The CIS Starr Forum is a public event series sponsored by the Starr Foundation of New York. We bring to the MIT campus leading academics, policymakers and journalists to discuss pressing issues in the world of international relations and U.S. foreign policy. CIS Starr Forums are open to the general public as well as to the MIT community.

An adjunct series, The CIS Starr Forum on the Rise of China, addresses the effect of China's growing economic power and national competitiveness on such global sustainability topics as global resource consumption, greenhouse gas production and climate change, international public health and disease control, and regional military security.

To contact the CIS Starr Forum, please e-mail starrforum@mit.edu.

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CIS Starr Forum Event Archive
Speakers' titles are as of the date of the given event.

2011 EVENTS
2010 EVENTS
2009 EVENTS
2008 EVENTS
2007 EVENTS
2006 EVENTS
2005 EVENTS
2004 EVENTS
2003 EVENTS
2002 EVENTS
2001 EVENTS

• November 07, 2011

Starr Forum: The Republican Party and American Foreign Policy

Speaker:
Michael Singh, managing director of The Washington Institute and a former senior director for Middle East affairs at the National Security Council.
Daniel Drezner, professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University

Moderator:
Steve Van Evera, Ford International Professor in the MIT Department of Political Science

See the event flyer here
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• October 20, 2011

Starr Forum: Border Security in the 21st Century

Alan Bersin and Chappell Lawson will speak on border security in the 21st century. Q&A will follow the discussion.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:
Alan Bersin, Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection with the Obama Administration.
Chappell Lawson, Associate Professor of Political Science at MIT and Director of MISTI (Professor Lawson served as Executive Director and Senior Advisor to the Commissioner at U.S. Customs and Border Protection from Sept 2009 - Feb 2011)

See the event flyer here
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• October 03, 2011

"Hidden Battles"
"Hidden Battles" Film screening and Q&A with Director

"Hidden Battles," a documentary about the psychological impact that killing has on soldiers cross-culturally and globally, offers a humanistic perspective on how soldiers make a life for themselves after war. Following the film there will be a Q & A with the film's director, Victoria Mills.

Victoria Mills is a full-time practicing psychoanalyst with more than twenty-five years of experience. The award-winning documentary, MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS: MIRRORS THAT BIND was her first film.

For more information and to see a trailer, visit www.hiddenbattles.com.



• September 12, 2011

Palestinian Statehood and the UN
A talk and Q&A with Dr. Husam Zomlot

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Dr. Husam Zomlot, a senior adviser to Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath, served as PLO representative to the UK from 2003 to 2008, among other high-level posts. He was a fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center and is author of "State Formation in Palestine."

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• September 09, 2011

Starr Forum: Top Secret America–The Rise of the New American Security State
Book Talk with Dana Priest, Washington Post

The top-secret world that the government created in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks has become so enormous, so unwieldy, and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs or exactly how many agencies duplicate work being done elsewhere. In TOP SECRET AMERICA, award-winning reporters Dana Priest and William Arkin uncover the enormous size, shape, mission, and consequences of this "invisible universe."

About the speaker/co-author:
Investigative reporter Dana Priest has been The Washington Post's intelligence, Pentagon and health-care reporter. She has won numerous awards, including the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for public service for "The Other Walter Reed" and the 2006 Pulitzer for beat reporting for her work on CIA secret prisons and counter-terrorism operations overseas. She is author of the 2003 book, "The Mission: Waging War and Keeping Peace With America's Military", (W.W. Norton).

