Great Decisions 2010

GD_2010

Discussions to engage citizens in learning about the world
To reference the LWV-LPC 2008 or 2009 Great Decisions activities, click the Great Decisions Archive to your left.

Great Decisions 2010.  GD 2010 Reference Materials.  Past Events.

Great Decisions Series for 2010

*The LWVLPC Great Decisions series has concluded for 2010. Thank you for your particiption. Please plan on joining us for 2011. Watch this page for the 2011 outline as soon as it is availabe from the Foreign Policy Assn.

Great Decisions 2010 Reference Materials

Past Events

*Great Decisions topic 8, Peacebuilding, will be discussed Tuesday, Apr 27 and Thursday, Apr 29. The moderator for this topic will be Kurt Johnson.
Your reference material is entitled Enhancing security through peace building by Matthew Levinger, Senir Program Officer at the United States Institute of Peace and the former director of the Academy for Genocide Prevention at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
U.S. campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan have shown that military force alone cannot ensure peace in all conflicts. How can the U.S. successfully integrate the tools of peace building into its statecraft? At what point do poverty, disease and climate change threaten national security? What role can non-governmental actors play in supporting government led efforts?

On-Line materials include:

• Great Decisions 2010 Spring Updates: Peacebuilding and conflict resolution Source: FPA, Author: Nadia Sariahmed

• Great Decisions 2010 Spring Updates: Kenya and R2P Source: FPA, Author: Nadia Sariahmed

• GD2010 Episode: Peacebuilding and Statecraft Source: Foreign Policy Association

*Materials for the Great Decision 2010 discussion series are provided by the Foreign Policy Association. click FPA-GD2010 to read more.

*Great Decisions topic 7, The Persian Gulf, will be discussed Tuesday, Apr 13 and Thursday, Apr 15. The moderators for this topic will be Gail Harris (Tues) and Ellen Park (Thurs).
Your reference material is entitled The U.S. and the Persian Gulf by F. Gegory Gause, III, Professor of Political Science at the University of Vermont.
Now more than ever, the Persian Gulf region offers many difficult challenges to U.S. policymakers. How will Obama's direct appeal to Arabs and Muslims impact U.S. foreign policy in the region? What will the fallout of withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq be? Can the U.S. and its allies prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons?

On-Line materials include:

• Dubai: On the Front Line of U.S. Iran Policy By Simon Henderson, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

• Kuwait Looks towards the East: Relations with China by Khizar Niazi,Middle East Institute, Washington, D.C.

• After Iran Gets the Bomb - Containment and Its Complications by James M. Lindsay and Ray Takeyh, Foreign Affairs

  *Great Decisions topic 6, Russia and its Neighbors, will be discussed Tuesday, Mar 30 and Thursday, Apr 1. The moderator for this topic will be Ross Park.
  Your reference material is entitled Europe's "far east": the uncertain frontier by William Sweet, author of Kicking the Carbon Habit (Columbia University Press, 2006.
  Russia's policy of maintaining a "sphere of influence" in former Soviet satellites has been challenged in recent years by movements against pro-Russia regimes. Russia has pushed back by cutting Ukraine's natural gas supply and intervening in Georgia's campaign in South Ossetia. Will Russia regain its traditional leadership role in the region?

  On-Line materials include:

• Has the EU lost Ukraine? Analysis - February 2010 Institute for Security Studies by Sabine Fischer

• Time for the EU to Work with Russia Atlantic-Community.org by Cortnie Shupe

• Burnt Orange Council on Foreign Affairs by Lucan Way Feb 4, 2010 What Ukraine's Presidential Election Means for Democracy Lucan Way February 4, 2010

• New Russian Military Doctrine Opposes NATO Enlargement Eurasia Daily Monitor Feb 10, 2010

• French-Russian Warship Deal Making Waves Among NATO Allies Radio Free Europe February 09, 2010 By Ahto Lobjakas

*Materials for the Great Decision 2010 discussion series are provided by the Foreign Policy Association. click FPA-GD2010 to read more.

*Great Decisions topic 5, Global Financial Crisis, will be discussed Tuesday, Mar 16 and Thursday, Mar 18. The moderator for this topic will be Dennis Lum.
Your reference material is entitled The global financial crisis and its effects by Daniel W. Drezner, Professor of International Politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts Univesity. His most recent book, All Politics is Global, was was published by the Princeton University Press in 2007.
The global financial crisis that began in late 2007 revealed major deficiencies in the regulation of markets and institutions, all of which came perilously close to collapse. Emergency measures to prevent a full collapse of the global financial system have led to mixed results. How will governments and the world community respond to this challenge?

On-Line materials include:

• GDTV 2010 Episode: The Global Financial Crisis

• Is Greece the New Lehman Brothers? by Joerg Wolf How should the euro zone members deal with the PIIGS? Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain have big budget deficits and other economic problems that lead to speculation against the euro. How serious is it? What should be done?

• What the World Bank Is Doing Though the most acute phase of the global financial crisis has passed, recovery remains fragile. Persistent risks to economic health include high unemployment and low growth in developed countries and scarce international financing for developing countries. The poorest countries continue to need assistance to move beyond the crisis...

• Updated World Bank Analysis: Crisis, Finance, and Growth Globally, GDP growth is improving, but it will be a long road to full recovery The strength of the recovery will depend on private-sector demand and the pace of withdrawal of fiscal and monetary stimulus An estimated 64 million more people may be living in extreme poverty by the end of 2010 due to the crisis Developing countries need to anticipate scarcer and more expensive capital...

