Audio and Video Archive: 2011

Reconstructing Afghanistan

Hear Daniel Green as he discusses his work with a Provincial Reconstruction Team in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan.

Daniel Green, Soref Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy

The Persistent Cyber Threat in Today's World

Michael Chertoff will discuss the different cyber risks we face, and the need to clearly identify roles and responsibilities for both the government and private sector to create a safer environment for all.

Michael Chertoff, Co-founder and Managing Principal, The Chertoff Group

International Reporting in the Internet Age

Veteran NewsHour correspondent Margaret Warner will discuss how international events – and their coverage –- are being transformed by the internet and social networks, and explore the challenges and opportunities of reporting in an era of unlimited information.

Margaret Warner, Senior Correspondent, PBS NewsHour

Entrepreneurship in China: The Next Silicon Valley?

Rebecca Fannin and Edith Yeung will discuss the hurdles Chinese entrepreneurs encounter and the challenges both local and foreign investors face.

Rebecca Fannin, Founder & Editor, Silicon Asia

Edith Yeung, Partner, RightVentures

Can Girls' Education Change the World?

Join Ann Cotton, Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg, and Joel Samoff as they discuss the benefits and the challenges of educating girls in Africa, and share lessons learned from years of experience working in the sector.

Ann Cotton, Executive Director, CAMFED International

Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg, Founder and Executive Director, Akili Dada; Assistant Professor, USF

Joel Samoff, Professor of African Studies and Political Science, Stanford University

Wars, Revolutions and Transitions—Navigating National Security

Hear remarks from Ms. Harman at a luncheon on issues of national security.

Jane Harman, Director, President & CEO, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Ex-Patriot? An Arab-American in the CIA

Nada Prouty will discuss her story, and how anti-Arab sentiment and a rush to judgment may have cost her her livelihood and her American identity.

Nada Prouty, Former Agent, FBI & CIA; Author, Uncompromised

Inside the Arms Trade

Join Andrew Feinstein as he draws back the curtain on a world of legitimate multi-billion dollar government contracts, the illicit arms trade and the frequent links between the two.

Andrew Feinstein, Founder, Corruption Watch

China and North Korea: Deepening Relations

For the second installment of the three-part series "China: Reshaping the East" the Council is pleased to welcome Dr. Bates Gill, Director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute to discuss his recently completed a study on China-North Korea.

Remarks by General Carter F. Ham, Commander of US Africa Command

General Carter F. Ham became commander of U.S. Africa Command headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany on March 9, 2011. U.S. Africa Command is one of six unified geographic commands within the Department of Defense unified command structure.

General Carter F. Ham, Commander of US Africa Command, U.S. Department of Defense

Speaker Series: Gen. Carter F. Ham, Commander of U.S. Africa Command

Recorded on Tuesday, November 8, 2011, 5:30 pm at the Marine's Memorial Club and Hotel, San Francisco

General Carter F. Ham, Commander of US Africa Command, U.S. Department of Defense

Going Digital: Technology's Role in Development and Human Rights

The Council will host three panelists to discuss the role of technology in this growing field and explore how impoverished communities are adapting new tools for old problems.

Clint McClellan, Director of Business Development, Qualcomm Incorporated

Leila Janah, Founder & CEO, Samasource

Patrick Meier, Director of Crisis Mapping, Ushahidi

China and Taiwan: A Complex Relationship

The first installment of the Council’s three-part series “China: Reshaping the East” brings together two regional experts to discuss the complex China-Taiwan relationship and the role of the United States in the region.

Dr. Shelley Rigger, Brown Professor and Chair of Political Science, Davidson College

Dr. Alice Miller, Research fellow at the Hoover Institution; visiting associate professor in the Department of Political Science, Stanford University

Inside Mexico's Drug Cartels

Ioan Grillo as he gives a portrait of Mexico's drug cartels, how they have transformed in the last decade and how deep US involvement really goes.

Ioan Grillo, Reporter, TIME magazine

Economic Competition and the Common Good

Robert Frank will discuss his theory of evolutionary economics, and propose changes in US economic policies that would benefit the rich, poor and middle class alike.

Robert Frank, Professor of Economics, Cornell University

Exploring the International Implications of America’s Debt

This summer saw American’s ballooning national debt and Washington’s Congressional impasse cause the United States’ long-standing triple-A credit rating to be downgraded. With growing deficits and a weakened financial system, the US has also declined in its competitiveness abroad, slipping five places in the World Economic Forum rankings in just three years. US debt has had visible effects on the stock market, but what does it mean for America’s standing in the global economy? Michael Boskin, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and professor of economics at Stanford, will discuss the international implications of our growing debt. With Europe in a debt crisis of its own and Japan’s fiscal worries mounting, how will the US fair in a new global environment?

Battling Malaria

Every year half a billion people are infected with malaria and millions die from this easily treatable disease. TIME magazine’s Africa Bureau Chief Alex Perry spent two years on the front line of the campaign to eradicate the disease that has devastated human populations for thousands of years. From the office of the UN Special Envoy for Malaria and the White House to the most malaria ravaged towns on Earth, Perry will give a portrait of modern Africa and tell of how the fight against malaria is revolutionizing foreign aid and development.

Embracing the End of Online Privacy

Thanks to the internet, we now live in public. With more than 750 million people (and half of all Americans) on Facebook, and over 100 million tweets echoing daily from Tahrir Square to the Mall of America, our personal lives are now shared globally; but is this new openness a positive change? Jeff Jarvis, Director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism at New York’s City University, will examine the tension between privacy and openness and how it is transforming our communities, identities, businesses and the way we live. Should we embrace technological advancements for creating a more efficient and connected world, or fear that our increasing dependence on this invisible network may be to our detriment?

The Transatlantic Relationship Amid the Financial Crisis: Remarks by Werner Hoyer

The growing European sovereign debt crisis has many looking to Germany, the largest economy in the euro area and the fifth largest in the world, for a solution. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has affirmed that it is Germany’s duty to contribute to securing the euro’s future, but how far is Germany willing to go to defend the common currency? Is the European Union on the brink of implosion or will the debt crisis and other challenges of the globalized world deepen European integration? Join the World Affairs Council and the American Council on Germany for a talk with German Deputy Foreign Secretary Werner Hoyer, who will discuss the outlook for economic growth within the euro zone, Germany’s perspective on what is needed to achieve positive results and why the transatlantic partnership is indispensible for Europe, Germany and the West in an increasingly globalized world.