SIPA: School of International and Public Affairs

November 29, 2011

	The Rise of the BRICs Of the emerging markets, Brazil, Russia, India and China – collectively representing more than 40 percent of the world’s population – enjoy special status due to their economic and political clout. On Friday, December 2, SIPA hosts the inaugural BRICLab conference, exploring the strategic, political, environmental, economic, and financial consequences of the rise of the BRICs.
	China: Economic and Trade Relations Leading experts from academia, government, and the private sector gathered at SIPA for an off-the-record discussion of the tensions and opportunities between China and developed economies. “We need symbols of togetherness. We need symbols of understanding,” said Admiral William Owens, former Vice Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.
	Lawrence H. Summers: Gabriel Silver Memorial Lecture Lawrence H. Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor at Harvard University, will deliver the Gabriel Silver Memorial Lecture on Thursday, December 1. During the past two decades, Mr. Summers has served in a series of senior policy positions, including Director of the White House National Economic Council from 2009 to 2011 and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury from 1999 to 2001.
	This Week The International Criminal Court: The First Ten Years, November 30 New Money for a New World: Bernard Lietaer: Economist, Systems Thinker and Currency Designer, November 30 Israel and the Arab Spring: Challenges and Opportunities, December 1 Sustaining Economic and Social Advance: The Challenges Ahead for Latin America, December 1 Megacity Sustainability Indicators: Formal and Informal Urban Development in the Emerging-Market City of Sao Paulo, December 5
	Leaders in Global Energy: The Cities of the Future “Architecture is like an iceberg…” said Eduardo Souto de Moura, Portuguese architect and Pritzker Prize Laureate, implying that we have seen only the tip of intelligent, sustainable design. SIPA live-tweeted from Mr. Souto de Moura's presentation, where he highlighted his most recent design of a home, innovative use of natural light in a museum, intelligent and cost-efficient use of new materials in a skyscraper, and a new approach to the construction of a soccer stadium within its natural surroundings.
	Can Israel Successfully Bomb Iran’s Nuclear Facilities? A report from the International Atomic Energy Agency indicates that Iran’s nuclear program continues to make steady progress. That report has only intensified talk of a possible Israeli strike. Professor Austin Long from SIPA’s International Security Policy program says an Israeli strike against Iran would be tougher today than a few years ago, but it would still be likely to succeed.
	In the News Wojciech Kopczuk says economic mobility is a “fuzzy concept," Wall Street Journal Mahmood Mamdani on oil, corruption, and the popularity of Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni, New York Times Rodolfo de la Garza says Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has no chance of winning the Mexican presidential election, Reuters Steven Cohen: Sustainability Management: Lessons From and for New York City, America, and the Planet, New York Times
	Scott Barrett on climate talks and U.S. leadership, NPR Jeffrey Sachs talks about the state of U.S. education funding and worker training, Bloomberg Arvind Panagariya: “Only in India does redistribution… pass for inclusive growth,” Hindustan Times Abraham Wagner has been named to Newt Gingrich’s foreign policy team, Washington Post
	SIPA Online Jasmine Shaw (MPA ’12) writes “Should India Receive Development Aid?” at The Morningside Post, SIPA’s student-run blog. Thomas Lansner says Zambia must tackle Chinese investment issues and human rights reforms, Freedom House James L. Gelvin (MIA and IF ’85) discusses “What History Explains: The Arab World at the Intersection of the National and Transnational,” UCLA International Institute
	Anne Nelson spoke at a panel discussion, “Matching the Market and the Model: The Business of Independent News Media,” hosted by the Center for International Media Assistance. Gary Sick on “The Really Big Question” beneath the Arab Spring, Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street, etc. Gary’s Choices

Photo by Julia Ritz Toffoli (MIA ’12).

Julia worked last summer on a Mother-to-Child Transmission Prevention study with the GAIA Vaccine Foundation in Bamako, Mali. She writes “…All of the children born to these HIV positive women since 2005 have been HIV negative. And it's an incredible silver lining to the devastation caused by HIV/AIDS. But it's not enough.”