Tariq Ramadan is very much a public figure, named one of Time magazine most important innovators of the twenty-first century. He is among the leading Islamic thinkers in the West, with a large following around the world. But he has also been a lightning rod for controversy. Indeed, in 2004, Ramadan was prevented from entering the U.S. by the Bush administration and despite two appeals, supported by organizations like the American Academy of Religion and the ACLU, he was barred from the country until spring of 2010, when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton finally lifted the ban. Tariq Ramadan is Professor of Islamic Studies on the Faculty of Theology at Oxford University, Senior Research Fellow at St. Antony’s College (Oxford), Doshisha University (Kyoto, Japan) and the President of the European Muslim Network (EMN) think tank in Brussels. He is the author of Radical Reform: Islamic Ethics and Liberation, In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons From the Life of Muhammad, Western Muslims and the Future of Islam, and Islam, the West, and Challenges of Modernity.

Next year, Amnesty International—the world’s largest grassroots human rights organization—will recognize a 50-year legacy of advocating for the release of tens of thousands of “prisoners of conscience,” ending torture and execution, exposing human rights crises and generating public pressure to stop government and corporate abuse. Since 1961, the organization has evolved to meet the most pressing human rights violations of our time. The World Affairs Council will host the Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, Larry Cox, to discuss the next chapter for this global force of 2.8 million worldwide members: addressing poverty as a human rights issue.

From Egypt to South Africa, Kenya to Senegal, Africa’s economies are on the move. With a population that will double in the next five years and a range of untapped markets, is Africa the next China? The continent’s increased economic momentum is widely recognized, but less is known about its sources and staying power; and while the rate of return on foreign investment is higher than in any other developing region, so are the number of potential pitfalls. The San Francisco Based Director of McKinsey Global Institute, James Manyika, will present the results of a new report, Lions on the Move: The Progress and Potential of African Economies, and discuss the causes of Africa’s recent growth acceleration, the economic outlook for the years ahead and the emerging opportunities for business. Will the short term hurdles of corruption and violence deter future investors, or is this a place that global executives and shareholders cannot afford to ignore?

Sebastian Mallaby, author of More Money than God and director of the Council on Foreign Relations Center for Geoeconomic Studies, will explore how hedge funds got their start and what role they’ve played during the economic ebb and flow of the last 50 years. Hedge funds have survived in spite of various financial crises, remaining remarkably stable through the stock market collapse of the early 1970s, the bond market downturn of the 1990s and the dot-com crash in 2000. As the cornerstones of the American economy—from Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers to AIG and Citigroup—have faced bankruptcy and bailouts, the hedge fund industry has survived the test of 2008 far better than its rivals. Sebastian Mallaby will offer explanations as to why the future of finance lies in the history of hedge funds.

While the wars in Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq were not total losses, rash hopes, intelligence failures and grandiose designs certainly lead to blunders and avoidable failures. As President Obama turns his attention increasingly towards the war in Afghanistan, how can his administration avoid some of the same counterproductive patterns that have plagued US foreign policy decisions in times of war? A professor of foreign policy at Georgetown University, Derek Leebaert argues that the cause of many of America’s foreign policy mistakes lies in “magical thinking” – the idea that the US can manage the world through well-intentioned force. From the belief that we can accomplish anything out of sheer righteousness to the conviction that American-style management will fix any global problem to overconfidence in miracle technology, whether drones over Pakistan or helicopters in Vietnam, Leebaert believes that unless our leaders confront these notions we are destined to repeat the strategic mistakes of the past.

When President Bush announced a new military strategy for Iraq in July 2007 dubbed “the surge,” it immediately drew both supporters and critics. Yet few are as intimately familiar with the surge as journalist David Finkel, who spent eight months embedded with the 2-16 infantry battalion deployed on the outskirts of Baghdad as part of this new strategy. Finkel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Washington Post, will discuss his book, The Good Soldiers, which provides his account of the war as experienced on the ground. He details the successes, struggles and psychological traumas of soldiers on the front lines, while underscoring the cognitive dissonance between the violent reality taking place on the ground and the abstract policy debates back in Washington.

