There is a great need for civil society and government agencies to work together, using 21st century management tools, to anticipate threats, extend warning time and learn rapidly from past experience. Please join us for a discussion on these topics with Leon Fuerth, former national security advisor to Vice President Al Gore, and Ambassador Tom Pickering, former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs.

“If we are to remain a well-functioning republic and a prosperous nation, we must get ahead of events or we risk being overtaken by them.” – Leon Fuerth

Time and time again, the international community is surprised by how quickly events transform situations around the world. Events like the Arab Spring and electoral violence in Kenya caught many by surprise, even though the peacebuilding community predicted that they would happen. Often when we face changes, the institutions that can help with these transitions have been reacting to events rather than anticipating and preparing for them. It is essential that civil society and government agencies work together, using 21st century management tools, to anticipate threats, extend warning time and learn rapidly from past experience.

Please join us for a discussion on these topics with Leon Fuerth, former national security advisor to Vice President Al Gore, and Ambassador Tom Pickering, former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs. 

Speakers: 

  • Kristin Lord, Executive Vice President, USIP

  • Leon Fuerth, Research Professor of International Affairs, George Washington University

  • Ambassador Tom Pickering, Ambassador Tom Pickering, Vice Chairman, Hills & Company International Consultants

Latest Publications

After Trading Prisoners with Russia: Can the World Negotiate with Putin?

After Trading Prisoners with Russia: Can the World Negotiate with Putin?

Thursday, August 8, 2024

Last week’s prisoner exchange with Russia — the largest since the Cold War, with 24 captives exchanged among seven countries — sparked hopes internationally that, just maybe, similarly determined diplomacy might help thaw the frigid relations between Russia and the West and open space for a negotiated end to Russia’s aggressions abroad. Unfortunately, the prisoner deal’s underlying message is that Vladimir Putin’s regime uses negotiations only when it sees the outcome, as it did last week, as a victory at the expense of its perceived enemies. The deal illustrates the narrowness of opportunity for any negotiated solution to settle the sides’ differences.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

What Role Can Nonviolent Social Movements Play in Peace Talks?

What Role Can Nonviolent Social Movements Play in Peace Talks?

Thursday, August 8, 2024

When negotiations between the Colombian government and the rebel FARC group kicked off in 2013, only one of the 20 negotiators was a woman. Two years later, 20 percent of government negotiators and 43 percent of FARC negotiators were women. Their participation broadened the agenda of the talks that led to the historic 2016 peace accord, which included important gender provisions. Women’s participation in the Colombia peace process was a clear peacebuilding success — and it was ultimately made possible by a diverse national women’s coalition, which mobilized to insist on gender-inclusive negotiations.

Type: Analysis

Nonviolent ActionPeace Processes

The Lobito Corridor: A U.S. Bet on Africa’s Critical Mineral Development

The Lobito Corridor: A U.S. Bet on Africa’s Critical Mineral Development

Thursday, August 8, 2024

Demand for critical minerals is expected to skyrocket in the decades ahead. These minerals — such as copper, cobalt and lithium, among others — power the electronics we use every day and are essential for transitioning to greener energy technologies. The U.S. is increasingly working with African partners to develop the continent’s abundant critical minerals, an effort that is vital to advancing U.S. economic and national security interests. It also will have major implications for African countries: How these critical minerals are developed will significantly impact the continent’s economic future and beyond, even affecting peace and stability. This increasing U.S. policy focus comes against the backdrop of intensifying U.S. geopolitical competition with China, which dominates many African mining sectors.

Type: Analysis

Economics

China’s Global Security Initiative: Tilting the Balance in Central Asia

China’s Global Security Initiative: Tilting the Balance in Central Asia

Wednesday, August 7, 2024

In recent years, Beijing has been reevaluating its conceptual framework for foreign policy, with a focus on enhancing its role in global governance. With the aim of transforming China into the world's leading country, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has put forward a number of new initiatives — including the Global Security Initiative (GSI) — as a way of creating new formats of cooperation between China and the countries of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Global South.

Type: Analysis

EconomicsGlobal Policy

Bangladesh’s Accidental Revolutionaries Topple Sheikh Hasina — What’s Next?

Bangladesh’s Accidental Revolutionaries Topple Sheikh Hasina — What’s Next?

Tuesday, August 6, 2024

Bangladesh has experienced its most consequential political event in at least two decades. On June 6, one day after Bangladesh’s high court reinstated the country’s job quota system that favored descendants of the 1971 liberation war, about 500 students gathered at Dhaka University to demand its repeal. Two months later, on August 5, Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who had governed  for 15 years, abdicated power and fled the country as a coalition of Bangladeshi students, political opponents and ordinary citizens marched on her residence to demand her resignation. As the prime minister departed for India, the head of the army announced his plan to form an interim government in a televised address.

Type: Question and Answer

Democracy & Governance

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