Worldview Institute
The Worldview Institute | Spring 2010 Semester
SEMINAR 1: April 14, 2010
Sudan: A Misunderstood Giant
Sudan is huge, and like all exceptionally large countries, it has regions with rich particularities and resources. Many of these are part of the current international lexicon - problems between north and south Sudan, problems in Darfur, size of oil reserves, relations with China, relations with immediate neighbors, the list goes on and on. We should have a chance to delve deeper into the warp and weft of this giant of Africa. This seminar will feature Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed, Permanent Representative of the Republic of the Sudan to the United Nations. He will join Ambassador Ahmad Kamal in a conversation followed by Q/A.
Guest lecturers:
Ambassador Ahmad Kamal, President and CEO, The Ambassador's Club at the United Nations
Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed, Permanent Representative of the Republic of the Sudan to the United Nations
SEMINAR 2: April 21, 2010
What's Wrong with The United Nations and How to Fix it
The United Nations was established six decades ago after World War II but it is perpetually in crisis. What exactly is wrong with the UN and how can we fix it? Is it possible to retrofit the world body? What are the problems of international leadership and decision-making in a world of self-interested states? This seminar will focus on the diagnosis and the cure to the world organizations' inherent difficulties.
Guest lecturer: Thomas G. Weiss, Presidential Professor of Political Science, Director, Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, City University of New York
SEMINAR 3: April 28, 2010
Facing the Crises of our Time: What is Global Citizenship in the 21st Century?
Where do business and diplomacy connect? What role do public-private partnerships play in achieving the Millennium Development Goals? This seminar will discuss how the private sector can help to create a better world with a view from the United Nations.
Guest lecturer: Gillian M. Sorensen, Senior Advisor, United Nations Foundation
SEMINAR 4: May 5, 2010
A Little Capital is an Empowering Thing
Thirty years of anecdotal evidence and an increasing empirical data shows that access to financial services not only has an impact in lifting women and their families out of poverty but has an even more important impact on women's sense of empowerment by changing their status within homes and communities. Women's World Banking, the world's largest network of microfinance providers, works to keep the focus of microfinance on women — as clients, as leaders and as innovators.
Guest lecturer: Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President and CEO, Women's World Banking
SEMINAR 5: May 12, 2010
What the Greece Debacle Revealed About EU (Dis)Unity
Greece's recent financial travails demonstrated, yet again, that despite protestations and treaties to the contrary, Europe is still a very dysfunctional place. The seminar will cover the Greek/German stand-off and its implications for other potential bailout candidates (notably Spain and Portugal) and touch on the discussions around a proposed European Monetary Fund.
Guest lecturer: Stacy-Marie Ishmael, Reporter, The Financial Times
SEMINAR 6: May 19, 2010
India and the Multilateral System
In this seminar, we will trace the origins of the Multilateral System, principally the United Nations and the trading system based on the current WTO. The focus of the presentation will be India's participation within this system and India's expectations in the coming decades.
Guest lecturer: Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations
SEMINAR 7: May 26, 2010
Yemen: Learning the Lessons – Avoiding the Mistakes of Iraq and Afghanistan
Yemen bursts onto American consciousness about once a decade and then Brigadoon-like slides into near oblivion again. This process of constant rediscovery is accompanied by breathless articles of its near collapse, its imminent failure. Yet it never quite fails. It also never quite succeeds, but with every turn of this wheel the stakes of failure for both the Yemenis and the U.S. grow. What are the realities of Yemen? What can and should the U.S. do to prevent state failure and what lessons should we take from Iraq and Afghanistan in framing our policies?
Guest lecturer: Ambassador Barbara K. Bodine, Diplomat in Residence, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
SEMINAR 8: June 2, 2010
Identity, Solidarity and Islam in Europe
Islamic immigration into Western Europe has become one of the hottest political topics on the Continent. Right-wing populists rail against the challenge to national identity and the abuse of the welfare state, centrists worry about the implied threat to domestic security, and left-wingers complain about the treatment of women and the end of tolerance. What is true at the national level is true for the European Union as well — particularly as the EU negotiates to bring Turkey among its members. Many in the European Union believe that Turkish accession poses an existential threat. This seminar explores different perspectives on the debate about Islam and Europe.
Guest lecturer: Erik Jones, Professor of European Studies, SAIS Bologna Center, Johns Hopkins University
SEMINAR 9: June 9, 2010
Cultural Competence: Crossing the Business Divide
In the last ten years, the number of people participating in the global economy has increased from one million to more than five million. We do business, we trade, travel locally and internationally, we have to cooperate and get along with each other, and communicate with others on the other side of cultural boundaries. This seminar outlines some practical approaches to acquiring cultural competence in the workplace and includes some useful interactive self-assessment exercises.
Guest lecturer: Dr. Béatrice Hecht-El Minshawi, President and CEO, Interkultur, Bremen, Germany
SEMINAR 10: June 23, 2010
Impacts of the Financial Crisis on Latin America
A comparison will be offered of both the regional performance vs. previous crises in Latin America, as well as other regions in the developing world during the recent world financial crisis. In this context, there will be an analysis of the short and long-term challenges facing the return to growth.
Guest lecturer: José Antonio Ocampo, Former United Nations Under-Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs; Professor and Director, Economic and Political Development, SIPA, Columbia University
June 18, 2010
Graduation Dinner
Keynote Speaker: Ambassador Milton Nathaniel Barnes, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Liberia to the United Nations
Location: The National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, New York
