Archived Audio & Video Files

Paul Krugman in San Francisco

The Council is pleased to welcome back to the Bay Area, Paul Krugman, Award winning Economist and Columnist of The New York Times, as the second speaker of the 2007 Richard and Judith Guggenhime Series. One of the world's preeminent economists and an insightful, outspoken commentator on economic and political affairs, Krugman will give a preview of his upcoming book, The Conscience of a Liberal. In it, Professor Krugman evaluates American social policy and leadership over the last century, and considers where we go from here, as we enter the 21st Century. The 2007 Richard and Judith Guggenhime Series features world-renowned experts with critical insights on global issues. Other series events include Mark Halperin; John Harris speaking on Electing the Next President, and Former Commander of the US Central Command, General John Abizaid.

New Approaches to US Foreign Assistance

In January 2006, Secretary of State Rice announced a major change in the way the US government directs foreign assistance to transitioning and developing countries around the world. This reform focuses on facilitating one overarching goal: 'Helping to build and sustain democratic, well-governed states that will respond to the needs of their people and conduct themselves responsibly in the international system.' With past criticisms of incoherent policies, wasted resources, and ineffective programs, how will these changes provide a comprehensive foreign assistance strategy for the US against which to measure success and meet new challenges in international development? Under Secretary of State for Management, Henrietta Holsman Fore, joins the Council to discuss US foreign assistance reform and the government's new approach to international development. Under Secretary of State Henrietta Holsman Fore will, also, present former Secretary of State George P. Shultz with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)'s 4th Annual George C. Marshall Award at the World Affairs Council on the evening of Monday, September 17th. Named after former U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall, the Marshall Award is the Agency's highest honor and was established by USAID to recognize international leaders in the field of development. This event is co-sponsored by The Asia Foundation.

Henrietta Fore, Under Secretary of State for Management; Acting Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development; Acting Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance

The CIA: Fact and Fiction?

With the recent acknowledgment of its own questionable activities from the 1950s to the 1970s, is the Central Intelligence Agency a buffer of freedom against dangerous foes, or a malevolent conspiracy to promote American policy abroad? In his new book, Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA, author Tim Weiner examines the first sixty years of the Central Intelligence Agency and its covert actions overseas. A two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner for national security reporting, Weiner has covered the CIA for the last 20 years, and for the last 13 years at The New York Times. To chart some of the Agency's never-revealed clandestine operations across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, his book is compiled from more than 50,000 documents from the CIA, the White House, and the State Department; on the record interviews with ten former Directors of Central Intelligence and over 300 CIA officers; oral accounts from American diplomats, spies, and presidential aides; and, travels to Afghanistan, the Sudan, and Guyana. This event is co-sponsored by the Marines' Memorial Association.

Tim Weiner, Reporter, The New York Times

The Israel Lobby

Originally publishing "The Israel Lobby" as an essay in the London Review of Books in March 2006, John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt's analysis of the Israel Lobby and its influence on U.S. foreign policy was one of the most controversial articles in recent memory. Having deepened and expanded their argument to confront recent developments in Lebanon and Iran, Mearsheimer and Walt join the World Affairs Council for a public exchange in San Francisco, where they will discuss their contention that the material and diplomatic support provided by the United States to Israel is due largely to the political influence of a loose coalition of individuals and organizations that actively work to shape U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction. They argue that this lobby has a far-reaching impact on America's posture throughout the Middle East-in Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, and toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

John Mearsheimer, R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science & Co-Director, Program on International Security Policy, University of Chicago

Stephen Walt, Belfer Professor of International Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; Academic Dean, John F. Kennedy School of Government, 2002-2006

Democracy's Triumph: Advantages and Drawbacks

In 1900, only ten countries could be counted as democracies. By 1975 there were thirty. Today, 119 of the world's 190 countries have adopted democracy, and it is by far the most celebrated and prestigious form of government. In Democracy's Good Name, Michael Mandelbaum, one of America's leading foreign policy thinkers, explores the reasons for democracy's extraordinary surge in the twentieth century. Mandelbaum delves into many pressing questions: How did democracy acquire its good name? Why do important countries remain undemocratic? What accounts for the fact that the introduction of one of democracy's defining features - free elections - has sometimes led to political repression and large-scale bloodshed? Why do efforts to export democracy so often fail and even make conditions worse? Mandelbaum will also share with the Council his assessment of establishing democracy in Russia, China, and the Arab world and why the US has found it so difficult to foster democratic governments in other countries.

