Monday, December 7, 2015
Ebola Surveillance & Laboratory Response – Lessons for Global Health Security
Time/Location:
Time: 4:30pm-6pm
Location: Robinson A-203 at George Mason University.
As the recently released Harvard-London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Independent panel on the Global Response to Ebola indicates, the West African Ebola epidemic highlighted
many gaps in national and international health and response systems that are critical for protecting global health security. Join leaders and experts who helped to lead the U.S. response for Ebola to discuss the international response to the epidemic, the importance of robust biosurveillance systems, and how the experience with Ebola influences our approach to Global Health Security. Speakers:
- Dr. Matthew Lim, Senior Policy Advisor for Global Health Security, HHS, fmr Civil-Military Liaison Officer to WHO
- May Chu, Ph.D. fmr Assistant Director for Public Health, Office of Science Technology and Policy, White House; Senior Science Advisor, CDC
- Jeanette Coffin, Manager U.S. mobile laboratory deployment, MRIGlobal
Feeding Our Cities: Challenges To Urban Food Security–Society for International Development
Time: noon-1pm
Location: PwC1730 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 600 Washington, DC (map)
Thousands of people move into developing cities each day. Given the rapid urban expansion, cities must adapt to accommodate new urbanites, which often draws attention to the increased pressure on existing infrastructure, city services, housing, and other fundamental services. Perhaps the most fundamental of these services is the expectation for a city to facilitate access to food for its residents. As cities experience increasingly complex logistics due to infrastructure not built to accommodate rapid population growth, food security presents a significant challenge in many urban areas. The discussion aims to provide an overview of the urban food security challenges that developing cities face, focusing the role that strengthening urban supply chains play in creating more food secure cities.
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Conflict Prevention And Resolution Forum: The Future Of Goal 16: Peace And Inclusion In The Sustainable Development Goals– Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
Time: 9:30-11am
Location: Johns Hopkins SAIS – Nitze Building1740 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036 (map)
Room: Kenney-Herter Auditorium
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) make a clear link between conflict and development, thanks to the powerful language about peace in the preamble to the along with the inclusion of Goal 16 on “peaceful and inclusive societies.” This emphasis recognizes that protracted conflict undermined the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in many countries, and it creates a new international focus on peacebuilding as one of the solutions to development challenges. How did the international community shift its thinking toward peace and inclusion in the SDGs, and where do we go from here? The inclusion of peace as a goal in the SDGs was not a foregone conclusion, and panelists will discuss both how advocacy helped ensure a role for peacebuilding in the SDGs and what that means for the next 15 years. They will also discuss the challenge that remains for governments, organizations, and individuals to implement and evaluate these global goals.
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Cyber Risk Wednesday: 2016 Threat Landscape –Atlantic Council
Time: 4-5:30pm
Location: Atlantic Council1030 15th St NW, Washington, DC 20005 (map)
On the cyber front, 2015 paints a dark picture. The year has been filled with massive data breaches, disruptive cyberattacks, and espionage. Neither government agencies nor private companies were safe. The 2014 Sony hack grabbed headlines and shocked the nation, but hardly anyone was prepared for an attack in the magnitude of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) breach, which left Americans with a profound feeling of violation. In 2015, hackers successfully infiltrated the networks of military, financial, healthcare, and higher education organizations, even those of the cybersecurity industry itself. Nations have become increasingly comfortable with fighting their battles online, using covert cyberattacks to accompany traditional warfare in on-going conflicts in Ukraine, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. Will 2016 be any different? While data breaches and hybrid warfare are likely to continue, Internet users’ awareness of cybersecurity issues has reached an all-time high, companies are pouring investments into strengthening their cyber defenses, the United States and China were able to reach a deal banning commercial cyber espionage despite the countries’ otherwise lukewarm relations, and the privacy issues are getting prime time attention. To discuss how 2016 will likely challenge today’s security thinking and what we can learn from the past year’s developments and trends, please join the Atlantic Council’s Cyber Statecraft Initiative on Wednesday, December 9 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. for a moderated panel discussion with a group of prominent cybersecurity experts.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Planning For Korean Unification: What Is Seoul Doing?– Heritage Foundation
Time: noon-1:30pm
Location: Heritage Foundation214 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, D.C. 20002 (map)
South Korean President Park Geun-hye has made Korean unification a central tenet of her foreign policy strategy. More so than her predecessors, she has made reunification a tangible objective. Despite repeated attempts at reconciliation, North Korea has rejected dialogue and criticizes President Park’s unification outreach as unrealistic, seeing it as a threat to regime stability. Issues to be addressed would include the blueprints of Korean unification, how to overcome North Korean resistance, and how to achieve or pay for it. To learn more about South Korea’s plans for achieving unification, join us for a discussion with three distinguished members of South Korea’s bipartisan Presidential Committee for Unification Preparation.
Friday, December 11, 2015
Department Of Defense Action On Climate Change–American Security Project
Time: noon-1:30pm
Location: American Security Project1100 New York Ave., 7th Floor, West Tower, Washington DC 20005(map)
One year ago, the Department of Defense released its landmark Climate Adaptation Roadmap, which outlined the steps that all areas of the DoD must take to prepare for a changing climate. On Friday, December 11, ASP will host Maureen Sullivan, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Environment, Safety & Occupational Health, responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Department’s climate change adaptation efforts. She will give an update on DoD efforts around Climate Change. Two members of ASP’s Board of Directors, Vice Admiral Lee Gunn, USN (Ret.) and BGen Stephen Cheney, USMC (Ret.) will also report on what they have learned as a part of ASP’s national climate security tour, and how important the DoD’s efforts on climate change are for national climate preparedness.
War And Diplomacy: The Inside Story Of Covering The World’s Conflicts –Women’s Foreign Policy Group
Time: noon
Location: The Mayflower Renaissance Hotel1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW Washington, DC (map)
A conversation with:
Margaret Brennan, CBS News
Helene Cooper, the New York Times
Missy Ryan, the Washington Post
Moderated by:
Elisabeth Bumiller, the New York Times
The Pandora Report 