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February 2010

Monday, February 1, 2010
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Lindner Family Commons, Room 602
1957 E Street, NW

Getting Bomb-Grade Uranium Out of Civilian Hands: Toward the Nuclear Security Summit


Introduction:
H.E. Wegger Chr. Strommen, Ambassador of Norway to the United States

"The Threat Posed by HEU, and Legislative Options to Reduce Bomb-Grade Uranium Commerce"
Alan J. Kuperman, Associate Professor, LBJ School of Public Affairs; Director, Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Program, University of Texas at Austin

"Discussion of the Fissile Material Working Group's proposals for the Nuclear Security Summit"
Kenneth Luongo, President, Partnership for Global Security

"Bringing an International Norm to Minimize HEU: National and International Measures"
Cristina Hansell, Director, Newly Independent States Nonproliferation Program; Dr. Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress Research Scientist, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute

Moderator:
Miles Pomper, Senior Research Associate, Washington, DC office, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies

Coffee and refreshments will be served.

Please send RSVP to: monterey.cns.rsvp@gmail.com

Sponsored by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) and the Royal Embassy of Norway

Tuesday, February 2, 2010
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM

SMPA, Conference Room, 4th Floor
805 21st Street NW

Smart Power in Iraq: Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communication During the Surge


Diane Crowe, Public Diplomacy Officer, Ninewa Provincial Reconstruction Team, U.S. Department of State

Major Chris Wade, former Public Affairs Officer, Mosul, Iraq; U.S. Army

Diane Crowe and Major Chris Wade will discuss the challenges they faced in the volatile and dangerous environment of Mosul, Iraq, both in terms of building Iraqi political, social, and journalistic institutions, and in coordinating the sometimes overlapping, and sometimes conflictual diplomatic and military public affairs agendas.

This event is part of an ongoing series sponsored by the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication exploring new approaches to "Smart Power"-- the ongoing, and sometimes controversial effort by the United States to balance "hard" and "soft" power around the world, especially in the increasingly blurred areas of public diplomacy, strategic communication, and information operations.

Please send RSVP to: ipdgc@gwu.edu

Sponsored by the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication

Tuesday, February 2, 2010
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Lindner Family Commons, Room 602
1957 E Street, NW

International Affairs Internship Panel


A panel containing professionals from Capitol Hill, the U.S. Department of Defense, defense contracting firms, and the non-profit sector will discuss what it takes to get an internship in their fields and give tips on what you can do now to make yourself the most attractive candidate for such a position.

Refreshments will be served.

No RSVP is needed for this event.

Sponsored by Delta Phi Epsilon, Professional Foreign Service Fraternity

Wednesday, February 3, 2010
12:30 PM - 1:45 PM

Lindner Family Commons, Room 602
1957 E Street, NW

International Engagement in Afghanistan: Khandahar as a Case Study of Civil-Military Coordination


Cory Anderson, Executive Director, Hila Organization for Partnerships in Education

Lucas Robinson, Global Program Director, Hila Organization for Partnerships in Education

Cory Anderson has spent the majority of the past three years in Kandahar Province on assignment for the Government of Canada. He recently completed an assignment as political director of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kandahar City, and was one of the first Canadian civilians deployed to Kandahar in 2006 as political advisor to Task Force Afghanistan at Kandahar Airfield.
Lucas Robinson recently returned from a one-year assignment in Afghanistan, where he was responsible for civilian communications at the Provincial Reconstruction Team base in Kandahar City.

This event is part of the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Transnational Asia.

Please send RSVP to: gsigur@gwu.edu with your name, organization/ GW affiliation, and e-mail by February 2

Sponsored by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies

Thursday, February 4, 2010
12:30 PM - 2:00 PM

Room 505
1957 E Street, NW

A New Model for Labor and Environment in the EU Free Trade Agreements


Ditte Juul-Joergensen, Head of Unit, Sustainable Development and SPS Issues, DG Trade, European Commission

Please send RSVP to: iiep@gwu.edu

Sponsored by the Institute for International Economic Policy

Thursday, February 4, 2010
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Lindner Family Commons, Room 602
1957 E Street, NW

Thomas E. Ricks: Lecture and Book Signing


Thomas E. Ricks, author of The New York Times bestselling books: Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq and The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008; winner of the 2000 and 2002 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting

Tom Ricks will discuss the war in Iraq and the American military's successes and failures.