See the event flyer here
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• June 17, 2011

The Green Movement and Nonviolent Struggle for Democratic Iran
Guest Speaker:
Dr. Adeshir Amirarjomand
Mousavi Representative, Green Movement

Moderator:
Dr. John Tirman, Executive Director and Principal Research Scientist, MIT Center for International Studies

Special Guest:
Dr. Farzin Vahdat, Founding Member Nonviolent Initiative for Democracy

About the speaker:
Dr. Ardeshir Amirarjomand was born in 1957 in Tehran. He studied law in Melli University of Iran and in 1978 he received his doctoral degree (Doctorat d'Etat) in international law and diploma in comparative law from the Strasbourg University in France. From 1990, Dr. Amirarjomand was a law professor at Shahid Beheshti University and lectured in PublicLaw,International Law and Human Rights. Dr. Amirarjomand hasinitiated new department and courses of law in Shahid Beheshti University including Human Rights, environmental law and Bioethics law. Dr. Amirarjomand has been a member of Several Scientific and legal Institutes and has focused on promoting citizen rights and humanrights in Iran. Dr. Amirarjomand has been UNESCO chair holder for Human Rights, Democracy and Peace for ten years and also the Founder and director of the Center for Human Rights, Peace and Democracy in Iran. From to 2005 to 2009 Dr. Amirarjomand partnered with of the United Nations Development Programme to promote human rights in Iran. During the reformist government between 1997 to 2004 Dr. Amirarjomand drafted

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• April 29, 2011

Egypt's Revolution
A conversation with the founders of the April 6 Youth Movement, Ahmed Maher and Waleed Rashed

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Ahmed Maher, co-founder of the April 6 Youth Movement, is a civil engineer and a prominent participant in the anti-Mubarak demonstrations in Egypt in 2011. Maher is now one of Egypt's best known youth activists, leading politically mobilized young Egyptians to develop their political consciousness through the skillful deployment of new technologies and social networking platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and Twitter.

Waleed Rashed, co-founder of the April 6 Youth Movement, has a degree in commerce and is continuing his studies in political science. He is the spokesperson for the April 6 Movement and the organizer of the April 6, 2008, Youth Movement protest in Alexandria where he and 14 members of the movement were arrested. He has traveled to Algeria, UAE, Turkey, Bahrain, Qatar and Lebanon as a member of the Kafaya movement, aka the Egyptian Movement for Change.

Moderating the event is Jason Pontin.Pontin is editor in chief of the award-winning magazine, Technology Review and TechnologyReview.com, published by MIT.

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• April 13, 2011

Afghanistan: Mending it Not Just Ending It
Featured speaker: David Miliband, Foreign Secretary for the United Kingdom (2007-2010)

Miliband was the Foreign Secretary for the United Kingdom from 2007 to 2010. He will join CIS as a Robert E. Wilhelm Fellow in residence from April 11 through 15, 2011. He is an alumnus of the Department of Political Science Department at MIT, and he delivered the MIT Compton Lecture ( http://compton.mit.edu/ ) in spring 2010. Miliband will discuss the war in Afghanistan followed by a Q& A with the audience. Sponsored by the MIT Center for International Studies. Free and open to the public.

See the event flyer here
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• March 31, 2011

BUDRUS
A film screening followed by a discussion with the film director/producer

It takes a village to unite the most divided people on earth.

Budrus is an award-winning feature documentary film about a Palestinian community organizer, Ayed Morrar, who unites local Fatah and Hamas members along with Israeli supporters in an unarmed movement to save his village of Budrus from destruction by Israel's Separation Barrier. Success eludes them until his 15-year-old daughter, Iltezam, launches a women's contingent that quickly moves to the front lines. Struggling side by side, father and daughter unleash an inspiring, yet little-known, movement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories that is still gaining ground today.

In an action-filled documentary chronicling this movement from its infancy, Budrus shines a light on people who choose nonviolence to confront a threat. While this film is about one Palestinian village, it tells a much bigger story about what is possible in the Middle East.

Discussion with film director Julia Bacha to follow.



• March 28, 2011

ADVANTAGE: How American Innovation Can Overcome the Asian Challenge (A Book Talk)
Adam Segal, will speak on his recently published book "Advantage: How American Innovation Can Overcome the Asian Challenge"

Adam Segal, Ira A. Lipman Senior Fellow, Counterterrorism and National Security Studies, Council on Foreign Relations
Introduction by Taylor Fravel, the Cecil and Ida Green Career Development Associate Professor of Political Science and member of the Security Studies Program at MIT



• March 16, 2011

Japan's Nuclear Crisis
MIT experts discuss Japan's nuclear past, present, and future from a political and engineering perspective. The presentation will include an eyewitness account of the crisis and the Japanese government's response.

