EPIIC Friday Sked

Yeah, I promised blogging at night.....clearly I lied.

I loved Thursday evening's program (details here). But I didn't get out until nearly 10:30. Then I grabbed up Tom from work and gave him a ride home. Now the house is full of kids playing cards (three of my four boys are here). I have to get to bed.

I saw the West Point cadets.....where are the Annapolis midshipmen? Do they know to look for me?

I have to be up early to run errands (REMEMBER to grab Nic's laptop!!!) and get to Cabot Hall for the first panel of Friday. No links in this for now. I will try to get to that later.

So, instead here is the EPIIC Friday schedule.

• South Asia’s Troubled Waters: Deluge and Disappearance, 11:00am

Junaid Ahmad World Bank Sector Manager for Social Development, South Asia Region

Sanjoy Hazarika Managing Trustee, Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research, India

Shafiqul Islam Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University

Adil Najam Director, Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, Boston University; Co-Coordinator, South Asia 2060 Project
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• Development, Poverty and Inequality: The Challenges Ahead, 2:00pm

Junaid Ahmad World Bank Sector Manager for Social Development, South Asia Region

David Dapice Associate Professor of Economics, Tufts University; Faculty Associate, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Kennedy School, Harvard University

Dana Freyer Chair and Founder, Global Partnership for Afghanistan

Hossain Zillur Rahman Founder, Power and Participation Research Centre, Dhaka, Bangladesh; Former Minister of Commerce and Education, Caretaker Government of Bangladesh

Rafia Zakaria Director, Amnesty International USA; Director, Muslim Women’s Legal Defense Fund for the Muslim Alliance of Indiana/The Julian Center Shelter
****
Student presentations
Jennifer Dann-Fenwick (A’12) and Anika Huq (A’12) on “Comparing Primary Schools in Bangladesh: A Story of Inequalities and Diverging Attitudes” EPIIC Student, 2009-10 “South Asia: Conflict, Culture, Complexity and Change” Colloquium; he conducted this research as part of his course work over winter intersession
Anna Gilmer (A’12) and Mark Rafferty (A’13) on “NGOs and Community Development in Bangladesh” EPIIC Students, 2009-10 “South Asia: Conflict, Culture, Complexity and Change” Colloquium; they conducted this research in Bangladesh as part of their course work over winter intersession
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• Buzkashi: Afghanistan’s Recurring Great Game, 7:00pm

Sarah Chayes Former Special Advisor to General Stanley McChrystal, Commander of the International SAssistance Force in Afghanistan; Founder, Arghand Cooperative, Afghanistan

Matthew Hoh Former Senior Civilian Representative, US Department of State, Zabul Province, Afghanist

Said Jawad Afghanistan Ambassador to the United States of America

Sulaiman Layeq Founding Member, People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan

David Mansfield Fellow, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard Kennedy School; Independent Consultant, for a range of organizations, including the UK Government and the World Bank, on illicit drugs in Afghanistan

Dipali Mukhopadhyay Author, “Warlords as Bureaucrats: The Afghan Experience”; Jennings Randolph Dissertation Scholar, U.S. Institute of Peace

Noor ul-Haq Olomi Chair, Armed Services Committee, Lower House of the Afghan National Assembly; Leader, United National Party of Afghanistan
*****
Student Presentation
Julia Evans (A’13), Mara James (A’10), Iman Jawad (A’11), Lauren Milord (A’12), Katherine Monson (A’13), Emily Pantalone (A’12), Benjamin Perlstein (A’13) Patrick Schmidt (A’13) on “Comparing Soviet and American Strategies in Afghanistan”
EPIIC Students, 2009-10 “South Asia: Conflict, Culture, Complexity and Change” Colloquium; they conducted this research at the National Security Archive as part of their course work over winter intersession

EPIIC Symposium or Punishing Myself

LOL, it's time for the 2009 EPIIC Symposium......also known as Maggie pays good money to have people aggravate her.

This is the polar opposite of the Milblog.

At EPIIC I am *the* most conservative person in the room. Period.

At the Milblog, I am moderate.

