Carnegie Endowment Events

The Arab uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, and Syria over the past five years represent a conundrum. Standard development indicators failed to capture or predict the outburst of popular anger during the so-called Arab Spring of 2011. The World Bank’s Elena Ianchovichina and Shantayanan Devarajan discussed the findings of their recent report Inequality, Uprisings, and Conflict in the Arab World, and reflected on the economic origins of the Arab revolts. While many believe that income inequality was the most significant cause of the uprisings, the report weighs the role of other major drivers, mainly citizen frustrations with a shortage of quality jobs in the formal sector, poor quality public services, and governance issues. Carnegie’s Joseph Bahout moderated.

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a review of its first Arab Experts Survey. The results of the survey, conducted in English and Arabic, represent the views of more than one hundred accomplished political thinkers representing almost every Arab country and answer broad questions around terrorism and extremism, civil war and foreign intervention, sectarianism, corruption, and governance. The survey is part of Carnegie’s Arab World Horizons project, an effort to examine the social, political, and economic forces shaping the Arab world. Marwan Muasher, Perry Cammack, and Shibley Telhami discussed the findings of the survey, and Joyce Karam moderated.

In a neighborhood engulfed in turmoil, Iran has enjoyed relative political stability of late. But have the rifts between state and society been reconciled? Has Iranian civil society resigned itself to incremental change within the confines of the Islamic Republic? How has the role of women in Iranian civil society evolved? Who are the most important change agents in Iranian society and what are their ambitions and motivations?

Less than twenty-four months after the hope-filled Arab uprising, the popular movement had morphed into a dystopia of resurgent dictators, failed states, and civil wars. Marc Lynch’s new book, The New Arab Wars, is a profound illumination of the causes of this nightmare. It details the costs of the poor choices made by regional actors, delivers a scathing analysis of Western misreading of the conflict, and questions international interference that has stoked the violence.

Five years after the 2011 uprisings, countries in the region are caught between the competing impulses of fragmentation and two equally unstainable authoritarian visions—that of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, or classic autocratic regimes.

Promethean changes are poised to reshape the transport sector, with significant implications for the greenhouse gas emissions of twenty-first century mobility. Will autonomous vehicles prove to be a climate policy tool, or a climate policy challenge?

Tensions in the global nuclear order are rising. The new Carnegie report Perspectives on the Evolving Nuclear Order asks what role ‘middle ground,’ or emerging, nuclear states will play in the global debate on these issues. Debak Das, Mariana Nascimento Plum, and Tong Zhao discuss Indian, Brazilian, and Chinese views on the nuclear order. Carnegie’s Toby Dalton moderates. Immediately following, Adam Scheinman comments on themes presented in the first panel in the context of his experience leading the U.S. delegation to the 2015 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. Carnegie’s Togzhan Kassenova moderates.

A quarter century ago, Indian National Congress dominance in New Delhi began to give way to two distinct political forces—the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and a wide-ranging collection of regional political parties.

On May 9, Filipinos will vote for a new president and vice president in arguably one of the country’s most consequential elections. While outgoing President Aquino has overseen a dramatic turnaround in his country’s economic fortunes, the Philippines still faces a range of important challenges, including an unfinished economic reform agenda, an internal security threat from Islamic militants, and potential confrontation with China over disputed islands in the South China Sea. A panel of Southeast Asia experts discusses how Aquino’s potential successor would handle these challenges and what’s at stake for U.S.-Philippines relations. Carnegie’s Vikram Nehru moderates. This event is co-sponsored by the U.S.-Philippines Society and the Southeast Asian Studies Program of the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.

The severe political crisis in Kyiv has raised fundamental questions in recent weeks about the fate of Ukrainian reform.

Seventy years after World War II, Southeast Asia stands at a crossroads amid multilateral trade negotiations, economic integration initiatives, political turmoil, and the establishment of new development institutions and regional governance frameworks. How should the United States and Japan respond and contribute constructively? Are the lessons of the past relevant to the challenges ahead?

Seventy years after World War II, Southeast Asia stands at a crossroads amid multilateral trade negotiations, economic integration initiatives, political turmoil, and the establishment of new development institutions and regional governance frameworks. How should the United States and Japan respond and contribute constructively? Are the lessons of the past relevant to the challenges ahead?

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of normalized relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea with the signing of the Treaty of Basic Relations. Over the past five decades, bilateral relations have far surpassed those of the previous sixteen centuries in terms of security cooperation, economic interdependence, and intellectual and cultural exchange, yet the scars of the past continue to challenge efforts toward more fundamental reconciliation and deeper collaboration. What can success–and shortcomings–over the past fifty years of Japan-Korea relations tell us about how best to navigate the future for the mutual benefit of all three countries and for the region?

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of normalized relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea with the signing of the Treaty of Basic Relations. Over the past five decades, bilateral relations have far surpassed those of the previous sixteen centuries in terms of security cooperation, economic interdependence, and intellectual and cultural exchange, yet the scars of the past continue to challenge efforts toward more fundamental reconciliation and deeper collaboration. What can success–and shortcomings–over the past fifty years of Japan-Korea relations tell us about how best to navigate the future for the mutual benefit of all three countries and for the region?

Japan-Russia relations have received a flurry of attention in both countries’ capitals since 2013, and rumors of possible progress toward a long-pursued peace treaty persist. More recently, however, the process has stalled amid an intractable territorial dispute and other tensions. Sasakawa USA and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a public forum on outstanding historical issues between Japan and Russia, prospects for cooperation in the fields of security, energy, trade, and investment, and the impact of these relations on the U.S.-Japan alliance.

Japan-Russia relations have received a flurry of attention in both countries’ capitals since 2013, and rumors of possible progress toward a long-pursued peace treaty persist. More recently, however, the process has stalled amid an intractable territorial dispute and other tensions. Sasakawa USA and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a public forum on outstanding historical issues between Japan and Russia, prospects for cooperation in the fields of security, energy, trade, and investment, and the impact of these relations on the U.S.-Japan alliance.

Japan-Russia relations have received a flurry of attention in both countries’ capitals since 2013, and rumors of possible progress toward a long-pursued peace treaty persist. More recently, however, the process has stalled amid an intractable territorial dispute and other tensions. Sasakawa USA and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a public forum on outstanding historical issues between Japan and Russia, prospects for cooperation in the fields of security, energy, trade, and investment, and the impact of these relations on the U.S.-Japan alliance.

Japan-Russia relations have received a flurry of attention in both countries’ capitals since 2013, and rumors of possible progress toward a long-pursued peace treaty persist. More recently, however, the process has stalled amid an intractable territorial dispute and other tensions. Sasakawa USA and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a public forum on outstanding historical issues between Japan and Russia, prospects for cooperation in the fields of security, energy, trade, and investment, and the impact of these relations on the U.S.-Japan alliance.

Although Japan was not an official party to the U.S.-North Korea Agreed Framework nuclear deal twenty years ago, it was a vital partner in the effort to implement that agreement. The failure of the Agreed Framework taught the allies valuable lessons relevant to the recent multilateral deal with Iran. What are the most pertinent lessons from the past? And how can Japan and the United States support implementation of the Iran deal?

Although Japan was not an official party to the U.S.-North Korea Agreed Framework nuclear deal twenty years ago, it was a vital partner in the effort to implement that agreement. The failure of the Agreed Framework taught the allies valuable lessons relevant to the recent multilateral deal with Iran. What are the most pertinent lessons from the past? And how can Japan and the United States support implementation of the Iran deal?