Policy Events (Sept 28 - Oct 4)
Your weekly update on upcoming webinars, conferences and other events held by think tanks around the world.
Each week Policy People collates together a number of noteworthy think tank events from around the globe. Below is our selection for September 28 to October 4.
There are several multi-session events happening next week, including the Hoover Institution’s ‘Rise of Digital Authoritarianism: China, AI, & Human Rights’ series as well as the Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement’s ‘Reimagining South Asia: Multilateralism in the Post COVID-19 World’. In addition to numerous webinars, the Mediterranean Intercultural Dialogue, an in-person event, is being held in Barcelona.
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International E-Conference
NEPAL INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND ENGAGEMENT - Monday, September 28 - Wednesday, September 30 @ 9am Indian Standard Time (UTC+5:30)
Reimagining South Asia: Multilateralism in the Post COVID-19 World
The emergence of South Asia as a regional identity has significant underpinnings to the successive growth from mere bilateral to multilateral engagements among neighbouring countries. As various scholars predict a shift in world affairs in the post COVID-19 period, various challenges to the security and strategic complex of South Asia are evident at local, regional, and global levels, most of which cannot be dealt with singlehandedly. This multi-day event, held jointly with Moolya Foundation and Amity Institute of International Studies, will present an array of leading scholarly papers on South Asia with sub-themes such as energy cooperation, border disputes, Chinese influence, EU relations, defense policy and more.
For more information and registration: https://niice.org.np/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Vijigishu-2020-Flyer.pdf
Zoom Webinar
MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE - Monday, September 28 @ 12pm Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)
Voices from Turkish Politics: A Conversation with Temel Karamollaoğlu
Turkey's Islamist Felicity Party has long been under the radar for Western audiences as the party remained marginal with 1-2 percent of the national vote since its founding in 2001. In recent years, however, it has become one of the fiercest critics of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was once part of the same Islamist front as Felicity leaders and is accused of taking the country in an increasingly religious direction. In this conversation moderated by MEI Turkish Studies Director Gonul Tol, Temel Karamollaoglu will delve into the role of political Islam in Turkey and the region, as well as the numerous challenges facing both Turkey and Erdogan.
For more information and registration: https://www.mei.edu/events/voices-turkish-politics-conversation-temel-karamollaoglu
Webinar
CARNEGIE MIDDLE EAST CENTER - Tuesday, September 29 @ 5pm Eastern European Standard Time (UTC+3)
Reflections of Greater Lebanon - Turning Black to Green
September 2020 marks 100 years since the Proclamation of the State of Greater Lebanon, yet the country today is plagued by a myriad of crises. This may prove a critical inflection point for Lebanon as a whole. The Carnegie Middle East Center and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung are hosting this panel discussion, which will look at where Lebanon stands on its Centennial, as well as the opportunities and challenges for the new century. Lebanon is endowed with a rich and diverse national ecosystem, and has the potential and responsibility to fight pollution and deforestation, while investing in green spaces and clean energy. Moving forward, how can Lebanon ensure that the environment does not take a back seat in its national priorities, given the many other pressing issues facing the country today?
For more information and registration: https://carnegie-mec.org/2020/09/29/turning-black-to-green-event-7411
Zoom webinar
AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - Tuesday, September 29 @ 5:30pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10)
Israel-UAE Peace Agreement: Implications for the Region
The UAE and Israel have concluded a historic peace agreement, establishing full diplomatic relations through the US-brokered Abraham Accords. The UAE is now the first Gulf country and third Arab state to recognise Israel, representing a significant development in the region’s relations. How will the peace agreement affect the power balance in the Middle East? Could this deal be a catalyst for other Arab Gulf monarchies to follow the UAE’s lead? And will this agreement reshape relations in the Middle East that have long been defined by an on-going Arab/Israeli conflict? AIIA is delighted to welcome Professor Clive Jones to discuss the Israel-UAE peace agreement and its implications for the region.
For more information and registration: https://aiiavic.tidyhq.com/public/schedule/events/30950-israel-uae-peace-agreement-implications-for-the-region
A series of four online panel discussions
HOOVER INSTITUTION
The Rise of Digital Authoritarianism: China, AI, & Human Rights
Tuesday, September 29 @ 9am Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)
Panel 1: How AI is powering China's Domestic Surveillance State
How is AI exacerbating surveillance risks and enabling digital authoritarianism? This session will examine both state-sponsored applications and Chinese commercial services.
Thursday, October 1 @ 9am Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)
Panel 2: The Ethics of Doing Business with China and Chinese Companies
What dynamics are at play in China's effort to establish market dominance for Chinese companies, both domestically and globally? What demands are placed on non-Chinese technology companies to participate in the Chinese marketplace? To what extent are Chinese companies (e.g. TikTok) competing in Western markets required to comply with Chinese government instructions or demands for access to data? This session will discuss these questions and more.
For more information and registration: https://www.hoover.org/events/rise-digital-authoritarianism-china-ai-human-rights
Virtual round table
CHATHAM HOUSE - Tuesday, September 29 @ 4pm British Summer Time (UTC+1)
Crisis in Belarus: What is at Stake?
