A Survey of International Issues Currently Facing the Obama Administration and the United States
1/5/10
Speaker: Amb. Thomas Pickering

Former Ambassador and former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Pickering will circle the globe in forty-five minutes identifying the major challenges currently confronting the Obama Administration and the United States.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the 2009 Iranian Presidential Election
1/12/10
Speaker: Dr. Trita Parsi

Dr. Trita Parsi, will discuss how presidential candidates are selected in Iran, how a campaign is waged, and who really won the election. He will discuss Iran as an emerging world power and explore the prospects for a constructive relationship between Iran and the U.S., including the role to be played by Israel.

Does America Still Need Europe?
1/19/10
Speaker: James M. Goldgeier

Sr. Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author James M. Goldgeier will explore the United States' current relationship to the European Union vis a vis economics and world events.

Petrostate: Putin, Power and the New Russia
1/26/10
Speaker: Marshall Goldman

Marshall Goldman discusses modern Russia with some of the challenges of changing economics and political power. Yeltsin used its energy profits to fuel economic growth, encouraging foreign investment. Following Putin's rise to power and the collapse of commodity prices, Russia reversed its foreign ownership policies, taking back control of many previously privatized industries

Pipeline Politics: Becoming Critical in the Global Energy Sweepstakes
2/2/10
Speaker: Steven Dachi

The setting is the Caspian sea and environs. The stakes are riches of oil and natural gas. Steven Dachi asks, "Will there be enough to go around and will it reach those who need it?"

Is China Rising or Falling? And What Does This Mean for Us?
2/9/10
Speaker: Gordon Chang

Nearly everyone thinks China will dominate the 21st century. Yet the Chinese state is just as likely to fall as take over the world. Gordon Chang questions why is the Communist Party so weak? What will happen to China during turbulent times? How will China's course affect the United States?

The Potential of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to Meet All U.S. Energy Needs
2/16/10
Speaker: Scott Sklar

In the last two years, no less than 32 studies have confirmed the percentage that renewable energy technologies can contribute to the US and global energy mix. Scott Sklar explains how these energy options can meet ALL energy needs and maintain our quality of life while increasing employment and decreasing energy imports and emissions.

Obama's First Year: What the Public Thinks and Why
2/23/10
Speaker: Dr. Susan MacManus

Dr. Susan MacManus will examine changes in presidential performance ratings across different political, racial, gender, and age groups and compare U.S. and international opinions, focusing on the style vs. substance debate. What is the public's view of the "the permanent campaign"?

Israel/Palestine Panel Discussion
3/2/10
Speaker: Mark Rosenblum and Ghaith al-Omari

The Continuing Search for Palestinian-Israeli Peace

This panel discussion with Prof. Mark Rosenblum, long-experienced in Middle East peace discourses, and Mr Ghaith al-Omari, a long-time advisor to the Palestinian Authority and participant at Oslo , will probe the impediments and opportunities in the ongoing search for a Palestinian-Israeli peace settlement in 2010.

Water - The New Oil
3/9/10
Speaker: Steven Solomon

Fresh water is overtaking oil as the world’s scarcest -- and most explosively contested -- resource. Author and journalist Steven Solomon explores how water scarcity is recasting global politics, the international order, and added to America’s foreign policy challenges.

Rediscovering Central Asia
3/16/10
Speaker: Dr. Fredrick Starr

Once a region considered the Center of the World -- today it is seen mostly as a harsh backwater or an arena in which Russia, China, the E.U and the U.S. compete for resources and influence. However, to imagine Central Asia's future, we must journey into its remarkable past with Dr. Fredrick Starr.

Deflation Now: Prepare for Oncoming Inflation
3/23/10
Speaker: Robert Stovall

The US experienced deflation in 2009 following several years of 2-3% inflation. The government's extraordinary measures needed to fight the current recession, combined with the deficits created by prior administrations, are going to lead to an increase in the inflation rate going forward.