*Materials for the Great Decision 2010 discussion series are provided by the Foreign Policy Association. click FPA-GD2010 to read more.

*Great Decisions topic 4, China, will be discussed Tuesday, Mar 2 and Thursday, Mar 4. The moderator for this topic will be Gail Harris.
Your reference material is entitled China Looks at the World: the World Looks at China by David M. Lampton, Hyman Professor, director of China Studies, and dean of faculty at the School of Advanced International Studies of John Hopkins University
China's influence is growing, along with its military expenditures. How will this growth affect China's relations with its neighbors and with the U.S.? Will China's expanding military and economic power affect traditional U.S. roles and U.S. alliances in East Asia? How will countries like Japan, South Korea and India respond?

On-Line materials include:

• GDTV 2010 Episode: Red Army Rising

• China military growth the 'minimum requirement:' general by JIM MANNION Beijing's rapid military modernization, including the development of advanced weapons in the Pacific, merely meets its minimum defense requirements, a top Chinese general said ahead of meetings Tuesday at the Pentagon...

• China's Growing Military Might By TIM HSIA s President Obama makes his first visit to China, he has stressed that a rising China can be a source of shared strength. In his latest column for At War, Capt. Tim Hsia considers what a more powerful China might mean for America's military...

*Materials for the Great Decision 2010 discussion series are provided by the Foreign Policy Association. click FPA-GD2010 to read more.

*Great Decisions topic 3, Transnational Crime, will be discussed Tuesday, Feb 16 and Thursday, Feb 18. The moderator for this topic will be Curt Johnson.
Your reference material is entitled Transnational crime: globalization's shadowy stepchild by David C. Morrison, national security correspondant for National Journal. Mr. Morrison currently writes 'Behind the Lines' for the Congressional Quarterly Homeland Security online magazine.

From the booming sex trade in Eastern Europe, to online fraud syndicates in Africa and the drug cartels of Asia and Central America, crime is becoming increasingly organized and globalized. How can countries better protect citizens seeking the benefits of a globalized world from being exploited? What international actors can effectively fight global organized crime?

On-Line materials include:

• GD2010TV Intro (video): The Dark Side of Globalization

• Bridge to Freedom Foundation The vision of Bridge to Freedom Foundation is one of a cohesive and sustainable anti-slavery movement that is empowered to work with victims as they transition out of oppression and into a thriving, well-rounded life of freedom.

• Africa: Illegal Ivory Trade Rising The illicit trade in ivory, which has been increasing in volume since 2004, moved sharply upward in 2009, according to the latest analysis of seizure data in the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS).

  *Great Decisions topic 2, Kenya & R2P (Responsibility to Protect), will be discussed Tuesday, Feb 2 and Thursday, Feb 4. The moderator for this topic will be Dr. John Lyons.
  Your reference material is entitled Halting atrocities in Kenya by Thomas G. Weiss, Presidential Professor of Political Science at the CUNY Graduate Center and Director of the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies.

  Post-election rioting in Kenya in December 2007 brought pressure on Nairobi, from international and regional diplomats, to end tensions and avert bloodshed on a massive scale. What lessons can be learned from the intervention in Kenya? What does it mean for the UN's emerging responsibility to protect doctrine?

  On-Line materials include:

• GD2010 Episode: Justified Force? Preventing Genocide in the 21st Century

• Intervention to Stop Genocide and Mass Atrocities International Norms and U.S. Policy Overview by Matthew C. Waxman

• Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect was created in February 2008 to catalyze action to move the 2005 World Summit agreement on the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity from principle into practice.

*Materials for the Great Decision 2010 discussion series are provided by the Foreign Policy Association. click FPA-GD2010 to read more.

*Thursday, Jan 21, 2010: the Great Decision session, scheduled for 12:30pm today, has been cancelled. The topic will be repeated at a later date

*Great Decisions topic 1 for January 19 and 21 is Special Envoys. Your reference material is entitled The special envoy in American foreign policy by Charles F. Dunbar. Your moderator for these sessions will be Glen Rodey.

Special envoys can help bring attention and diplomatic muscle to resolve conflicts and global challenges but they also bring with them their own "special" problems. Will the Obama administration's reliance on special envoys increase the ability of the U.S. to deal with major international issues or complicate our diplomatic options?

On-line references for Topic 1 are:

• Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan U.S. Dept of State
• Glittering Emissaries' Dazzle Wears Off in the Trenches NY Times Mark Landler
• Evaluating Progress in Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Policy magazine
• Is It Time to Negotiate With the Taliban? NY Times blog

  *LWV-LPC will again host the Great Decision Series for 2010. We invite the public to join us for impartial and thought-provoking discussions on eight issues of concern to US policymakers and citizens covering topics to include

• Special Envoys
• Kenya & R2P (Responsibility to Protect)
• Global Crime
• U.S. - China Security Relations
• Global Financial Crisis
• Russia and its Neighbors
• The Persian Gulf
• Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution

  *The series began January 19, 2010 and will conclude April 29, 2010 with two sessions held bi-weekly. All sessions will be held in the new Durango Public Library, 1900 East 3rd Ave. Tuesday sessions will be held from 11:45am to 1:45pm and Thursday sessions will be held from 12:30pm to 2:30pm. Sessions are moderated by local volunteers on each topic. Discussion among the attendees is strongly encouraged. For specific topics and dates see the Great Decisions 2010 flier.

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: August 13, 2010 15:47 PDT.

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