Guest speakers:
Richard Samuels, Ford International Professor of Political Science and Director of the MIT Center for International Studies
Kenneth Oye, Associate Professor of Political Science and Engineering Systems
Michael Golay, MIT Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering
Co-sponsored by the MIT Center for International Studies, MIT-Japan Program, and Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering

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• February 25, 2011

Inside Tahrir Square
Featured speaker: Iason Athanasiadis
Moderating: Kristin Fabbe, David Weinberg

Fresh from Cairo, Iason Athanasiadis will share about the 24 crucial hours spent inside Tahrir Square on the Wednesday night/Thursday morning when the Mubarak loyalists attacked and how it turned the entire momentum from one of violent repression to one of negotiations and concessions. Athanasiadis is a Farsi-speaking journalist who currently resides in Afghanistan. He studied Arabic and Modern Middle Eastern Studies at Oxford and was a 2008 Nieman fellow at Harvard. He studied for a Masters at the Iranian Foreign Ministry's think-tank in Tehran and was imprisoned in Tehran's Evin Prison on espionage charges during the 2009 post-election unrest. Joining the discussion will be Kristin Fabbe, PhD student, MIT Department of Political Science and David Weinberg, Graduate student, MIT Department of Political Science.

See the event flyer here
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• February 22, 2011

Sovereign Debt and the IMF: The case of Russia (A Book Talk)
Speaker: Martin Gilman, Professor of Economics , National Research University (Moscow)
Moderator: David Singer, Associate Professor of Political Science, MIT

The presentation by Professor Gilman will be based upon his book, No Precedent, No Plan: Inside Russia’s 1998 Default, recently published by MIT Press.
About the author: Martin Gilman is Professor of Economics at the National Research University — Higher School of Economics and the Director of its Centre for Advanced Studies, in conjunction with the New Economic School, in Moscow. Previously he was with the International Monetary Fund for 24 years where he was assistant director in the IMF’s policy department.



• February 14, 2011

US-Japan Relations: Where Are We Going?
A talk by and discussion with Ambassador of Japan, Ichiro Fujisaki. What is the future of the US-Japan alliance? What will be Japan?s place in the world? What is the economic outlook for Japan? Bring your questions and your curiosity as Ambassador Fujisaki engages in a discussion with the MIT community on the future of US-Japan relations.

Ichiro Fujisaki has served as Ambassador of Japan to the United States since June 2008.He has served as the political minister of the Embassy of Japan in Washington, DC, from 1995-99. As a diplomat, he has also served in Jakarta, Paris (OECD), and London. Prior to his current post, he served as Ambassador to the UN and to the WTO in Geneva. While there, he served as the Chairman of the Executive Committee of UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees). In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo, he has held such posts as Deputy Director-General for Asian Affairs and Director-General for North American Affairs before being appointed as the Deputy Foreign Minister. He has also served as the Sherpa, or the personal representative, of the Prime Minister to G8 Summit meetings.



• February 07, 2011

The Shah
A conversation style book talk with Abbas Milani and Ali Banuazizi about Abbas Milani's book "The Shah"
Abbas Milani is the Hamid and Christina Moghadam Director of Iranian Studies at Stanford University and a visiting professor in the department of political science. In addition, Dr. Milani is a research fellow and co-director of the Iran Democracy Project at the Hoover Institution. His expertise is U.S./Iran relations, Iranian cultural, political, and security issues. Dr. Milani will discuss his latest book, The Shah, published January 2011 by Palgrave Macmillan. Joining Dr. Milani for the talk is Dr. Ali Banuazizi, professor of political science and director of the Program in Islamic Civilization & Societies at Boston College. Books will be sold at the event.

