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Events Archive - 2008

Audio recordings of selected events are available here.

Fall 2008

Terror in Mumbai: Where Do We Go From Here?

Thursday, December 11, 2008
5 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Conference Room B1 A/B
1800 K St., NW, Washington, DC

Moderated By:
Ambassador Devinda Subasinghe, President, Bridging Nations, Former Sri Lankan Ambassador to the United States

Panelists:
David Good, Chief Representative, Tata Sons, Ltd.
Lisa Curtis, Senior Research Fellow, The Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center
Dr. Qamar-ul Uhda, Senior Program Officer, Religion and Peacemaking Program, United States Institute of Peace

Closing Remarks:
Dr. Prakash Ambegaonkar, Founder and CEO, Bridging Nations

The recent terrorist attacks that shook Mumbai pose daunting questions for consideration. What is the threat of terrorism, and how should we confront it? More specifically, how should India respond to these attacks? What do these attacks mean for the future of Indian-Pakistani relations? What role should the US play? Please join us as our panelists discuss some of the many questions that this tragic act of terror has unleashed and try to determine: where do we go from here?

Co-sponsored with The Heritage Foundation, the United States Insitute of Peace, CSIS, Asia Society, the East-West Center, the Indian American Forum and AJC.

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Donors and Development: Understanding the Aid Crisis in Pakistan

In the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Subnational Asia

Wednesday, December 3, 2008
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

audio icon Listen to the lecture.

Samia Altaf, Pakistan Scholar, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Samia Altaf is the 2007-2008 Pakistan Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington DC. She is writing about the effectiveness of donor assistance to Pakistan. She is an international health/public health physician with extensive work experience in the United States, Pakistan and India. In the U.S., she has worked at the county and state level and was the Medical Director for the Washington D.C. Department of Health's Medical Assistance Administration. She has worked for the World Health Organization and CIDA in India and Indonesia. In Pakistan, she has consulted for the Government of Pakistan, worked for UNICEF and for Agha Khan Medical College where she holds an Adjunct Faculty position. She has just finished a four year assignment with USAID Pakistan, working as Acting Director and subsequently as Senior Advisor, Office of Health. In recent months Dr. Altaf has written about Pakistan. These pieces are available at The South Asian Idea Weblog. Her essay titled "Pakistan Picaresque" was published by the Wilson Quarterly (Jan 2008). Her book length manuscript about aid effectiveness and the health sector in Pakistan is under review by the Wilson Center press.

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Dragon Lady: Reconsidering the Ambiguous Legacy of Madame Chiang Kai-shek in U.S.-China Relations

Presented by: The Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Asia Society

Wednesday, November 19, 2008
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

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Laura Tyson Li

Laura Tyson Li devoted years of research to Madame Chiang Kai-shek, with access to materials previously classified or unavailable. She is a Dartmouth College graduate, and now lives in New York City. Since her first trip to China in 1982, she has spent a decade living in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, during which she was variously a student, business reporter for the South China Morning Post, and Taiwan correspondent for the Financial Times. She has also written articles for the Economist and other publications. She is the author of Madame Chiang Kai-shek: China's Eternal First Lady, the first English-language biography of one of the world's most influential, colorful, and controversial women in modern history. Madame Chiang's life (1897-2003) spanned the twentieth century, much of it lived at the epicenter of events not only in the turbulent history of modern China, but in the epic struggles — World War Two, the Cold War — that engulfed the world for much of the twentieth century.

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Okinawa Reversion: A Northeast Asian Perspective

Presented by: The Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies and the Sigur Center for Asian Studies

Thursday, November 13, 2008
12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Voesar Conference Room, Suite 412
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

Yasuko Kono, Visiting Scholar, Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, The Elliott School of International Affairs

This presentation will reexamine the decision-making process of the Okinawa Reversion in its regional context. Traditionally, this process has been understood as an outcome of U.S.-Japan bilateral relations. However, a closer look at the role of the U.S. military bases in Okinawa reveals that the policy was also shaped by inputs other East Asian nations, such as South Korea and Taiwan. Both nations feared a negative impact of the Okinawa Reversion upon U.S. military capability of deterring their respective communist halves. By highlighting this rather overlooked regional context, Yasuko Kono emphasizes the importance of adopting a broader perspective of the Northeast Asian regional security in the understanding of the Okinawa Reversion and its aftermath.

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Globalization and Migration in Asia: A View from Three Angles

Wednesday, November 12, 2008
12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

audio icon Listen to the discussion.

A. Aneesh, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Global Studies, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee will speak on "virtual" migration and the emerging "transnational virtual space."

Elizabeth Chacko, Associate Professor of Geography and International Affairs, The George Washington University will talk about migration from South Asia to Southeast Asia.

Weiping Wu, Professor of Urban Studies, Planning and International Affairs, Virginia Commonwealth University will speak about rural to urban migration in China.

Moderated by:
Marie Price, Associate Professor of Geography and International Affairs and Chair, Department of Geography, The George Washington University

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Henry Luce Foundation.


The 16th Annual Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium in the Korean Humanities:
Tradition and Modernity in Korean Literature: The Work of Hahn Moo-Sook

Presented by: The George Washington University's Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures and the Sigur Center for Asian Studies

Saturday, November 8, 2008
9:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
The Harry Harding Auditorium, Room 213,
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW,
Washington, D.C.

Schedule

8:45-9:15 AM Coffee and Pastry

9:15-9:25 Welcome Remarks, S. Robert Ramsey, Director of the Center for East Asian Studies, University of Maryland

9:25-9:40 Video Presentation

Session I: 9:40-10:50 AM

Chair:
Young-Key Kim Renaud, Professor of Korean Language and Culture and International Affairs and Chair, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures

Hunyoung Yim, literary critic and Adjunct Professor of Modern Korean Literature at Joongang University

Chan E. Park, Associate Professor of Korean Language, Literature, and Performance Studies at The Ohio State University

10:50-11:00 Break

Session II: 11:00-12:05

Chair: R. Richard Grinker, Professor of Anthropology, International Affairs, and Human Sciences

Philippe Thiébault, Visiting Professor of Asian Studies at Sejong University

Commentary:

Don Baker, Associate Professor, Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia.

