Safety in a Nuclear World Series- Fall 2007

12/01/07 – North Korea, Iran and Nuclear Proliferation by Dr. Siegfried Hecker, Co-director, Center for International Security and Cooperation Stanford University, Director Emeritus, Los Alamos National Laboratory.

11/12/07

The Ideal Protective Package: From Proliferation to Reciprocal Reduction
by Ambassador Thomas Graham, Jr.

Chair Cypress Fund for Peace and Security, Special Representative of the President for Arms Control, Non-Proliferation, and Disarmament from 1994-1997.
A you-are-there account of discussions and negotiations to date. Outline of progress toward rewriting the nuclear weapons rules to fit today’s needs.

October 19, 2007

Clouds on the Horizon: Eroding Constraints and the Seductive Attraction of Nuclear Weapons
by Dan E. Caldwell

Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Pepperdine University, co-author of Seeking Security in an Insecure World. What are the nuclear threats we face today? Is the existing framework of treaties, such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), effective?   What are the risks from NPT non-signatories – India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea? How do the five original nuclear powers and their policies with respect to their own arsenals impact proliferation risks?

September 7, 2007

Where Have All the Secrets Gone? A Layman’s Guide to Nukes
by Richard Rhodes

Pulitzer Prize-winning author, journalist, and historian. Author of three volumes on nuclear history, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, Dark Sun, and the soon to be released Arsenals of Folly. Book signing.  How has the availability of information about the making of atomic weapons changed dramatically in recent years and what does it mean for us? Outline of the science and technology of nuclear weapons production and use to set up the stage for better understanding of policy alternatives in the era of nuclear proliferation. 

Capitals of the World Series- Fall 2007-Spring 2008

March 20th, 2008

Albuquerque: Cities and Modern Change

Mayor Martin Chavez

Mayor Chavez with his vision and understanding of Albuquerque today and tomorrow, modern change, new trends in urbanism around the world, climate change and future challenges of modernization.

November 3rd, 2007
Moscow: Building a New Third Rome?
Dr. Marina Oborotova

Dr. Marina Oborotova is President of the Center for International Studies, sponsoring organization for the Albuquerque International Association. She lived and worked in Moscow for 33 years and visits the city every year. She graduated from Moscow State University for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Foreign Office and worked as a senior researcher for the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russia’s leading think-tank. Her career includes experience in many parts of the world in foreign policy, international business, academic research, and university level teaching. She has also organized and administrated projects in Russia, the United States, Latin America and Asia. She has written two books and over 40 articles on foreign relations and has presented numerous papers at international conferences. In the U.S. she has taught at the University of New Mexico (the Departments of Political Science, Anderson School of Management and Honors Program), worked as Director of International Programs at Technology Commercialization, and as a program manager for the United States Industry Coalition.

September 15, 2007

Berlin: the New York of Europe

Dr. Dr. Charles McClelland

Charles McClelland has been Fulbright and Humboldt visiting professor at the renowned (Humboldt) University of Berlin, the bicentennial history of which he is co-authoring, since 1999. He taught at Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania and UNM before early retirement to pursue his research interests and numerous publications in modern German and European history.

MINI SERIES ON IRAN – June 3-5, 2007

June 3, 2007
Persian Culture and History
Dr. John Woods is professor of Iranian and Central Asian History at the University of Chicago.  He is a specialist in Iranian and Islamic history and was Director of the University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies.  Dr. Woods is recognized as an outstanding presenter employing imagery for visual discussions of art and history.

June 5, 2007
U.S.-Iranian Estrangement: The Showdown over the Nuclear Issue
Dr. Mansour Farhang

Dr. Mansour Farhang is currently professor of Middle Eastern politics and international relations at Bennington College. After Iran’s 1979 revolution, he served as Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations. Resigned when his efforts to negotiate the release of the American hostages in Tehran failed. After working with peace mediators during Iran-Iraq war and speaking out about religious extremism, he was forced to leave Iran in 1981, following the violent suppression of political dissidents. He is a member of the Middle Eastern Seminar at Columbia, an author of several books, articles and Op Ed pieces and is a frequent guest on radio and television.

April 19, 2007
When Everybody is Thinking Asia, Does Mexico Still Matter?
By Jerry Pacheco, Executive Director, International Business Accelerator

Mr. Pacheco is Executive Director of the International Business Accelerator, an import/export international trade counseling center program of the New Mexico Small Business Development Network. The IBA has offices in Santa Teresa and Silver City, New Mexico and in Chihuahua City, Chihuahua. Since its establishment in November of 2003, the IBA has assisted more than 300 clients from Mexico and the U.S. Mr. Pacheco past professional experience includes: Director of the State of New Mexico’s Trade and Tourism Office in Mexico City; President of Global Perspectives Integrated; Director of Marketing, Santa Teresa Real Estate Development Corporation, VP of Business Banking (commercial and international banking) of Norwest Bank, etc. Mr. Pacheco holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Marketing, an M.B.A. in International Management and a Masters in Latin American studies.