The Department of the Navy, led by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, has in the past year made bold moves to change the way energy is used in its operational Navy and Marine forces, maintaining that our country dependency on fossil fuels constitutes a clear strategic and tactical vulnerability. Since announcing in October 2009 new energy targets that will dramatically increase the amount of alternative energy used in the Department by 2020, the Navy has flown a fighter jet, the Green Hornet, on a grain-based biofuel, awarded significant solar energy contracts throughout the Southwest, and signed agreements with the Department of Agriculture to pool their collective knowledge of renewable energy. These measures promise to be only the beginning of a decade-long campaign to reform the Navy energy infrastructure.Ray Mabus is the 75th United States Secretary of the Navy. As Secretary, he leads America Navy and Marine Corps and is responsible for conducting all the affairs of the Department of the Navy, including recruiting, organizing, supplying, equipping, training, and mobilizing. Prior to becoming Secretary of the Navy, Mabus served as Governor of Mississippi and Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. He was a Surface Warfare Officer in the U.S. Navy aboard the cruiser USS Little Rock.Hosted by the World Affairs Council of Northern California in partnership with the Marine Memorial Association.

With nearly 380,000 soldiers in over 700 bases currently deployed around the world, and a national defense manufacturing sector employing thousands of Americans at home, has the US become dependent on a never ending war? Andrew Bacevich, professor of history and international relations at Boston University, will discuss the origins of the American military complex and question whether the nation should continue to maintain a permanent armed presence around the world. Bacevich is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and has been a fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He authored The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism, among other books, and his op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal.

Admiral Roughead is a 1973 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and is the first naval officer to command both classes of Aegis ships, Destroyer and Cruiser, and is one of only two officers in history to command both US Naval fleets in the Pacific and Atlantic, where he was responsible for ensuring Navy forces were trained, ready, equipped and prepared to operate around the world, where and when needed. He also commanded Cruiser Destroyer Group 2, the George Washington Battle Group; and US 2nd Fleet/NATO Striking Fleet Atlantic and Naval Forces North Fleet East. Ashore, he has served as Commandant, United States Naval Academy, the Department of the Navy Chief of Legislative Affairs, and as Deputy Commander of the US Pacific Command. Among the Admiral many awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, and various unit and service awards. Now serving as one of the US Navy highest ranking officials, Admiral Roughead joins the Council to discuss the US Navy global influence and the emerging security environment.

According to UNAIDS, 33.4 million people are living with HIV worldwide, and approximately 2.7 million new infections occurred in 2008. For every two people who start treatment, five more are infected. Undoubtedly, this global epidemic requires a comprehensive, multisectoral approach that expands access to prevention, care, and treatment.America is leading the fight against global HIV/AIDS through the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) – the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease internationally in history. The human impact of America’s investments in partner nations’ efforts is profound. Through PEPFAR, the United States has directly supported life-saving antiretroviral treatment for over 2.4 million people, and care for more than 11 million people with care and support programs, including more than 4 million orphans and vulnerable children. PEPFAR’s efforts around prevention of mother-to-child transmission programs have allowed nearly 340,000 babies of HIV-positive mothers to be born HIV-free. PEPFAR is the cornerstone and largest component of the President’s Global Health Initiative, which supports partner countries in improving health outcomes through strengthened health systems. Responsible for overseeing US-sponsored programs to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic worldwide, Ambassador Eric Goosby joins the Council to discuss the Obama Administration’s commitment to the fight against global AIDS. Ambassador Goosby has over 25 years of experience with HIV/AIDS, ranging from his early years treating patients at San Francisco General Hospital when AIDS first emerged, to engagement at the highest level of policy leadership.