See the event flyer here
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• January 21, 2011

Noam Chomsky on Gaza in Crisis
Noam Chomsky addresses the ongoing crisis in Gaza followed by a question-and-answer session with the audience. Joining Chomsky is Nancy Murray, the director of education at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Massachusetts. She is the author of Rights Matter: the Story of the Bill of Rights. Nancy holds a B.Phil. and Ph.D. in modern history from Oxford University. She has experience as a teacher, scholar and social activist in Great Britain, Kenya, and the Middle East as well as the United States, and has written widely on the themes of civil liberties, civil and human rights.

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• November 19, 2010

"Enemies of the People"
A film screening and discussion with co-director Rob Lemkin

Enemies of the People, 2010 Sundance Festival winner, the film represents the first time the story of Democratic Kampuchea has been told from the inside - there is no tendentiousness or hearsay in the account. The film was co-directed by a remarkable Cambodian journalist, Thet Sambath, who lost his family during the time but nevertheless spent 10 years gaining the confidence of Khmer Rouge officials from Nuon Chea, Pol Pot's deputy, down. The film has been widely praised for putting a human face on the Khmer Rouge, yet it goes further than any account before into the horror of what happened. This apparent contradiction combined with its strong avoidance of anti-communism has meant the film has spoken powerfully to many audiences all over the world. It's currently on theatrical release in the US and will show in slightly shorter form next year on PBS television.
See the event flyer here



• November 09, 2010

Report Card on President Obama: Climate, Afghanistan, and the Economy
MIT experts, Barry Posen, Henry Jacoby and Simon Johnson assess Obama's work on Afghanistan, Climate, and the Economy and how the results of the Nov. 2 mid-term elections will affect these important issues.
Richard Samuels, CIS director and Ford Int'l Professor of Political Science, will moderate the discussion.
About the Speakers:
Barry Posen is Ford International Professor of Political Science at MIT and director of the MIT Security Studies Program. Posen's current research interests include U.S. national security policy, the security policy of the European Union, the organization and employment of military force, great power intervention into civil conflicts, and innovation in the U.S. Army, 1970-1980.
Henry (Jake) Jacoby is the William F. Pounds Professor of Management Emeritus at the MIT Sloan School of Managment. He also is co-director of the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, which is a world leader in integration of the natural and social sciences and policy analysis in application to the threat of global climate change.
Simon Johnson an expert on the financial sector and economic crises, is Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He served as economic counselor and director of the research department at the IMF from March 2007 to August 2008. He is the co-author of 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and The Next Financial Meltdown, a bestselling assessment of the dangers now posed by the US financial sector.
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• October 27, 2010

"In Between: A One Man Show In Between"
by Ibrahim Miari
In Between is a semi-autobiographical one man show that portrays the complexities and contradictions inherent in Palestinian-Israeli identity. On the precipice between two cultures stands Ibrahim Miari, son of a Palestinian Muslim father and Jewish Israeli mother. During an interrogation by Israeli airport security, he recalls his childhood in Acco, memories of his Jewish and Palestinian grandmothers, of war. Questions surrounding his identity become even further complicated by his imminent marriage to a Jewish American woman.
About the Performer:
Ibrahim Miari is a Palestinian-Israeli actor who recently graduated from the Boston University School of Theatre. In Between is a semi-autobiographical piece that portrays the complexities and contradictions inherent in Palestinian-Israeli identity. The show recalls Ibrahim’s childhood in Acco, memories of his Jewish and Palestinian grandmothers, of war, and of the struggle to shape and understand his own multi-faceted identity - a struggle further complicated by his imminent marriage to a Jewish American woman. The play was first presented as part of a thesis project at Boston University's School of Theatre, College of Fine Arts.
See the event flyer here