At EPIIC I am constantly aggravated by the whole pie in the sky, Kumbaya, love is the answer feel.

At the Milblog I get the sense that I am among people who see the world as it truly is.

But learning is not about sitting in the echo chamber. I learn plenty of things at the Milblog, but EPIIC will take me places I wouldn't ordinarily go.

Plus I think it's good for them to have a real conservative in their presence.

The Most Surprising Thing About EPIIC

No Twitter feed.

Given the average age of the an EPIIC participant being under 30, I was shocked to see how few Tweets there were.

Two other participants put updates out, three between the two of them using the word "EPIIC".

Then there were a few updates from @TuftsAdmissions and one for the campus newspaper.

Hmmm.

Also, it is shocking that so many people can't spell the word "epic" and got caught in my feed.

Day One Of EPIIC----#Fail

I love going to the EPIIC Symposium.  I couldn't go the year of the transplant and last year I was in the midst of the whole Grave's disease nonsense.

But this year...........I was going! Thursday through Sunday, four days of panels and discussions.

This year's topic "2013 EPIIC Symposium: Global Health and Security at Tufts

Well first off, My Marine is making me go to a different symposium all day Saturday.  The 24th Annual New England College Symposium at Boston University

Ok, there was still Thursday, Friday and Sunday....right?

Well Frankie called, we hung out.  And talked and had supper and talked.

Thursday night's lecture "Food Insecurity: Hunger, the Environment, and Conflict"...., missed.

Wish my luck on getting to Tuft's Braker Lecture Hall by 9:30 am tomorrow's "Bystanders, Perpetrators and survivors: A Global Health Perspective on Sexual Violence".

EPIIC Starts Tonight

So I'm pretty excited. I didn't get to go last year, I was too ill. I was bummed, I am a big fan.

You can read about Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship (EPIIC) here.

The 2010 Symposium is titled -

South Asia: Conflict, Culture, Complexity and Change

Tonight begins with -

Burden of Memory, Quest for Identity, 7:00pm

Ayesha Jalal
Mary Richardson Professor of History and Director of the Center for South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies, Tufts University; Author, Partisans of Allah: Jihad in South Asia

Kris Manjapra
Assistant Professor of History and Fellow of the Center for South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies, Tufts University; Author, M. N. Roy: Marxism and Colonial Cosmopolitanism

Asim Rafiqui
Photographer; Recipient, 2009 Aftermath Grant for “The Idea of India”

Rajini Srikanth
Associate Professor of English, University of Massachusetts, Boston; Author, The World Next Door: South Asian American Literature and the Idea of America

Rafia Zakaria
Director, Amnesty International USA; Director, Muslim Women’s Legal Defense Fund for the Muslim Alliance of Indiana/The Julian Center Shelter
******
Student Presentations Elizabeth Herman (A’10) on “9/11 in South Asian Textbooks” EPIIC Student, 2007-08 “Global Poverty and Inequality” Colloquium
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There will be panels all weekend. I will be blogging at night and twittering during the day. If you are in the neighborhood, you should try to catch one or more panels.

It's definitely outside my comfort zone politically and that's saying a lot for being in Boston. They've made my crazy, but they have never bored me. I am without a doubt the most conservative person in the room at all times, lol.
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I'l be tweeting from my cell phone, so you have to DM me if you want me. I can only see direct messages on the cell phone.

EPIIC Highlight Video

This is a great vid featuring the amazing Sarah Cheyes during her EPIIC appearance. The vid is from Tufts Daily & goes with their write-up. This was from Friday night's panel “Buzkashi: Afghanistan’s Recurring Great Game,” (my write-up, which pales in comparison is here)

Presents in the Mail

I just got my invitation to the 2006-07 TILIP International Symposium Program EPIIC Symposium! This years subject "Asia's Rising Giants: China and India" February 22 - 25, 2007.
Friday's 2 pm lecture is "Fighting the Tide: Responding to Pandemics". I should take Grace (my bird flu sister) huh?

You know what this means, don't you? The EPIIC Symposium, Global Crises: Governance and Intervention is coming up soon!