Michael Mandelbaum, Christian A. Herter Professor of American Foreign Policy, The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies

Anglo-American Dominance: Culture or Grand Strategy? -- Special Member Only Event

https://s3.amazonaws.com/audio.northamericanforum.org/2007/10-22-07_Mead.mp3

Walter Russell Mead, Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for US Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations

Slavery in the New Global Economy

In his 1999 book, Disposable People, Kevin Bales brought to light the existence of modern slavery and described how, nearly two hundred years after the slave trade was abolished, global slavery stubbornly persists. In his new book, Ending Slavery, Bales again presents the ideas and insights that can finally lead to slavery's extinction and freedom for the 27 million people currently held in slavery worldwide. Recalling his own involvement in the antislavery movement, he recounts the lives and stories of today's slaves, and explains how governments and citizens can build a world without slavery. President of the human rights organization Free the Slaves, he joins the Council to discuss what is needed to bring global slavery to an end and how to rebuild the lives of freed slaves and victims of human trafficking. Cosponsored by the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley, San Francisco Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, Human Rights Watch,; Stacey'sBookstore

Kevin Bales, President, Free the Slaves; Author, "Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy"

Israel, Iran and the United States - with Trita Parsi

With talk of the Iranian nuclear threat heating up, tension between Iran and Israel is dangerously high and the risk of a war involving the United States looms. To Trita Parsi, efforts to defuse those tensions have failed because the real roots of the hostility between Iran and Israel have eluded Washington policymakers. Drawing on his extensive personal interviews with key policy players in all three countries, Dr. Parsi examines the strategic and geopolitical tensions feeding the growing conflict between Iran and Israel. In his new book, Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States, Parsi describes the explosive Israeli-Iranian rivalry of the 1990s that poisoned American and Iranian efforts to improve their bilateral relations, and warns of a coming clash under Presidents Bush and Ahmadinejad. Cosponsored by Stacey's Bookstore

Trita Parsi, President, National Iranian American Council

Zoom: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future

In conversation with Daniel Kammen, Director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory and Professor in the Energy and Resources Group, UC Berkeley The Economist correspondent Vijay Vaitheeswaran and ZOOM co-author Iain Carson write: "Oil is the problem. Cars are the solution." Vaitheeswaran joins the Council in conversation with Daniel Kammen to discuss issues raised in his new book: Zoom: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future. With an eye on both global warming and world energy supplies, he will look at how pioneers in Japan, India, China, and the USA tackle the challenge of creating automobiles that will run on cleaner energy sources. Tracing the history of the linked industries of oil and automobiles, the "industry of industries," and how the two have shaped domestic capitalism and the international landscape, he will discuss how Toyota topped American competitors to become the world ' s largest automobile manufacturer and, more importantly, a leader in hybrid cars using electric power. Will the combustion engine go the way of the steam engine? Will the big oil companies go the way of the dinosaur? Will the minds that made (and the money made from) the Silicon Valley giants revolutionize the auto industry? Cosponsored by The Economist and Stacey's Bookstore

Vijay Vaitheeswaran, Shanghai Bureau Chief and China Business Editor, The Economist

Hyperpowers Throughout History: Will the US Prevail?