Young-chan Ro, Associate Professor and Chair of the Religious Studies Department at George Mason University

Hyangsoon Yi, Associate Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Georgia

Session III: 12:05-12:30 General Discussion

Chair:
Gregg Brazinsky, Assistant Professor of History and International Affairs

Luncheon: 12:30 p.m., the Lindner Family Commons, Room 602

The HMS Colloquium in the Korean Humanities series at GW provides a forum for academic discussion of Korean arts, history, language, literature, thought and religious systems in the context of East Asia and the world. The Colloquium series is made possible by an endowment established by the estate of Hahn Moo-Sook (1918-1993), one of Korea's most honored writers, in order to uphold her spirit of openness, curiosity, and commitment to education. The 16th HMS colloquium is co-sponsored by GW's Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, Sigur Center for Asian Studies, and Institute for Ethnographic Research.

A Korean Lunch will be provided.

More information about the 2008 Colloquium program

Information on some of the the works discussed:
And So Flows History
Encounter

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Wealth into Power: The Communist Party's Embrace of China's Private Sector

Wednesday, November 5, 2008
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

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A new book by:
Bruce Dickson, Professor of Political Science & International Affairs, The George Washington University

With commentary from:
David Shambaugh, Professor of Political Science & International Affairs and Director, China Policy Program, The George Washington University

In Wealth into Power, Bruce Dickson challenges the notion that economic development is leading to political change in China, or that China's private entrepreneurs are helping to promote democratization. Instead, they have become partners with the ruling Chinese Communist Party to promote economic growth while maintaining the political status quo. Dickson's research illuminates the Communist Party's strategy for incorporating China's capitalists into the political system, and how the shared interests, personal ties, and common views of the party and the private sector are creating a form of "crony communism." Rather than being potential agents of change, China's entrepreneurs may prove to be a key source of support for the party's agenda. Based on years of research and original survey data, this book will be of interest to all those interested in China's political future and the relationship between economic wealth and political power.

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International Relations of Asia

Wednesday, October 29, 2008
5:00 - 6:30 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

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A new book by:
David Shambaugh, Professor of Political Science & International Affairs and Director, China Policy Program, The George Washington University

and

Michael Yahuda, Professor Emeritus of International Relations, the London School of Economics and Adjunct Professor of Asian Studies, The Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University

As the world's most vital region, Asia embodies explosive economic growth, diverse political systems, vibrant societies, modernizing militaries, cutting-edge technologies, rich cultural traditions amid globalization, and strategic competition among major powers. As a result, international relations in Asia are evolving rapidly. In this deeply informed study, leading scholars offer the most current and definitive analysis available of Asia's regional relationships. They set developments in Asia in theoretical context, assess the role of leading external and regional powers, and consider the importance of subregional actors and linkages. Students and policy practitioners alike will find this book invaluable for understanding politics in contemporary Asia.

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Crazy for Japan: Art and Political Agendas at the International Expositions in the Gilded Age

In the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Transnational Asia

Wednesday, October 29, 2008
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

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Hannah Sigur, Adjunct Professor, University of California-Davis and San Francisco State University

Hannah Sigur is an art historian, writer, and editor with seven years' residence and study in East and Southeast Asia. As an adjunct professor, she teaches a wide range of courses at San Francisco State University, University of California-Davis, and elsewhere, and has lectured at major museums and antiques fairs across the country from New York to California. She co-authored A Master Guide to the Art of Floral Design, listed by The Christian Science Monitor in "The Best Books of 2002."


China: Political and Security Challenges for the Next Administration

Presented by: Security Policy Forum, the Security Policy Studies Program, the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the China Policy Program

Tuesday, October 28, 2008
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Harry Harding Auditorium, Suite 213
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

Thomas J. Christensen, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (2006-2008), Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University

Rear Admiral Michael McDevitt (USN, Ret.), Center for Naval Analysis, Vice President and Director of the Center for Strategic Studies

Harry Harding, University Professor of International Affairs, The George Washington University

Moderator: David Shambaugh, Director, China Policy Program and Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, The George Washington University

This event is part of the Elliott School's U.S. Foreign Policy Priorities Series.

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Taiwan as an International Economic Actor: Drivers, Partners and Prospects

Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

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Claude Barfield, Resident Scholar, the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

Peter Chow, Professor of Economics, City College and Graduate Center, City University of New York

Rupert Hammond-Chambers, President, the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council

Moderator:
Bruce Dickson, Professor of Political Science & International Affairs, The George Washington University

The roundtable will consider the major forces behind Taiwan's economic rise, the influence of Taiwan's economic partnerships, and the future of Taiwan's global economic relations, as well as the impact of the current financial crisis.

Schedule:
12 noon - 12:30 p.m.: Light Lunch
12:30 p.m. - 2 p.m.: Roundtable Discussion

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U.S.-China Economic Relations: Perspectives on Today and the Future

Monday, October 20, 2008
Presented by: The Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Institute for International Economic Policy

Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

Schedule:
8:30 -9:30 AM: Continental Breakfast

9:30 - 10:45 AM: The U.S. and China in the World Economy

Warwick McKibbin, Professor of Economics at Australian National University, Member of the Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia and Nonresident Fellow at the Brookings Institution

David Pumphrey, Deputy Director and Senior Fellow of the Energy and National Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Energy Cooperation at the Department of Energy

Jiawen Yang, Professor of International Business and International Affairs at the George Washington University

10:45-11:00 AM: Coffee Break

11:00 AM - 12:30 p.m.: U.S. and China Trade and Investment Issues

Jim Mendenhall, Partner at Sidley Austin, LLP and former General Counsel at Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

Patrick Mulloy, Member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission and former Assistant Secretary of Commerce

Eswar Prasad, Tolani Senior Professor of Trade Policy at Cornell University, Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution, Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and former Chief of the China Division at the International Monetary Fund

12:30-1:45: Lunch

2:00-3:15 p.m.: The Future of U.S.-China Relations

Albert Keidel, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and former Acting Director and Deputy Director for the Office of East Asian Nations at the U.S. Treasury Department

Philip Levy, Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and former Senior Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers

David Shambaugh, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at The George Washington University, Director of the China Policy Program at the Elliott School of International Affairs, and Nonresident Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution.

