Carnegie Endowment Events: Recent Episodes
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is a unique global network of policy research centers in Russia, China, Europe, the Middle East, India, and the United States. Our mission, dating back more than a century, is to advance the cause of peace through analysis and development of fresh policy ideas and direct engagement and collaboration with decisionmakers in government, business, and civil society.
Carnegie Moscow Center organized a panel discussion on the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region.
Carnegie's Tong Zhao, Fellow based at the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, discusses the growth of China's nuclear ballistic missile submarine program and its implications for US-China strategic stability.
Drawing on the history of conflict between India and Pakistan, in his new book Brokering Peace in Nuclear Environments, Moeed Yusuf describes and evaluates how the process of third-party intervention affects deterrence strategies and prospects for peace, and applies lessons to other regional nuclear rivalries
Preventing Escalation in the Baltics: A NATO Playbook by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
In his new book, "Navigation by Judgment: Why and When Top-Down Control of Foreign Aid Doesn’t Work," Dan Honig presents an empirically grounded argument for the value of implementation led by the judgment of field staff, particularly when tasks are difficult to measure and country environments are unpredictable. In this roundtable discussion, Honig will present his key findings and their implications for major aid organizations. Nilmini Rubin and Larry Garber, experienced development practitioners, will respond with comments and reflections.
Why did the United States move from a position of nuclear superiority over the Soviet Union at the beginning of the 1960s to one of nuclear parity under conditions of mutual assured destruction in 1972? The story of this transition both sheds new light on the Cold War and offers new insights for today’s nuclear challenges.
Drawing on declassified conversations between three presidents and their most trusted advisers, James Cameron offers an original answer to this question in his new book The Double Game: The Demise of America’s First Missile Defense System and the Rise of Strategic Arms Limitation. John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon struggled to reconcile their personal convictions about the nuclear arms race with public demands. In doing so they engaged in a double game, hiding their true beliefs behind a façade of strategic language, while grappling in private with the complex realities of the nuclear age.
One year after U.S. President Donald Trump’s election, Europe is still struggling to make sense of his administration’s disruptive foreign policy. What impact has Trump had on the transatlantic relationship thus far, and what lies ahead? Where and how can Europe engage with the United States going forward? Experts convened at Carnegie on November 28, 2017 for a conversation.
The risk of a nuclear war is rising because of growing non-nuclear threats to nuclear weapons and their command-and-control systems. In a conventional war, such “entanglement” could lead to non-nuclear operations inadvertently threatening the opponent’s nuclear deterrent or being misinterpreted as preparations for nuclear use, potentially sparking catastrophic escalation. Alexey Arbatov, who co-authored a new Carnegie volume, Entanglement: Chinese and Russian Perspectives on Non-nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Risks, gives a Russian view of this problem and presents potential policy options in conversation with James Acton.
Non-nuclear Weapons and the Risk of Nuclear War: A Chinese Perspective by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Access to justice is a key governance concern in developed and developing countries alike. Community legal workers aim to help poor or comparatively powerless people defend themselves against land grabs, obtain public services, and challenge corruption. Can this bottom-up approach counter powerful interests seeking to entrench their control? Can legal empowerment help respond to rising authoritarianism and repression of civil society?
While wars, terrorism , and rapidly changing economic conditions in the Middle East grab headlines, the close links between these issues and governance are increasingly relegated to back pages. Carnegie’s Middle East program and Stanford University’s Center for Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law hosted an in-depth discussion with experts from the region and leading American scholars about these issues, including lessons learned from other regions and implications for U.S. policies.
While wars, terrorism , and rapidly changing economic conditions in the Middle East grab headlines, the close links between these issues and governance are increasingly relegated to back pages. Carnegie’s Middle East program and Stanford University’s Center for Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law hosted an in-depth discussion with experts from the region and leading American scholars about these issues, including lessons learned from other regions and implications for U.S. policies.
Now entering its third year, the civil war in Yemen has exacted a horrific toll on civilians and enabled the expansion of al-Qaeda. Intervention by both the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led Gulf coalition and Iran has only sharpened the country’s fault lines and worsened its humanitarian crisis. Outside efforts at mediation have fallen short. Where is Yemen’s war heading and what can local, regional, and international actors do to end it?
The oil industry has been entangled in serious corruption controversies. In response, the U.S. government has shown leadership over the past decade in helping bring more transparency to the sector.
Vijay Joshi presents on his new book "India's Long Road: The Search for Prosperity." Subir Gokarn and Milan Vaishnav join to discuss India's economic development.
Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, one of Pakistan’s leading analysts of political, legislative, and electoral affairs, discusses challenges that affect the prospects for a second peaceful transition to power in Pakistan. He also shares key insights into the current state of democracy and governance in Pakistan. Carnegie’s Milan Vaishnav moderates.
Vinay Sitapati shares key findings on how P.V. Narasimha Rao shaped India's economy, nuclear program, foreign policy, and domestic politics.
