October, 2007

Nine French citizens, working for L'Arche De Zoe or Zoe's Arc for the non-French, were arrested Tuesday after a failed attempt to fly 103 children out of Chad. Alongside them were seven Spanish nationals, all charged with abduction and fraud. The French members of Zoe's Ark claim they wished to place the orphans from the Darfur area with European families; if charged they could face up to 20 years of labor in the African state.

In "Open Letter, Muslims Seek Cooperation With Christians as a Step Toward Peace," Neil MacFarquhar of the New York Times reports numerous Muslim clerics, theologians, and academics wrote an open letter addressed to Christian leaders, calling for the world's two biggest religions to come together

Ankara will act on their own accord, free of influence from pressure in Washington, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan explained, concerning a cross-border incursion into northern Iraq against Kurdish rebels.

The event takes place on Wednesday, November 7, 2007 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM. The Sudan People's Liberation Movement's suspension of its participation in the National Unity Government demonstrated the fragility of the North-South peace process in Sudan. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement ended Africa's longest and bloodiest civil war.

Special panelist Michael Gallager was recently highlighted in The Ulster Herald for his participation in our Overcoming Extremism conference held on October 22 and 23.

According to the Associated Press:

We sadly update a report on the deaths of 128 people from a suicide bombing in Karachi aimed at Peacekeepers At Risk

Life in Darfur is hard for everyone, including the peacekeepers. Jeffrey Gettleman of the NYTimes reports on an attack on a small African Union garrison, killing 10 peacekeepers and acting as a possible barrier to the willingness of peacekeepers to put their lives at risk for the peacekeeping mission.

After a Turkish Parliament (TBMM) vote allowing Turkish military troops to invade Iraq's border against PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) terror forces located in northern Iraq, Kurds rallied 100,000 strong in protest at Irbil, with an additional 5,000 in Duhuk.

The Washington Post's David Ignatius explains in "The Dignity Agenda" how "dignity is the issue that vexes billions of people around the world, not democracy." Demonstrating through numerous books, including CSIS Counsel and Trustee, New PCR Report | A Steep Hill: Congress and U.S. Efforts to Strengthen Fragile States

We are pleased to share a prepublication draft version of A Steep Hill: Congress and U.S. Efforts to Strengthen Fragile States.

On Friday, October 19, 2007, Rick Barton spoke with CSPAN'S Washington Journal and answered questions on the unraveling situation in Pakistan. Barton noted the repercussions of the recent terrorist attack on Former Prime Minister Bhutto and the status of the government under President Musharraf. To find out more about U.S.

Biographies for all speakers at next week's Overcoming Extremism conference are now available on the website -- www.overcomingextremism.org.

The Center for Transatlantic Relations at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University just recently posted its interim report from 2006-2007: Unconventional Crises, Unconventional Responses:

On October 25th, The Asia Foundation and The Henry L. Stimson Center are hosting a Roundtable on Community Policing in Indonesia. The event will take place at The Henry L. Stimson Center, 111 19th Street NW, 12th Floor, Washington DC.

On October 10th, the House Armed Services Committee had a hearing on security challenges involving Pakistan and policy implications for the Department of Defense. The hearing aired on CSPAN, and was considered by viewers as an excellent, thoughtful and constructive hearing - click on the link for a full audio transcript.

We are proud to announce another one of our featured speakers for the Overcoming Extremism conference, Mr. Daniel Benjamin (October 22nd-23rd, register online).

CNN's Brian Todd reports on a man who might be American, training Islamic militants in Somalia.

The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI) is hosting, Who Leads the United Nations? on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 2:30 PM - 4:445, Wohlstetter Conference Center, Twelfth Floor, AEI 1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036

We take great pleasure in naming Palestinian journalist Nadia Bilbassy Charters, senior correspondent in the Washington bureau of Al Arabiya satellite TV channel, as one of our featured speakers at our Overcoming Extremism conference.