Belarus is going through its deepest crisis which will change the country, and conceivably the wider region, for this is no longer solely about Belarus. It has acquired a geopolitical dimension: Vladimir Putin of Russia has, for the moment at least, thrown Lukashenka a lifeline. Putin will expect much in return. This meeting will look at what happens next in conversation with the principal players from the movement arraigned against the regime. Will the country become more democratic or more authoritarian? What will be the long-term consequences of Russia’s involvement in the crisis? How does the Belarusian democratic movement see the role of Russia and the West?
For more information and registration: https://www.chathamhouse.org/event/virtual-roundtable-crisis-belarus-what-stake
In-person seminar (Palau de Pedralbes, Barcelona) with Zoom broadcast
EUROPEAN INSTITUTE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN - Wednesday, September 30 @ 3pm Central European Time (UTC+2)
Mediterranean Intercultural Dialogue
The Mediterranean Intercultural Dialogue seminar, co-organized by the IEMed and the Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia, highlights the importance of the role of societies and cultures in the promotion of a paradigm shift in order to place the Mediterranean in front of globalization challenges. In the course of the seminar, the exchange between social actors and Mediterranean institutions will be encouraged; practices of promotion of the cohesion of the associative network, so necessary in the current context of social and health crisis, will be highlighted, invigorating thus humanism, and priorities and measures will be proposed to be promoted by European policies in the Mediterranean. The aim of this exercise is to position intercultural dialogue as an effective and recognized tool in the construction of a renewed and shared Mediterranean project, at the service of Mediterranean citizens and in favour of the rapprochement of the peoples that comprise it.
For those attending on Zoom, English-French-Catalan simultaneous translation will be available.
For more information: https://www.iemed.org/llista_activitats-en/dialeg-intercultural-mediterrani-dialegs-mediterrania-25
Research event online
CHATHAM HOUSE - Wednesday, September 30 @ 6pm British Summer Time (UTC+1)
The US Economy and COVID-19: Prospects for Recovery
The COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted considerable human suffering in the US and caused a historic economic collapse. The economic outlook remains very uncertain. So far, much of the economic response has been focused on short-term relief for individuals and companies. How much bipartisanship is there for the economic recovery measures? Will COVID-19 permanently change the role of the government in the US economy? Have the size and duration of the existing stimulus packages been adequate, and what should fiscal and monetary policy look like to support the US economy? What long-standing trends in the US economy, such as rising income inequality, has the pandemic highlighted?
For more information and registration: https://www.chathamhouse.org/event/us-economy-and-covid-19-prospects-recovery
Virtual roundtable
RAISINA HOUSE - Wednesday, September 30 @ 6:30pm India Standard Time (UTC+5:30)
Peace process in Afghanistan: Role of women & youth in the post conflict reconstruction
2020 marks a new beginning for Afghanistan. Everyone accepts that Afghanistan post-2001 has made many gains that cannot be rolled back. Be it in terms of a democratic government, the status of women or increased desire for good governance. With the US-Taliban Peace Agreement and the beginning of the long-awaited Intra-Afghan Negotiations, the Afghan delegation saw the participation of five women yet the complete absence of youth participation in the process. Women and young people are demographic groups that are destined to play an important role in the reconstruction of their war-ravaged country. They are educated, responsible, experienced and are able to bring about significant changes at the national and international level. It is important that the unheard majority of Afghan society have a voice when it comes to their future. This roundtable will discuss potential pathways for Afghanistan and the role Indian civil society can play in supporting the nation’s revival.
For more information and registration: https://raisinahouse.org/afghanistan
Zoom Webinar
INSTITUTE OF EAST ASIAN STUDIES - Friday, October 2 @ 5pm Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-8)
Anxious China: Inner Revolution and Politics of Psychotherapy
The breathless pace of China’s economic reform has brought about deep ruptures in socioeconomic structures and people’s inner landscape. Faced with increasing market-driven competition and profound social changes, more and more middle-class urbanites are turning to Western-style psychological counseling to grapple with their mental distress. This talk is an overview and open discussion of Zhang’s newly published book. It is an in-depth ethnographic account of how an unfolding “inner revolution” is reconfiguring selfhood, psyche, family dynamics, sociality and the mode of governing in post-socialist times. Zhang shows that anxiety—broadly construed in both medical and social terms—has become a powerful indicator for the general pulse of contemporary Chinese society. It is in this particular context that Zhang traces how a new psychotherapeutic culture takes root, thrives, and transforms itself across a wide-range of personal, social and political domains.
For more information and registration: https://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/ieas/?event_ID=134240
Webinar
TAKSHASHILA INSTITUTION - Friday, October 2 @ 7pm Indian Standard Time (UTC+5)
Countering Beijing’s Military Might
From new theatre commands to new doctrines, from expanding naval and nuclear forces to new technologies, the PLA has changed almost unrecognizably over the last two decades. What does this mean for Asia and the world? How does China plan to use its military? What are the implications for India-China tensions along the LAC? Can India modernise its armed forces to meet the military challenge from China? Expert panellists for this discussion are Aparna Pande: Director, Initiative on the Future of India and South Asia, Hudson Institute; General Prakash Menon: Director, Strategic Studies, Takshashila Institution and Bryan Clark: Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute.
For more information and registration: https://takshashila.org.in/event/the-china-challenge-countering-beijings-military-might/
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