• October 19, 2010

"Peace Meals "
Book talk with journalist Anna Badkhen and Fotini Christia
The book talk was a conversation-style between Anna Badkhen and Fotini Christia
Speaker bios:
Anna Badkhen has covered wars in Afghanistan, Somalia, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Chechnya and Kashmir. She has reported extensively from Iraq since 2003. Her reporting has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Globe, The Christian Science Monitor, The National, FRONTLINE/World, Truthdig, and Salon. Her book, "A War Reporter's Pantry," will be published in January 2011 by Free Press/Simon&Schuster. She lives in Massachusetts.
Fotini Christia joined the MIT faculty this fall as Assistant Professor in Political Science. She recently completed her PhD in Public Policy at Harvard University, where she was a recipient of research fellowships from the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies and the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Her research interests deal with issues of ethnicity and civil wars and her dissertation addresses the question of civil war alliances.She has published work on the role of local elites in civil wars in Comparative Politics, and is presently working on two field projects of an experimental design, one in Afghanistan and one in Bosnia, that address the effects of institutions of cooperation in post-conflict, multi-ethnic societies. Fotini has also worked in the Middle East and Central Asia and has written opinion pieces on her experiences from Afghanistan, Iran, the West Bank and Gaza and Uzbekistan for the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Boston Globe. She graduated magna cum laude with a joint BA in Economics-Operations Research from Columbia College and a Masters in International Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.
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• October 15, 2010

"Nuclear Tipping Point"
Nuclear Tipping Point is a documentary film that focuses on conversations with four men intimately involved in American diplomacy and national security over the last four decades. Former Secretary of State George Shultz, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of Defense Bill Perry and former Senator Sam Nunn share the personal experiences that led them to write two Wall Street Journal op-eds in support of a world free of nuclear weapons and the steps needed to get there.
George Shultz has had a distinguished career in government, in academia, and in business. He has held four different cabinet posts, has taught at three of the United States' greatest universities, and was president of a major engineering and construction company. Mr. Shultz held two key positions in President Reagan's administration: Chairman of the President's Economic Policy Advisory Board (1981-1982) and Secretary of State (1982-1989)
See the event flyer here
More information about the film



• September 27, 2010

Reclaiming the Moral Life of Philanthropy
The bottom-line mentality that swept American life in the last few decades, often overriding considerations of principle and professionalism in business, politics, the arts, higher education, journalism and other spheres, left its mark on philanthropy and the not-for-profit world as well. Along the way the clarity of core values like justice and equality too often gave way to utilitarian approaches based on effectiveness and cost-benefit analyses.These have their place, but only if grounded in a strong moral framework.
Speaker: Gara LaMarche, CEO and President, Atlantic Philanthropies Introduction: Deborah Fitzgerald, Dean, School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, MIT
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• September 14, 2010

"Washington Rules: America's Path to Permanent War"
Book Talk with Andrew Bacevich
Andrew J. Bacevich is professor of international relations and history at Boston University. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, he received his PhD in American Diplomatic History from Princeton University. Before joining the faculty of Boston University, he taught at West Point and Johns Hopkins. He is the New York Times bestselling author of The Limits of Power. He also has authored several books and his essays are published widely. At MIT, he will discuss his most recent book, Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War.Books will be for sale at the event
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• May 6, 2010

"Crossing Mandelbaum Gate" Book Talk with Kai Bird
Pulitzer prize-winning author, Kai Bird, will be at MIT for a book talk and book signing: "Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming of Age between the Arabs and Israelis, 1956-1978" (Just released April 27, 2010!)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Kai Bird's recent book, Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming of Age Between the Arabs and Israelis, 1956-1978, was released by Scribner on April 27, 2010. His book is a meld of personal memoir and history, fusin...g his early life in Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Egypt with an account of the American experience in the Middle East and intimate insights into the Arab-Israeli tragedy. He is the co-author with Martin J. Sherwin of the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography,"American Prometheus" (2005)--the first truly comprehensive biography on the life and times of J. Robert Oppenheime, which also won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography and the Duff Cooper Prize for History in London. He lives in Kathmandu, Nepal, with his wife and son. For his complete bio, visit: www.kaibird.com

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• April 21, 2010

MIT/Harvard Gaza series: "America's Reponse"
Speakers: Augustus Richard Norton, professor of anthropology and international relations, Boston University Robert Blecher, historian and analyst with the International Crisis Group Uri Zaki, USA Director, B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Center