The PCR Project is pleased to announce the publication of Responding to Catastrophes: U.S. Innovation in a Vulnerable World (draft report). This comprehensive review of U.S.

We are proud to announce Mr. Anthony Barnett as a featured speaker at our Overcoming Extremism conference. (October 22nd-23rd: You can still register!) 

As promised, a small glimpse into the lives of our wonderful panelists at the Overcoming Extremism conference (Oct 22nd-23rd; register now!):

Wednesday, October 3rd 2007

The Brookings Institute

21st Century Defense Initiative & Center on the United States and Europe

NATO and the Afghan Campaign

Currently the International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) deployed by NATO has 22,000 troops in Afghanistan. They however, prefer the name “Interim” Security Assistance Forces, demonstrating their temporary status and the importance in eventually turning responsibilities over to a capable Afghanistan National Army (ANA).

Cool article from the NYTimes on anthropologists deployed to Afghanistan for the purpose of understanding tribal differences for the US government.

On Monday, October 08, 2007 10-11AM ET, NPR's On Point focused on Pakistan's disputed election, and the indisputable stakes for America. To listen to the story, please click here.

Featured guests included:

It's October and we all know what that means: the long-awaited arrival of the Overcoming Extremism Conference! To celebrate and for your viewing pleasure, we feature Mr. Ammar Abdulhamid, President, Tharwa Foundation.

The House Armed Services Committee is having a hearing on Pakistan on October 10th. We hope conclusions from our newly released report on U.S. assistance to Pakistan, A Perilous Course, act as resource to guide the committee towards making wise choices on policies affecting U.S. aid to Pakistan.

"At the UN earlier this week President Bush publicly praised Nouri al-Maliki's administration but in private, the President reportedly pressed the Iraqi prime minister on long-delayed reforms. Another concern for Washington is corruption within the Iraqi government. A report recently prepared by the US embassy in Baghdad says the government there is totally unable to deal with it.

On October 9th, the Search for Common Ground is putting on a Conflict Prevention and Resolution Forum on Achieving Peaceful Elections: Lessons Learned from Sierra Leone and Nigeria. To learn more about this event, please click here.

The UN Department of Safety and Security, Afghanistan gives a nice summary report of the "progress" (or lack thereof) in Afghanistan.

A news item from the Pakistan press reports on the opening of the India-Pakistan border to the first commercial truck traffic.

In an article for Reuters, David Morgan reports that the number of Iraq refugees is actually much higher than experts originally estimated.

Opportunity to work as a senior official in Peshwar, Pakistan as a County or Deputry Representative. An individual would identify community priorities and address some of the region’s most immediate needs while serving as an effective liaison with a wide array of individuals and institutions.

For the past several years the PCR Project has advised that successful reconstruction must have an expanded local and regional presence.

In Friday’s New York Times (9/28/07), the complications from the failure to pass a national oil law that provides some ownership to the citizenry is detailed in “U.S. Official Calls Kurd Oil Deal at Odds With Baghdad.”

The PCR Project has argued for the past year, in our A Perilous Course report, that the Chief Justices of the five Supreme Courts (national and four provinces) are among the key figures in restoring a rule of law culture in Pakistan, partially because of their ability to oversee the police.

This week, the Washington Post is running a special series on roadside bombs in Iraq. Reporter Rick Atkinson describes "the effort by the U.S.

George Mason University
Peace Operations Policy Program
School of Public Policy

Peace and Stability Operations Colloquium

The Peace Operations Policy Program of the School of Public Policy, George Mason University is proud to present the following in its "Peace and Stability Operations Colloquium Series" of events:

WOMEN'S FOREIGN POLICY GROUP

The Henry L. Stimson Center released a series of new issue briefs. "The briefs grapple with current challenges and highlight progress in key issues related to peace operations in Africa. Each piece identifies practical steps to improve national, regional, or international capacity to engage in such missions."