EPIIC

The 2007 EPIIC Symposium starts today and continues through the weekend. I will miss the first panel, "UNcertain Future?"
Bummer
But I should make all the others starting with "The Future of Nuclear Proliferation" at 1900 tonight.

EPIIC Wrapped Up Sunday

Here's an article from "The Tufts Daily". Tuft's student newspaper.

Symposium tackles global cities
Michael Del Moro and Alexandra Bogus
Published: Monday, February 23, 2009
Updated: Monday, February 23, 2009

The annual Norris and Margery Bendetson Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship (EPIIC) symposium concluded yesterday after five days of panels on topics ranging from finance to terrorism.

Entitled “Cities: Forging an Urban Future,” the symposium brought together experts from around the globe.

Institute for Global Leadership (IGL) Director Sherman Teichman called the programming a “slam-dunk victory.”

“The content has been just galvanizing,” he told the Daily. “The interactions have been extraordinary.”

In the symposium’s first lecture, Columbia University Professor of Sociology Saskia Sassen spoke about the state of the world’s cities in a time of financial crisis and evolving power structures.
Read the rest here........still bumming I didn't make it.

Last Saturday - 24nd Annual Maritime Symposium

Last Saturday the place to be was Boston University's College of Communication.  That is where Navy League of the United States, Massachusetts Bay Council presented the "24th Annual Maritime Symposium".

So, of course, that's where I was!  My first war game!

I was an observer, allowed to go from room to room.  Here's how it works.  Participants (all college ROTC I think) are divided up into teams.  I think there were 80 or so kids from more than a dozen New England colleges and universities.  Efforts are made to break the participants up so you aren't hanging with your friends.  They ideally want to form teams of strangers, coming together for the first time.  

Groups are given some materials and sent off to different rooms.  Each group has a moderator.  Generally the moderators are people with military experience who are there to keep participants on track.

1st- The scenario.  It was prepared, as was the whole program by LtCol Mark Stanovich, USMCR.  Mark was not there in his Marine Reserve capacity, but you can't help but note it because he is the USMC exemplar. The situation, while put together months ago, is something that has heated up lately - Territorial disputes in the East China Sea in 2015.  I feel that since going over all the suggested reading and the background stuff which we got in the email invitation weeks ago, all I see/hear is about China and territory disputes.

I heard this described as "The Spratly Surprise", though I don't remember reading that anywhere.  The specific territory described in the 3 move political/military scenario were the Spratly Islands.  Indeed the only difference between the 2015 situation and real life today is that the territory in dispute are the Senkaku Islands

Participants are briefed on the "situation" and told they have been convened to advise the President for his response on the matter.

I went into about half the rooms and talked in between sessions to participants in the hall.  I tweeted until the phone started dying (off-topic, I need some super battery).

First off, probably one quarter had not read any background or seemingly studied much history or geography (in the sense I studied geography in school) in general.  There were some silly facts and misinformation tossed out by students that Mark Stanovich (who was also roaming room to room) would appear and correct.  Teams were guided to keep on the path by their moderators and the controllers who were rating/grading as the game proceeded.

After everyone worked through the 3 moves with their team, presenting began.  First teams presented to other teams.

I pegged the winning team just after lunch, although I am sure others saw it earlier.  They were moderated by Col. Robert LaBriola, USMCR, who I had by coincidence met at EPIIC the day before.  This team presented to the whole Symposium, as the "U.S. Briefing Team" and took questions from their fellow participants.

This is a learning experience for the participants.  They are being introduced to the concept of problem solving/teamwork in a seminar with time constraints.  Participants were routinely prompted "The President's waiting" while it was acknowledged that there were "unknowns" and quickly changing "facts".

And for young people who didn't have the benefit of nuns in their education, they did pretty good!

Two things I observed; teams with young women were more concerned with world opinion, and there was a universal belief in the lure of capitalism for the Chinese.  Obviously no "Occupier" think here.  Which is funny, because I don't think that trade sanctions, blockades etc would weigh as heavily to the real life Chinese government.

The hardest part was keeping quiet!  There were things said by teams that I almost had to put my hand over my mouth to keep from jumping on, lol.  But maybe when they are as old as I am.....they'll be this smart.

