With decreased U.S. presence in the Middle East, diplomatic efforts in the region have rapidly increased, fostering talk and cooperation. The Baghdad dialogue, as it is known, has allowed Middle Eastern nations to stand on their own, shedding their dependence on the U.S. and American military involvement.
On Monday, January 31st, we will be joined by Trita Parsi to discuss how the Baghdad dialogue is essential in mitigating America’s influence in the Middle East. He will discuss his article, in which he details the importance of such independent diplomacy and the unfavorable alternative of the Abraham Accords both for the U.S. and Middle Eastern nations. In his own words: “[I]f the Biden administration is serious about reducing America’s military footprint in the Middle East, then the choice between the Baghdad dialogue and the Abraham Accords is clear. The former will rely on regional resources and leadership without American involvement. The latter will give new life to Middle Eastern rivalries that are bound to drag the United States back into the quicksands.”
Trita Parsi is an award-winning author and the 2010 recipient of the Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order. He is an expert on US-Iranian relations, Iranian foreign politics, and the geopolitics of the Middle East. He is the co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, and founder and former president of the National Iranian American Council. Parsi has followed Middle East politics through work in the field and extensive experience on Capitol Hill and at the United Nations. He is frequently consulted by Western and Asian governments on foreign policy matters.
He has authored three books on US foreign policy in the Middle East, with a particular focus on Iran and Israel, one of which won the silver medal winner of the 2008 Arthur Ross Book Award from the Council on Foreign Relations, and another was elected by Foreign Affairs journal as the Best Book of 2012 on the Middle East.
Parsi was born in Iran but moved with his family at the age of four to Sweden in order to escape political repression in Iran. His father was an outspoken academic who was jailed by the Shah and then by the Ayatollah. He moved to the United States as an adult and studied foreign policy at Johns Hopkins’ School for Advanced International Studies where he received his Ph.D. under Francis Fukuyama and Zbigniew Brzezinski.
With Congress appropriating funds for new and upgraded nuclear weapons and delivery systems, the need to counter these misguided policies has become acute. The 2022 Conference will follow the general pattern of previous conferences, but with increased emphasis on coordinating efforts of advocates, and expanding outreach to organizations and constituencies outside the world of nuclear disarmament advocates.
Saturday afternoon, Jan 29, 2022, 2 – 6 pm. Register to attend.
[2:00 pm] Welcome – Rev. Thea Keith-Lucas, MIT Chaplain to the Institute
[2:05 pm] Background and Tasks of this Conference- Prof. Jonathan King
[2:10 pm] Dangers and Costs: Chair – Susan Mirsky:
–Prohibiting First Use of Nuclear Weapons – Elaine Scarry
–Resisting a New Cold War with China – Joseph Gerson
–How the Nuclear Weapons Manufacturers Influence Policy – William Hartung
– A Moral Fusion Movement to Change the Political Landscape- Shailly Gupta Barnes
[3:10] Paths Forward: Chair Jean Athey:
-Barriers to Policy Change – Phyllis Bennis
–Prospects for Changing U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policies – Joe Cirincione
–Role of the Congressional Progressive Caucus in Promoting Nuclear Disarmament – Larry Cohen
4:00 Break
4:10 pm Breakouts, listed below.
5:15 pm Moving Outward: Chair Jodie Evans.
– Prospects for Change in the US House – Representative Barbara Lee
– Prospects for Change in the US Senate –Senator Jeff Merkley
– Moving our Ideas into Political Action – Medea Benjamin.
6:00 pm Adjourn.
Breakouts, to be held earlier 4:15 – 5:00 pm: These are focused working groups planning for 2022. Reporters to provide summary of proposals from the Breakout for circulation to Registrants and co-sponsoring organizations.
A. Growing in New Congressional Districts: Chair – Aaron Chapell (Our Revolution). Panelists – David Borris (Chicago Area Peace Action), Shailly Gupta Barnes (Poor People’s Campaign), Jean Athey (Maryland Peace Action). (Reporter Drew King).
B. Promoting Nuclear Disarmament in Rotary Clubs: Chair –Frances Jeffries. Panelists – Ann Frisch. (Reporter Peter Metz).
C. Promoting Nuclear Disarmament within Communities of Faith: Chair – Sofia Wolman. Panelists Mike Moran (Pax Christi MA), Nicholas Mele (Pax Christi USA). Keith Harvey (AFSC). (Reporter Louise Coleman).
D. Advancing the Back From the Brink Resolution: Chair – Denise Duffield (LA-PSR). Panelists – Dr. Ira Helfand (PSR), Anna Baker (GBPSR), Jackie Cabasso (Mayors for Peace), Dennis Carlone (Cambridge City Council). (Reporter – Jeannie Winner).
E. Advancing No First Use Legislation: Chair- Steve Gallant. Panelists- Elaine Scarry (CPDCS), Kennette Benedict (Bulletin), Dave Pack (Kansas City). (Reporter- Steve Slaner).
F. Cutting the Budget for New Nuclear Weapons: Chair – Carley Towne. Panelists – Monica Montgomery (CLW), David Swanson (World Beyond War); Williams Hartung (Quincy Institute); (Reporter, Richard Krushnic ).