One of the most remarkable stories of immigration in the last half century is that of Indians to the United States. Not only do people of Indian origin now make up a little over one percent of the American population, but they have become the most-educated and highest-income group in the world’s most advanced nation. The Other One Percent: Indians in America, co-authored by Sanjoy Chakravorty, Devesh Kapur, and Nirvikar Singh, delivers the first data-driven, comprehensive account of the community.
Sino-Indian relations have hit a rough patch in recent months. China’s opposition to India’s Nuclear Suppliers Group membership, Beijing’s continued support for Pakistan on issues of terrorism, and its continued obstinacy with respect to territorial claims in the South China Sea, have cast a shadow on Sino-Indian relations. These tensions exacerbate the ongoing border dispute and Indian concerns about China’s other activities in the region, such as in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Manoj Joshi will analyze the sharpened discord in the relationship and shed light on India’s and China’s paths forward. Daniel Twining will join the discussion.
In this latest book, Dmitri Trenin, the longtime director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, explains why the Cold War analogy is misleading. Relations between the West and Russia are certainly bad and dangerous but, he argues, they are bad and dangerous in new ways. Trenin outlines the crucial differences, which make the current rivalry between Russia, the EU, and the United States more fluid and unpredictable. By unpacking the dynamics of this increasingly strained relationship, Trenin makes the case for handling Russia with pragmatism and care and cautions against simply giving into fear.
Strengthening the rule of law is essential for anyone interested in advancing peace, equity, and opportunity. Measuring how well countries adhere to the rule of law in practice can be a first step in setting benchmarks, stimulating and guiding reforms, and deepening understanding and appreciation for its fundamental features. Join us for the launch of the 2016 WJP Rule of Law Index.
To take stock of the current state of India’s politics, economics, and foreign policy, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace—in collaboration with the Georgetown University India Initiative and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)—hosted a wide-ranging discussion with three leading members of Parliament from across the political spectrum. Carnegie’s Milan Vaishnav moderated. The delegation’s visit was part of FICCI’s annual India-U.S. Forum of Parliamentarians, which aims to deepen the engagement between lawmakers of both countries.
The Obama administration has made significant progress in securing nuclear materials, eliminating unnecessary nuclear stockpiles, and reaching a comprehensive agreement with Iran. However, much remains to be done globally in order to harness the power of nuclear energy while reducing the risk of nuclear materials and technologies falling into malicious hands.
Corruption hardly topped the threat list when U.S. military forces and civilians first entered Afghanistan in 2001. But recognition of its devastating potential to undermine U.S. national security objectives is far higher today. Despite a myriad of U.S. efforts, however, corruption remains deeply entrenched in Afghanistan. It undermines the government’s legitimacy, enables an emboldened insurgency, and puts at risk the gains from U.S. taxpayers’ nearly $115 billion investment in reconstruction.
The Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has publicly reported on corruption in Afghanistan since 2008. Now SIGAR is releasing its first lessons learned report, on U.S. efforts to address the Afghan corruption problem: Corruption in Conflict: Lessons from the U.S. Experience in Afghanistan. John F. Sopko explored the U.S. experience fighting corruption in Afghanistan and its broader implications, and detailed recommendations to Congress and policy makers to improve such efforts in current and future contingency operations.
Where are those voices in the Arab world that called so compellingly for change and spurred the 2011 uprisings that swept across the region? Which spaces are they using for expression as governments crack down on street protests, civil society, and media?
One under-recognized factor is fueling many of the world’s most violent crises—not bitter identity rifts or imperial delusions, but the simple drive to amass lucre. Carnegie hosted for a discussion about how this trait can be exploited to reduce mass atrocities and leverage peace and good governance. We introduced a new report by the Enough Project, Bankrupting Kleptocracy: Financial Tools to Counter Atrocities in Africa’s Deadliest War Zones.
India confronts an exceptionally difficult national security problem: how to motivate Pakistan to prevent cross-border terrorism. Last month’s attack on the Indian Army base at Uri and India’s response, highlight the complexity of this challenge. George Perkovich and Toby Dalton discussed their new book, Not War, Not Peace?, which provides a timely assessment of the options available to India to deter and respond to cross-border terrorism.
The election of Donald J. Trump as president of the United States could bring about a radical change in U.S. foreign policy in every region of the world. The uncertainties of the Trump presidency call for a probing, long-term strategy for strengthening stability in Asia.
As the Western Pacific is experiencing a fundamental and potentially destabilizing military and economic power transition driven primarily by China’s economic and military rise and a corresponding relative decline in American power, efforts by the United States or China to secure future predominance will prove futile and dangerous, given a host of security, economic, and diplomatic factors. Instead, creating a stable de facto balance of power is necessary and feasible for both countries.
A battleground marked by regional intervention and a growing al-Qaeda presence, Yemen's civil war continues unabated. The fighting has exacted a horrific toll on civilians, whether from bombing by the Saudi-led coalition, indiscriminate shelling by Houthi insurgents, food and medical shortages, or the kidnappings of journalists and human rights activists. Meanwhile, international pressure is growing, with calls by the UN for an independent investigation and demands in the U.S. Congress to restrict arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Where is the war heading and what can outside actors do to end the conflict?
