International Policy Center Public Events

Students, family, and friends are invited to meet the faculty and staff of the Ford School and tour the classrooms, public spaces, and suites of Weill Hall, which opened its doors in 2006!

The Conference is an event initiated in 2010 to create an avenue and forum for policymakers, academics, the Pakistani community, and students interested in the country to come together and discuss the pressing events of the day, as well as to clear misconceptions surrounding Pakistan.

Jonthan Katz, a writer and reporter, will draw upon his recent book, The Big Truck that Went By, to discuss issues surrounding international aid in Haiti post January 2010 earthquake.

During the conference, students will discuss coordinating Canada-U.S. Arctic Sea policy through four lenses: natural resource extraction, international trade, environment and security.

Dr. Henry Pollack, Professor Emeritus of Geophysics at the University of Michigan, and Tom Clynes, contributing editor at Popular Science, will deliver the keynote speech for the Fourth Annual U.S.-Canada Policy Conference, hosted by the Domestic Policy Corps and the International Policy Students Association. The 2013 conference, entitled "Planning for 2050: North American Policy for the Future of the Arctic," will focus on U.S. and Canadian Arctic policy, including issues related to the environment, national security, energy, and commerce. The keynote address will be followed by a panel discussion with faculty from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Conference participation is by application only, however the keynote address is open to the public.

Helene D. Gayle is president and CEO of CARE USA. An expert on humanitarian issues, Dr. Gayle previously held senior positions with the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Dr. Gayle serves on several boards, including the Rockefeller Foundation, Colgate-Palmolive, ONE and the U.S. Department of State's Foreign Affairs Policy Board. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, chaired the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, and currently serves on the President's Commission on White House Fellowships.

This Ford Policy Union event will feature a debate on the effectiveness of international agreements on cyber security. Professor John Steinbruner, a noted international security scholar, will argue that the U.S. interest in prohibiting destructive attack on critical infrastructure assets is evident and urgent, and that direct multilateral negotiations are necessary to pursue that objective. Dr. Steven Bucci, a former military officer and government official, will argue that only after the U.S. establishes how to best address cyber security from the standpoint of purely American interest, should the U.S. push for international agreements on cyber security.

Please join us as Kenneth Lieberthal returns to the University of Michigan for a lecture on current U.S-China relations under President Obama's new foreign policy team.

Professor Scheffer will address some of the key judicial, political, and financial challenges facing the international criminal tribunals and America's role in them. He will draw upon his recent book, All the Missing Souls: A Personal History of the War Crimes Tribunals, and his current work related to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.

The more a country depends on aid, the more distorted are its incentives to manage its own development in sustainably beneficial ways. Cambodia, a post-conflict state that cannot refuse aid, is rife with trial-and-error donor experiments and their unintended results, including bad governance—a major impediment to rational economic growth. Based on a comparison of how more and less aid-dependent sectors have performed, Sophal Ear, Assistant Professor, Naval Postgraduate School, will highlight the complicity of foreign assistance in helping to degrade Cambodia's political
economy.

Written and narrated by Sophal Ear, Assistant Professor, Naval Postgraduate School, the film tells the story of Sophal Ear's family's escape from the Khmer rouge regime.

This Ford Policy Union, a public debate event, will feature Thea Lee and Alan Deardorff discussing the costs and benefits of free trade.

This Ford Policy Union, a public debate event, will feature Edward Luck and Brad Roth discussing the 'Responsibility to Protect' (R2P) doctrine, and its application in difficult and politically sensitive cases.

By invitation only.

About BREAD and BREAD Conferences
Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development, BREAD, is a non-profit organization, founded in 2002, dedicated to encourage research and scholarship in development economics. BREAD organizes conferences on development economics with a focus on mirco-economic issues.

By invitation only.

About BREAD and BREAD Conferences
Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development, BREAD, is a non-profit organization, founded in 2002, dedicated to encourage research and scholarship in development economics. BREAD organizes conferences on development economics with a focus on mirco-economic issues.

Lucia Tajoli, a visiting professor at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, and a Professor of Economics at the Politecnico di Milano, will give a 'Conversations on Europe' lecture.

The Nam Center for Korean Studies hosts the Korea Society leadership for a presentation on The Korea-U.S. Partnership, a discussion of political security challenges, business opportunities and cultural affairs. Speakers to include Ambassador Thomas C. Hubbard, Ambassador Mark Minton, and Professor Alan V. Deardorff; with remarks from Susan Collins, Dean of the Gerald R. Ford School, and Nojin Kwak, Director of the Nam Center for Korean Studies.