G. Resisting a New Cold War and Promoting International Treaties: Chair – John Ratliff (Mass Peace Action). Panelists – Joseph Gerson (Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security); Ralph Hutchison (Oak Ridge Peace Alliance); Drew Baldwin (Northeastern University). (Reporter – Mike Van Elzakker).
H. Fund Healthcare Not Warfare; Recruiting in the Public Health Community: Chair – Amar Ahmad (FHCNW) . Jonathan King (MAPA), Dr. Robert Gould (San Francisco PSR); Catherine DeLorey (Women’s Health Institute); Martin Fleck (PSR); Vaughn Goodwin (1199SEIU). (Reporter-Louise Parker).
I. Recruiting on Campuses: Chair; Prof. Robert Redwine (MIT). Panelists – Prof. Stewart Prager (Princeton), Margaret Engel (PANYS), Kareem King (Harvard BSA), Prof. Edmund Bertschinger (MIT Physics); Prof. Gary Goldstein (Tufts U); Liz Bajjalieh (Student Network Director, Chicago Area Peace Action). (Reporter – William Moon).
J. No Wars, No Warming; Chair- Rev. Bob Moore (NJ). Panelists – Ed Aguilar (CFPA), Rosalie Anders (MAPA), Nick Rabb (Sunrise), Diane Fine (350 MA), Vernon Walker (CREW). (Reporter – TBA).
K. Mobilizing Cultural Workers, Musicians and Artists: Chair – Jim Anderson: Panelists Eva Moseley (Mass Peace Action), Kathie Malley-Morrison (Boston University); Mel Hardy (Millenium Arts DC); Andre DeQuadros (Boston University). (Reporter – Jack Snyder).
L. Working with Our Revolution Chapters: Chair: Martha Karchere (Our Revolution MA). Panelists – Rand Wilson (OR-Somerville); Carolyn Magid (OR-Cambridge); Hal Ginsberg (Our Revolution Maryland); (Reporter Jared Hicks)
M. Working with Poor People’s Campaign Chapters ( Chair – Maryellen Kurkulos (Mass Peace Action): Panelists – Jodie Evans (CodePINK), Rosemary Kean (MAPA), Martha Speiss (Maine PA), Anne Cassebaum (NC). (Reporter- Steve Powell (MaPPC).
N. Designing Direct Actions including Divestment: Chair – Susan Mirsky. Panelists – Susi Snyder (Don’t Bank on the Bomb Europe); Rev. Paul Dordal (PA), Paul Shannon (AFSC), Medea Benjamin (CodePINK), David Swanson (World Beyond War), Jonathan Daly-Labelle (Just Peace Rhode Island). (Reporter – Christopher Spicer Hankle).
O. Working with State Legislators: Chair – Bonnie Gorman. Panelists – Rep. Mike Connolly (Cambridge/Somerville); Rep. Carol Doherty (Taunton); Sayre Sheldon (WAND)
Co-Sponsors: Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security; CodePINK; Institute for People’s Engagement; Massachusetts Peace Action; MIT Radius; MIT Faculty Newsletter; Nuclear Weapons Education Campaign; Nuclear Disarmament Coordinating Committee
Program Committee: Jonathan King, Susan Mirsky, Robert Redwine, Amar Ahmad, Patricia-Maria Weinmann.
Thanks to the Amy Rugel Giving Fund and Norris Rugel Giving Fund for financial support.
Register to attend. Admission is free; donations to the No First Use Campaign and Fund Healthcare Not Warfare Campaign are welcome.
A Panel Discussion with:
- Garner Bovingdon, author of The Uyghurs: Strangers in Their Own Land and professor of Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University
- Kate Kizer, human rights advocate and columnist at Responsible Statecraft
- Alkan Akad, China Specialist, Amnesty International
Register to attend.
The Chinese government’s treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority has become one of the most contentious issues in U.S.-China relations. American officials regularly denounce the Chinese leadership for what it claims is the “genocide” of the Uyghurs, while Chinese leaders deny the claims and say Washington’s obsession with the issue is obstructing normal bilateral relations.
What is the truth of the matter? Obtaining accurate, unbiased information on the treatment of the Uyghurs in China’s far-western Xinjiang Autonomous Region is difficult. Nevertheless, international human rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights groups have found evidence of mass detentions and other severe abuses of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. But does this constitute genocide? The evidence for this remains contested.
And granted the evidence of widespread abuses of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, how should the U.S. government and the American public respond? Investigating and condemning China’s abysmal human rights record is one thing, but making it the centerpiece of U.S. policy at the expense of other critical issues, like war avoidance and climate change, is another. Besides, Chinese leaders have regularly pointed out, America’s human rights record is hardly unblemished either.
The Committee for a Sane U.S.-China Policy has organized this webinar with experts on the Uyghur situation to address these questions and discuss appropriate U.S. responses.
Committee for a Sane U.S.-China Policy, https://www.saneuschinapolicy.org/ Email: SaneChinaPolicy@gmail.com