Chinese nuclear experts think about nuclear weapons very differently from their U.S. counterparts. They use different terminology and contrasting security paradigms to discuss and make decisions on nuclear policy. How can Washington and Beijing promote an effective dialogue and shared understanding despite their disparate approaches?
In their latest report, Li Bin and Tong Zhao present their findings on the topic. Their analysis is followed by a moderated conversation.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Carnegie Mellon University host the first session of their joint Colloquium on Digital Governance and Security. Part one address the "Future of Consumer Privacy: Machine Learning and New International Data Protection", while part two touches on "Autonomy and Counter-autonomy in Military Operations."
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Carnegie Mellon University host the first session of their joint Colloquium on Digital Governance and Security. Part one address the "Future of Consumer Privacy: Machine Learning and New International Data Protection", while part two touches on "Autonomy and Counter-autonomy in Military Operations."
A conversation with UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson on the future of the United Nations and multilateralism in a changing global landscape.
With democracy struggling in many countries, providers of democracy support are looking to tailor assistance strategies to respond to the growing variety of troubled transitional contexts. Aiding women's political empowerment—a crucial area of international aid for democracy as well as for development more generally—shares this challenge. How can aid providers and activists alike think more strategically about women's political empowerment?
After meeting as part of the intergovernmental P5 process, representatives from the five nuclear-weapon states recognized by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons participated in a public discussion on the future of arms control and strategic stability. They debated questions such as: What is the current relationship between disarmament and strategic stability? How might arms control and disarmament change in the twenty-first century? What relevance does the security environment have in current and future arms control initiatives? The event consisted of two panels—one comprised of nongovernmental experts from each P5 country and the other consisting of senior government officials—and allowed time for audience questions.
Myanmar’s abundant natural resources have served as the country’s main export revenue, but have also been a primary driver of conflict in ethnic areas. What should the newly elected government do to improve the governance of resource wealth in the country, and how can the international community assist?
Charles Clover depicts the intellectual ferment that has brought provocative strands of Russian nationalism at the heart of the Kremlin’s policy-making apparatus under Vladimir Putin.
The oil market has been turned upside down over the past two years. How will future policies, designed to meet the Paris climate agreement, shape the future of oil demand?
Can and should the United States do more to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in its security strategy and the number of weapons in its arsenal? This question is particularly timely given the lively international debate on nuclear disarmament. Brad Roberts will discuss his assessment of this question and the analysis in his new book, The Case for U.S. Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century. Carnegie's George Perkovich moderates.
The topic of information and communication technologies diplomacy has been a dynamic aspect of U.S.-Japan cooperation since 2010 when U.S. President Barack Obama and then Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan first launched a U.S.-Japan Policy Cooperation Dialogue on the Internet Economy. The two countries have led efforts to promote national interests and ensure a global digital economy based around an open, free, and secure Internet. Yet not all countries agree on priorities, and some governments seek greater state control of this space. Meanwhile, technology and the Internet economy are rapidly evolving.
In this podcast, Ambassador Daniel A. Sepulveda, Minister Kanji Yamanouchi, and ITI President Dean Garfield discuss U.S.-Japan cooperation to promote data localization, cross-border data flow, and privacy protection as well as how these issues are managed with broader policies and politics. Commentary by Tim Maurer. Moderated by Jim Schoff.
The Arab uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, and Syria over the past five years represent a conundrum. Standard development indicators failed to capture or predict the outburst of popular anger during the so-called Arab Spring of 2011.
The World Bank’s Elena Ianchovichina and Shantayanan Devarajan discussed the findings of their recent report Inequality, Uprisings, and Conflict in the Arab World, and reflected on the economic origins of the Arab revolts. While many believe that income inequality was the most significant cause of the uprisings, the report weighs the role of other major drivers, mainly citizen frustrations with a shortage of quality jobs in the formal sector, poor quality public services, and governance issues. Carnegie’s Joseph Bahout moderated.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a review of its first Arab Experts Survey.
The results of the survey, conducted in English and Arabic, represent the views of more than one hundred accomplished political thinkers representing almost every Arab country and answer broad questions around terrorism and extremism, civil war and foreign intervention, sectarianism, corruption, and governance. The survey is part of Carnegie’s Arab World Horizons project, an effort to examine the social, political, and economic forces shaping the Arab world.
Marwan Muasher, Perry Cammack, and Shibley Telhami discussed the findings of the survey, and Joyce Karam moderated.
In a neighborhood engulfed in turmoil, Iran has enjoyed relative political stability of late. But have the rifts between state and society been reconciled? Has Iranian civil society resigned itself to incremental change within the confines of the Islamic Republic? How has the role of women in Iranian civil society evolved? Who are the most important change agents in Iranian society and what are their ambitions and motivations?