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• April 08, 2010

Yemen: Avoiding the Mistakes and Learning the Lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan
Ambassador Barbara Bodine's over 30 years in the US Foreign Service were spent primarily on Arabian Peninsula and greater Persian Gulf issues. Her tour as Ambassador to the Republic of Yemen (1997-2001) saw enhanced support for democratization and increased security and counterterrorism cooperation. Bodine also served in Baghdad as deputy principal officer during the Iran-Iraq War; Kuwait as deputy chief of mission during the Iraqi invasion and occupation of 1990-1991; and again, seconded to the Department of Defense, in Iraq in 2003 as the senior State Department official and the first coalition coordinator for reconstruction in Baghdad and the central governorates. Her first assignment in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs was as country officer for the Two Yemens and security assistance coordinator for the peninsula. She later returned to that office as deputy director. Currently, she is a lecturer in public policy at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and as director of the school's Scholars in Nation's Service Initiative.

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• March 02, 2010

Death of the News?
Journalism is in a crisis. Newspapers are going out of business; editors and reporters are losing their jobs. "Death of the News?" brings together a panel of experts to discuss the rise of online media and its impact on global society. Speakers Maria Balinska, Susan Glasser, & Jason Pontin will discuss about how to save the news in a vanishing era of newspapers. This event is free and open to the public.

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• February 23, 2010

Rebuilding Haiti
MIT experts discuss how to help Haiti create a future different from the generations of misery it has known. This event is free and open to the public. About the speakers: Cherie Miot Abbanat is a lecturer in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning and the Department of Architecture, and co-chair of DUSP?s Undergraduate Committee. Michel DeGraff, a native of Haiti, is associate professor of linguistics at MIT. Erica James is associate professor of anthropology at MIT. Dale Joachim is a visiting scientist at the MIT Media Lab, where he currently co-teaches the special project class New Media Projects for Haiti

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• February 22, 2010

Why History Matters: International Law and the Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Victor Kattan will speak on his book "From Coexistence to Conquest" Kattan is the author of more than half a dozen scholarly articles on the Arab-Israeli conflict in international law journals. His book "From Coexistence to Conquest: International Law and the Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict" was published in June 2009 by Pluto Books. Currently, Kattan is a teaching fellow at the Center for International Studies and Diplomacy at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Some of his previous posts include: research fellow in public international law at British Institute of International and Comparative Law;director and journalist with the London based media watchdog Arab Media Watch; and UN Development Programme TOKTEN consultant in Occupied Palestinian Territories. Noam Chomsky will introduce Victor Kattan.

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• February 17, 2010

Swiss Ambassador to the UN: Challenges Facing the United Nations
Ambassador Peter Maurer is in his fifth and last year in service to the United Nations before assuming his new position as Swiss Secretary of State of Foreign Affairs in spring 2010. He will present a "state of the union" address concerning the challenges to the United Nations including: climate change, peace-keeping and peace-building, terrorism, and human rights. His discussion will conclude with a Q&A and Swiss-style reception. Peter Maurer, who is currently Switzerland's ambassador to the United Nations in New York, has been named the country's new secretary of state in the Foreign Affairs Office. Maurer has been in the Swiss diplomatic service since 1987. Since 1996, he has been part of the New York UN mission. He holds a doctoral degree in philosophy from the University of Bern. Wednesday, February 17, 2010 4:30p- 6:00p E40-496 Lucian Pye Conference Room 1 Amherst Street, Cambridge

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• December 2, 2009

Cold War Cinema
The Center is delighted to introduce a Cold War Cinema series exploring the impact of this era on cinema. The first feature, presented on December 2, is Billy Wilder's 1961 film One, Two, Three. Discussing the film is journalist Christian Caryl, who was in Berlin covering the fall of the wall in 1989. Caryl is currently with Foreign Policy and Newsweek. He is also a senior fellow at CIS. The Starr Forum event was held on Wednesday, December 2 at 6:30 PM, at 6-120.