So, how did I round off this day?  Fabulous dinner in the North End with My Marine.  That was after I kinda sort made him drive nearly to the edge of the map (Route 128, if you're playing at home) by not paying attention as we drove out of the parking lot.  Criminy, we were only at BU.  I don't dare confess how much time I spent out there in the past.  I had the bombolotti di zucca at Gennaro's and it was delish.  While his chicken parm was apparently.....orgasmic....lol!

Anyway, between this and EPIIC the previous day, it was a helluva weekend.  i slept for days.

So, It's Not All Fun & Games

Sure I post right away about being caught out by RADM Handley.....but there was some seriously interesting stuff in that Roundtable.

This is a link to the audio of the call.

Several bloggers on the call were asking questions about the materials that the SeaBees need to do their jobs. What gets imported? What is acquired locally?

These questions led to thoughts on fostering sustainable industries in Afghanistan. I've also been thinking about that in light of some stuff we were presented with at EPIIC last weekend.

The questions started out asking about moving equipment and materials in C-17s vs. sea-lift and coming in through Karachi. But then the conversation turned to the materials themselves.

Chuck: Yes, sir. Chuck Simmins, from America's North Shore Journal.
I wanted to ask about raw materials. Afghanistan doesn't seem to have much industrial capacity. When you need cement, when you need concrete, when you need asphalt, when you need milled lumber, can you buy any of that locally, or is it all imported?

ADM. HANDLEY: Our construction material -- and for us, that is our fuel; that is what -- that drives us in our construction -- is probably one of the greatest concerns that we have. And we find that it's a very long lead-time for us to get material. In the past, we've been able to get and resource general building materials, mostly lumber. But as we go into more specialty materials -- some electrical materials that we need, and then we do a fair amount of water well drilling, and the well material that you need -- the pipe and what we call a completion kit that has all of the valving and other technical components that help develop a well -- those are the longest-lead items.
And so we are working with -- through the Army system in Afghanistan, as well as the Defense Logistics Agency, in order to improve the flow of materials. But our ability to be successful today has been the fact that we have reached very far into the future of what we believe our requirements are going to be, and we've anticipated fairly well.
Our two challenge areas have been in electrical materials and in well-completion kits, to this date.

Chuck: Well, do the Seabees have the capability of putting in a small concrete manufacturing plant and making their own concrete, or putting in a small mill and making their own milled lumber?

ADM. HANDLEY: The Seabees have the ability to run what's called a concrete batch plant. But the core ingredient that you need -- you get aggregate that goes in there, and sand, but the real core ingredient you need is cement. And we don't have the ability to -- essentially it's a cement kiln that is where you make cement. We don't have that capacity. That's a raw material that you have to go out and procure. And we've never had the ability to mill, and to mill you'd need, obviously, lumber and a number of other things. Far more efficient for us to go ahead and buy it and have it imported in than to go out and create that kind of production.

Chuck: Thank you, sir.