This Ford Policy Union, a public debate event, will feature Peter Navarro and Phil Potter discussing US-Chinese trade and security issues.

Policy Talks @ the Ford School

A 2012 Josh Rosenthal Education Fund Lecture

Lecture by General Michael Hayden, retired United States Air Force four-star general and former Director of the CIA and NSA. View the Web stream

All students, family, and friends are cordially invited to meet the faculty and staff of the Ford School and tour the classrooms, public spaces, and suites of Weill Hall, which opened its doors just six years ago.

As the recent crises in Hungary, Greece, and other European countries demonstrate, democracy in Europe may be established, but it is not stable. The Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland are widely recognized for their accomplishments in the transition to electoral democracy and to free market economies. With these successes come challenges. Both citizens and scholars have raised concerns about corruption, the moral fabric of society, abuse of government power, and the need to build further political institutions. Given their active role in transforming their countries, and the wealth of their experience, the invited guests will offer a unique perspective on the recent events in Europe in this context.

The war in Afghanistan is entering its eleventh year with the debate over continuing or withdrawing often reduced to little more than bumper sticker phrases. Former US ambassador to Afghanistan Ronald Neumann will discuss what is at stake, what may be possible and the political and strategic costs of both continuation and withdrawal.

Twenty Ford School students will participate in the 2012 U.S.-Canada conference, which will consist of a case competition designed to allow student-led teams to apply their analytical capabilities. In efforts to create an environment conducive to the exchange of ideas, teams will be composed of a mix of U.S. and Canadian students.

The Pakistani Students' Association at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor is hosting a day-long conference on Pakistan with focus on United States-Pakistan relations, countering terror in Pakistan, and domestic political developments.

Twenty Ford School students will participate in the 2012 U.S.-Canada conference, which will consist of a case competition designed to allow student-led teams to apply their analytical capabilities. In efforts to create an environment conducive to the exchange of ideas, teams will be composed of a mix of U.S. and Canadian students.

The current state of Polish-Russian relations carries the burden of history, such as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact under which the Soviet Union and Germany secretly agreed to divide and invade Poland in 1939 and the Katyn Massacre for which the Soviets falsely blamed the Germans for killing thousands of Polish officers in 1940. Dialogue between Polish and Russian intellectuals, researchers and experts on this matter initiated in 2008, opened the new stage in Polish-Russian relations. As the result the common Polish-Russian Group on Difficult Matters was established.

A roundtable discussion with Susan D. Page, U.S. Ambassador to South Sudan

Susan D. Page is the U.S. Ambassador to the newly established nation of South Sudan. She and a panel of U-M faculty will explore the following questions: What are the challenges facing South Sudan? What is American policy toward South Sudan? What are the challenges of a new country entering the world system?

Sisule Musungu is the president of IQ Sensato, not-for-profit research and communications organisation. They provide researchers from developing countries an international platform to inform and shape international policy-making on development-related issues. They undertake research, communicate results and stimulate debate through providing access to the work and perspectives of developing country researchers and experts in order to inform policy-making.

Leszek Balcerowicz graduated with distinction from the Foreign Trade Faculty at the Central School of Planning and Statistics in Warsaw, earned an M.B.A. at St. John's University in New York, and a Ph.D. in economics from the Warsaw School of Economics. Having served as both finance minister and deputy prime minister of Poland during key transitional years, as well as president of the Polish National Bank, he oversaw a sweeping program of economic reform as his country successfully transitioned to a market economy. In 2005, President Aleksander Kwaśniewski awarded Balcerowicz with the country's highest decoration, the Order of the White Eagle, for his contribution to Poland's economic transformation. He is currently a member of the group of trustees of the Institute of International Finance and professor of economics at the Warsaw School of Economics.

About the speaker: Robert B. Zoellick became the 11th president of The World Bank Group on July 1, 2007. Prior to joining the Bank, Zoellick served as Vice Chairman, International of the Goldman Sachs Group. He served in the President's Cabinet as the 13th U.S. Trade Representative from 2001 to 2005 and as Deputy Secretary of State from 2005 to 2006. From 1985-1993, Zoellick served at the Treasury and State Departments, as well as briefly in the White House.

Emil Tedeschi is the founder and CEO of Atlantic Grupa, a Zagreb, Crotia-based company which has done the largest IPO of any private company in South East Europe. Mr. Tedeschi was named Manager of the Year by the Croatia Manager's Association and CEO of the year by the Croatian business paper Poslovni Vjesnik. He is also a member of the Parliamentary Committee overseeing Croatian negotiating processes with the EU and the Croatian Social and Economic Council.