To celebrate the release of The Gamble in paperback, books will be available for purchase and signing.

Refreshments will be served.

No RSVP is needed to attend this event.

Sponsored by Delta Phi Epsilon, Professional Foreign Service Fraternity

Tuesday, February 9, 2010
7:30 PM - 9:00 PM

Lindner Family Commons, Room 602
1957 E Street, NW

CANCELLED: Russia's Political and Economic Prospects in the 21st Century


Due to inclement weather, this event has been cancelled.

Two individuals from the CIA will present their analysis of Russia's political and economic prospects in the 21st century. Following the presentation, these individuals will be available to answer questions about careers in the CIA.

Dress is business-professional.

No RSVP is required to attend this event.
Please direct questions about this event to Behnam Taleblu at bbt@gwmail.gwu.edu.

Sponsored by the International Affairs Society

Wednesday, February 10, 2010
7:30 PM - 9:00 PM

Room 505
1957 E Street, NW

CANCELLED: Proliferation of Latin American Free Trade Agreements


Due to inclement weather, this event has been cancelled.

Jose Raul Perales, Senior Program Associate, Latin America Program, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; former Vice-Minister of Trade, Commonwealth of Puerto-Rico

No RSVP is required to attend this event.
Please direct questions about this event to Behnam Taleblu at bbt@gwmail.gwu.edu.

Sponsored by the International Affairs Society

Thursday, February 11, 2010
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM

Voesar Conference Room, Suite 412
1957 E Street, NW

CANCELLED: Two Helsinkis: The U.S. Helsinki Commission and the Helsinki Process (CSCE Process) in the Cold War


Due to inclement weather, this event has been cancelled.

Noboru Miyawaki, Visiting Scholar, Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, GW

Miyawaki will discuss the Helsinki Process (The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe), which in the 1970's and 1980's faced strong opposition from the East regarding human rights. In the CSCE, the West took initiative in reviewing human rights implementation in the East; the Helsinki Final Act of 1975 included human rights clauses. In spite of strong opposition from the U.S. State Department under the Ford administration, the U.S. Helsinki Commission (The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe) began to monitor the implementation of human rights agreements. During the Carter and Regan administrations, the relationship between the Commission and the U.S. Administration improved. Miyawaki argues that the U.S. Helsinki Commission found the Helsinki Final Act to be effective in pressing the East to take action on human rights issues.

Soft drinks will be provided.

Please send RSVP to: ieresgwu@gwu.edu by February 10

Sponsored by the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, and the Slavic Research Center of Hokkaido University, Japan

Thursday, February 11, 2010
12:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Lindner Family Commons, Room 602
1957 E Street, NW

CANCELLED: Does Proliferation Beget Proliferation? Why Nuclear Dominoes Rarely Fall


Due to inclement weather, this event has been cancelled.

Philipp C. Bleek, pre-doctoral fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University

Widespread conventional wisdom holds that if Iran continues down the nuclear proliferation path it appears to be on, regional antagonists will do likewise.

This dissertation examines the broader questions of whether states are more likely to proliferate when their rivals do so, under what conditions such "reactive proliferation" is more or less likely, and what tools policymakers in Washington and elsewhere have to forestall further proliferation.

Using both large-n quantitative and qualitative case study analysis, the dissertation finds that proliferation by rivals provides states with a modest proliferation stimulus, sufficient to push many over the low threshold to exploring nuclear weapons options and engaging in other low-level proliferation behavior, but not most over the far higher thresholds to launching dedicated nuclear weapons programs or acquiring weapons. The relative dearth of reactive proliferation in the past, and modest variation, is explained with reference to the status quo-reinforcing, defense-dominant character of nuclear weapons, variation in the intensity of rivalries, variation in the economic and technical resources and political constraints faced by potential proliferants, and variation in their access to alternatives, particularly security guarantees from nuclear-armed allies.