See the event flyer here



• November 30, 2009

Immigration, Islam, and the West
Christopher Caldwell comes to MIT on November 30 to discuss his latest book: Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam, and the West. "In Europe, the author argues, the clash between Western civilization and the Muslim world has already been lost—in the latter's favor." Caldwell is a senior editor at The Weekly Standard and a regular contributor to the Financial Times and Slate. His essays and reviews appear in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. The Starr Forum event was held on Monday, November 30 at 4:30 PM, at E25-111.

See the event flyer here



• November 4, 2009

Iran: Images from Beneath a Chador
Iran: Images From Beneath a Chador is a photography exhibit that reflects on a pivotal event in the history of US-Iran relations: the November 4, 1979, storming of the US Embassy in Iran and the ensuing hostage crisis. Photojournalist Randy Hope Goodman shares her images and discusses her work on the 30th anniversary of the crisis at the Center for International Studies at MIT.

The Starr Forum event was held on Wednesday, November 4 at 4:30 PM, at CIS.

See the event flyer here



• October 15, 2009

Darfur/Darfur: The Crisis | The Exhibit
The Starr Forum event commences in the Kirsch Auditorium with a panel discussion featuring Robert Rotberg, Belfer Center, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government; Susannah Sirkin, Physicians for Human Rights; and Marcus Bleasdale, member of the DARFUR/DARFUR team. The event concludes in the TSMC Lobby with the DARFUR/DARFUR exhibit and reception. DARFUR/DARFUR is a traveling exhibit of digitally-projected images that provide visual education about the richly multi-cultural region while exposing the horrors of the ongoing humanitarian crisis. The exhibit is a product of Art Works Projects and curated by Leslie Thomas, founding director of Art Works Projects.

The Starr Forum event was held on Thursday, October 15 at 7 PM, at the Stata Center.

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• October 5, 2009

Book Talk: Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn
CIS and Harvard Book Store are delighted to host New York Times correspondents and Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn for a discussion of their new book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. Kristof and WuDunn set out to expose the struggles of women across Asia and Africa, to tell their human stories, and to follow the progress of women who are ultimately given the opportunity to seize control of their own lives. Introducing the authors will be Diane Davis, professor of political sociology at MIT and head of the International Development Group. Davis also directs the Center's Jerusalem 2050 Program. The event will be Monday, October 5, at 6 PM, at the Brattle Theatre. Tickets are available at Harvard Book Store.

The Starr Forum event was held on Monday, October 5, at 6 PM, at the Brattle Theatre.



• September 23, 2009

"U.S.-Cuba Relations: The beginning of a long thaw? "
Cuban scholars Julia Sweig and Wayne Smith will be discussants at a CIS Starr Forum entitled: Cuba-U.S. Relations: The Beginning of a Long Thaw? Sweig is a senior fellow and director for Latin America Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. She is the award-winning author of Inside the Cuban Revolution, and, most recently, Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know. Smith is senior fellow and director of the Cuba Program at the Center for International Policy, and a visiting professor of Latin American studies at Johns Hopkins University. Smith served in the State Department as executive secretary of President Kennedy's Latin American Task Force and chief of mission at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.
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The Starr Forum event was held on Wed, Sept 23, at 4:30 PM, in the Wong Auditorium, MIT Bldg E51.



• May 5, 2009

"U.S.- Iran Relations"
Should the U.S. build better relations with Iran? Can we live with a nuclear Iran? Do the Iranian presidential elections provide new opportunities for dialogue? A panel of international security and foreign policy experts will address such issues at a Starr Forum on Tuesday, May 5. Our featured speakers are: Jim Walsh, a research associate at the CIS Security Studies Program (SSP) at MIT, and Suzanne DiMaggio, director of the Asia Society. Stephen Heintz, president of Rockefeller Bros. Fund, will serve as the discussant and Barry Posen, Ford International Professor of Political Science and director of SSP, will chair.
See the event flyer here
Broad Institute Auditorium, MIT Bldg NE30, 7 Cambridge Center, Cambridge MA 4pm