Professor Steven Ratner, School of Law
Professor Aaron Ahuvia, Marketing
Professor Hani Bawardi, Social Sciences and Center for Arab American Studies

This event is co-sponsored by Interfaith Council on Peace and Justice

During his 33-year Foreign Service career Christopher Hill served as an ambassador to Macedonia, Poland, South Korea and, most recently, Iraq. Ambassador Hill was part of the team that negotiated the Bosnian Peace Settlement in 1995, headed the U.S. delegation to the six-party talks for resolving the 2005 North Korean nuclear crisis and delayed retirement in an effort to negotiate the formation of the Iraqi government in 2010.

Sultan Al Qassemi is a 33-year-old scholar, columnist, and influential Twitter commentator. TIME magazine says he's 'shaping the conversation' on events unfolding in the Middle East. NPR says he 'wrote the first draft of Middle East history in short sentences tapped out on his computer and his cell phone.'

The theme of the Congress is 'Rethinking the Role of the State: Responses to Recent Challenges.' The plenary lectures will focus on how the tools and methods of Public Economics and related disciplines can serve to understand the issues.

The theme of the Congress is 'Rethinking the Role of the State: Responses to Recent Challenges.' The plenary lectures will focus on how the tools and methods of Public Economics and related disciplines can serve to understand the issues.

The theme of the Congress is 'Rethinking the Role of the State: Responses to Recent Challenges.' The plenary lectures will focus on how the tools and methods of Public Economics and related disciplines can serve to understand the issues.

The theme of the Congress is 'Rethinking the Role of the State: Responses to Recent Challenges.' The plenary lectures will focus on how the tools and methods of Public Economics and related disciplines can serve to understand the issues.

The University of Michigan is proud to welcome the political networks community to Ann Arbor for the 4th Annual Political Networks Conference and Workshops. The study of political networks serves a key role in understanding governance, as politics is largely driven by relationships between actors, agencies, and institutions.

The University of Michigan is proud to welcome the political networks community to Ann Arbor for the 4th Annual Political Networks Conference and Workshops. The study of political networks serves a key role in understanding governance, as politics is largely driven by relationships between actors, agencies, and institutions.

The University of Michigan is proud to welcome the political networks community to Ann Arbor for the 4th Annual Political Networks Conference and Workshops. The study of political networks serves a key role in understanding governance, as politics is largely driven by relationships between actors, agencies, and institutions.

The University of Michigan is proud to welcome the political networks community to Ann Arbor for the 4th Annual Political Networks Conference and Workshops. The study of political networks serves a key role in understanding governance, as politics is largely driven by relationships between actors, agencies, and institutions.

The University of Michigan is proud to welcome the political networks community to Ann Arbor for the 4th Annual Political Networks Conference and Workshops. The study of political networks serves a key role in understanding governance, as politics is largely driven by relationships between actors, agencies, and institutions.

Thai politics has been in turmoil for five years. Politics has overflowed into the streets. Violence has increased. The army has regained a position of dominance. In this talk, Pasuk Phongpaichit and Chris Baker set these events into a context of long-run changes in Thai society.

This event is the public keynote lecture for a student-led, invitation-only conference organized by the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the University of Toronto's School of Public Policy and Governance.

The U.S.-Canada Conference 2011, 'Looking to 2020: Eroding North America's Borders,' will bring together future policy leaders from Canada and the United States to encourage open dialogue on the similarities and differences among public policy in these bordering nations. Conference attendance is limited to members of the Ford School community and application is required.

This panel discussion focuses on how politics, conflict and oil affect U.S. interests and policies in the greater Middle East region. Current developments in Iraq, Iran and in the Israel-Palestinian peace process will be examined by present and former policy-level officials who have studied and dealt with these issues in both the U.S. Government and in academia.

Terrorism is an inherently social phenomenon. While it is commonly assumed that terrorists kill and die for a cause, they are motivated and strengthened by social connections. This colloquium brings together researchers in this area to discuss terrorism's root causes in the interpersonal relationships between terrorists, competition between terrorist groups within societies, and strategic alliances between organizations.

Rami Khouri is the Director of the Issam Fares Institute of Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut as well as editor-at-large of the Beirut-based Daily Star newspaper. He is an internationally syndicated political columnist and author.

The United States and Global Sustainable Development: Politics, Policy, and Priorities

Jeffrey Sachs is one of the world's most influential development economists. He is the author of 'Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet' (2008) and 'The End of Poverty,' his seminal 2005 prescription for ending extreme poverty in the world by 2025.