These and additional findings shed light on the evolving situation in the Middle East, suggesting that fears of reactive proliferation are exaggerated, but that there are also worst-case scenarios in which those fears might be at least partially realized.

Please RSVP at: RSVP for Does Proliferation Beget Proliferation? or https://tinyurl.com/elliott-feb11

Sponsored by the Elliott School of International Affairs

Thursday, February 11, 2010
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM

Lindner Family Commons, Room 602
1957 E Street, NW

CANCELLED: Middle East Policy Forum: Happy Birthday from Hizbollah: The Case for Change in the Middle East


Due to inclement weather, this event has been cancelled.

Neil MacFarquhar, United Nations correspondent, The New York Times

Neil MacFarquhar will present remarks on his most recent book, The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes you a Happy Birthday: Unexpected Encounters in the Changing Middle East, named a "Best Book of 2009" by The Washington Post and Barnes and Noble.

Doors open at 5:30pm. The first 50 people to arrive at the event will receive a free signed copy of The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday courtesy of the Middle East Policy Forum.

Please send RSVP to: rsvpimes@gwu.edu

Sponsored by the Middle East Policy Forum, which is presented with the generous support of ExxonMobil.

Friday, February 12, 2010
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Lindner Family Commons, Room 602
1957 E Street, NW

Model Ukraine: The Identity, Rights, and Responsibilities of a Ukrainian Citizen Today; and Elections, Politics, History, and Culture in a Renewed Ukraine


The Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Program (CUPP) Washington Conference
The aim of the Conference is to discuss and develop a model for Ukrainian development as envisioned by young people who are eager to contribute to the future of the country. Among them are alumni of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Program (an internship program in the Canadian House of Commons) who have completed an internship within the period from 1991 to 2009 and earned a graduate degree at a Western university. These alumni will discuss current issues in Ukrainian domestic and foreign policy and possible methods for development in Ukraine, focusing on the identity, rights, and responsibilities of an individual in a model Ukraine. The conference will also cover several other timely issues, including the ongoing Presidential election in Ukraine, foreign aid to Ukraine, political alienation in Ukraine and Ukrainian identity.

Please note that this is day 1 of a 2-day conference. Full conference is February 12-13.

Please send RSVP to: ieresgwu@gwu.edu by February 10

Sponsored by Sponsored by the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies; the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Program; the Chair of Ukrainian Studies Foundation; and the Katedra Foundation

Saturday, February 13, 2010
9:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Lindner Family Commons, Room 602
1957 E Street, NW

Model Ukraine: The Identity, Rights, and Responsibilities of a Ukrainian Citizen Today; and Elections, Politics, History, and Culture in a Renewed Ukraine


The Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Program (CUPP) Washington Conference
The aim of the Conference is to discuss and develop a model for Ukrainian development as envisioned by young people who are eager to contribute to the future of the country. Among them are alumni of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Program (an internship program in the Canadian House of Commons) who have completed an internship within the period from 1991 to 2009 and earned a graduate degree at a Western university. These alumni will discuss current issues in Ukrainian domestic and foreign policy and possible methods for development in Ukraine, focusing on the identity, rights, and responsibilities of an individual in a model Ukraine. The conference will also cover several other timely issues, including the ongoing Presidential election in Ukraine, foreign aid to Ukraine, political alienation in Ukraine and Ukrainian identity.

Please note that this is day 2 of a 2-day conference. Full conference is February 12-13.