March 30, 2007

Immigration and Immigrants in American Life: Responses from the US Congress, the State of New Mexico and the Mexican Government”
Lecture by Dr. Manuel Garcia y Griego, Director, Southwest Hispanic Research Institute

Dr. Manuel Garcia y Griego is one of the leading experts on migration to the United States. He is currently Director of Southwest Hispanic Research Institute and Associate Professor, Department of History, UNM. Dr.Garcia y Griego received his BA from Princeton University, MA from Colegio de Mexico, Mexico City, and Ph.D. from UCLA. He worked in Mexico at El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City, and taught at the University of California, Irvine and University of Texas at Arlington. He wrote numerous books and articles on the topic of immigration and US – Mexican relations, for example “Mexican – U.S. Relations: Conflict and Convergence”, “Immigration and Immigrant Integration in California: Seeking a New Consensus”, “Migration between Mexico and the United States: Binational Study” and others.

March 25, 2007

Book Club
WHAT TERRORISTS WANT by Louise Richardson, executive dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, lecturer in government at Harvard and in law at the Harvard Law School, will be the book for discussion at the next meeting of the International Book Club to be held at Marina Oborotova’s house on March 25, 2007 at 7 PM.

After defining what terrorism is, Richardson explores its origins, its goals, what’s to come, and what is to be done about it. She explains terrorist movements throughout history and around the globe. Having grown up in rural Ireland and watched her friends join the Irish Republican Army, Richardson knows from first hand experience how terrorism can both unite and destroy a community.  University Professor Stanley Hoffman of Harvard says “If a reader has the time to read only one book on terrorism, this is that book.”

For more information please contact Alan Levine allnlevine@aol.com, 345-5670

February 16, 2007
“Who’s a Leftist, Who’s a Populist, and What’s the Difference?
Presidential Elections in Latin America since 1998″ by Dr. Javier Corrales, Chair, Political Science Department, Amherst College, 3:30 – 5:00 PM, at the Petroleum Club.

Dr. Corrales is Associate Professor and Chair of Political Science at Amherst College. He obtained his PhD in political science in 1996 from Harvard University, where he specialized in comparative and international politics of Latin America. His areas of interest include the politics of economic policy reform in developing countries. He is the author of Presidents without Parties: The Politics of Economic Reform in Argentina and Venezuela in the 1990s (Penn State University Press, University Park, 2002).  Javier’s research has been published in several book chapters and academic journals such as Comparative Politics, World Development, Political Science Quarterly, International Studies Quarterly, World Policy Journal, Latin American Politics and Society, Latin American Research Review , Studies in Comparative International Studies, and Current History.

February 2, 2007 –
Mathew Woodley, Director, International Trade Division,
New Mexico and Trade Opportunities in Asia

Mathew Woodlee leads the efforts of the New Mexico Economic Development Department’s services that assist New Mexican companies expand into international markets.  Prior to his current position, Mr. Woodlee served in the U.S. Department of Commerce/U.S. Commercial Service in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland. 

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January 19, 2007 –
Ambassador Davidow “U.S. Policy in Latin America and Mexico” Ambassador Jeffrey Davidow gave his perspective on the challenges to U.S. relations with Latin America.  Although crisis in the Middle East and terrorism have distracted Americans, the days when President Nixon complained “… people don’t give one damn about Latin America” are definitely over.  China and Europe are greatly expanding trade and investment while the region is growing economically.  The U.S. is wary of emerging populist and often anti-American leaders.  Immigration from Mexico remains a festering problem.  With the Castro era apparently ending, what happens next in Cuba is potentially destabilizing.  How should the US react?  What should be our policy?

Ambassador Davidow is currently President of the Institute of the Americas. During his 34 year-long Foreign Service career, he served in increasingly senior positions in the U.S. embassies in Guatemala, Chile and Venezuela, and in 1993-1996 returned to Venezuela as ambassador. From 1996 to 1998, he was the State Department’s chief policy maker for the hemisphere, serving in the position of Assistant Secretary of State. He then served as an Ambassador to Mexico from 1998 to 2002 under presidents Clinton and Bush. He retired as America’s highest ranking diplomat, one of only three people to hold the personal rank of Career Ambassador. In 2002-03 he was a Visiting Fellow at the Harvard University and wrote a book “The U.S. and Mexico: The Bear and the Porcupine.”