John D. Ciorciari, Assistant Professor of Public Policy will discuss his book, published September, 2010 by the Georgetown University Press. His research interests are international politics, law, and finance. From 2004-07, he served as a policy official in the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of International Affairs. Since 1999, he has been a legal advisor to the Documentation Center of Cambodia, which promotes historical memory and justice for the atrocities of the Pol Pot regime. He holds an A.B. and J.D. from Harvard and an M.Phil. and D.Phil. from Oxford, where he was a Fulbright Scholar.

America's unmet challenges are huge: from energy policy to nuclear weapons, climate, health care (yes, still), a sagging infrastructure and a soaring deficit. Yet every one of them is eminently solvable. The answers are well known. So what explains, for example, thirty-five years of inaction on energy policy and even longer on health care? Why do we still approach nuclear weapons as though the Cold War continues when it ended 20 years ago? Is the policy gridlock that afflicts us the symptom of a vibrant and engaged - if polarized - society? Or is it the sign of an aging power that has lost the will to combat its problems? What can be done to recapture the will to act?

Marek Belka is President of the National Bank of Poland and former Director of the IMF's European Department. He was previously Under-Secretary General at the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe. Belka served as the Prime Minister of Poland from 2004-05, and was Poland's Deputy Prime Minister in 1997 and Minister of Finance from 2001-02.

José Zalaquett is one of Latin America's leading authorities on human rights. He is an international human rights lawyer, Professor at the University of Chile School of Law, and co-Director of its Human Rights Center.

He will speak about accountability for human rights abuses, drawing significantly on his own experiences in a wide range of countries, including Chile.

Ambassador Richard Solomon is President of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and has held this position since 1993. USIP provides the analysis, training, and tools to prevent and end conflicts; promotes stability; and professionalizes the field of peacebuilding. It is an independent, nonpartisan, national institution established and funded by Congress.

Panelists:
Alan Deardorff, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and Department of Economics, University of Michigan
Susan M. Collins, Joan and Sanford Weill Dean of Public Policy, University of Michigan
Mark B. Padilla, School of Public Health, University of Michigan
Susan Waltz, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan

Lord John Alderdice is an appointed life Member of the British House of Lords of the British Parliament at Westminster. Recently the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party in the House of Lords elected him as its new Convener (Chair) and in this position Lord Alderdice will provide an essential link between backbench Liberal Democrat peers and Liberal Democrats in Government. He is also a Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist at the Centre for Psychotherapy which he established in Belfast, United Kingdom. He is a Visiting Professor in Psychiatry and Joint Chairman of the Critical Incident Analysis Group at the University of Virginia.

Eric Hanushek is the Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University. He has been a leader in the development of economic analysis of educational issues, and his work has frequently entered into the design of both national and international educational policy. His research includes the impacts of teacher quality, high stakes accountability, and class size reduction on achievement and the role of cognitive skills in international growth and development. His pioneering analysis measuring teacher quality through student achievement forms the basis for current research into the value-added of teachers and schools.

New drugs and vaccines could save millions of lives in the developing world. But drug and vaccine development is expensive, and many of these badly needed health technologies promise markets too small to interest the for-profit pharmaceutical industry.

Paul Krugman is an economist and prolific writer who divides his energies among many pursuits: he is professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University, a centenary professor at the London School of Economics, and, perhaps, his best-known job, an op-ed columnist for The New York Times.

Krugman was recently honored for his work on global trade patterns by winning the 2008 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. In recognition of his influence The Washington Monthly called him 'the most important political columnist in America.'

Ambassador Thomas Miller, U.S. Ambassador Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1999-2001, Greece, 2001-2004, and President of the United Nations Association. More about Ambassador Miller.

Co-sponsored by Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies, the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, and the International Policy Center.

CES-EUC's Conversations on Europe: 'Europe's Political and Economic Challenges'

CES-EUC's Conversations on Europe: 'The Impact of the Current Financial Crisis on European (Dis)Integration and on Europe's Economies'

Jan Svejnar, Director of the International Policy Center at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy; Everett E. Berg Professor of Business Administration; and Professor of Economics and Public Policy; and former candidate for president of the Czech Republic. He is also a founder and Chairman of CERGE-EI in Prague (an American-style Ph.D. program in economics that educates the new generation of economists for Central-East Europe and the Newly Independent States). He serves as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of CSOB Bank and Co-Editor of the Economics of Transition. He is also a Fellow of the European Economic Association and Research Fellow of the Center for Economic Policy Research (London) and Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA, Bonn).

