Week in DC: Events 11.16-11.20.2015

Monday, November 16, 2015
Global Security Forum 2015: Russia’s Strategic Vision– Center for Strategic and International Studies
Time: 9:30-10:45am
Location: Center for Strategic and International Studies1616 Rhode Island Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036(map)
Featuring: Ambassador Thomas Pickering Former Ambassador to the United Nations, the Russian Federation, India, Israel, and Jordan.
Michael Vickers Former Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
Moderator:  Olga Oliker Senior Adviser and Director, Russia and Eurasia Program, CSIS

Countering Terrorism In Tunisia: Prospects For Security Sector Reform –Project on Middle East Democracy
Time: noon-1:30pm
Location: Open Society Foundations1730 Pennsylvania Ave NW #700, Washington, DC 20006 (map)
This event is co-sponsored by the Project on Middle East Democracy and the Legatum Institute.
A light lunch will be served at the beginning of the event.
Despite the immense progress Tunisia has made in its transition since the Jasmine Revolution, significant challenges—both internal and external—threaten the future of Tunisia’s democracy. As major terrorist attacks have negatively affected the country’s security and economic stability, Tunisia’s government has struggled to find an appropriate and effective response to counter the threat of terrorism. The Legatum Institute’s upcoming publication The Ministry Strikes Back: Could Counterterrorism Undermine the Revolution in Tunisia? analyzes successive Tunisian governments’ responses to terrorism and considers the relation between these responses and the future of the country’s democratic transition. How can governments effectively counter terrorism without threatening civil liberties? What reforms are needed to make Tunisia’s security sector effective, accountable, and in line with international human rights standards? And how can the United States and the international community play a productive role in encouraging and facilitating these reform efforts?

Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Lessons Encountered: Learning From The Long War –Institute for National Strategic Studies
Date: 3:30-5:30pm
Location: National Defense University, Abraham Lincoln Hall
Room: Abraham Lincoln Hall Auditorium
Lessons Encountered is an edited volume which began as an effort to answer two questions from General Martin E. Dempsey, 18th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: What were the costs and benefits of the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, and what were the strategic lessons of these campaigns?
Please join us on 17 November as editors Drs. Collins and Hooker and the book’s contributing authors unpack the major findings and takeaways from this extensive examination. The event will be followed by a reception in the Lincoln Hall South Atrium.
R.S.V.P. by 15 November 2015

Wednesday, November 18, 2015
George Mason University SGPIA Master’s Open House
Time: 6:30pm
Location: Arlington Campus, Founders Hall, Room 126 or attend virtually!
We invite you to attend an open house to learn more about the School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs. We will be discussing the different master’s degrees within SPGIA, including our Biodefense master’s and online master’s program. The session will provide an overview of our master’s degree programs, an introduction to our world-class faculty and research, and highlights of the many ways we position our students for success in the classroom and beyond. Our admissions and student services staff will be on hand to answer your questions.

Thursday, November 19, 2015
Is ISIS Stoppable? –Foreign Policy Research Institute
Time: 6pm
Location: Present Day Club72 Stockton Street (map)
In a relatively short time, ISIS has come to dominate the global jihadi arena, boasting its own state that incorporates parts of Syria and Iraq, while spurring offshoots elsewhere in the Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia and withstanding a sustain aerial campaign. FPRI’s Clint Watts has studied its strengths and vulnerabilities, and in this talk will offer his ideas on how best to defeat ISIS. A Fox Fellow at FPRI, Watts has been described by The Boston Globeas part of a new generation of “jihadi hunters” who track jihadis in social media. He is President of Miburo Solutions, Inc. and has served as an FBI Special Agent on a Joint Terrorism Task Force, Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (CTC), and as a US Army Infantry Officer. He blogs regularly for FPRI at our blog Geopoliticus.
Open exclusively to FPRI Members (and spouses) at the $250 level.
Reservations are required. RSVP: events@fpri.org
For more information contact 215 732 3774, ext 200 or events@fpri.org.

Human Shields And The Force Of Discrimination –Elliott School of International Affairs
Time: 3:30-5pm
Location: George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs, Room 505
Neve Gordon is an associate professor of politics and government at Ben Gurion University. His research focuses on human rights, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and political theory. His first book, Israel’s Occupation, was published in 2008 by the University of California Press, and his second book, The Human Right to Dominate(written with Nicola Perugini) was published by Oxford University Press in July 2015. Gordon has edited two volumes, one on torture in Israel (with Ruchama Marton) and the other on marginalized perspectives on human rights. He has published over 30 articles in academic journals and is currently working on a new book project dealing with human shields. Gordon has been a member at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, and a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, Brown University, and the University of Michigan. RSVP Here

Friday, November 20, 2015
Strategic Communication in a Digital Age – November 13 & 20, 2015- George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs
Time: 10am-4pm
Location: School of Media and Public Affairs805 21st St NW, Washington, DC 20052 (map)
The tools and tactics of strategic communication are changing as a result of the digital media environment. How can you ensure your communications set you apart? At Strategic Communication in a Digital Age, David Karpf, strategic and political communications expert and author of The MoveOn Effect: The Unexpected Transformation of American Political Advocacy will lead you through topics such as:

• Communications strategy and planning
• Advanced audience targeting
• Crafting messages that are credible, compelling and competitive
• Leveraging digital communications tools
• Vanity metrics
• Science of virality