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Conversation with a Maoist Revolutionary

In the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Subnational Asia

Thursday, October 9, 2008
11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

audio icon Listen to the event.

Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, Minister of Finance, Nepal

Baburam Bhattarai is Nepal's Finance Minister. He was the second in command and chief ideologue of the Maoist guerillas, who led a decade-long armed uprising against the state and the monarchy. Dr. Bhattarai was instrumental in bringing his party to a successful peace process. Dr. Bhattarai is a senior member of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist's Secretariat, the highest governing body of the party. After just one month in the Finance Ministry, he has released an ambitious 2009 budget aimed at poverty alleviation. He is the author of The Nature of Underdevelopment and Regional Structure of Nepal: A Marxist Analysis (2003), Politico-Economic Rationale of People's War in Nepal (1998) and Nepal's Principles of Revolution. Bhattarai received his B.A. in Architecture from Chandigarh (India) in 1977 and completed his Ph.D. from Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi) in 1986.

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Healing the Wounds of War: Justice for Vietnam's Agent Orange Victims

Tuesday, October 7, 2008
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
The Chung-wen Shih Conference Room, Suite 503
The Sigur Center for Asian Studies
1957 E Street, NW

Dang Hong Nhut, survivor of Agent Orange exposure, member of the resistance in Southeastern Vietnam, former political prisoner

Tran Thi Hoan, second generation survivor of Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam

Shawn McHale, Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies and Associate Professor of History & International Affairs

Linda Yarr, Executive Director, Program for International Studies in Asia


Evaluating China's Persuasive Power: Cases from Southeast Asia

In the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Transnational Asia

Wednesday, October 1, 2008
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

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Evelyn Goh, Reader in International Relations, Royal Holloway, University of London

Evelyn Goh is Reader in International Relations at Royal Holloway, University of London. She is currently on leave as a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C. Previously she was University Lecturer and then Reader in International Relations and Fellow of St. Anne's College, University of Oxford. Her research interests are Asian security, Sino-American relations, and international relations theory. Her recent publications include "Great Powers and Hierarchical Order in Southeast Asia: Analyzing Regional Security Strategies", International Security 32:3, Winter 2007/8 and Reassessing Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific: Competition, Congruence, and Transformation (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2007), a book co-edited with Amitav Acharya. Dr. Goh received her Ph.D. from Oxford University.

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New Energy for the U.S.-India Nuclear Deal: Policy & Business Implications

Presented by: The Sigur Center for Asian Studies' India Initiative and the U.S.-India Business Council

Thursday, September 18, 2008
12:15 - 1:45 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

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Ambassador Karl F. Inderfurth, John O. Rankin Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, the Elliott School for International Affairs, The George Washington University

Michael Krepon, Co-founder, the Henry L. Stimson Center

Ron Somers, President, U.S.-India Business Council

Moderated by:
Deepa Ollapally, Associate Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies

Co-sponsored by the Asia Society

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Amjad Ali Khan, Master of the Sarod

Presented by: The Sigur Center for Asian Studies, the Indian Embassy, and Asia Society

Wednesday, September 17, 2008
7:30 p.m.
Jack Morton Auditorium, The George Washington University
805 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC

"Amjad Ali Khan casts a kind of charm on audiences, sending out ripples of excitement." The New York Times

We are delighted to present the award-winning and world-renowned sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan in a rare solo performance at one of Washington's newest and finest performance venues, the Jack Morton Auditorium at George Washington University.

In this intimate setting, you will enjoy with compelling immediacy the deeply expressive vocal tones of Amjad Ali Khan's sarod with the combination of heady sensuousness and profound spirituality for which he is famous.

Amjad Ali Khan has excelled in the world of Indian classical music. Since his first recital at the age of six Amjad Ali Khan has carried on his family's legendary tradition of musical performance. He has performed at festivals around the world and been honored with awards from UNESCO, UNICEF, World Economic Forum, as well as the Padma Vibhushan, among others.

"There is no essential difference between classical and popular music. Music is music. I want to communicate with the listener who finds Indian classical music remote." Amjad Ali Khan

This event is generously sponsored by The Tata Group.

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Historical Dialogue and Reconciliation in East Asia
An Asian Voices Seminar

Presented by: The Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA

Monday, September 15, 2008
3:30 - 5:45 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

Bu Ping, Dean, Center for Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Kawashima Shin, Associate Professor, University of Tokyo

Lim Jie-hyun, Professor, Hanyang University, ROK

Mitani Hiroshi, Professor, University of Tokyo

Daqing Yang, Associate Professor, The George Washington University

Moderated By:
Mike Mochizuki, Associate Professor, The George Washington University

This event was supported in part by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Japan

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American POWs of the Japanese: World War II Experiences

Presented by: The Sigur Center for Asian Studies and Asia Policy Point

Tuesday, September 9, 2008
2:30-3:45 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

With Commentary from Survivors:
Howard Brooks, USS Houston sinking and Thai-Burma Railway survivor

Edward Jackfert, Battle of the Philippines and bombing of Clark Airfield survivor