Please send RSVP to: ieresgwu@gwu.edu by February 10

Sponsored by the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies; the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Program; the Chair of Ukrainian Studies Foundation; and the Katedra Foundation

Thursday, February 18, 2010
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM

Maurice East Conference Room, Suite 501
1957 E Street, NW

"Race" by Another Name? Categories, Counting, and the State - The Case of Netherlands Integration Policy Discourse


Dvora Yanow, Strategic Chair in Meaning and Method, Faculty of Social Sciences, Vrije University, Amsterdam

A copy of Dvora Yanow's paper will be posted online at www.gwu.edu/~igis

A light lunch will be served.

Please send RSVP to: igis@gwu.edu by February 17

Sponsored by the Institute for Global and International Studies

Thursday, February 18, 2010
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

Lindner Family Commons, Room 602
1957 E Street, NW

International Affairs Review Online Winter Edition and Website Launch


David Alan Grier, Associate Professor of International Science and Technology Policy and International Affairs, GW

Andrew Callam, candidate for a masters degree in international affairs, GW

Benjamin Fong, candidate for a masters degree in public affairs, Princeton University

Moderated by:
James Turitto & Katie McLain, Editors-in-Chief, International Affairs Review

Please join the International Affairs Review for lunch as we launch a Winter Web Edition of our publication. David Alan Grier will present on the intersection of international affairs and 21st century technology. Following Professor Grier's talk, the graduate student authors featured in the Online Winter Technology Edition of the International Affairs Review will discuss their papers.

Professor Grier's talk is titled, "Knowledge, Protocols and Feedback: Technology and International Affairs in the 21st Century." New technology not only has given us new artifacts that have made our lives easier it has forced us to think in terms of standard knowledge, protocols and feedback that was not part of international affairs even fifteen years ago. These concepts have changed the say that we think about negotiation, trade, security, weaponry, and even life itself. They have given us greater freedom and, simultaneously, put constraints upon that freedom. They portend a future that emphaszes the ability to negotiate, to reason through problems, and to pay attention to the full details of any problem.

The International Affairs Review (IAR), is a graduate student-run publication of GW's Elliott School of International Affairs. IAR provides a unique forum for the policy perspectives of tomorrow's leaders on critical issues facing the world today.

Refreshments will be provided.

Please RSVP at: International Affairs Review Winter Edition by February 16
or https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dC1pWHZoTk9ON2E4WmdneU95R0U4U3c6MA

Sponsored by the International Affairs Review

Thursday, February 18, 2010
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM

Voesar Conference Room, Suite 412
1957 E Street, NW

China and Russia: A Comparative Perspective of Local Government


"Local Self-Government in Russia: Historical Legacy and the 2003 Reform"
Kimitaka Matsuzato, Slavic Research Center of Hokkaido University, Japan

"Local Government in China: Land Disputes and Fiscal Reform after 1994"
Zhe Ren, Visiting Scholar, Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, GW; Research Fellow, Slavis Research Center of Hokkaido University, Japan

Please send RSVP to: ieresgwu@gwu.edu by February 17

Sponsored by the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies and the Slavic Research Center of Hokkaido University, Japan

Thursday, February 18, 2010
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Lindner Family Commons, Room 602
1957 E Street, NW

Beyond the Orange Revolution: Does Ukraine's Democracy Matter?


Olexiy Haran, Professor of Political Science, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

Oleksandr Sushko, Director, Center for Peace, Conversion, and Foreign Policy of Ukraine

Mark Kramer, Director, Cold War Studies Program, Harvard University

Alexander Cooley, Associate Professor of Political Science, Barnard College, Columbia University

Moderator:
Henry E. Hale, Director, Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, GW

On February 7, Ukraine's highly anticipated second-round presidential election will pit frontrunner and former prime minister Viktor Yanukovych against prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko. After the first round, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and other international observers showered rare praise on Ukraine for having "met most OSCE and Council of Europe commitments." Has Ukraine become a sustainable if imperfect democracy? What are the implications of Ukraine's democracy for its relations with Europe and Russia? Five years on, does the Orange Revolution represent an opportunity or threat to other states and regimes across the post-Soviet space?

