Five Years After Lockdown: Lessons from COVID-19 for Borders and Public Health

Monday, March 24 // 10–11:00 am (ET)

March 2025 marks five years from the declaration by the World Health Organization of COVID-19 as a global pandemic, prompting 194 countries to enact some type of border restriction or closure. In the US, border restrictions with Canada and Mexico were the last remaining Covid-era policy to come to an end, despite the high costs to communities and economic systems in our borderlands. Our panelists will discuss some of the lessons learned in border management during COVID-19, and what this means for the future of borders and public health.

Additional Upcoming Events

Who Will Rescue Us?: The Story of the Jewish Children Who Fled to France and America During the Holocaust

Monday, March 24 // 4–5:30 pm (ET)

At the eve of the Second World War, an estimated 1.6 million Jewish children lived in Nazi-occupied Europe. While 10,000 of them escaped to Britain in the Kindertransport, only some 500 found a new home in France. Here they attempted to begin again—but their refuge would all too soon become a trap. For the first time, Laura Hobson Faure brings to life the experiences of these children, and the Jewish and non-Jewish organizations who helped them. Drawing on survivors’ testimonies as well as children’s diaries, letters, drawings, songs, and poems, Who Will Rescue Us? re-creates their complex journeys, including how some of them eventually found safety in America.

Russia’s Indigenous Communities and the War in Ukraine

Wednesday, March 26 // 10–11:00 am (ET)

Russia’s war in Ukraine has had a disproportionately negative impact on its indigenous communities. Buryats in particular have been drafted at above-average rates and experienced the highest rates of casualties. With many of these communities facing economic hardships, military service has become an attractive option despite the risks it entails. What economic and political factors have driven these trends? How have these evolved over the past three years? What are the broader implications for these communities? This webinar will address these questions.

Film Screening: The Shark Fin Hunters

Wednesday, March 26 // 12–1:30 pm (ET)

This documentary follows Evelyn LaMadrid, an environmental prosecutor in northern Peru, who is fighting back against the illegal trade of shark fins. Her office granted Aljazeera’s Fault Lines reporters exclusive access to embed with her team as she investigated traffickers moving the product through the country. After the film, director Jeremy Young and reporter Josh Rushing (Aljazeera English), Sharon Guynup (National Geographic Explorer) and Ben Freitas (WWF) will discuss the making of the film and broader solutions to this illegal wildlife trade. They will take audience questions as well.

Lebanon’s New Government: Challenges and Prospects for Reform and Revitalization

Thursday, March 27 // 10–11:30 am (ET)

After more than two years of a presidential vacuum, Joseph Aoun was elected as the 14th president of Lebanon on January 9th, and Nawaf Salam was appointed as the new prime minister. They received substantial support in Parliament, with Aoun securing 99 out of 128 votes and Salam receiving 84 votes. Their choice marks a pivotal moment that may signal the formation of Lebanon’s “Third Republic.” However, the country faces deep-seated challenges, including political instability, economic collapse, and weakened state institutions debilitated by endemic corruption. Arab Center Washington DC and the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center are co-convening a panel of experts to assess the challenges and opportunities facing Lebanon under its new leadership.