Over the last century, global poverty has largely been viewed as a technical problem that merely requires the right "expert" solutions. Yet all too often, experts recommend solutions that fix immediate problems without addressing the systemic political factors which created them in the first place. Further, these recommendations may produce an accidental collusion with "benevolent autocrats," leaving dictators with yet more power to violate the rights of the poor. The true solution to the problem of global poverty, argues Professor William Easterly, is freedom. Easterly presents a new economic development model focused on individual rights and limiting the power of the state in order to finally end poverty.

Speaker William Easterly is Professor of Economics and Co-director, Development Research Institute, New York University.

For more information about this event please visit: http://www.worldaffairs.org/events/event/1240

The relationship between the United States and Russia has long been an unstable one. Both Presidents Clinton and Bush sought inroads with Russia and staked much on their personal ties to Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin -- only to leave office with relations at a low point -- and Barack Obama managed to restore ties only temporarily. The Obama administration fostered a positive relationship with former President Dmitry Medvedev, but that 'reset' fell apart after Vladimir Putin's return to the post. While cooperation continues in certain areas, most recently with Syria, broader collaboration is lacking. Professor Stent argues that the same contentious issues -- terrorism, missile defense, Iran, nuclear proliferation, Afghanistan, the former Soviet space, the greater Middle East -- have faced every US president, Democrat and Republican alike, since the collapse of the USSR. What are the prospects for improving relations in the future? Is the effort doomed to fail again and again?

Speaker Angela Stent is the Director, Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies, Georgetown University.

For more information about this event please visit: http://www.worldaffairs.org/event-calendar/event/1236

In the past 30 years, China has been transformed from an impoverished country where peasants comprised the largest portion of the populace to an economic power with an expanding middle class and more megacities than anywhere else on earth. This remarkable transformation has required, and will continue to demand, massive quantities of resources. Like every other major power in modern history, China is looking outward to find them. Elizabeth C. Economy and Michael Levi will explore the unrivaled expansion of the Chinese economy and the global effects of its meteoric growth. China is now engaged in a far-flung quest, hunting around the world for fuel, ores, water and land for farming, and deploying whatever it needs in the economic, political and military spheres to secure the resources it requires. Chinese traders and investors buy commodities, with consequences for economies, people and the environment around the world. Meanwhile the Chinese military aspires to secure sea lanes, and Chinese diplomats struggle to protect the country's interests abroad. And just as surely as China's pursuit of natural resources is changing the world—restructuring markets, pushing up commodity prices, transforming resource-rich economies through investment and trade—it is also changing China itself. As Chinese corporations increasingly venture abroad, they must navigate various political regimes, participate in international markets and adopt foreign standards and practices, which can lead to wide-reaching social and political ramifications at home.

The speakers are Elizabeth Economy, C.V. Starr Senior Fellow and Director for Asia Studies, Council on Foreign Relations, and Michael A. Levi, David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment; Director of the Program on Energy Security and Climate Change, Council on Foreign Relations.

For more information about this event please visit: http://www.worldaffairs.org/events/event/1235