Less than twenty-four months after the hope-filled Arab uprising, the popular movement had morphed into a dystopia of resurgent dictators, failed states, and civil wars. Marc Lynch’s new book, The New Arab Wars, is a profound illumination of the causes of this nightmare. It details the costs of the poor choices made by regional actors, delivers a scathing analysis of Western misreading of the conflict, and questions international interference that has stoked the violence.
Five years after the 2011 uprisings, countries in the region are caught between the competing impulses of fragmentation and two equally unstainable authoritarian visions—that of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, or classic autocratic regimes.
Promethean changes are poised to reshape the transport sector, with significant implications for the greenhouse gas emissions of twenty-first century mobility. Will autonomous vehicles prove to be a climate policy tool, or a climate policy challenge?
Tensions in the global nuclear order are rising. The new Carnegie report Perspectives on the Evolving Nuclear Order asks what role ‘middle ground,’ or emerging, nuclear states will play in the global debate on these issues. Debak Das, Mariana Nascimento Plum, and Tong Zhao discuss Indian, Brazilian, and Chinese views on the nuclear order. Carnegie’s Toby Dalton moderates. Immediately following, Adam Scheinman comments on themes presented in the first panel in the context of his experience leading the U.S. delegation to the 2015 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. Carnegie’s Togzhan Kassenova moderates.
A quarter century ago, Indian National Congress dominance in New Delhi began to give way to two distinct political forces—the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and a wide-ranging collection of regional political parties.
On May 9, Filipinos will vote for a new president and vice president in arguably one of the country’s most consequential elections. While outgoing President Aquino has overseen a dramatic turnaround in his country’s economic fortunes, the Philippines still faces a range of important challenges, including an unfinished economic reform agenda, an internal security threat from Islamic militants, and potential confrontation with China over disputed islands in the South China Sea. A panel of Southeast Asia experts discusses how Aquino’s potential successor would handle these challenges and what’s at stake for U.S.-Philippines relations. Carnegie’s Vikram Nehru moderates.
This event is co-sponsored by the U.S.-Philippines Society and the Southeast Asian Studies Program of the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.
The severe political crisis in Kyiv has raised fundamental questions in recent weeks about the fate of Ukrainian reform.
Seventy years after World War II, Southeast Asia stands at a crossroads amid multilateral trade negotiations, economic integration initiatives, political turmoil, and the establishment of new development institutions and regional governance frameworks. How should the United States and Japan respond and contribute constructively? Are the lessons of the past relevant to the challenges ahead?
Seventy years after World War II, Southeast Asia stands at a crossroads amid multilateral trade negotiations, economic integration initiatives, political turmoil, and the establishment of new development institutions and regional governance frameworks. How should the United States and Japan respond and contribute constructively? Are the lessons of the past relevant to the challenges ahead?
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of normalized relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea with the signing of the Treaty of Basic Relations. Over the past five decades, bilateral relations have far surpassed those of the previous sixteen centuries in terms of security cooperation, economic interdependence, and intellectual and cultural exchange, yet the scars of the past continue to challenge efforts toward more fundamental reconciliation and deeper collaboration.
What can success–and shortcomings–over the past fifty years of Japan-Korea relations tell us about how best to navigate the future for the mutual benefit of all three countries and for the region?
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of normalized relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea with the signing of the Treaty of Basic Relations. Over the past five decades, bilateral relations have far surpassed those of the previous sixteen centuries in terms of security cooperation, economic interdependence, and intellectual and cultural exchange, yet the scars of the past continue to challenge efforts toward more fundamental reconciliation and deeper collaboration.
What can success–and shortcomings–over the past fifty years of Japan-Korea relations tell us about how best to navigate the future for the mutual benefit of all three countries and for the region?
Japan-Russia relations have received a flurry of attention in both countries’ capitals since 2013, and rumors of possible progress toward a long-pursued peace treaty persist. More recently, however, the process has stalled amid an intractable territorial dispute and other tensions. Sasakawa USA and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a public forum on outstanding historical issues between Japan and Russia, prospects for cooperation in the fields of security, energy, trade, and investment, and the impact of these relations on the U.S.-Japan alliance.
Japan-Russia relations have received a flurry of attention in both countries’ capitals since 2013, and rumors of possible progress toward a long-pursued peace treaty persist. More recently, however, the process has stalled amid an intractable territorial dispute and other tensions. Sasakawa USA and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a public forum on outstanding historical issues between Japan and Russia, prospects for cooperation in the fields of security, energy, trade, and investment, and the impact of these relations on the U.S.-Japan alliance.
Japan-Russia relations have received a flurry of attention in both countries’ capitals since 2013, and rumors of possible progress toward a long-pursued peace treaty persist. More recently, however, the process has stalled amid an intractable territorial dispute and other tensions. Sasakawa USA and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a public forum on outstanding historical issues between Japan and Russia, prospects for cooperation in the fields of security, energy, trade, and investment, and the impact of these relations on the U.S.-Japan alliance.
