On Shifting Ground

Equal access to justice and equal protection under the law are critical elements of our liberal democracy. Yet, in practice, in the US young men of color are more likely than their white counterparts to be picked up for, locked up for, and prosecuted for suspected criminal offenses. If they cannot gain pre-trial release, these young men remain in jail while awaiting prosecution. The jury is more likely to find these men guilty, and the prosecutor is more likely to ask for a stiff sentence, which the judge is more likely to impose. Once incarcerated, these young men may not be protected from mental and physical harm. Once released, they can be denied housing, jobs, credit and even the ability to vote. Their families will have been impoverished by the costs associated with trials, imprisonment and lost earning capacity. This pattern of bias – whether unconscious or not – has served to delegitimize our system of justice in the eyes of a growing number of Americans. Can philanthropy and civil society advance the reforms needed for our justice system to regain the trust of all Americans? Can we realize the vital goal of equal justice for all?

Introduction: Adam Foss, President, Prosecutor Impact

Panel Discussion

* Carroll Bogert, President, The Marshall Project

* Adam Foss, President, Prosecutor Impact (moderator)

* Glenn E. Martin, Founder and President, JustLeadershipUSA

For more information about this event please visit: https://www.philanthropyforum.org/conference/gpf-2017/

Direct download: 04_20_17_Race_Justice_Legitamacy.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 12:06pm PDT

In 2012, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned that the United States was facing the possibility of a "cyber" Pearl Harbor and was increasingly vulnerable to foreign computer hackers who could dismantle the nation's power grid, transportation system, financial networks and government. Since then, we have seen Iran attack US financial institutions and gain control of a New York dam. ISIS has released a kill list complete with stolen US federal employee information. Russia has attacked our democratic system through a combination of cyber theft and massive botnets used to propagate fake news. And North Korea is alleged to be behind a series of attacks including Sony Entertainment and culminating in the global WannaCry ransomware attack in May.

Why have we been unable to defend against these attacks? What is being done to prevent and protect us from potential future threats? The “WannaCry” attack and most recent “Petya” attack have caused damage on a global scale, and have even taken lives. Further, it appears such attacks have made use of stolen NSA cyber weapons previously distributed on the dark web and available for sale.

Nicole Perlroth, cyber security reporter for The New York Times, will discuss these attacks and what to expect for the future of cyber warfare.

SPEAKER:

Nicole Perlroth
Reporter, The New York Times

MODERATOR:

Kim Zetter
Author, Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon

For more information about this event please visit: http://www.worldaffairs.org/event-calendar/event/1749

Direct download: 09_11_17_Nicole_Perlroth.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:57pm PDT

If pluralism is essential to free and functioning societies, it is also the sine qua non of liberal democracy, and essential to the legitimacy – and sustainability – of the state. But when states fail to meet the needs of their citizens and collapse into violent conflict, what is the role of the international community and global civil society? Where does responsibility lie? We will explore interventions along the conflict continuum as well as global norms that assign responsibility. Will citizens trust their government, if access to health, education, jobs and even justice is uneven? And when governance fails, how can human security be assured? This conversation will focus on governments and the governed, with particular attention to access to justice and examples of conflict prevention, conflict resolution and post-conflict reconciliation. Throughout, the role of race, gender, religious affiliation and ethnicity will be explored.

Robert Malley, incoming Vice President for Policy, International Crisis Group (moderator)

David Miliband, President and CEO, International Rescue Committee

John Prendergast, Founding Director, Enough Project

Yifat Susskind, Executive Director, MADRE

David Tolbert, President, International Center for Transitional Justice

Robin Wright, Senior Fellow, The US Institute of Peace and the Woodrow Wilson Center

For more information about this event please visit: https://philanthropyforum.org/conference/gpf-2017/

Direct download: 04_19_17_Trust_Justice_Conflict_Continuum.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 12:26pm PDT

President Trump once pledged to “tear up” the Iran nuclear agreement. Now, the world watches to see the fate of an agreement considered by some to be a pivotal victory in American foreign policy, and by others as a mistake.

Trita Parsi, the preeminent Middle East foreign policy expert who advised the Obama White House throughout the Iran talks, takes us behind the scenes to examine the negotiations. Was a better deal to be had in 2015? What have been the benefits gained, or disasters averted, under the deal? Parsi provides a nuanced and thoughtful view of the agreement designed to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Will the Iran deal survive the Trump Presidency? If the agreement can be viewed as a down-payment on improved US-Iranian relations, has that now been squandered by the sabre-rattling that followed? What are the options and consequences of a renegotiation and, without the support of an international coalition, does an effort to renegotiate have the impact of removing the US from a position of influence on this important subject? What is the benefit where each side abides by the letter of an agreement, but does not act in the spirit of the agreement?

SPEAKER:

Trita Parsi
President, National Iranian American Council

MODERATOR:

Neil Joeck
Research Scholar, Institute for International Studies, University of California, Berkeley

For more information about this event please visit: http://www.worldaffairs.org/event-calendar/event/1747

Direct download: 09_05_17_Trita_Parsi.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 9:07am PDT

Jim Yong Kim, President, World Bank Group, in conversation with Jane Wales, Founder, Global Philanthropy Forum.

Luis Alberto Moreno, President, Inter-American Development Bank.

For more information about this event: https://www.philanthropyforum.org/conference/gpf-2017/agenda/

Direct download: 04_18_17_Kim_Moreno.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 8:34am PDT

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