On Shifting Ground

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s visit highlights the 70th anniversary of the founding of the UN, part of a larger trip to the Bay Area to commemorate the San Francisco Conference, where the charter establishing the UN was signed in 1945.

For more information about this event please visit: http://www.worldaffairs.org/event-calendar/event/1481

 

Direct download: 06_26_15_Ban_Ki-moon.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 10:07am PDT

The rise of China has put many countries around the world on notice. Some may see it as an exciting shift in the world order, and others may approach it with caution. However, no country feels China's rise more deeply than Japan. Dr. Sheila Smith, an expert on Japanese and regional politics, will discuss how Japan’s relationship with a rising China influences Japanese domestic and foreign policy. Whether it be conflicts in the East China Sea, managing a volatile North Korea or strategies of island defense, Smith will explore the policy issues testing the Japanese government as it tries to navigate this storied and often complex relationship.

Speaker Sheila Smith is Senior Fellow for Japan Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

The discussion is moderated by Jeffrey Bleich, former United States Ambassador to Australia.

For more information about this visit please visit: http://www.worldaffairs.org/events/event/1479

Direct download: 06_25_15_Sheila_Smith.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 7:38am PDT

In the face of armed conflicts and natural disasters, civilians must cope not only with the immediate violence and destruction but also with displacement, disrupted economic and political systems and the disintegration of public services. As with the ongoing conflict in Syria or the devastating earthquake in Nepal, many of those effected by crises depend on the support of international agencies to meet basic needs.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has been providing these critical services for over 150 years. Today, they are working to reconnect family members separated by the earthquake in Nepal, provide urgent medical care in Yemen and distribute food and water in Syria, among many other efforts. How does this assistance vary to meet the needs of crises around the world? What are the most pressing needs, and the greatest obstacles in providing them? How has the ICRC evolved to address the myriad challenges facing the world today, and what is the outlook for the future?

Speaker Yves Daccord is the Director-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Moderator Nancy A. Jarvis is an Attorney at Farrand Cooper, P.C.

For more information please visit: http://www.worldaffairs.org/event-calendar/event/1473

Direct download: 06_23_15_Yves_Daccord.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 8:09am PDT

When famine struck North Korea in the 1990s, Joseph Kim was five years old. In the years that followed, the Great Famine killed millions, including Joseph’s father. His mother and sister disappeared, seeking to escape to China, and Joseph was left to survive alone and homeless. After years living on the streets and, for a time, in a detention center and labor camp, Joseph fled to China as well. Through the kindness of strangers, he eventually found his way to the United States.

Joseph will share his story of suffering and survival – his experiences in North Korea, his long and difficult journey to the United States and his life here today as a student, an author and a refugee.

This program is presented in partnership with the Asia Society of Northern California.

Speaker Joseph Kim is a North Korean Defector; Author, "Under the Same Sky"

The discussion is moderated by Daniel Sneider, Associate Director for Research of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University.

For more information about this event please visit: http://www.worldaffairs.org/event-calendar/event/1467

Direct download: 06_16_15_Joseph_Kim.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 7:43am PDT

America has long been seen as a land of opportunity where, through hard work and perseverance, an individual can achieve prosperity and success. This is the American dream. Today, however, this ideal seems harder to realize, as income inequality grows and social mobility appears to have slowed.

In addition to income inequality, Professor Robert Putnam suggests that there is also a growing inequality of opportunity. For many children in lower income families, systemic obstacles – economic, social and political – become insurmountable and prevent social mobility and the realization of the American dream. What has caused this trend away from equal opportunity in the US? How can we address the crisis of inequality and shorten the opportunity gap? Professor Putnam will delve into this complex problem and its multifaceted solution, which he says begins with a commitment to invest in other people’s children.

Speaker Robert D. Putnam is the Peter and Isabel Malkin Professor of Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University.

The discussion will be moderated by Larry Kramer, President, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

For more information about this event please visit: http://www.worldaffairs.org/events/event/1476

Direct download: 06_10_15_Robert_Putnam.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 7:35am PDT

In recent months, a resurgence of extremist, ultranationalist and antisemitic violence has shaken many cities in Europe. Coupled with the growth of right-wing political parties, this outbreak of violence - and the environment that enables it - threatens to corrode the fundamental values of the European Union from within. Discrimination against Jews, Roma, immigrant populations and the LGBT community has emerged not only among the civilian population, but in the political sphere as well. A year ago in the European Parliament elections, voters in half of the European Union’s 28 countries elected representatives from far-right parties whose leaders have expressed antisemitic, xenophobic, racist, homophobic, anti-Muslim or anti-Roma sentiments.

Human Rights First President and CEO Elisa Massimino will discuss how the rise of extremism in Europe is threatening liberal democracy and the human rights and security of minority communities, endangering the transatlantic trade agreement and making it more difficult for Europe to address the growing migration crisis.

Speaker Elisa Massimino is the President and CEO of Human Rights First.

Katerina Linos, Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law moderates the discussion.

For more information about this event please visit:
http://www.worldaffairs.org/event-calendar/event/1470

Direct download: 06_03_15_Elisa_Massimino.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 9:26am PDT

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