Japan-Russia relations have received a flurry of attention in both countries’ capitals since 2013, and rumors of possible progress toward a long-pursued peace treaty persist. More recently, however, the process has stalled amid an intractable territorial dispute and other tensions. Sasakawa USA and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a public forum on outstanding historical issues between Japan and Russia, prospects for cooperation in the fields of security, energy, trade, and investment, and the impact of these relations on the U.S.-Japan alliance.
Although Japan was not an official party to the U.S.-North Korea Agreed Framework nuclear deal twenty years ago, it was a vital partner in the effort to implement that agreement. The failure of the Agreed Framework taught the allies valuable lessons relevant to the recent multilateral deal with Iran. What are the most pertinent lessons from the past? And how can Japan and the United States support implementation of the Iran deal?
Although Japan was not an official party to the U.S.-North Korea Agreed Framework nuclear deal twenty years ago, it was a vital partner in the effort to implement that agreement. The failure of the Agreed Framework taught the allies valuable lessons relevant to the recent multilateral deal with Iran. What are the most pertinent lessons from the past? And how can Japan and the United States support implementation of the Iran deal?
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the Arctic Council, with the United States handing over its rotating chairmanship to Finland. How can environmental and economic imperatives be balanced over the long-term?
The U.S. rebalance to the Asia-Pacific is well-known but the United States is far from the only country turning toward the region.
A single person can make a significant impact even in the face of transformational trends such as globalization, climate change, and income inequality.
Min Zhu will discuss the IMF's new study on Low Income Developing Countries, economic consequences of the outlook, and the policy options available.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a review of its first Arab Experts Survey. Conducted in both English and Arabic, the survey represents the views of more than one hundred accomplished political thinkers representing almost every Arab country.
The domestic implications of Taiwan’s legislative and presidential elections will be important for the region, as China’s slowing economy and Taiwan’s growing resistance to mainland influence continue to play out.
Professor Robert Legvold discusses his new book "Return to Cold War," which focuses on the decline of US-Russia relations since Crimea and what might be done to improve them.
Indonesia’s President Joko (“Jokowi”) Widodo appears to be using his improving political strength and popularity to introduce much needed economic reforms. His administration is in the early days of a significant policy shift toward creating a more open and modern economy. It has introduced ten packages of regulatory reforms over the past six months and placed considerable emphasis on improving the country’s woefully inadequate infrastructure.
James Castle, a longtime observer of the Indonesian economy, explains the political factors behind these reforms and what they portend for Indonesia’s economic performance in 2016 and beyond. Carnegie’s Vikram Nehru moderates.
At this event co-hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Japan-America Society of Washington DC, experts from Japan and the United States reflected on the events of 2015 and discussed what issues they expected to dominate the headlines in 2016.
At this event co-hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Japan-America Society of Washington DC, experts from Japan and the United States reflected on the events of 2015 and discussed what issues they expected to dominate the headlines in 2016.
Ahead of the upcoming Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, a new report presents a stark choice: Will the world recommit to continuous improvement in strengthening nuclear security, or will efforts decline and the danger of nuclear terrorism grow? Carnegie's Toby Dalton moderates a discussion with Matthew Bunn, Martin Malin, Nickolas Roth, and William Tobey of the Harvard Belfer Center’s Project on Managing the Atom, who launch their new report.
The Nuclear Security Summit has made little progress on preventing the production of fissile material that has no plausible use. One way forward would be to establish a norm that such production should be consistent with reasonable civilian needs. Carnegie’s James M. Acton, Ariel Levite, and Togzhan Kassenova explore the potential value of this norm and discuss whether progress is possible. Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering, former U.S. under secretary of state for political affairs, moderates.
By April 1 Myanmar will have elected its new president, heralding the end of over six decades of authoritarianism. But the new administration—burdened with high expectations, little administrative experience, and a looming military presence circumscribing its every move—faces daunting economic, social, and political challenges. Since general elections in November 2015, the political scene in Myanmar has changed rapidly, highlighting the complexity of the democratic transition taking place. Mary Callahan, U Aung Din, and Christina Fink make sense of these developments, examining their implications for the peaceful handover of power in April, and give their assessment on what to expect in the aftermath. Carnegie’s Vikram Nehru moderates.
A diverse group of specialists from Japan and the United States discuss the role of science and technology in twenty-first century diplomacy.
Myanmar’s new parliament will begin deliberations in late January 2016, and a new president will be elected in March. But there is no certainty that the transfer of power will be smooth or peaceful—or whether it will happen at all.
Many people in non-Western countries say that they want a democratic system of governance—but just not Western-style democracy. Yet what is meant by non-Western democracy often remains unclear, and at times is merely a cover for non-democratic practices.
3-D printing may enable the most sensitive pieces of a nuclear weapons program to be more easily produced and transferred undetected around the globe. Tristan Volpe and Matthew Kroenig launch their new article and explore how the United States can adopt both top-down and bottom-up strategies to combat this threat to international security. Bruce Goodwin moderates.