Lester Tenney, Battle of the Philippines and Bataan Death March survivor

And Historians:
Kelly Crager, Head, Oral History Project at the Vietnam Center and Archive, Texas Tech University

Shawn McHale, Associate Professor of History & International Affairs, Elliott School for International Affairs, The George Washington University and Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies

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Embedding Memory in Culture: Japan's Hiroshima & Korea's Kwangju

In the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Subnational Asia

Monday, September 8, 2008
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

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Speaker: Mikyoung Kim, Assistant Professor, Hiroshima Peace Institute- Hiroshima City University

Mikyoung Kim is a U.S.-educated Korean sociologist teaching in Japan. Before assuming her current position in 2005, she taught at Portland State University as a Fulbright Visiting Professor. She also served at the U.S. Department of State from 2000 until 2004, specializing in U.S.-ROK-DPRK relations. She has published more than 20 articles on North Korea, women and historical memory with refereed journals. Her book, Securitization of Human Rights: North Korean Refugees in Northeast Asia, is forthcoming (2009, Praeger). Her edited volume with Barry Schwartz, East Asia's Difficult Past: Essays in Collective Memory, is currently under review. She holds a Ph.D. in sociology and multiple MA's in international relations, sociology and women's studies from the U.S. and Korea.


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Summer 2008

The Trajectory of Indian-Israeli Relations

Presented by: Bridging Nations, in cooperation with the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the U.S.-India Business Council, The Heritage Foundation and Asia Society

Thursday, July 10, 2008
4:30-6:00 p.m.
Room H-137
U.S. Capitol Building

Ambassador Raminder Singh Jassal, Former Indian Ambassador and current Deputy Chief of Mission to the U.S.

Chair:
Congressman Gary Ackerman, Representative for New York's 5th District and Chairman of the Congressional India Caucus

India and Israel have emerged as strong partners since formal diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1992. By sharing military and economic resources, Israel and India continue to develop a strong relationship; Israel is now India's second largest defense supplier, while India continues to export important civil and military IT to Israel. The effects of the partnership are both regional and global. Understanding the triangular relationship between India, Israel, and the United States is important for both presidential candidates to consider as they form their foreign policies.

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The Lives of Sri Aurobindo: Philosophy and the Road to Indian Independence

Presented by: The Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Asia Society

Wednesday, July 2, 2008
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

A New Book by:
Peter Heehs, Author and Founder of Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives

Discussant: Prabhavati Reddy, Adjunct Professor, Department of Religion, The George Washington University

Since his death in 1950, Sri Aurobindo Ghose has been known primarily as a yogi and a philosopher of spiritual evolution who was nominated for the Nobel Prize in peace and literature. But the years Aurobindo spent in yogic retirement were preceded by nearly four decades of rich public and intellectual work. Biographers usually focus solely on Aurobindo's life as a politician or sage, but he was also a scholar, a revolutionary, a poet, a philosopher, a social and cultural theorist, and the inspiration for an experiment in communal living.

Peter Heehs, one of the founders of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives, is the first to relate all the aspects of Aurobindo's life in its entirety. Consulting rare primary sources, Heehs describes the leader's role in the freedom movement and in the framing of modern Indian spirituality. He examines the thinker's literary, cultural, and sociological writings and the Sanskrit, Bengali, English, and French literature that influenced them, and he finds the foundations of Aurobindo's yoga practice in his diaries and unpublished letters. Heehs's biography is a sensitive, honest portrait of a life that also provides surprising insights into twentieth-century Indian history.

A native of Philadelphia, Heehs is currently a member of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, India. He works at the Ashram's Archives and Research Library, where he and his colleagues are bringing out the Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo in 36 volumes. He is the author of four books on modern Indian history, the most recent being Nationalism, Terrorism, Communalism (Oxford University Press, 1998, 2005), and has published essays on history, historiography and art in various journals and magazines. His anthology Indian Religions: A Historical Reader of Spiritual Expression and Experience was published by NYU Press in 2002.

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The Winds of Change in Taiwan: An Early Assessment of the Ma Government's Policy Directions

Thursday, June 26, 2008
12 noon - 2 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

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Elizabeth Freund Larus, Associate Professor of Political Science and INternational Affairs, University of Mary Washington

Steven Phillips, Associate Professor of History, Director of Asian Studies, Towson University

Robert Sutter, Adjunct Professor of International Affairs, The Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University and Visiting Professor of Asian Studies, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University

Moderator:
Harry Harding, University Professor of International Affairs, The Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University

Schedule:
12 noon - 12:30 p.m.: Light Lunch
12:30 p.m. -2:00 p.m.: Roundtable Discussion

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Fighting Corruption in India: An Insider Account of Government Responses

Presented by: The Sigur Center for Asian Studies' India Initiative and the U.S. India Business Alliance
In the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Subnational Asia

Tuesday, June 24, 2008
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

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Madras Sivaraman, Former Revenue Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Government of India

Madras Sivaraman was Permanent Secretary in India's Ministry of Finance, responsible for all taxation departments, revenue and customs intelligence, the Narcotics Control Bureau and other tasks from 1993 to 1996. Prior to that, he served as Director General of Civil Aviation in India from 1990 to 1993. From 1996 to 1999, he acted as Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund representing India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, with ambassadorial rank. He has also served as an adviser to the government of Bangladesh (1999-2001) and to the United Nations Security Council's Committee on Counter-Terrorism (2001-2003). He joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1962 and has served in numerous government posts since then. He is a leading expert on anti-corruption measures and their impact in India.