• April 30, 2009

"Afghanistan"
Admiral Willam Fallon, USN (RET), will be giving a public talk on Afghanistan. Joining the discussion will be Fotini Christa, an expert on Afghanistan. Fallon joined the Center for International Studies for the 2008-09 academic year as a Robert E. Wilhelm fellow. Christia joined MIT last fall as an assistant professor of political science and a member of the Security Studies Program. The April 30 Starr Forum on Afghanistan commences at 4 PM in the MIT Wong Auditorium.
See the event flyer here
MIT Building E51, Wong Auditorium (Tang Center), 70 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 4pm



• April 13, 2009

"The Most Important Number in the World."
Science has given us, in the last 18 months, a real bottom line for the planet: a CO2 concentration above which, as NASA's Jim Hansen has put it, we can't maintain the "planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life is adapted." Bill McKibben, a scholar in residence at Middlebury College, an American environmentalist and prolific writer on related topics, will be calling on MIT students to join a global movement to share that alarming scientific truth to as many folks as possible. Along with the Center for International Studies this event was co-sponsored by its new program: Environmental Vulnerability, Resilience, and Justice.
See the event flyer here
MIT Building E51, Wong Auditorium (Tang Center), 70 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 4:30pm



• March 30-31, 2009

MIT/Harvard Gaza Symposium
The second annual Gaza symposium, this year jointly organized by MIT and Harvard, will host a series of panels on the role of U.S. and international actors, as well as human rights and international humanitarian law in the wake of recent events in Gaza. Bringing together experts in the fields of human rights, history, political science, U.S. foreign policy and law, the two-day symposium will include a range of views from US, Israeli, Palestinian and UN/NGO perspectives. The public event will be held at MIT on Monday, March 30, and at Harvard University on Tuesday, March 31. The official web site for the second annual Gaza symposium, including all updates, is located here.
The videos from day one at MIT are available to watch this site. To view the video from day two at Harvard click here.
See the event flyer here
MIT Building E51, Wong Auditorium (Tang Center), 70 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 1:30pm



• February 19, 2009

"The Endless Present"
On February 19, Israeli architect Eyal Weizman will present a public talk on the "architecture of occupation" in Israel Palestine. Weizman has taught, lectured, curated and organized conferences in many institutions worldwide. His books include Hollow Land, A Civilian Occupation, the series Territories 1, 2, and 3, Yellow Rhythms and many articles in journals, magazines and edited books. He became a member of B'Tselem's managing board in 2008.
Joining the discussion as commentator is Salim Tamari. Tamari is director of the Institute of Jerusalem Studies and a professor of sociology at Birzeit University. He edits Hawliyyat al Quds and Jerusalem Quarterly and is the author of several works on urban culture, political sociology, biography and social history, and the social history of the Eastern Mediterranean.
Along with the Center for International Studies this event was co-sponsored by Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, Bustani Lecture Series and Jerusalem 2050
MIT Building 32-155 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 4:30pm



• February 11, 2009

"The Challenges to the Global Economy."
Economist Martin Feldstein will be speaking on the challenges that face the global economy. Joining the talk as a discussant, is MIT Sloan School's Simon Johnson.
See the event flyer here
MIT Building E51, Wong Auditorium (Tang Center), 70 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 5:30pm



• January 29, 2009

Mia Kirshner on "I Live Here"
Actor-author Mia Kirshner will be speaking at MIT on her book, I Live Here. The multimedia publication presents the first-hand stories of refugees and displaced people in four specific areas of the world, through their own words, photographs and stories, and in collaboration with artists of various different media. Mirroring the multimedia approach of the book, Kirshner has been teaching an IAP course at MIT. The course asks students to create their own short video based on hidden stories that need to be heard within the greater Boston community. The results will be featured on the CIS website and will be shown at the event on January 29.
See the event flyer here
MIT Building MIT Rm 6-120, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 5pm



• January 13, 2009

Chomsky on Gaza
Noam Chomsky addresses the crisis in Gaza followed by a question-and-answer session with the audience.
See the event flyer here
MIT Building E51, Wong Auditorium (Tang Center), 70 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 4pm