What are the deficits in India’s military capabilities and in the ‘software’ related to hard power, and how have these shortfalls prevented the country from achieving great-power status?
Contrary to the received wisdom, Pakistan was not simply a vague idea that serendipitously emerged as a nation-state, but was broadly conceived as a sovereign Islamic state—a new Medina.
China’s consumption imbalance bottomed out in 2011 and 2012, at the same time that financially repressed interest rates—the main factor behind both deepening imbalances and capital misallocation—finally reversed. Though China’s economy is rebalancing, some experts argue that Beijing waited too long to begin adjustments; debt levels are high and the economy still requires an unsustainably fast growth in credit to maintain high levels of economic activity. Michael Pettis analyzes the challenges and risks Beijing faces as it continues to implement necessary reforms. Douglas H. Paal moderates.
In the 2014 general election, the Indian National Congress party suffered its worst electoral defeat on record. This decline has raised questions about whether India’s “grand old party” can recapture its past glories.
The United States has been pressing South Korea to accept a very powerful radar that is allegedly intended for South Korea’s defense against North Korean ballistic missiles. However, North Korea is likely years away from building an intercontinental ballistic missile, and the radar is much more powerful than necessary for such a purpose. Is U.S. missile defense policy actually intended to defend against threats from China, rather than North Korea?
Nearly seven decades after the Partition of the Indian subcontinent, Pakistan faces a daunting series of existential challenges ranging from ethnic strife to Islamism and terrorism.
The last few months have witnessed nascent efforts to restart high-level bilateral talks between Delhi and Islamabad dashed again by political maneuvering in both capitals. Are the two states doomed to a perpetual state of “not war, not peace,” or is there hope for a way forward?
Chinese thinking on nuclear weapons issues can be difficult to discern. What are Chinese views on the role of nuclear weapons? Is there a specific security paradigm through which Chinese thinkers understand nuclear policy? How does China make decisions about nuclear weapon development and operation, as well as nuclear arms control and nonproliferation?
Japan plans to start producing plutonium—intended for use in its nuclear energy reactors—as soon as possible. However, in the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in 2011, all but one of Japan’s reactors still remain offline, and the process to restart the others will be long, slow, and controversial. As a result, it is likely that plutonium production will soon exceed demand, causing a risky and potentially destabilizing plutonium build-up in Japan.
U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), a leading member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will offer his thoughts on the Iran nuclear agreement and its implications for U.S. policy in the Middle East.
Saving Mes Aynak, a 2014 award-winning documentary film, chronicles one Afghan archaeologist’s fight to save a 5,000-year-old Buddhist site from ruin.
A new World Bank report assesses that the removal of economic sanctions against Iran could significantly boost economic growth in Iran.
Drawing on a new book edited by Sergio Bitar and Abraham Lowenthal, Democratic Transitions: Conversations with World Leaders (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015), this symposium probed the findings of a set of in-depth interviews with leaders of successful democratic transitions. Special focus was given to two current cases of pressing importance: Myanmar and Venezuela.
In advance of the 70th annual session of the UN General Assembly, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Sheba Crocker discusses the U.S. priorities and preview some of the key events and activities during the Assembly’s High-Level Week.
U.S. Senator and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) offers his thoughts on the nuclear agreement as well as America’s role in a changing Middle East.
The recent violent protests in Kyiv during parliamentary debates about constitutional changes and autonomy for eastern Ukraine underscore the country’s daunting domestic challenges.
In the Asia-Pacific, economic development and interconnectivity is growing alongside increasing tensions between neighbor states. This is no clearer than in the fight for building Thailand’s infrastructure. Nobuhiro Aizawa will discuss how Thailand’s 2014 coup and competing infrastructure bids are altering the geopolitics and international relations of Southeast Asia. Abigail Friedman will offer comment, and Carnegie’s James L. Schoff will moderate.
By decisively rejecting former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s comeback bid, Sri Lankan voters also validated the new government’s foreign policy orientation and opened the way for a greater rapprochement with the West. However, much more must be done to rebuild the U.S.-Sri Lanka relationship.
Scholars present the strategic and economic rationale for enhancing bilateral trade between India and the United States
Panel: Ashley J. Tellis - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace C. Fred Bergsten - Peterson Institute for International Economics Pravin Krishna - School for Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University
Moderator: Edward Luce - Financial Times
Members of the U.S.-India CEO Forum discuss U.S.-India economic ties and their highest priorities for cooperation ahead of the U.S-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue.
Panelists: Michael S. Burke - Chairman and CEO, AECOM David M. Cote - Chairman and CEO, Honeywell Charles R. Kaye - co-CEO, Warburg Pincus Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw - Chairperson, Biocon Sunil Bharti Mittal - Founder and Chairman, Bharti Enterprises Cyrus P. Mistry - Chairman, Tata Group
Moderator: W. James McNerney Jr. - Chairman, Boeing
U.S. secretary of commerce Penny Pritzker and Indian minister of commerce and industry Nirmala Sitharaman discuss U.S.-India economic ties with Carnegie Endowment president, William J. Burns.