Amy Chua defines a hyperpower as a country or an empire that dominates in all three categories: economic, military, and technological. In Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance And Why They Fall, Chua examines the hyperpowers of history - Persia, Rome, China, the Mongols, the Dutch, the British, and the United States - and argues that they all have two things in common: They rose to preeminence through toleration and declined during a period of intolerance and xenophobia. Chua reasons that America's ascension to global dominance differs from its predecessors because it is the first democratic hyperpower and therefore cannot secure loyalty and allegiance by way of conquest. Precisely because it is a democracy, the United States does not try or want to make foreign populations its subjects, and certainly not its citizens. As its dominance appears to be regressing, Chua questions whether America can sustain its position as a democratic hyperpower. Will it be displaced by China, the EU, or perhaps another power? Will America be able to curtail immigration and still remain a hyperpower? Cosponsored by Stacey's Bookstore

Amy Chua, Professor, Yale Law School

Political Legacies of Adlai Stevenson

Adlai Stevenson II, Illinois governor and presidential contender against Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, left a mark on national politics that influenced decades of U.S. diplomacy and is worth revisiting today. He is best know for advocating for better politics of diplomacy, promoting the role of the United Nations for assisting the third world and mitigating conflict, and pushing for more international oversight of nuclear weapons to reduce the risk of nuclear conflict. Each having contributed to a new book entitled Adlai Stevenson's Lasting Legacy, our distinguished panel of speakers will recall another politics in another time where peace and cooperation were the primary objectives, discussing the political legacies of Adlai Stevenson and the application of his ideas to the world today. Cosponsored by Stacey's Bookstore

Sidney Drell, Professor and Deputy Director-Emeritus, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

Adlai Stevenson III, former U.S. Senator for Illinois

Judge Alvin Liebling, Editor of "Adlai Stevenson's Lasting Legacy"

Adele Simmons, Senior advisor, World Economic Forum; Senior Associate, Center for International Studies, University of Chicago; former President, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

The Middle East Peace Process: Efforts for Progress and Challenges Ahead

The recent Middle East peace conference in Annapolis resulted in the Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreeing to negotiate a peace treaty by the end of 2008. A host of challenges and difficulties lay ahead, particularly concerning terrorism and final status issues. Negotiation insider Asher Susser joins the Council at this critical time to discuss and offer his assessment on the difficult process ahead and the chances of ending the six-decade long conflict. Dr. Susser is the former director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University and one of Israel's leading experts on Jordan and the Palestinians. The event is co-sponsored by the Consulate General of Israel in San Francisco.

Asher Susser, Director for External Affairs, Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, Tel Aviv University

Intelligence Failures: The FBI, the CIA and 9/11 - with Amy Zegart

In her new book, Spying Blind: The CIA, the FBI, and the Origins of 9/11, Amy Zegart argues that many of the failures of the intelligence community in the months leading up to 9/11 can be attributed to an aging organizational structure that had not been updated or modified to deal with contemporary threats like global terrorism. Six years later, Zegart argues that all of the nation's worst intelligence deficiencies remain and with the recent passing of the 60 th anniversary of the CIA, the time is ripe for a reconsideration of the organizational weaknesses that have afflicted American intelligence agencies for decades and continue to stand in the way of reform. Cosponsored by Stacey's Bookstore

Amy Zegart, Associate Professor of Public Policy, University of California, Los Angeles

Inside the World's Largest Illegal Arms Network

Before 9/11, Viktor Bout was America's number two transnational threat priority behind Osama bin Laden. Bout's vast enterprise of guns, planes, and money has fueled violence in Africa and aided both militants in Afghanistan and the American military in Iraq. While the world celebrated the end of the Cold War, Bout and those like him quietly built up a new, complex, and international arms network. With weapons factories starved for customers, Soviet-era transports lying idle and rusting, and dictators, warlords and insurgents throughout the world clamoring for arms, entrepreneurs, and organized criminals, such as Viktor Bout, saw fortunes to be made. In Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes, and the Man Who Makes War Possible, co-author Stephen Braun details how a small circle of US officials and international investigators have had little success in dismantling this transnational network which, he argues, has provided essential support to despots, insurgents, and terrorists around the world. This event is co-sponsored by the Marines' Memorial Association.

