Happening @ Michigan https://events.umich.edu/list/rss RSS Feed for Happening @ Michigan Events at the University of Michigan. David Miliband on international politics, humanitarian needs, and the global significance of the U.S. election (October 15, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/77303 77303-19838048@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, October 15, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

Join us for a discussion with David Miliband, President of the International Rescue Committee and former Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom. John Ciorciari, Ford School Associate Professor and Director of the Weiser Diplomacy Center, will moderate the discussion.

Join the conversation: #policytalks

From the speaker's bio:

David Miliband is the President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee. He oversees the agency’s relief and development operations in over 30 countries, its refugee resettlement and assistance programs throughout the United States and the IRC’s advocacy efforts in Washington and other capitals on behalf of the world’s most vulnerable people.

David has had a distinguished political career in the United Kingdom. From 2007 to 2010, he served as the youngest Foreign Secretary in three decades, driving advancements in human rights and representing the United Kingdom throughout the world. His accomplishments have earned him a reputation, in former President Bill Clinton's words, as "one of the ablest, most creative public servants of our time.” In 2016 David was named one of the World’s Greatest Leaders by Fortune Magazine and in 2018 he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

David is also the author of the book, Rescue: Refugees and the Political Crisis of Our Time. As the son of refugees, David brings a personal commitment to the IRC's work and to the premise of the book: that we can rescue the dignity and hopes of refugees and displaced people. And if we help them, in the process we will rescue our own values.

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Lecture / Discussion Mon, 05 Oct 2020 12:12:28 -0400 2020-10-15T16:00:00-04:00 2020-10-15T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy Lecture / Discussion David Miliband (Photo: U.S. Institute of Peace)
The Evolving Role of the U.S. in the Gulf Region (November 16, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/78884 78884-20133219@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, November 16, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Weiser Diplomacy Center

This event is open to the public.

Join us for a virtual conversation co-hosted by the Gulf International Forum featuring Dr. Dania Thafer, Executive Director of the Gulf International Forum (GIF), Abbas Khadim, Director of Iraq Initiative at the Atlantic Council and General Anthony C. Zinni, former United States Marine Corps general in conversation with Ambassador Patrick Theros.

About the speakers:
Dr. Abbas Kadhim leads the Atlantic Council Iraq Initiative. He is an Iraq expert and author of Reclaiming Iraq: The 1920 Revolution and the Founding of the Modern State. Most recently, he was a senior foreign policy fellow at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. He was formerly an assistant professor of national security affairs and Middle East studies at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California and a visiting assistant professor at Stanford University. He also previously held a senior government affairs position at the Iraqi Embassy in Washington, DC. His books include Governance in the Middle East and North Africa and The Hawza Under Siege: Studies in the Ba’th Party Archive. He earned a PhD in Near Eastern Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Dania Thafer is a political scientist with a focus on political economy and international relations. Her current research explores the effect of state-business relations on economic development for the existing youth-bulges in rentier economies with an emphasis on the Arab Gulf states. She has been widely published on matters concerning the Arab Gulf region including several articles, a monograph, and a co-edited book entitled The Arms Trade, Military Services and the Security Market in the Gulf States: Trends and Implications. Dania is the founding Executive Director of Gulf International Forum, an institute focused on the Gulf region. Previously, she worked at the National Defense University’s Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies. Ms. Thafer has a master’s degree in Political Economy from New York University. She will be graduating this semester with a Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science from American University in Washington, DC. Her dissertation is titled “Obstacles for Innovation in Rentier Economies: States, Elites, and the Squandering of the Demographic Dividend.” Dania is a visiting researcher at CCAS for the 2019-2020 academic year.

Ambassador Patrick Nickolas Theros has served as president and executive director of the U.S.-Qatar Business Council for nearly 20 years. Throughout his 35-year Foreign Service career, Ambassador Theros held many honorable positions, including ambassador to the State of Qatar, advisor to the commander in chief, central command; deputy chief of mission and political officer in Amman; charge d’affaires and deputy chief of mission in Abu Dhabi; economic and commercial counselor in Damascus; and deputy coordinator for Counter-Terrorism. In 1990, he was accorded the personal rank of minister counselor. He retired from the Foreign Service in 1998. Ambassador Theros was awarded the President’s Meritorious Service Award for career officials and the Secretary of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service. He earned four Superior Honor Awards. The Emir of Qatar awarded him the Qatar Order of Merit in 1998. In 1999, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem inducted Ambassador Theros into the Order of the Holy Sepulcher. He serves on the board of several businesses and charitable and educational institutions, including Qatar Foundation International.

General Anthony C. Zinni is a retired, highly decorated United States Marine Corps general. Throughout his career, General Zinni has served as the U.S. special envoy to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, in addition to posts in Somalia, Pakistan, Eritrea and Ethiopia. General Zinni retired from the U.S. Marine Corps after a 39-year career that included travel to 70 countries. He ended his career as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Central Command.

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Lecture / Discussion Sun, 15 Nov 2020 15:51:05 -0500 2020-11-16T16:00:00-05:00 2020-11-16T17:30:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Weiser Diplomacy Center Lecture / Discussion Gulf International Forum panel
Biden-Harris Administration: An early look (March 24, 2021 6:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/82888 82888-21211365@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, March 24, 2021 6:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

Viewing details at https://fordschool.umich.edu/event/2021/biden-harris-administration-early-look

In his inaugural address, President Biden said, "We will be judged, you and I, by how we resolve the cascading crises of our era."

We invite you to join the Ford School and University of Michigan Club of Washington DC in taking an early look at the Biden-Harris administration and how it is poised to address the challenges facing the United States.

Moderating the discussion will be Michael S. Barr, Dean of the Ford School, and the founder and Director of the University of Michigan's Center on Finance, Law, and Policy. Dean Barr served as Assistant Treasury Secretary for Financial Institutions during the Obama administration.

Joining Dean Barr will be Betsey Stevenson, Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the Ford School and a member of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisors; Susan D. Page, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for the United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti, Professor of Practice in International Diplomacy at the Ford School's Weiser Diplomacy Center, and a Professor from Practice at the U-M Law School; and Barry Rabe, U-M's Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Environmental Policy and the J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy at the Ford School.

This event is sponsored in conjunction with the University of Michigan Club of Washington, DC.

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Lecture / Discussion Tue, 09 Mar 2021 12:54:21 -0500 2021-03-24T18:00:00-04:00 2021-03-24T19:30:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy Lecture / Discussion Barr, Stevenson, Page, & Rabe