This event is part of the Program on New Approaches to Research and Security in Eurasia (PONARS Eurasia). PONARS Eurasia is an international network of social scientists that seeks to promote scholarly work and policy engagement on transnational and comparative topics within the Eurasian space. The Elliott School is grateful to the International Program of the Carnegie Corporation of New York for its support of PONARS Eurasia.

Reception to follow.

Please send RSVP to: ieresgwu@gwu.edu by February 16

Sponsored by the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies

Thursday, February 18, 2010
6:00 PM - 7:15 PM

City View Room, 7th floor
Lindner Family Commons, Room 602
1957 E Street, NW

David H. Miller Lecture with Ambassador Johnnie Carson


Ambassador Johnnie Carson, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, U.S. Department of State; former Ambassador to Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Uganda

Ambassador Carson will discuss U.S. foreign policy towards Africa.

Reception to follow.

This event is the Elliott School's Annual David H. Miller Foundation Lecture.

The mission of the Miller Foundation is to sustain David H. Miller's lifelong efforts in advancing U.S.-African relations by raising funds to support the David H. Miller Endowment for African Studies at The George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. The Miller Foundation believes that within the contect of the global economy, Africa's future success will be ensured by providing access to highter education for African nationals, and by educating the developed world, including students, government leaders, policy makers, and the public, on the economic, cultural, and political issues that exist in Africa today.

Please send RSVP to: RSVP for Ambassador Carson Event or at http://tinyurl.com/elliott-feb18

Sponsored by the Elliott School of International Affairs and the David H. Miller Foundation

Thursday, February 18, 2010
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Alumni House
1918 F Street, NW

New Career in the New Year?


Game change, life change or new revelations - whatever the reason, many people want to shift direction in their career. A select panel of Elliott School alumni who are mid-career changers will share with seminar participants their development and hopes as they face a new future. Panelists will address questions such as: Is it easy to change direction? What does one give up when they make a switch after 10 years? What are the challenges a mid-career changer will face?

This event is open to GW graduate students and alumni only.

Please send RSVP to: www.alumniconnections.com

Sponsored by Elliott School of International Affairs and the GW Alumni Association

Monday, February 22, 2010
8:30 AM - 2:30 PM

Lindner Family Commons, Room 602
1957 E Street, NW

The Obama Administration and Latin America: The First Year


8:30 AM - 9:00 AM
Registration and Coffee

9:00 AM - 9:30 AM
An Assessment of the First Year
Moises Naim, Editor-in-chief, Foreign Policy

9:30 AM - 10:45 AM
First Panel: Intermestic Issues: The Obama Administration, Migration, and Drug Trafficking
George Grayson, Class of 1938 Professor of Government, The College of William and Mary
Manuel Orozco, Director, Remittances and Development Program, The Inter-American Dialogue
Marie Price, Professor, Geography and International Affairs, GW

10:45 AM - 11:00 AM
Coffee Break

11:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Keynote Address
Alejandro Toledo, Former President of Peru

11:30 AM - 12:45 PM Second Panel: The Obama Adminstration on Democratization in Latin America
Cynthia Arnson, Director, Latin America Program, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Lino Gutierrez, Professor of International Affairs, GW; former U.S. Ambassador to Argentina and Nicaragua
Sarah Stephens, Director, Center for Democracy in the Americas

1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Lunch and Keynote Address
Arturo Valenzuela, Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S. Department of State

Please register at: RSVP for Obama Administration & Latin America.
Please register only if you are confident that you can attend. If you become unable to attend please email lasp@gwu.edu immediately.

