm
Location: Heritage Foundation214 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, D.C. 20002 (map)
Conventional wisdom certainly seems to believe we are on the cusp of détente with Iran. In the aftermath of the interim nuclear deal struck in November 2013 hopes are now running high for a historic reconciliation between Iran’s clerical regime and the West. Yet there is ample reason for skepticism that the United States and Europe can truly curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions by diplomatic means. Moreover, the current focus on Iran’s nuclear program on the part of the Western governments is deeply dangerous, because it fails to recognize – let alone address – Iran’s other international activities or its foreign policy ambitions. Those objectives, argues Ilan Berman, are global in scope and growing.
Iran’s Deadly Ambition explains how America’s retraction from the Middle East has created significant breathing room for a regime that not long ago was on the political ropes. Economically, the Islamic Republic is “out of the box” that was erected over the past decade-and-a-half by Western sanctions, thanks to the nuclear deal just concluded by Iran and the P5+1 powers. As a result, Iran’s leaders are again thinking big about their country and its place in the world. America faces stark choices: to confront Iran’s nuclear ambitions and global activities, or to accept and accommodate the region’s newest hegemon, with all that that portends for American security and the safety of its allies.
The Pandora Report 