In collaboration with Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI) and a coalition of organizations concerned with the future of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), The Wilson Center’s Africa Program invites you to “Military Reform in the Democratic Republic of Congo”.

“The nontraditional security threats of tomorrow could themselves become sources of future traditional conflict if they’re not effectively addressed today,” said Mahin Karim.

Ten years ago, demography was hardly on the radar screen of policymakers. Today, it’s a part of almost every discussion of America’s long-term fiscal, economic, or foreign policy direction. With the world’s population hitting 7 billion last year, and headed for 10 billion in the next century, it is crucial to assess the impact of global population trends on international security and national politics. Top demographic security experts discuss this important trend at a half day workshop at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

China has recently been a major force in political games in the Asia-Pacific. For example, it has succeeded in partly disengaging the United States from the trade framework in Southeast Asia by promoting “low quality” Free Trade Agreements in the region. China has also viewed the ASEAN Regional Forum and East Asia Summit as convenient non-binding and consensus-based arenas that allow Beijing to avoid dealing with hard issues such as maritime disputes in the South China Sea. The Obama administration’s much-discussed “Asia Pivot” is an attempt to reinsert the United States into regional political games and is perhaps most evident in the administration’s focus on the Trans-Pacific Partnership multilateral FTA. How is the United States’ reemergence as a regional player changing the existing components of the political game? What trade and strategic initiatives is Washington undertaking? How will other regional players, such as Japan and India, respond to American and Chinese moves?