Sponsored by the Latin American and Hemispheric Studies Program

Monday, February 22, 2010
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM

Lindner Family Commons, Room 602
1957 E Street, NW

Afghanistan: The Human Factor


Introductions:
Sean Aday, Director, Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication, GW

Jon Sawyer, Executive Director, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

Panelists:
Vanessa Gezari, Washington-based writer; forthcoming book assesses the U.S. military's Human Terrain program, which embeds social scientists and anthropologists with troops in Afghanistan

Jason Motlagh, freelance multimedia journalist; reporting focused on civilian casualties with on-the-scene accounts of the aftermath of coalition attacks in western Afghanistan last summer

Nir Rosen, freelance writer, photographer, and filmmaker; reporting contending the results in Iraq were less than advertised and likely to be worse in Afghanistan

Please send RSVP to: ipdgc@gwu.edu

Sponsored by the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication, and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

Monday, February 22, 2010
7:20 PM - 9:00 PM

Lindner Family Commons, Room 602
1957 E Street, NW

U.S. China Trade Relations


Claude Barfield, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute; former consultant, U.S. Trade Representative

No RSVP is needed to attend this event.

Sponsored by the International Affairs Society

Tuesday, February 23, 2010
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM

Voesar Conference Room, Suite 412
1957 E Street, NW

Two Helsinkis: The U.S. Helsinki Commission and the Helsinki Process (CSCE Process) in the Cold War


Noboru Miyawaki, Visiting Scholar, Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, GW

Miyawaki will discuss the Helsinki Process (The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe), which in the 1970's and 1980's faced strong opposition from the East regarding human rights. In the CSCE, the West took initiative in reviewing human rights implementation in the East; the Helsinki Final Act of 1975 included human rights clauses. In spite of strong opposition from the U.S. State Department under the Ford administration, the U.S. Helsinki Commission (The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe) began to monitor the implementation of human rights agreements. During the Carter and Regan administrations, the relationship between the Commission and the U.S. Administration improved. Miyawaki argues that the U.S. Helsinki Commission found the Helsinki Final Act to be effective in pressing the East to take action on human rights issues.

Lunch will be provided.

Please send RSVP to: ieresgwu@gwu.edu by February 22

Sponsored by the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, and the Slavic Research Center of Hokkaido University, Japan

Tuesday, February 23, 2010
12:30 PM - 1:45 PM

Lindner Family Commons, Room 602
1957 E Street, NW

Tearing Apart the Land: Islam and Legitimacy in Southern Thailand


Duncan McCargo, Professor of Southeast Asian Politics, University of Leeds

This event is part of the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Subnational Asia.

Please send RSVP to: RSVP for Tearing Apart the Land or https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=32429a

Sponsored by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Asia Society

Tuesday, February 23, 2010
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Post Hall, Mount Vernon Campus
2100 Foxhall Road, NW

Resolved: The U.S. should sacrifice its ties with China for the benefit of human rights.


GW's International Affairs Society will debate Georgetown University's International Relations Club on the topic of "Resolved: the United States should sacrifice its ties with China for the benefit of human rights."

The event will feature a keynote speaker and will be followed by a reception.

No RSVP is needed to attend this event.

Sponsored by the International Affairs Society

Wednesday, February 24, 2010
12:30 PM - 2:00 PM

Room 505
1957 E Street, NW

The Afro-Colombian Contribution to the Colombian Process of Independence


Alonso Valencia, Colombian historian

Please note that this event will be held in Spanish.

No RSVP is needed.
For more information, please email natyabu@gwmail.gwu.edu

Sponsored by the Latin American and Hemispheric Studies Program, Por Colombia, and the Embassy of Colombia

Wednesday, February 24, 2010
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Lindner Family Commons, Room 602
1957 E Street, NW

Conflicts in Israeli Feminism and the Question of Palestine


Smadar Lavie, Associate Professor of Studies in Women and Gender, University of Virginia

Professor Lavie explores the conflicts inside the Israeli feminist movements. What is largely known outside Israel, and in English, as "Israeli feminism" is the feminism of the minority European-Jewish elite. It bears little or no appeal to the grassroots - the Mizrahi ("eastern," Hebrew) majority of Israeli women, who are of Middle Eastern origins. Most Mizrahi communities vote for right-wing parties partially because left-wing parties are associated with the Ashkenazi elite. The deep commitment of the general Mizrahi population to Zionist ideology places Mizrahi feminists, critical of Ashkenazi Zionism, in a predicament.

