Biennial Lecture and Dialogue of the Brown Capital Management Africa Forum

Tuesday, Dec. 14 // 10–11:30 a.m. (ET)

Join the Wilson Center Africa Program for the inaugural Biennial Lecture and Dialogue of the Brown Capital Management Africa Forum featuring H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat.

The AfCFTA is poised to transform Africa into the largest free trade zone in the world, connecting a market of more than 1.2 billion people and a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion (AfCFTA Secretariat). The agreement aims to boost intra-African trade and promote sustainable development across the continent by reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers, including customs delays and high trading costs, thus increasing competitiveness and resilience of African markets. Its impact will reach far beyond Africa into the global trade regime.

This event will assess the significance and status of the AfCFTA; discuss key challenges in the road ahead; and, more importantly, highlight opportunities AfCFTA presents for Africa and its international partners to boost trade and investment and foster sustainable economic growth.

Sharing the Air: EU and U.S. Efforts to Integrate Commercial Drones into Civilian Airspace

Monday, Dec. 13 // 10–11:30 a.m. (ET)

How can air traffic management be integrated with unmanned air traffic management? What new aviation rules for drones are already in place? What new rules are just over the horizon? For answers, join senior policymakers from U.S. and European aviation authorities, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington, D.C. and the Wilson Center’s Science and Technology Innovation Program (STIP) for a public conversation.

Fighting Extremism in Pakistan—Local Actions, Local Voices

Monday, Dec. 13 // 2–3:30 p.m. (ET)

This event, an address by Dr. Anita Weiss, marks the 2021 Asma Jahangir Memorial Lecture. In her lecture, Weiss will discuss how Pakistanis are responding to, and pushing back against, violent extremism.

Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union

Monday, Dec. 13 // 4–5:30 p.m. (ET)

Thirty years after the unexpected collapse of the Soviet Union, Vladislav Zubok offers a major reinterpretation of this event, refuting the notion that the breakup of the Soviet order was inevitable. Instead, Zubok reveals how Gorbachev’s misguided reforms, intended to modernize and democratize the Soviet Union, deprived the government of resources and empowered separatism. Collapse argues that the Soviet collapse was primarily a domestic affair, yet the United States also played an extraordinary and poorly-understood role.

The ACRS Oral History Project: An Exploration into the Arms Control and Regional Security Working Group

Tuesday, Dec. 14 // 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. (ET)

Through dozens of interviews, new archival findings, and the help of several diplomats present during the negotiations, the ACRS Oral History Project brings back to life the series of mulitlateral meetings throughout the 1990s. The ACRS Oral History Project features dozens of interviews with representatives from nearly every participating nation as well as hundreds of newly available documents from U.S. archives and the personal papers of Mike Yaffe, an American diplomat present for many of the meetings.

Inspiring Environmental Good Through Games

Wednesday, Dec. 15 // 6–7:00 p.m. (ET)

Video games are being used to save the planet. Traditional communication efforts to help people understand what drives environmental problems can sometimes fall short. Games are being used to help make research on leading environmental issues, like ocean plastic pollution, conservation, and climate change, come to life. By putting the control in the hands of the public, new games are connecting the dots and motivating players to get involved. Join us as we learn more about these games in-action, their impacts, and how they are engaging audiences to learn, act, and grow into environmental do-gooders.

The Haleh Esfandiari Forum: A Conversation with Ambassador Melanne Verveer

Thursday, Dec. 16 // 10–11:00 a.m. (ET)

The Haleh Esfandiari Forum presents a conversation with Ambassador Melanne Verveer, Executive Director of Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security, and Former U.S. Ambassador for Global Women’s issues. Ambassador Verveer will speak about her extensive experience in bringing awareness to women’s rights and empowerment on the global stage, including the Women, Peace and Security Index and her leading role in various initiatives to support women in Afghanistan and across the Middle East and North African (MENA) region.