ADM. HANDLEY: Yup.
~~~~~~~~
So Chuck wanted to follow up, but we had to go around again.

This time it was Andrew who picked up the thread.

Andrew: Yes, I do. Admiral, Andrew Lubin again, Leatherneck Magazine. Sir, I spent a fair amount of time in the international trade business. And frankly, when I'm in Afghanistan, I'm horrified at the amount of American materials I see. Pakistan has cement they're dying to sell. The government of -- Indians have wire mills for rebar. They've got pipe mills where you can buy all the pipe you need. Why are we shipping it from the States or wherever, when it's better and cheaper to get it virtually locally, if almost domestically?

ADM. HANDLEY: I actually don't have specific knowledge that it comes from the States. I'd have to research that one and get back to you.
I know that when we were in Iraq -- and I'll say just from my own experience of being deployed there -- we did pull it from Jordan and from Turkey and from, obviously, from Kuwait, but not necessarily all the way from the United States.
I would be -- (inaudible) --

Andrew: I mean -- sorry; go ahead.


ADM. HANDLEY: -- if we got lumber from the United States, but I'll take a look at that.

Andrew: Lumber I understand. But you read the value of cement that comes out of the States versus -- the locals are buying their cement from Pakistan; we're importing it from the States. We're shipping 20- ton containers full of cement. You can't find a worse waste of money.

ADM. HANDLEY: Right. Very good. I'll take a look at that.

Andrew: Thank you.

ADM. HANDLEY: I'd much rather get it local.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, I thought that was excellent. The whole..."teach a man to fish" thing.

And I am going to have another post related to this discussion from some stuff I got out of EPIIC and forestry.

I'm Home

I'm exhausted. I have 66 emails...........I'm too tired to read them. I have lots to say about the EPIIC Symposium. My head is swimming. So much really great stuff, so much aggraavating stuff.

SB, I answered your MaryLou's girls comments. My arms are crossed. I am going to bed pouting.

Two Things I Need To Check Out.....

.....from Thursday night's EPIIC panel.

The Idea Of India Project

and

Bengal Oral History

No Blogging....

......for a bit. EPIIC will take up my weekend and I will stay up in the city. Also, Sunday I may go see the Kennedy with my nephews. It's in Boston this weekend on it's final tour.

My Head Is Swimming!

So much to take in with tonight's panel on Afghanistan.

Tuft's EPIIC Symposium Program - "South Asia -Conflict, Culture, Complexity and Change"

Tonight - "Buzkashi: Afghanistan’s Recurring Great Game"

Sarah Chayes Former Special Advisor to General Stanley McChrystal, Commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan; Founder, Arghand Cooperative, Afghanistan

I found Ms. Chayes presentation to be utterly fascinating. Her insights from her many years in Afghanistan really gave me pause. Many people today and in other venues have hammered away on Afghanistan's utterly crushing poverty. Ms. Chayes pointed out that while there is no oil in Afghanistan...there is a wealth of other natural treasures. Natural resources include coal, iron ore, copper ore, and gemstones as well as natural gas fields. And the geographic location is a uniquely suited to a powerful nation....the gateway between India, Iran and China. Ms. Chayes was the first and most lengthy speaker and she also answered the most questions in the Q&A session.

Matthew Hoh Former Senior Civilian Representative, US Department of State, Zabul Province, Afghanistan

Unimpressed.

Said Jawad Afghanistan Ambassador to the United States of America

A very interesting speaker on a complex topic. I will have more to say on him. I was most closely aligned with his viewpoint - there's plenty of blame to go around....no need to heap it all in one place (us) and lets not give up.

Sulaiman Layeq Founding Member, People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan

This guy wasn't there.

David Mansfield Fellow, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard Kennedy School; Independent Consultant, for a range of organizations, including the UK Government and the World Bank, on illicit drugs in Afghanistan

Hilarious!!!!! Loved him.

Dipali Mukhopadhyay Author, “Warlords as Bureaucrats: The Afghan Experience”; Jennings Randolph Dissertation Scholar, U.S. Institute of Peace

Interesting presentation on warlords. I would liked to have seen much more of it.

Noor ul-Haq Olomi Chair, Armed Services Committee, Lower House of the Afghan National Assembly; Leader, United National Party of Afghanistan

Ehh

Michael Semple, Fellow, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy Harvard Kennedy School; former Deputy to the European Union Special Representative for Afghanistan

Concur with his remarks that we should fight "defeatist attitudes" and that we need to remember why we (the international community) are there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As always with these panels, I would have been happy to listen to much more of what everyone had to say. Four hours flew by in the blink of an eye.

