COMMUNITY PROGRAMS

Wednesday, January 25
Human Rights and Terrorism
Featuring Brother James Yee

Time: 7:00 - 8:30pm
Location: Seattle Asian Art Museum, Volunteer Park (1400 E. Prospect St., Seattle 98112)
Cost: $10 Members and Students; $15 Non-members.
Registration: Pre-registration is strongly recommended. Please register on-line at www.world-affairs.org or call the World Affairs Council at (206) 441-5910.
For more information: http://www.world-affairs.org/calendar.cfm?eventID=634&action=eventDetails

The World Affairs Council is pleased to feature Brother James Yee at its second public event of 2006. James Yee, a Chinese American, was a West Point graduate and captain in the U.S. Army before becoming the subject of an intense investigation by the U.S. Government. In November 2002 Yee was stationed as a Muslim cleric at Guantanamo Bay, ministering to the Muslim detainees. In September 2003, returning home for a standard two-week vacation with his family, Yee was arrested, blindfolded, placed in manacles and thrown into solitary confinement for 76 days. He was charged with sedition, aiding the enemy, spying, espionage, and failure to obey a general order. According to Yee, at no point did the government declare what country they believed Yee was spying for, or what organization he might be involved with, but when a military source leaked information of his arrest to the press, the media began to ravage the story. Soon, Yee was vilified as a traitor to his nation and widely considered to be a mole inside the Army.

James Yee's new book, For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism under Fire, depicts his journey of faith and service to his country. Please join the World Affairs Council in welcoming James Yee to speak on the overarching theme of Human Rights and Terrorism, and on the damage religious profiling can cause in our world today. There will be a book signing following his presentation.

Co-sponsor: University Book Store

Co-presenters: ACLU of Washington, Arab American Community Coalition (AACC), League of Women Voters, and World Peace through Law Section of the WSBA

Thursday, February 9
Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble
Featuring Lester Brown, President of the Earth Policy Institute

Time: 7:00 - 8:30pm
Location: The Mountaineers (300 Third Ave. W, Seattle 98119)
Cost: $10 Members and Students; $15 Non-members.
Registration: Pre-registration is strongly recommended. Please register on-line at www.world-affairs.org or call the World Affairs Council at (206) 441-5910.
For more information: http://www.world-affairs.org/calendar.cfm?eventID=640&action=eventDetails

According to Lester Brown, President of the Earth Policy Institute, the world faces numerous environmental trends of disruption and decline such as rising temperatures, the peaking of oil, the spread of international terrorism, the addition of 70 million people yearly, shrinking forests, collapsing fisheries, and rising sea levels.

Brown, one of the most renowned environmental leaders globally, will outline a plan, budget, and timetable for addressing the environment in the twenty-first century. The plan includes eradicating poverty and stabilizing the population; protecting and restoring soils, forests, rangelands, and oceanic fisheries; and conserving the earth's biological diversity. It also includes restructuring the global economy so that it can sustain civilization, and including the participation of developing countries.

Brown has been described as "one of the world's most influential thinkers" by the Washington Post. Some 30 years ago, Brown helped pioneer the concept of "environmentally sustainable development". He was the Founder and President of the Worldwatch Institute during its first 26 years. Brown's many books have been translated into more than 40 languages. Brown is a MacArthur Fellow and recipient of myriad awards, including the 1987 United Nations Environment Prize.

Wednesday, March 15 - SAVE THE DATE
U.N. Reform - Great Decisions 2006
Featuring Shashi Tharoor, Under Secretary General for Communications and Public Information of the United Nations

The World Affairs Council is pleased to announce that it will continue with its Great Decisions community discussion group series in 2006. Participants in the series read a related article before the event, attend a formal presentation, and then participate in discussion groups immediately following the lecture. The first event of Great Decisions 2006 will feature Under Secretary General Shashi Tharoor, one of the speculated successors to Secretary General Kofi Annan, who will discuss "U.N. Reform."

Since its official formation in October of 1945, the United Nations has evolved tremendously both in scope and in presence.  In the preamble of the U.N. Charter, goals are outlined to "promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom."  Despite achievements including the creation and adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, its Noble Peace Prize-winning peacekeeping operations, and the establishment of international criminal tribunals, the U.N. has also received harsh criticism.  Under Secretary General Shashi Tharoor, a possible successor to Secretary General Kofi Annan, will discuss current challenges to the United Nations and what is being done to respond effectively to them.

Shashi Tharoor has worked with the United Nations since 1978, and currently serves as the Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information.  Mr. Tharoor's specific duties include focusing on the U.N.'s communications strategy, with particular emphasis on the effectiveness of the U.N's external message. After receiving his Ph.D. at the age of 22, Tharoor began his eminent career with the United Nations, working internationally in Geneva as part of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva and Singapore.  In October 1989, Mr. Tharoor joined the peace-keeping staff at the U.N. Headquarters in New York.  Mr. Tharoor has also served as Director of Communications and Special Projects in the Office of the Secretary-General (1997-2001), Executive Assistant to the Secretary General (1997-2001), and Coordinator for Multilingualism (2003).  Mr. Tharoor is also the author of eight books.  In January 1998, he was named a "Global Leader of Tomorrow" by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. 

More information on this event and other Great Decisions 2006 events will be available soon!  
To purchase your Great Decisions briefing book, please call the World Affairs Council at (206) 441-5910.

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OTHER EVENTS IN THE COMMUNITY
View the community page at http://www.world-affairs.org/event_community.html for information about other events dealing with international issues.

Wednesday, February 1
The Smallest Witnesses: The Conflict in Darfur through Children's Eyes - Panel and Reception

Time: 7:00 - 8:30pm
Location: Odegaard Library, University of Washington (Seattle, 98195)
Cost: Free and open to the public. 
Registration: No pre-registration is necessary. 
For more information: http://www.world-affairs.org/calendar.cfm?eventID=645&action=eventDetails

This panel discussion is part of children's drawings on display at UW's Odegaard Library from February 1 - 22, 2006. The exhibit, which has traveled throughout the world and been featured in the New York Times and on NPR, features 27 drawings by children from Darfur who escaped air raids, ground attacks and ethnic cleansing in Sudan (see http://hrw.org/photos/2005/darfur/drawings/).

This event features Human Rights Watch (HRW) researcher Olivier Bercault, who collected the drawings. Bercault has documented human rights violations in Sudan, Chad, Afghanistan, and Iraq; Nancy Farwell, Chair of the African Studies Department and Associate Professor at the School of Social Work, UW, who has studied extensively the impact of war on children; Amna Ibrahim, a UW fellow from Sudan, who has worked with relief organizations in Sudan, including those that specialize in traumatized children; and Fred Abrahams, senior emergency researcher for HRW (moderator).

Tuesday, February 8
The Lost Executioner: A Journey to the Heart of the Killing Fields
Featuring Nic Dunlop 

Time: 7:00 - 8:30pm
Location: University Book Store (4326 University Way NE, Seattle 98105) 
Cost: Free and open to the public. 
Registration: No pre-registration is necessary. 
For more information: http://www.world-affairs.org/calendar.cfm?eventID=638&action=eventDetails

In Cambodia, between 1975 and 1979, some two million people died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. Twenty years later, not one member had been held accountable. Haunted by the image of one of them, Comrade Duch, photographer Nic Dunlop set out to bring him to life, and thereby to account. "I needed to understand how a seemingly ordinary man from one of the poorer parts of Cambodia could turn into one of the worst mass murderers of the twentieth century." The result, The Lost Executioner, is an unforgettable, illuminating document that, by bearing witness, captivates its audience with its revelation.