Full event details: worldaffairs.org/wa2014

A keynote conversation with Thomas L. Friedman. Friedman is an internationally renowned author, reporter, and columnist—the recipient of three Pulitzer Prizes and the author of six bestselling books, among them "From Beirut to Jerusalem" and "The World Is Flat".

Speakers
Thomas Friedman, Foreign Affairs Columnist
Jane M. Wales (moderator), President & Chief Executive Officer, World Affairs Council

Full event details: worldaffairs.org/wa2014

Comprehensive immigration reform is at the top of the policy agenda in 2014. While the debate may be no less contentious than it has been in the past, there is growing consensus that a solution can be found, not only for those already here but for those who would like to come. Perspectives vary regarding immigrants in the United States with both positive and negative viewpoints, but many agree that workers are needed across the spectrum—high-tech, low-tech or no-tech. From the food that we eat to the high-tech start ups, large portions of the US economy are dependent upon foreign-born workers. Who are these people and how can immigration policy best be shaped to help fuel America's innovation economy? What is the status of this debate?

Speakers
Tara Magner, Program Officer, Policy Research, US Programs, MacArthur Foundation
Simon Rosenberg, President and Founder, NDN
Jose Antonio Vargas, Founder, Define American

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