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Chinese Imperialism on the Korean Peninsula: A Historical Window on Sovereignty and Power Relationships

A history-based seminar with contemporary implications on Sino-Korean relations.Presented by: The Asia Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Monday, June 9, 2008
3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
The Wilson Center, One Woodrow Wilson Plaza
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20004

Kirk W. Larsen, George Washington University
Christine Kim, Georgetown University
David Kang, Dartmouth College

Larsen will discuss the findings from his latest book, Tradition, Treaties and Trade: Qing Imperialism and Chôson Korea, 1850-1910, arguing that the motivations, tactics, and successes (and failures) of the late Qing Empire in Chôson Korea mirrored those of other 19th century imperialist countries, rather than conforming to the traditional Chinese tribute system. Kim will examine Korean notions of sovereignty basd on territorial boundaries rather than concepts of a vassal state, while Kang will discuss how China encountered the wider world and how its conception of sovereignty changed immediately — partly Sinocentric, partly Westphalian. The discussants will relate the historical context to modern concepts of sovereignty and territory between the two states.

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Spring 2008

The King's Cinema: My Village at Sunset

Presented by: The Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Asia Society

photo: My Village at Sunset

Tuesday, May 6, 2008
6:45 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

A Movie, Directed by Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia (1941-55, 1993-2004)

Introduction by Ambassador Sichan Siv, Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and friend of King Norodom Sihanouk.

"The star of my films is never an actor: It is (always) Cambodia."
– King Norodom Sihanouk

Norodom Sihanouk inherited a country at the age of eighteen. As Cambodia transformed from a French Protectorate through the Vietnam era and into the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge, the war-torn nation came variously under the sway of the U.S., China, and Vietnam. Starring his son Norodom Sihamoni, the current king, My Village at Sunset, the first film directed by King Norodom Sihanouk after his return from exile in 1991, is a love story about a brilliant young Khmer surgeon who gives up a privileged life in France and returns to Cambodia after the war to treat victims of land mine explosions. Like many of the King's films this romantic tale adheres to simple narrative conventions while revealing the rich cultural texture of Cambodia and the complex challenges of the 20th century.

1992, 70 minutes, color, 35mm, Khmer with English subtitles.

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Title: The Life and World of Philip Jaisohn (Sô Chae-p'il)

Presented by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Korea Foundation

The Sigur Center for Asian Studies is pleased to announce a one-day symposium on the life and times of Philip Jaisohn (Sô Chae-p'il). A Korean reformer, intellectual, and patriot, as well as a migrant to the United States, Jaisohn's life and activities are of great significance to the history of Korea, the Korean diaspora, and Korean-American relations.

10:00 am: Welcome and opening remarks

10:15 am-12:00 noon: Philip Jaisohn and Chosôn Korea

"Philip Jaisohn's Campaign to Promote Democratic Consciousness in Korea." Vipan Chandra, Professor of History, Wheaton College

"For King or Country?: Philip Jaisohn at the Court of Chosôn." Christine Kim, Assistant Professor, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University

12:00 noon-1:00 pm: Lunch

1:00-3:00 pm: "Philip Jaisohn and Korea, at home and abroad"

"Sô Chaep'il's Social Background in Understanding His Historical Significance." Kyung Moon Hwang, Associate Professor of History, University of Southern California

"Writing the Korean nation: Philip Jaisohn, language reform and the Korean national identity." Kirk Larsen, Korea Foundation Associate Professor of History and International Affairs, The George Washington University

"Korean Immigration to Hawaii, 1902-1905: Japanese and American Policy at the End of the Chosôn Dynasty." Wayne Patterson, Professor of History, St. Norbert College

Date: May 6, 2008

Place: Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

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Title: Tradition, Treaties & Trade: Qing Imperialism & Choson Korea, 1850-1910

Presented by: the Sigur Center for Asian Studies

A New Book By

Kirk Larsen, Korea Foundation Associate Professor of History and International Affairs, Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies and Director, Asian Studies Program, The Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University

Relations between the Choson and Qing states are often cited as the prime example of the operation of the "traditional" Chinese "tribute system." In contrast, this work contends that the motivations, tactics, and successes (and failures) of the late Qing Empire in Choson Korea mirrored those of other nineteenth-century imperialists. Between 1850 and 1910, the Qing attempted to defend its informal empire in Korea by intervening directly, not only to preserve its geopolitical position but also to promote its commercial interests. And it utilized the technology of empire — treaties, international law, the telegraph, steamships, and gunboats. Although the transformation of Qing-Choson diplomacy was based on modern imperialism, this work argues that it is more accurate to describe the dramatic shift in relations in terms of flexible adaptation by one of the world's major empires in response to new challenges. Moreover, the new modes of Qing imperialism were a hybrid of East Asian and Western mechanisms and institutions. Through these means, the Qing Empire played a fundamental role in Korea's integration into regional and global political and economic systems.

Featuring Commentary By:

Edward McCord, Associate Professor of History & International Affairs, The George Washington University

Copies of the book will be available for sale.

Date: Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Time: 12:30 - 1:45 pm
The Chung-wen Shih Conference Room, Suite 503
The Sigur Center for Asian Studies
1957 E Street, NW

The Security Policy Forum In Cooperation With the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, the Institute for Middle East Studies, tnd the Security Policy Studies Program Present:

Title: Lessons from the Search for Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction

Featuring:

John E. McLaughlin, Deputy Director, Central Intelligence Agency, 2000-2004; Acting Director, Central Intelligence Agency, 2004

Charles A. Duelfer, Chief U.S. Weapons Inspector in Iraq, 2004-2005

Moderator: Christopher Kojm, Deputy Executive Director, 9/11 Commission, Senior Advisor, Iraq Study Group, Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, George Washington University

Monday, April 28, 2008

Time: 4:30-6:00 PM

Place: Lindner Family Commons, Suite 602, 1957 E Street, NW

Given the importance of weapons of mass destruction in Asia and the potential implications of U.S. experience in Iraq for North Korea, Pakistan, India, and any powers who may obtain nuclear weapons in the future, the Sigur Center for Asian Studies would like to invite you to attend the Security Policy Forum's look at the "Lessons from the Search for Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction."

