Economics and Globalization Events
Documentary History of Greece: 1943-1951, Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan
March 08, 2012 // 4:00pm — 5:30pm
History and Public Policy Program
Director of the Service of Diplomatic and Historical Archives of the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs Photini Tomai will discuss her latest book entitled “Documentary History of Greece: 1943-1951, Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan." Along with the economic reconstruction of the country, it traces the political, social and military implications of the implementation of the economic recovery program extended throughout Greece especially after the Civil War.
Changing Faces within the Greek Government: A Discussion of the Political Fallout from the Financial Crisis
March 06, 2012 // 1:00pm — 2:00pm
European Studies
The current financial crisis in Greece has generated innovative discussions in political and economic fora, as well as in the mass media. Thanos Veremis, a Professor of Political History at the University of Athens, will be discussing Greece's current situation and what is on the nation's political horizon. Due to the fact that there is an overwhelming demand for new faces in Greek politics, preferably people with impressive achievements in their professional lives and technocrats working in the fields of business and economics, Vermis will speak on the apparently high likelihood of such a change in Greek political life in future elections.
Webs of Conflict and Pathways to Peace in the Horn of Africa: A New Approach?
February 29, 2012 // 10:00am — 11:30am
Project on Leadership and Building State Capacity
The Horn of Africa is one of the world’s most conflicted regions, experiencing over 200 armed conflicts since 1990.
In response to this on-going crisis, the Wilson Center’s Project on Leadership and Building State Capacity established a Horn of Africa Steering Committee in 2010 that focused on developing a set of recommendations for a regional US policy framework for the Horn.
Stuck: Rwandan Youth and the Struggle for Adulthood
February 28, 2012 // 3:00pm — 4:30pm
Africa Program
Spotlighting failed masculinity, urban desperation, and forceful governance, Marc Sommers tells the dramatic story of young Rwandans who are “stuck,” striving against near-impossible odds to become adults.
Dependent America? How Canada and Mexico Construct U.S. Power
February 21, 2012 // 9:00am — 11:00am
Canada Institute
In Dependent America?, Stephen Clarkson and Matto Mildenberger explore the extent to which U.S. power is a function of its capacity to mobilize other states’ material and moral support. The authors presented the book, and discussants commented on it.
North American Integration Essential to Renewed U.S. Manufacturing Prowess?
February 14, 2012 // 9:00am — 11:00am
Mexico Institute
Unlike China or Europe, Mexico and Canada are fundamentally different trading partners to the United States. They more closely resemble side-by-side workers on a common assembly line than transactional buyers and sellers separated by long distances. Working Together argues that enhanced economic integration can help meet the goal of doubled U.S. exports by 2015, sustain jobs throughout North America, and sharpen the region’s competitiveness against other world blocs. At the report’s launch Wednesday, author Chris Wilson of the Mexico Institute also stressed the largely unpublicized benefits Mexico trade poses for interior U.S. districts far from the southern border.
Trade and Agriculture: Trans-Pacific Perspectives
February 13, 2012 // 3:30pm — 5:30pm
Asia Program
Agriculture has often been a stumbling block in free trade negotiations. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), often seen as the economic component of the Obama Administration’s “Asia pivot,” is no exception. Can Japan’s leadership, which has indicated a willingness to join the TPP, surmount resistance from its domestic agricultural lobby? Is the TPP attractive to countries like Korea, which has enthusiastically negotiated separate bilateral free trade agreements, most notably with the United States? What are the problems and opportunities in the agreement for American agricultural producers? How do nations like New Zealand, an agricultural powerhouse and original member of the TPP, view the negotiating positions of potential new members to the agreement?
Mexico Economy Structurally Sound, in Spite of Modest Growth
February 08, 2012 // 9:30am — 11:00am
Mexico Institute
Mexico’s economy is on solid footing, with a mid-term outlook calling for modest growth outpacing modest inflation, former Mexico Finance Minister Pedro Aspe told an audience at The Wilson Center on Wednesday. Aspe cited renewed competitiveness in the Mexican manufacturing sector, especially in light industrial goods, and a projected decrease in the country’s labor surplus as reasons behind the optimism. He was speaking as part of the Wilson Center Mexico Institute’s Dialogos con México/Dialogues with Mexico speakers series.
Recent Developments in Nigeria: Subsidies, Spills and Security
January 30, 2012 // 2:00pm — 4:00pm
Africa Program
Endowed with an abundance of natural resource wealth and perhaps the largest human resource potential on the African continent, Nigeria is also burdened by various challenges that threaten the country’s prospects for long-term development and stability. Ambassador Eunice Reddick, former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria Howard Jeter, and Shell Oil Corporate Communications Director Olav Ljosne discuss the country’s long-term challenges.
Two Decades after El Salvador’s Peace Accords: Current Challenges
January 30, 2012 // 9:00am — 11:30am
Latin American Program
In the twenty years since the signing of the Peace Accords, El Salvador has made impressive progress in expanding political and media freedoms, reforming the military and security forces, lowering rates of poverty and inequality, improving respect for human rights, and reforming electoral institutions. Today, however, El Salvador faces unprecedented security and economic challenges. An upsurge in transnational crime, including narcotics, weapons, and human trafficking, has intersected with longstanding problems of gang violence such that El Salvador suffers one of the highest homicide rates in the world. El Salvador’s economy continues to struggle amidst the global recession and weak economic recovery in the United States, the country’s largest export market.