There was also a photo essay on Afghanistan focusing on heroin addiction and the impact on Afghanis by Nichole Sobecki. The title was "Afghanistan's Tipping Point". When you click on the link, go to the index for this particular group of 15 pictures. I liked it, but would have appreciated more narration.

Some Ups and Some Downs

The neurologists office called and they have a cancellation. So I get in much sooner than March 12th. LOL I didn't actually say "Do you know who I am?" but I did manage to work who I was into the conversation. And viola! March 12th turns into February 18th. Works for me.

Tonight is the first night of EPIIC and I really, really wanted to go. But it isn't realistic. I can't justify the $75 fee and the two days off of work. I really wanted to go, it sounds so interesting.

What I Am Missing

You know I am torturing myself over what I'm missing at EPIIC.

Wednesday night was "Global Cities/Global Slums: An Evening with Saskia Sassen"

Thursday night was "Financial Crisis: A New Era of Economic Leadership"

Today is four different panels starting at noon.

Someday I am going to win the lottery and after I pay all my debts, fork over to my family, St Francis, Soldier's Angels and some other charities.......I am going to use the rest to just travel around to different lectures and forums and author appearances, etc.

I'm Just Here To Whine

Frank and I are here in Virginia. We're staying in a ski resort in Basye, VA. It was a terrific deal on SkyAuction because of the lack of snow and the general state of the economy.

So why am I whining?

1. The fatigue - Their latest guess is I am short on some protein. Isn't it ironic? as the song goes. We test Monday.

2. This head cold. I coughed so hard, I retched. Yeah that's gross, but not as gross as some of the other stuff I've written here.

3. This trip has caused me to miss EPIIC, although to be honest I wouldn't have made all the panels.

4. The timing of the drive home means I will miss "Walking Dead" tomorrow night.

5. Most devastating of all and again this is more the fatigue than the trip....I am missing the Navy League's 23rd Annual Symposium at BU. It would have been my first war game!!! Plus, My Marine is there. They sent my all the reading materials and I was ready.

Although there is a bright side - I get to see all Frankie's relatives on his Dad's side.

EPIIC - Some of Saturday

Somehow I managed to be only 20 minutes late for the first panel at 9 am "Confronting Pandemics". I missed the beginning of Frances Townsend's remarks on avian flu, but what I caught was good. Then onto a favorite from last year, Gwyn Prins from the London School of Ecomonics. He spoke about AIDS and mentioned a paper he wrote for the UN "HIV/AIDS and Security". I haven't read it yet, but I intend to (as you can imagine, I have a whole new reading list). He sat next to me on Friday night and broke into one of the panels. I teased him for being a troublemaker. He is a very engaging person. Lots of the questioned bristled about the lack of money being spent on AIDS research, etc. He brought up a very interesting point about the anti-retro-virals and how if people are not taking them correctly they are just creating stronger bugs. The questions are often where the most interesting info comes out. One student asked Ms. Townsend about closing the borders if/when the avian flu hits our continent. She told us that according to the experts it only buys you 2 weeks and that's not enough time to create the vaccine so that's not part of the plan.

Next up "Global Enviromental Crises: From Climate Change to Water Scarcity"
Leon Fuerth - Gore apologist, long pauses, made me sleepy.
Jin Zidell of Blue Planet Run Foundation - great speaker, great video, good points, good cause. He wants everyone to give just $25.00 to provide one person with clean, safe drinking water for life. He stated that 50% of hospital patients worldwide were there because of unsafe drinking water. I did my part.
Gwyn Prins - again, I adore him.
David Jhirad - Ethanol is not the answer, Bush took a hit. Carbon footprint needs to be reduced.
Overall, what you learn is that in the future water security is going to be as important as energy security and I've already heard this from SB (that SB is a smart cookie). Still, very interesting. Gore's film is premeiring on Flix Sunday night and Jen and I will watch it. I never said I wouldn't watch it, I said I wouldn't pay for it.

After this panel finished up, people were milling about while they set up for the next one. I looked up and saw Peter Roudik of the Library of Congress, (where he is a senior foreign law specialist). He came over to say hello. He absolutely stunned me when he asked about the blog and I realized he read it, lol. Yeah, that's right, I was speechless.......too bad the rest of you weren't there to enjoy it, it's a rare occurrence.

It's late and I will pick up with the next panel tomorrow.

Reading Material

I'm drowning again!

I am reading "Sea of Thunder"

I am falling behind here.

I now have, in my possession, the brand new Barnett.

Now the Naval War College gets into the act with Antonio Giustozzi's "Koran, Kalashnikov, and Laptop". A review is here.

Not to mention, my house is full of books, SB has a list for me, Sid at CDR Salamander has a list for me and I'm sure next weekend EPIIC will make the list longer.