Please send RSVP to: RSVP Conflicts in Israeli Feminism

Sponsored by the Culture in Global Affairs (CIGA) program, and the Global Women's Forum

Thursday, February 25, 2010
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM

Maurice East Conference Room, Suite 501
1957 E Street, NW

Our Mothers Have Spoken: Synthesizing Old and New Forms of Women's Political Authority in Liberia


Mary Moran, Professor of Anthropology and Africana & Latin American Studies, Colgate University

A copy of Mary Moran's paper is available at: www.gwu.edu/~igis.

A light lunch will be served.

Please send RSVP to: igis@gwu.edu by February 24

Sponsored by the Institute for Global and International Studies

Thursday, February 25, 2010
4:00 PM - 5:15 PM

Lindner Family Commons, Room 602
1957 E Street, NW

Security Policy Forum: The Collapse - And Rebirth? - of Transatlantic Relations


Ambassador Kurt Volker, MA '87, former United States Permanent Representative to NATO

Ambassador Volker will discuss the challenges to transatlantic relations since the end of the Cold War.

Reception to follow from 5:15 - 6:00pm.

Please RSVP at: Security Policy Forum: Amb. Volker or spf@gwu.edu

Alumni - Please RSVP at: www.alumniconnections.com

Sponsored by the Institute for Security and Conflict Studies, the Security Policy Forum, the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, and the GW Alumni Association

Thursday, February 25, 2010
7:15 PM - 8:30 PM

Room 505
1957 E Street, NW

John F. Kennedy and the American Space Program


John Logsdon, Professor Emeritus of Political Science and International Affairs; Founder and former Director, Space Policy Institute, GW

There have been, of course, very many biographies and other analyses of President John F. Kennedy. There have also been a large number of accounts of the formative years of the U.S. space program. Somewhat unexpectedly, however, there has never been an in-depth examination of the interactions between President Kennedy and those he brought with him to the White House, on one hand, and on the other, the national space effort during the transformational 1961-1963 period.We know why JFK decided to send Americans to the Moon, but have less knowledge of what he did to turn his decision into reality.

Light refreshments will be served.

Please send RSVP to: mansdell@gwmail.gwu.edu

Sponsored by the GW Space Society

Friday, February 26, 2010
3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

State Room, 7th Floor
1957 E Street, NW

A Call for Engagement: Georgia's New State Strategy towards Its Regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia


Temuri Yakobashvili, Georgian State Minister for Reintegration

Moderator:
Cory Welt, Associate Director, Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, GW

In January 2010, the government of Georgia unveiled a new strategy for rebuilding ties with the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The strategy aims to engage regional populations and to facilitate cross-border trade, communication, and other movement through the involvement of public and private sectors, as well as the assistance of the international community. Please join us for a discussion with Georgian State Minister for Reintegration Temuri Yakobashvili on the new state strategy, plans for implementation, and the ongoing challenges to reintegration of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Please send RSVP to: ieresgwu@gwu.edu

Sponsored by the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies

Friday, February 26, 2010
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM

Lindner Family Commons, Room 602
1957 E Street, NW

Network with PEERS


Please join Professionals in European, Eurasian, and Russian Studies (PEERS) as we host a networking event focused on career possibilities in Europe, Eurasia, and Russia. Our panel of speakers will briefly explore the current job market in government positions, think tanks, and the private sector. Panelists include representatives from the Atlantic Council, German Marshall Fund, U.S.-Russia Business Council, and the World Bank. These brief introductions will be followed by an opportunity for students and professionals to interact over drinks and light refreshments.

Professional dress is requested.
Drinks and light refreshments will be served.

Please send RSVP to: peers@gwu.edu by February 25. Please include your name, affiliation, and email. For Elliott School alumni, please include your year of graduation.

Sponsored by the Professionals in European, Eurasian, and Russian Studies and the GW Student Association