Stephen Braun, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and national correspondent for the Los Angeles Times

Coping with Crisis in the Middle East - Four Epicenters of Instability

As Washington attempts to broker the latest Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, one of the main architects behind the Oslo Peace Accords, Mr. Terje Rod-Larsen joins the Council to discuss managing crisis in the rapidly changing Middle East. A Norwegian diplomat known for enduring patience and a passion for finding peace in this region, Mr. Rod-Larsen has had a distinguished career in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations. In Norway, his foreign service includes laying the groundwork for the 1993 Palestinian-Israeli talks in Oslo. At the United Nations, he has served as Special Coordinator in the Occupied Territories and the Middle East Peace Process. While currently serving as the President of the International Peace Academy, he is also the UN Special Representative for the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559, which calls for Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah. This event is co-sponsored by San Francisco's Norwegian Seaman's Church and the United Nations Association - East Bay; San Francisco Chapters.

Terje Rod-Larsen, President, International Peace Academy; Former UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Personal Representative of the Secretary-General to the PLO

Pakistan and the New Age of Nuclear Proliferation

Reporters Douglas Frantz and Catherine Collins detail the sequence of events that allowed one man to lay the groundwork for Pakistan to become a nuclear-armed country. According to their book, The Nuclear Jihadist, the acquisition of nuclear technologies and expertise to assemble functioning bombs by Iran, Libya, North Korea, and Pakistan, can be traced to one source: Abdul Qadeer Khan. From his earliest days working in a Dutch research laboratory through his flight to Pakistan to spearhead its nuclear program, US and foreign intelligence authorities watched A.Q. Khan and could have stopped him from smuggling technology and blueprints to other countries, but - as the authors claim - were thwarted or ignored by political leaders who chose to concentrate on what they believed to be more immediate strategic priorities.

Catherine Collins, former Reporter, Chicago Tribune

Douglas Frantz, Senior Writer, Portfolio Magazine; former Managing Editor, Los Angeles Times

Remarks by Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright

The next president, whether Democrat or Republican, will face the daunting task of repairing America's core relationships and tarnished credibility after the damage caused during the past seven years. In her new book, Memo to the President Elect: How We Can Restore America's Reputation and Leadership, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright offers a number of suggestions on how to confront the array of challenges that the next president will face, and about how to return America to its role as a source of inspiration across the globe. Secretary Albright's address will include forward-looking suggestions about how to assemble a first-rate foreign policy team, anticipate the actions of other key countries, make full use of presidential power without repeating the excesses of the Bush administration, and revive America's commitment to its founding ideals

Reforming Authoritarian Politics: Egypt, Algeria and Turkey

In his new book Ruling But Not Governing Steven Cook highlights the role that the military and the political elite play in the stability of the Egyptian, Algerian and Turkish political systems. According to Cook, the military and multilayered institutions ensure the durability of authoritarian systems. He considers how an authoritarian elite can control democratic practices such as elections, multiparty politics, and a relatively freer press as part of a strategy to remain in power. However, with Turkey's recent reforms as a model, Cook will explore how other external political actors could improve the likelihood of political change in Egypt andAlgeria. Co-sponsored with the Council on Foreign Relations and the United Nations Association - East Bay Chapter.

Steven Cook, Douglas Dillon Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations

World Opinion of the Next US President

As the California primary voting concludes, The Washington Post columnist David Ignatius joins the Council to discuss the presidential primary process and the view of the US presidential candidates from around the world. In his twice-weekly column on global politics, economics, and international affairs on The Washington Post op-ed page, Ignatius covers the gamut of international affairs and is read worldwide. He is also co-moderator - with Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek - of PostGlobal, a new experiment in online global journalism. PostGlobal links more than 50 of the top journalists and commentators around the world in a continuous online discussion of important issues. From his unique vantage point, Ignatius will talk about how world opinion of the candidates is shaping up and the international prospects for the next president of the United States.

David Ignatius, Columnist, The Washington Post