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Renewable Energy Policy at the Crossroads

Presented by: The Sigur Center for Asian Studies' Visiting Scholar Program

Monday, April 28, 2008
3:00 - 4:00 pm
The Chung-wen Shih Conference Room, Suite 503
The Sigur Center for Asian Studies
1957 E Street, NW

Sanghoon Lee, Vice-Secretary General of the Korea Federation for Environmental Movements

Sanghoon Lee is Vice-Secretary General of the Korea Federation for Environmental Movements (KFEM, Friends of the Earth), with responsibility for energy and climate change policy. He plunged into the environmental movement as a volunteer in 1991 and has been working as a full-time activist since 1993. As a pioneer in the alternative energy movement in Korea, Lee co-founded the Center for Alternative Energy under KFEM in 2000 and directed it until 2005. He has participated in the United Nations Climate Change Conference several times. He also joined a number of advisory committees under the Roh Moo-hyun administration that were related to renewable energy, climate change and sustainable development. Lee earned his MA in environmental policy from Seoul National University in 1996.

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Printing Democracy: Taiwan's Tang-wai Opposition Journals

Presented by: The Gelman Library's Taiwan Resource Center, The Sigur Center for Asian Studies' Taiwan Education and Research Program and the Elliott School of International Affairs' Future of Democracy Initiative.

Gerrit van der Wees, Senior Political Advisor, Formosan Association for Public Affairs and editor of Taiwan Communiqué

Chou Ching-yu, Commission on Woman's Rights Promotion, Executive Yuan, former published of Care, Taiwan's foremost human rights magazine in the 1980s

Chiang Chun-nan (Antonio), Journalist, former chief editor of the Eighties and other tang-wai journals

Chang Fu-mei, Minister, Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission

The roundtable will be followed by a reception.

Attendees are also invited to visit the Gelman Library's special exhibit on the Tang-wai Opposition Journals on the Library's first floorAn official ceremony opening for the exhibit will be held at 2:00 pm prior to the Roundtable with a ribbon-cutting with:

Chang Fu-mei, Minister, Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission
Jack Siggins, Head, Gelman Library

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Time: 2:30-4:30 PM

Schedule:

Opening: 2:00
Roundtable: 2:30
Reception: 4:00

Place: Gelman Library, Room 207, The George Washington University, 2130 H Street NW; Washington, DC 20052

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A Dhrupad Concert by the Dagar Ensemble

Presented by: The Sigur Center for Asian Studies' India Initiative and the Asia Society.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008
7:30 - 9:30 pm
Jack Morton Auditorium
The George Washington University
805 21st St., NW

Ustad F. Wasifuddin Dagar, Vocal
Pandit Mohan Shyam Sharma, Pakhawaj
Laurence Bastit, Tanpura
Qamar Dagar, Tanpura

This program features the meditative melodies of the Dagarvanin dhrupad style of Indian classical vocal music. Ustad F. Wasifuddin Dagar represents the 20th generation in the unbroken chain of the Dagar family in this tradition. The dagarvani dhrupad has traditionally been performed as a jugalbandi (duet) which preserves its emotional appeal while adding the richness of intricate rhythmic patterns and spontaneity. Dhrupad is the most ancient form of Indian classical music. The recitation begins with the alap — a meditative rendering of the melody. It is followed by the dhrupad, a prayer sung with rhythmic accompaniment from a pakhawaj, a two headed drum with a deep mellow sound, more suitable for the meditative nature of the dhrupad.

Ustad F. Wasifuddin Dagar performs regularly on Indian television and radio, at music festivals, and for private and public concerts. He has toured Europe, Japan and the United States extensively, including for performances sponsored by the UNESCO, United Nations Peace Summit, the Smithsonian Institution, the World Festival of Sacred Music, and the Universities of Washington, Los Angeles, and Yale. He also toured Europe in 2007 with concerts for Theatre de la Ville, National Public Library-Mitterrand and Festival Les Suds at Arles.

Pandit Mohan Shyam Sharma is one of the leading percussionists on pakhawaj of his generation. He has held the distinguished classification of an A-grade Artist of All India Radio since 1987, and has participated in a variety of prestigious local and national radio and television programs in India since that time. He has accompanied several leading Indian artists, including Pt. Ravi Shankar, Ustad Asad Ali Khan, Bahauddin Dagar and he has regularly accompanied Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar since the mid-eighties.

This program is made possible by the generous support of Rama and Arun Deva and Shabnam Arora.

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China's Communist Party: Atrophy and Adaptation

Tuesday, April 22, 2008
5:00 - 6:30 pm
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

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David Shambaugh, Professor of Political Science & International Affairs, Director, China Policy Program, The George Washington University

Few issues affect the future of China — and hence all the nations that interact with China — more than the nature of its ruling party and government. In this timely study, David Shambaugh assesses the strengths and weaknesses, durability, adaptability and potential longevity of China's Communist Party (CCP). He argues that although the CCP has been in a protracted state of atrophy, it has undertaken a number of adaptive measures aimed at reinventing itself and strengthening its rule. Shambaugh's investigation draws on a unique set of inner-Party documents and interviews, and he finds that the CCP is resilient and will continue to retain its grip on power.

Featuring commentary by:
Bruce Dickson, Professor of Political Science & International Affairs, The George Washington University

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Does China Have an Energy Diplomacy?: Reflections on China's Energy Security and its Impact on Foreign Policy

In The Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Transnational Asia

Wednesday, April 9, 2008
12:30 - 1:45 pm
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

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Linda Jakobson, Senior Researcher, Finnish Institute of International Affairs

Linda Jakobson is the Beijing-based Senior Researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA). Her current research focuses on China's energy security and climate change policies. She has written six books on Chinese and East Asian society, based on the 15 years she lived in China and other parts of East Asia. The Finnish edition of A Million Truths: A Decade in China (1998) won the annual Finnish Government Publication Award. In 1990, Jakobson was a Fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. She has written extensively about the Taiwan Straits, China's foreign policy and grassroots political reform in China. She has authored, among others, the International Crisis Group's Taiwan Strait IV Report ("What an Ultimate Political Settlement Might Look Like," 2004); a related article on "Greater Chinese Union" in The Washington Quarterly (2005); and a chapter about village elections in Governance in China (2004). In 2007 she and four other China-based specialists finished a book project on China's high-tech ambitions (Innovation with Chinese Characteristics: High-Tech Research in China).