Hyun Hong-choo and Choi Young-jin join Evans Revere and Carnegie’s Douglas H. Paal to discuss the U.S.–ROK relationship and what future challenges lie in wait. Han Sung-joo and Ahn Ho-Young give opening remarks.
Campaigning has begun for Myanmar’s first general election since the end of direct military rule. But recent events underscore the influential role of the military in the run-up to the election and raise questions about civil-military relations in the country’s transition to democracy. William Wise, Renaud Egreteau, and U Win Min discuss how and why Myanmar’s military continues to shape the country’s politics and whether this is likely to change after the elections. Carnegie’s Vikram Nehru moderates.
Fresh from a trip to Yangon and Naypyidaw, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia and the Pacific gives an update on policy toward Myanmar as the country gears up for historic elections. Carnegie’s Vikram Nehru moderates.
Defense and Security Partnership for a Stable Asia by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
July 18, 2005: Looking Backward, Looking Forward by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Transforming Economic Cooperation: The Open Frontier by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
India stands at a new juncture in its nuclear development. New Delhi is unveiling ballistic missiles of ever-greater range, while its nuclear-armed submarine fleet is finally taking operational form with the launch of the Arihant. Despite these developments, India’s nuclear doctrine has not been officially updated since 2003. What is the future direction of India’s doctrine?
Long neglected by outside powers, the Sahel region stands at the strategic nexus of a number of growing challenges facing the African continent, Europe, and the wider Middle East.
Long neglected by outside powers, the Sahel region stands at the strategic nexus of a number of growing challenges facing the African continent, Europe, and the wider Middle East.
Long neglected by outside powers, the Sahel region stands at the strategic nexus of a number of growing challenges facing the African continent, Europe, and the wider Middle East.
Crimean Tatars have had an antagonistic relationship with Moscow since Stalin’s forcible removal of more than 200,000 of their people from the Crimea in 1944. They have also suffered continuous repression since the Russian annexation of the peninsula last year.
Since launching the Russian Roulette series in March 2014, VICE News reporter Simon Ostrovsky has filmed and released over 100 video dispatches, creating a truly singular body of combat reportage about the Russian annexation of Crimea and the bloody war in eastern Ukraine.
China’s emergence as a major power in the increasingly vital Asia-Pacific region presents a major, long-term strategic challenge to the United States and its allies. Beijing’s growing military, economic, and political influence across the region, along with its avowed preference for a multi-polar security environment free from conventional alliances, call into question the future of the U.S.-led, post-WWII regional order centered on American maritime predominance and allied support.
How is Beijing challenging this order, and to what extent? How should Washington and its allies respond? Michael D. Swaine and Ashley J. Tellis have recently presented very different assessments—Swaine argues for a transition to a stable balance of power, while Tellis calls for an enhanced effort to sustain U.S. predominance. Join them for for a lively discussion of this vital issue. The University of Pennsylvania’s Avery Goldstein will moderate.
Confronted by the 2008 global financial crisis, China unleashed an unprecedented economic stimulus package that included rapid growth in credit from the state banking system to enterprises and local governments. No other developing country has amassed as much debt as quickly. And in other countries, large increases in debt have usually been followed by sharp growth slowdowns, and many ended in crisis. Is China’s debt bomb likely to explode? Is its decelerated growth rate still too rapid? Is there a cure for China’s debt addiction?
Ruchir Sharma will answer these questions. Carnegie’s Yukon Huang will comment, and Vikram Nehru will moderate.
India needs to generate one million jobs per month for the next 20 years to absorb its burgeoning working-age population. India’s manufacturing sector, which is relatively underdeveloped, will have to absorb a significant part of this workforce.
Over the last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s China policy has revealed the continuation of India’s asymmetric strategies--seeking to build multiple alignments while remaining grounded in strategic autonomy.
Chinese thinking on nuclear weapons issues can be difficult to discern. What are Chinese views on the role of nuclear weapons?
In a series of bold steps that could open a new avenue of U.S.-Japan security cooperation, Japan’s government is overhauling the way it develops, procures, and exports defense equipment and technology. This effort coincides with a recent U.S. initiative to address concerns that America’s qualitative advantage in defense technology is eroding. How Japan’s entry into the global arms market will impact the security situation in East Asia depends on how Tokyo implements its new policies, as well as the allies’ ability to capitalize on this opportunity to cooperate.
Carnegie’s James L. Schoff has closely followed Japan’s new defense equipment policies and convened a study group of representatives from the private and public sectors to review the first year of their implementation. At this event, Schoff explains his findings and moderate a discussion on the potential impact of this new frontier of alliance cooperation.
Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves, and the United States and China are the world’s largest oil importers, yet Venezuela’s relations with Beijing and Washington couldn’t be more different. China has built a massive state-to-state, loans-for-oil relationship with Venezuela, while U.S. oil imports from the country continue to decline as diplomatic ties further fray. All of this is taking place against a background of rising Chinese influence in Latin America and renewed U.S. diplomatic and energy initiatives with Cuba and throughout the region.
Did corruption undermine the international mission in Afghanistan? Increasing evidence says it did. Please join us for the launch of a new report from Transparency International’s Defense and Security Program, Corruption: Lessons From the International Mission in Afghanistan.
The report provides a rigorous analysis of the damage that corruption—and turning a blind eye to it—did to the Afghanistan mission, based on interviews with seventy-five Afghans and internationals who were deeply involved in the mission. The report also offers a policy framework for countering this threat in future security assistance and stabilization operations. Join Carnegie for a conversation with Mark Pyman, author of the report. Carnegie’s Sarah Chayes moderated.
Myanmar’s voters will go to the polls this fall in what could be the most important elections in the country’s history. These elections will choose representatives for the national parliament’s upper and lower houses as well as assemblies in Myanmar’s fourteen regions and states. Subsequently, an electoral college of parliamentarians, including representatives from the armed forces, will choose the country’s next president. Will the elections be free and fair? Which forces will influence the build-up to the elections? What are the elections’ likely outcomes?
These questions are explored in a conversation with Thura Shwe Mann, speaker of Myanmar’s lower house of parliament and possible presidential candidate. Carnegie’s Vikram Nehru moderates.
Urbanization in India: Challenges and Opportunities for Growth (full audio) by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Indian Economy: Reforms and Growth Prospects (full audio) by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
After nearly five years of complex negotiations, the United States and South Korea concluded a new nuclear cooperation accord on April 22.
Finance Minister Dar on the Revival of Pakistan’s Economy (full audio) by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
As India and Pakistan develop their naval nuclear forces, some experts fear a potentially volatile maritime environment in the Indian Ocean.
New Counterterrorism Strategies in Pakistan (Full Audio) by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Exploring the Gilead-India Licensing Partnership Model with Rajiv Kumar, Gregg H. Alton, James Love, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, and Dilip Shah.
C. Raja Mohan, Ashley J. Tellis, and Shyam Saran discuss the U.S.-India Relationship, Past, Present, and Future, with an introduction from Carnegie President William J. Burns.
President Joko Widodo’s early months in office have been anything but uneventful. At home, he has had to confront a series of political challenges from the opposition coalition, the police, his own party, and even his mentor, former president Megawati Sukarnoputri. Abroad, he has come under fire for his determination to proceed with the execution of foreign nationals convicted under Indonesia’s tough drug laws.
James Castle described how Widodo has dealt with these challenges and what it portends for the rest of his five-year term in office. Carnegie’s Vikram Nehru moderated.
James Castle is founder and CEO of CastleAsia, the largest CEO forum in Indonesia. In over thirty years of work in Southeast Asia, Castle has advised in the establishment of numerous foreign direct investment projects and has acted as a consultant to regional governments and many of the world’s largest corporations.
Vikram Nehru is a senior associate in the Carnegie Asia Program. An expert on development economics, growth, poverty reduction, debt sustainability, governance, and the performance and prospects of East Asia, his research focuses on the economic, political, and strategic issues confronting Asia, particularly Southeast Asia.
Oil is changing. The oils themselves, how they are extracted and processed, and the products into which they are made are shifting in substantial ways. The Oil-Climate Index measures the life-cycle Greenhouse Gas emissions of different oils.
In his first visit to Washington since taking over as the U.S. ambassador to India, Ambassador Richard Verma will discuss how the bilateral strategic partnership has moved into a new “strategic plus” phase, and what must be done to sustain the momentum that is transforming and deepening the two countries’ ties.
Amid a region beset by civil wars and terrorism, the Arab states of the Gulf Cooperation Council are facing growing challenges from an increasingly youthful population, aging rulers, economic pressures, and a new information environment. How well are Gulf regimes responding to these challenges? A panel of Gulf experts explored the region’s shifting landscape and the imperatives for sustainable political and economic reforms.
As the deadline for a deal on Iran’s nuclear program approaches, the range of possible outcomes will have implications not just for the region and for world powers at the negotiating table, but also much more broadly.
India’s latest budget has generated huge interest in its ability to set the country on a path of sustained and rapid growth.
Taiwan’s economy is at the forefront of the IT revolution, has an important role in the global supply chain, and its leading companies partner successfully with American firms. It is actively extending its economic role in the Asia-Pacific to participate in regional economic integration.
Carnegie hosted Taiwan’s former deputy minister of Economic Affairs Francis Kuo-Hsin Liang to present his view on Asian economic integration, business and investment opportunities with Taiwan, and Taiwan’s economic role in the Asia-Pacific region. Former minister of Economic Affairs Steve Ruey-Long Chen and CSIS’ Scott Miller offered comments. Carnegie’s Douglas H. Paal moderated.