On Shifting Ground

Red teaming: it’s a practice as old as the Devil’s Advocate, the sixteenth-century Catholic official charged with discrediting candidates for sainthood. Today red teams—groups of fearless skeptics and friendly saboteurs—are used widely in both the public and private sectors. Red teaming helps pinpoint institutional weaknesses and anticipate potential threats ahead of the next Special Forces raid, malicious cyberattack, or corporate merger. But not all red teams are created equal; indeed, some cause more damage than they avert. Using them effectively just may be the greatest challenge for organizations in the twenty-first century.

In Red Team, security expert Micah Zenko draws on the little-known case studies and unprecedented access to elite red teamers to reveal the best practices, common pitfalls, and winning strategies of these modern-day Devil’s Advocates. Red Team shows how any competitive group can succeed by thinking like the enemy.

Speaker Micah Zenko is a Fellow for Conflict Prevention at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Jonathan Tepperman, Managing Editor of Foreign Affairs, moderates the discussion.

For more information about this event please visit: http://www.worldaffairs.org/media-library/event/1533

Direct download: 12_09_15_Micah_Zenko.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 8:00pm PDT

The plight of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees has long drawn international concern. Aid organizations rally to support displaced populations and governments debate policies for dealing with those who arrive on their borders. In the last year, the global refugee crisis reached endemic proportions. The civil war in Syria continues to force people from their homes, as does instability elsewhere in the Middle East, and in Africa and Latin America. The number of forcibly displaced people has reached its highest levels since World War II, and as the root causes of this displacement continue we’ll likely see the numbers continue to rise.

At World Affairs, we have convened many voices on this topic in the past few years. Here, we share insights from seven individuals who have joined us to discuss the global crisis of refugees. In this episode, you’ll hear from Filippo Grandi, the newly appointed United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; David Miliband, president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee; Vali Nasr, Dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies; Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations; Yves Daccord, Director-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross; Elisa Massimino, president and CEO of Human Rights First; and Nancy Lindborg, president of the United States Institute of Peace.

Direct download: Five_Years_In-Syrian_Refugees.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 12:19pm PDT

Globalization has shrunk our world dramatically, allowing people, products and ideas to connect at speeds and on a scale previously unimaginable. These connections have provided new economic opportunities for many individuals and businesses, as international trade has increased and jobs have reached new markets. However, the opportunities have not reached all people equally. Some of the jobs that have emerged in the developing world are the result of outsourcing, tipping opportunity from one community to another instead of creating new opportunities for all. Globalization has also put certain vulnerable populations at greater risk, as we see with underpaid and under-protected employees and individuals trafficked into forced labor. What can be done to bring the benefits of globalization to these individuals? What hurdles do we face in the process, and how can the political, private and philanthropic sectors work together to overcome them?

 

SPEAKERS

Arvind Ganesan

Director, Business and Human Rights, Human Rights Watch

 

Paula Goldman

Senior Director, Global Lead for Impact Investing, Omidyar Network

 

Paul Rice

President and CEO, Fair Trade USA

 

MODERATOR:

Matthew Bishop

Globalisation Editor, The Economist

Direct download: 10_16_15_WA15_Globalization_Risks_Rewards.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 12:58pm PDT

Over a billion people live in India – roughly one in every five on earth inhabiting two percent of the world’s landmass. This massive population has taken a toll, pushing the country’s environment and its infrastructure to the brink. Rivers are polluted beyond use and groundwater reserves are fast diminishing. Farmers struggle to fill the plates of their families and countrymen. Millions live in poverty, with the gap between the rich and poor growing more and more acute. These challenges that India faces today may soon become the reality for other parts of the world as well, as the global population continues to rise and a changing climate places strains on global agriculture, infrastructure, governance and other systems.

How are individuals and communities working to combat these challenges? What can the rest of the world learn from India’s current predicament, and could these lessons help lead the planet to a more sustainable and prosperous future? Journalist Meera Subramanian travelled the country and spoke with individuals determined to revive India’s natural world. She will share these stories and offer insights into the present and future of India’s environment.

Speaker Meera Subramanian is a Journalist and Author.

Linda Calhoun, Executive Producer at Career Girls, moderates the conversation.

For more information about this event please visit: http://www.worldaffairs.org/event-calendar/event/1527

Direct download: 11_05_15_Meera_Subramanian.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 8:00pm PDT

In today’s digital world, more and more of our lives are moving online, raising concerns about the privacy of the vast quantities of information that now exist in cyberspace. In recent years, much debate has emerged about the tradeoff between individual privacy and national security, and the US and EU provide an interesting comparison of how governments have balanced these aims. In the European Union, privacy is protected as a fundamental right, contributing to much stricter regulations on data collection than seen in the US. Last spring, the European Court of Justice ruled that EU citizens have the ‘right to be forgotten’ online, a regulation that would quickly run up against first amendment arguments in the United States. The US lacks similar overarching laws for data protection, as has become very apparent as vast government surveillance has been brought to light. How do policies differ in America and Europe, and what can the two countries learn from each other? How can individuals better understand their rights and limit the amount of personal data being collected? And how much privacy are we willing to give up in exchange for national security?

Giovanni Buttarelli, European Data Protection Supervisor, and Cindy Cohn, Executive Director, Electronic Frontier Foundation, are in discussion.

The conversation is moderated by Paul Schwartz, Jefferson E. Peyser Professor, UC Berkeley School of Law; Senior Advisor, Paul Hastings LLP.

For more information about this event please visit: http://www.worldaffairs.org/events/event/1506

Direct download: 09_17_15_US_EU_Online.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 7:00pm PDT

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