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The 12th Annual Gaston Sigur Memorial Lecture: The Foreign Policy Implications of China's Political Fragility

Presented by: the Sigur Center for Asian Studies

Tuesday, April 8, 2008
5:30 - 6:00: Reception
6:00 - 7:00: Lecture
Room 113
The Elliott School of International Affairs,
1957 E Street, NW

Featuring

Susan L. Shirk, Ho Miu Lam Endowed Chair in China and Pacific Relations, University of California-San Diego Graduate School of International Relations & Pacific Studies

Susan Shirk

Susan L. Shirk is director of the University of California system-wide Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation and professor of political science in the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California, San Diego. From 1997-2000, Dr. Shirk served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs, with responsibility for China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Mongolia. She founded in 1993 and continues to lead the Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue (NEACD), an unofficial Track II forum for discussions of security issues among defense and foreign ministry officials and academics from the United States, Japan, China, Russia, South Korea, and North Korea. Dr. Shirk's publications include her books, China: Fragile Superpower (2007); How China Opened Its Door: The Political Success of the PRC's Foreign Trade and Investment Reforms (1994); The Political Logic of Economic Reform in China (1993); and Competitive Comrades: Career Incentives and Student Strategies in China (1981).

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Title: A Model for East Asian Civil Society in Reconciling History-Related Conflicts

Presented by: the Sigur Center for Asian Studies' Visiting Scholars Program

Monday, April 7, 2008
3:00 - 4:00 pm
The Chung-wen Shih Conference Room, Suite 503
The Sigur Center for Asian Studies
1957 E Street, NW

A Visiting Scholar Roundtable

Speaker: Mikang Yang, former co-Standing Chairperson, Asia Peace and History Education Network

Mikang Yang is a pastor and NGO activist. After receiving her Doctorate of Ministry at San Francisco Seminary in 1997, she worked for five years as general secretary for a comfort women's support group in Korea. In 2002 she co-founded the Asia Peace and History Education Network, which aims to promote understanding of the history of wartime invasions and resistance in 20th century Asia. She was also a national coordinator of the International Solidarity Conference on Redress for Japanese War Crimes. She has a deep interest in discovering practical, cooperative models of civil society for historical reconciliation in East Asia. Dr. Yang is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, sponsored by Korea's POSCO Foundation.

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A Public Forum on Nepal and Sri Lanka

Presented by: the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the East-West Center

Thursday, March 27, 2008
3:30 - 5:45 pm
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

Session 1: Nepal: Is the Transition Floundering?

Featuring:

Susan Hangen, Assistant Professor, Anthropology and International Studies, Ramapo College of New Jersey

Mahendra Lawoti, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Western Michigan University

Saubhagya Shah, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology/Anthropology, Tribhuva University

Session 2: Sri Lanka: Can Military Victory Resolve the Ethnic Conflict?

Featuring:

Neil DeVotta, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Hartwick College

Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, Executive Director, Center for Policy Alternatives

Moderators:

Muthiah Alagappa, Distinguished Senior Fellow, East-West Center

Kirk Larsen, Director, The Sigur Center for Asian Studies, The Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University

Schedule:

Session 1: 3:30 - 4:40 pm
Session 2: 4:45 - 5:45 pm

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Title: The Taiwan Presidential Election: Domestic, Regional and International Implications

Wednesday, March 26, 2008
10:30 am - 2:30 pm
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

Presented by: the Sigur Center for Asian Studies

Panel I: Regional and International Perspectives

Harry Harding, University Professor of International Affairs, The George Washington University

Robert Sutter, Visiting Professor, Georgetown University & Adjunct Professor of International Affairs, The George Washington University

Chair: Edward McCord, Associate Professor of History & International Affairs, The George Washington University

Panel II: Domestic and Cross-Straits Implications

Shelley Rigger, Brown Professor of East Asian Politics, Davidson College

Hans Stockton, Associate Professor in the Center for International Studies, University of St. Thomas

Chair: Kirk Larsen, Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies and Korea Foundation Associate Professor of History and International Affairs

Schedule:

Panel I: 10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Luncheon: 12:00 pm- 1:00 pm
Panel II: 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm

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Title: The Truth & Reconciliation Commission in the Republic of Korea: Confronting Massacres During the Korean War

Presented by: the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Project on Memory and Reconciliation in Asia-Pacific

Tuesday, March 18, 2008
3:30 - 5:00 pm
The Chung-wen Shih Conference Room, Suite 503
The Sigur Center for Asian Studies
1957 E Street, NW

In the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Subnational Asia

Speaker: Kim Dong-Choon, Standing Commissioner, Truth & Reconciliation Commission, the Republic of Korea

Kim Dong-Choon is an associate professor of sociology at Sung Kong Hoe University. He is currently serving as a standing commissioner of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission, Republic of Korea. He received his Ph.D. from Seoul National University. His research has focused on the historical sociology of Korean politics, working class formation and the Korean War. He has also acted as an organizer of progressive academic movements since the 1980s and has participated in several civil movements in South Korea. In 2004, The Hankyoreh newspaper nominated him as one of the "100 people who will lead Korean society." He has written several academic books, including Social Movements in 1960s Korea (1991); A Study of Korea's Working Class (1995); Shadow of Modernity (2000); War and Society (2000); The Engine of the American Market and War (2004); and Reflections on Korean Society Since 1987 (2006).