Jan Svejnar was interviewed by U-M New Services about the financial health of Europe in a piece called 'Europe's economy plays large role in global crisis.

Global Policy Perspectives Syimposium: Terrorists and Their Supporters: Who They Are, What They Think, and How Do We Deal with Them?

On February 25, sixty alumni from the University of Michigan and other American universities gathered in Paris to network and to learn about European and United States leadership in this time of economic crisis from Jan Svejnar, Director of the International Policy Center at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.

Global Policy Perspectives Symposium: How Well Has South Africa Done Since Apartheid?

Global Policy Perspectives Symposium: How Should the New Administration Approach Trade with Latin America?

Global Policy Perspectives Syimposium: Effects of the US Election on the European Union

Alberto Trejos, the Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, will focus his presentation on the evolution of Costa Rica's decision to join the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). In addition to addressing the implications of a Costa Rica-United States free trade agreement, Dr. Trejos will share his insight on how political strategy and drama influenced Costa Rica's adoption into CAFTA, which followed a national referendum.

Co-sponsored by LACS and the International Policy Center at the Ford School of Public Policy.

An informal conversation with Jan Svejnar, who was narrowly defeated by the incumbent, Victor Klaus, in the recent election for the presidency of the Czech Republic.

Ambassador Collins is an expert on Russia, Eastern Europe and Eurasia.

Presented with the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. Sessions included:

The conference discussed theoretical, empirical and policy papers. The suggested topics included, but were not limited to, the following:

Edward S. Walker is one of the foremost U.S. experts on the politics of the Middle East. He served as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs under both Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell (2000-2001), US Ambassador to Israel (1997-1999), US Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt (1994-1997), U.S. Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (1989-1992) and as Deputy Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations (1992-1993). 

Danny Leipziger is the Vice President for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM) and Head of the PREM Network of more than 700 economists and other professionals working on economic policy, lending, and analytic work for the World Bank's client countries. In this capacity he provides strategic leadership and direction to Regional PREM units as well as groups working on economic policy formulation in the area of growth and poverty, debt, trade, gender, and public sector management and governance. He is heavily involved in positioning the Bank on major economic policy issues and in managing the Bank's overall interactions on these issues with key partner institutions - including the IMF, OECD, regional development banks and the European Union. He works closely with Regional Vice Presidents on leading edge and cross-country economic matters.

Kemal Dervis, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme.

Dawei Liu is the Chief Financial Officer of China Development Bank and Professor at the Graduate School of China People's Bank. Through its role as a development financial institution of the government of China, China Development Bank has been an implementer of development financing while strengthening the competitiveness of China and improving the living standard of its people. Prior to joining the China Development Bank, Professor Liu served in various roles such as the Director of Research with the Beijing Municipal Government, the President of the China XinDa Trust Investment Company, and as the President of the China Investment Bank. In 2004 he presented case studies on infrastructure projects at the Asia-Pacific Infrastructure Forum.

A symposium designed to explore the latest thinking from microfinance practitioners and academics on improving microfinance programs.

Prior to his position at the EBRD, President Lemierre was Head of the French Private Office of the Minister of Economy and Finance and Director of France's Treasury. This Citigroup lecture was presented in conjunction with the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the International Policy Center.

Tom Bombelles, Director of International Government Relations at Merck & Co., Inc. speaks on Merck's HIV/AIDS program in Botswana and the pricing of essential medicines in developing markets, more specifically on what sort of business challenges exist in these markets – establishing prices, logistical constraints, pushback/support from governments, the WTO/intellectual property rights, other corporations, NGOs, etc.

Margaret Kruk, MD, MPH School of Public Health, will speak on health care financing in the developing world.

Francisco Thoumi, Professor of Economics and Director and Founder, Research and Monitoring Center on Drugs and Crime, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá will speak on 'Institutions, Governability and Illegal Drugs in Colombia and Afghanistan: Why Traditional Policies Are Not Enough.'

A public symposium featuring Derek Yach, Professor of Global Health at Yale University, speaking on 'The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.' A reception for Professor Yach to follow the lecture.

The International Policy Center and the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, jointly with International Policy Students Association (IPSA) and Emerging Markets Club (EMC), present Alan Rousso, Lead Counsellor, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Jan Svejnar, Director of the International Policy Center, Everett E. Berg Professor of Business, Professor of Economics and Public Policy

The purpose of the conference was to provide a forum to discuss the most important issues to be addressed during the December 2005 Ministerial Meeting of the WTO in Hong Kong.