EUROPE, RUSSIA, CHINA AND GLOBAL TERRORISM:  THE NEW CHALLENGES IN EURASIA

May 19-21, 2009

Capitol Hill Club
Washington, DC

At a time of global economic distress and the beginning of a new administration, a reconfiguration of the global balance of power seems inevitable. The continuing economic rise of China and the drive of Russia to re-establish its Cold War global status have opened a new period of geopolitical competition.

Historically, the rise of new or renewed great powers has often been accompanied by turmoil and war. Inevitably, lesser powers, seeking support for their own ambitions, have begun to establish relations with the "new" great powers, reminiscent of the patron-client relations of bygone eras.

The entry of a great power into the diplomatic arena normally means dramatic transformations within the domestic society of the rising power. How will those transformations, for better or worse, play out on the world stage? In the meantime, fragile states within the Central Asia corridor linking Europe and East Asia continue to foster and promote terrorism and transnational crime.

This seminar will examine the emerging contours of this shifting balance of power from Western Europe to the Far East and how the changing landscape will affect U.S. economic and strategic interests in the near term.

SEMINAR TOPICS

• Eurasia and the Transformation of Europe
• The Globalization of Transnational Crime
• The Growing Demands of Islamic and Other Sub-National Groups in Eurasia
• The European Union and the Economic Recession: Is Europe’s Experiment at Risk?
• The Obama Administration, NATO, and the Future of Transatlantic Relations
• Russia and Europe: An Uneasy Alignment
• Assessing Russia’s Defense Capabilities
• Eurasian Demographics: What We Learn from the Numbers
• Russian Oil and Natural Gas: The Politics of Energy in a Sinking Economy
• The Global Economic Crisis and the Future of Capitalism in the Former Soviet Bloc
• Inside Kremlin Politics: Renewed Imperial Claims and the Crisis of Power
• Russia's Support for Rogue Nations, Terrorist Organizations and Organized Crime
• Between Moscow and Bejiing: The Dynamics of Central Asia
• Chechnya, South-Central Asia, and the Nexus of Terrorism
• China’s New Geopolitical Calculations and Military Modernization
• China, the United States and the Free Market: Patterns for the Future
• Growth, Inequality and Corruption in an Emergent China
• The Obama Administration: Changing Course in East Asia?
• Korea, Taiwan and the Other “Problem States” in the Far East

LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES

After participating in the Europe, Russia and China Seminar, participants will be able to:

1. Define the key forces that are shaping the internal regimes of Russia and China and the implications for their relationship with each other, the European Union states, and the United States;

2. Comprehend the key forces that are shaping the developments of the European Union and the convergent and divergent interests of the different member states as they develop their relations within the Union and with Russia, China, and the outside world;

3. Recognize the impact of the global economic crisis on Europe, Russia, and China and its implications for U.S. relations with those states;

4. Identify the key leaders and issues that will drive the principal states of Europe, Russia, and China and the prospects for increased cooperation or policy disagreements with the United States;

5. Assess what constitutes for the European Union, Russia, and China their “permanent” interests and relationships as defined by history and geography and their changing interests and relations as defined by contemporary challenges and opportunities;

6. Describe the key elements of the Obama Administration’s developing policies toward America’s traditional allies and with Russia and China and the possible links between those policies;

7. Evaluate the adequacy of the policies, institutions, and arrangement that either separate or bind together the European Union, Russia, China, and the United States;

8. Develop a strategic vision that would establish American priorities and commitments in its relationship with NATO and the European Union, Russia, and China and the implications for the global balance of power;

9. Make operational linkages among our diplomatic, intelligence, economic, and military initiatives with the states of the European Union, Russia, and China.

MODERATOR

DR. ROBERT S. WOOD is Dean Emeritus of the Center for Naval Warfare Studies at the U.S. Naval War College. He held the Chester W. Nimitz Chair of National Security and Foreign Affairs and twice served as Director of the Chief of Naval Operations´ Strategic Studies Group. Dr. Wood is one the world’s leading authorities on war gaming and crisis simulations and oversaw the largest gaming series in U.S. history, the Global War Games, which became a major venue in which hundreds of senior civilian and military officials gathered for three weeks to explore crisis and conflict scenarios and develop alternative policies, strategies and operational plans. He regularly provides advice to the White House, the Congress, and the Department of Defense. The co-author of the recent study, America the Vincible: U.S. Foreign Policy for the 21st Century (Prentice Hall), he has also authored, co-authored, edited, or contributed to 21 other books and numerous articles on public affairs, executive development, international affairs, and national security policy. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate in History with Highest Distinction from Stanford University, Dr. Wood earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard University. He has taught at Harvard University and Bentley College and was a professor in the Woodrow Wilson Department of Government and Foreign Affairs at the University of Virginia.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The seminar will be held at the Capitol Hill Club, 300 First Street, SE, Washington, DC. Continental breakfast and registration will start at 7:30 a.m. The seminar will begin at 8:00 a.m. and conclude at approximately 4:00 p.m. each day. A luncheon workshop with speaker is included each day. An on-site coordinator will be provided to attend to workshop logistics.

No video, power point or audio-visual aids are utilized in the presentations. These programs are informal and strictly "off-the-record."