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Reflections on U.S.-India Relations

Presented by: The Sigur Center for Asian Studies' India Initiative.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008
12:30 p.m.- 2 p.m.
City View Room, 7th Floor
1957 E St, NW

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His Excellency Ronen Sen, Ambassador of India to the United States

Ambassador Sen

Ambassador Ronen Sen assumed charge as Ambassador of India to the United States in August 2004. Previously, he served as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, as well as Ambassador to Germany, the Russian Federation, and Mexico.

With Commentary from Democratic and Republican Perspectives featuring:

Amb. Karl F. Inderfurth, Former Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia

Ashley Tellis, Foreign Policy Advisor for Senator John McCain


Economic Reforms & Democracy in Nepal

In the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Subnational Asia

Wednesday, February 27
12:30 - 1:45 p.m.
The Chung-wen Shih Conference Room, Suite 503
The Sigur Center for Asian Studies
1957 E Street, NW

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Prem Khanal, Chief, Business Bureau, The Kathmandu Post

Prem Khanal is Chief of the Business Bureau at The Kathmandu Post, Nepal's largest-selling English daily,where he has published numerous articles on business, corruption, and economic reform in Nepal. A graduate in economics, he began his journalism career as a business reporter in 2000. Previously, he served as research officer for the Institute for Development Studies in Kathmandu. He has written two books, An Analysis of Public Expenditure in Nepal (2005) and A Study on Government Plans, Programs & Budgets Affecting Children in Nepal (2002). He is currently in the United States for a research project on "Political Resistance to Economic Reforms in Nepal and its Impact on Democracy" for the National Endowment for Democracy.

This event is part of the Elliott School's Future of Democracy Initiative

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Elite Politics and Inflation in China: Past and Present

In the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Subnational Asia

Tuesday, February 19
12:30 - 1:45 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

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Speaker: Victor Shih, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Northwestern University

Victor C. Shih is a political economist specializing in China at Northwestern University. His current research concerns elite political dynamics in China and Chinese policies toward ethnic minorities. He is the author of a new book published by the Cambridge University Press entitled, Factions and Finance in China: Elite Conflict and Inflation. It is the first book to study the linkages between elite politics and banking policies in China. He is also the author of numerous articles appearing in academic and business journals, including The China Quarterly, Comparative Political Studies, and The Far Eastern Economic Review. Dr. Shih holds a BA from the George Washington University, where he studied on a University Presidential Fellowship and graduated summa cum laude in East Asian studies with a minor in economics. He later received his doctorate in government from Harvard University, where he researched banking sector reform in China, with the support of a Jacob K. Javits Fellowship and Fulbright Fellowship.

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HIV/AIDS & the Challenges for India

In the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Subnational Asia

Thursday, February 14
12:30 - 1:45 p.m.
The Chung-wen Shih Conference Room, Suite 503
The Sigur Center for Asian Studies
1957 E Street, NW

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Geeta Rao Gupta, President, International Center for Research on Women

Geeta Rao Gupta is President of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), a leading global authority on women's role in development and a strong advocate for women's empowerment and the protection and fulfillment of women's human rights. She has worked at ICRW as a consultant, researcher and officer since 1988 and has headed the organization since 1997. Dr. Rao Gupta is a world-renowned expert on women and HIV/AIDS and is frequently consulted on issues related to AIDS prevention and women's vulnerability to HIV. She has been recognized for her commitment to quality research, dedication to educating policy-makers and the public on the gender-related aspects of HIV/AIDS, and overall contributions to the field. These include spearheading a groundbreaking, four-year project (27 studies in 15 countries) on the factors fueling the spread of HIV/AIDS among women; advocating for women's economic and social empowerment to prevent the spread of AIDS; and delivering the plenary address at the 13th World AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa.

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Fresh Impressions & Prospects for Afghanistan

In the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Subnational Asia

Wednesday, February 6, 2008
12:30 - 1:45 p.m.
The Chung-wen Shih Conference Room, Suite 503
The Sigur Center for Asian Studies
1957 E Street, NW

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Ahmad Nader Nadery, Commissioner, Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission

Ahmad Nader Nadery is a presidentially appointed Commissioner of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission. He is a well-known promoter of justice in Afghanistan and is also known as one of the country's most prominent civil-society leaders. He represented Afghan Civil Society in the UN peace talks for Afghanistan at the Bonn Conference in 2001. Nadery currently works in several capacities, as a leading Commissioner of the constitutionally mandated National Human Rights Commission; as Chairperson of the Fair and Free Election Foundation of Afghanistan; and as a Member of the Steering Committee of the international organization, Citizens Against Terror. He has written extensively on politics and human rights in Afghanistan. He served as Spokesperson for the Political National Assembly (Loya Jerga) in 2002. Nadery has won several international awards and was recognized as an "Asian Hero" by Time Magazine. He is also a 21 Young Asia Leaders Fellow with the Asia Society.

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Security, Identity and the Rise of China

In the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Sub-national Asia

Wednesday, January 30, 2008
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

William Callahan, Professor of International Politics, University of Manchester

William A. Callahan is Professor of International Politics and Chinese Studies at the University of Manchester (UK), Research Director of Manchester's Center for Chinese Studies, and Co-Director of the British Inter-University China Center in Oxford. He is currently a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars (2007-08). His research examines the nexus of identity and security in China and East Asia. His books include Cultural Governance and Resistance in Pacific Asia (2006) and Contingent States: Greater China and Transnational Relations (2004), and his articles have been published in many journals including International Organization, Journal of Strategic Studies, Critical Asian Studies, and Journal of Contemporary China.

The recording of this event has been removed from the website. If you wish to obtain this recording, please contact the Sigur Center at gsigur@gwu.edu.

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