Below is a chronological listing of upcoming programs and event.  Click on the sub-menu items to the left to see programs/events of a specific type.  Click on the title of the posting to get ticketing details.

Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are critical to United States’ diplomatic efforts, global business interests and the general public for many different reasons.  Some of these countries are already a source of concern and in others troubles may lie just over the horizon.  If something goes awry in any one of them, consequences for the U.S. can be very serious —even disastrous.  The better informed we are about the politics, economics and problems of these countries, the better able we will be to address the challenges these states continue to pose.  Four lectures were planned; three are upcoming.

The four lectures of the series are:

1.  The New Ottomans - Turkey’s Muslim Nationalists
Speaker: Professor Jenny White, Boston University
Occurred on January 21

2.  Pakistan – Four Futures for a Troubled Relationship
Speaker:  Professor Timothy Hoyt of the U.S. Naval War College
Saturday, February 25, 3:00 p.m.

3.  Saudi Arabia -  A Problematic Ally?
Speaker:  Toby Jones
Saturday, March 24, 3:00 p.m.

4.  Egypt in Revolution
Speaker: Professor Nathan Brown of George Washington University
Thursday, April 19, 5:30 p.m.

You may purchase tickets using Paypal by clicking on the title of the postings or by calling the office at 982-4931.

Location:  The Forum, Santa Fe University of Art & Design, 1600 St. Michael’s Drive

Lecture Title:  Pakistan – Four Futures for a Troubled Relationship

Speaker:   Professor Timothy Hoyt of the U.S. Naval War College

Pakistan is considered to be one of the most dangerous countries in the world.  Instability, complex relations with India, terrorism, and nuclear weapons create a potentially explosive mix.  U.S.-Pakistani relations are difficult and at their lowest point since the death of Osama Bin Laden. Can this marriage be saved?

Dr. Timothy D. Hoyt has been a Professor of Strategy and Policy at the US Naval War College since 2002. He lectures and teaches there on a range of topics including strategy, terrorism, insurgency, warfare in the maritime domain, weapons of mass destruction, and contemporary conflict, and also teaches an elective course on South Asian security.

Dr. Hoyt received his Ph.D. in International Relations and Strategic Studies from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in 1997. From 1998-2002 he taught graduate courses on security in the developing world, South Asian security, technology and international security, and military strategy at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. In October 2003, he testified before two subcommittees of the House Committee on International Relations regarding terrorism in South and Southwest Asia.

In addition to teaching at the Naval War College, Dr. Hoyt has worked for the U.S. Army, for the Library of Congress’ Congressional Research Service, and served as a lecturer or consultant at other U.S. military schools and government agencies. His recent publications include chapters and articles on the war on terrorism in South Asia, security and conflict in the developing world, the limits of military force in the global war on terrorism, the impact of culture on Iraqi military performance, the evolution of multi-generational terrorist organizations, Pakistani nuclear doctrine and strategic thought, the impact of nuclear weapons on recent crises in South Asia, case studies of the Irish Republican Army and its use of political violence, a multinational review of the Mumbai terrorist attack and its strategic impact, and the role of maritime cooperation in US-Indian relations. He was recently named co-chair of the Naval War College’s Indian Ocean Regional Studies Group, and is a participant in Track II discussions with both India and Pakistan.

Dr. Hoyt is the author of Military Industries and Regional Power (Routledge 2007), examining the role of military industry in the national security policies of India, Israel, and Iraq, as well as over 40 book chapters and articles. He is beginning work on American Military Strategy in the 21st Century (Polity Press, tentative publication 2011) and a history of the Irish Republican Army from 1909-2009.

You may purchase tickets using Paypal by clicking on the title of this posting to bring up the ticketing feature that will appear below or by calling the office at 982-4931.  When purchasing tickets, be sure to give us the names of attendees.  Your name(s) will be added to the list of attendees; no tickets will be issued.

Location:  Santa Fe Public Library

Selected Book:  Red Capitalism: The Fragile Financial Foundation of China’s Extraordinary Rise

Authors: Carl Walter and Fraser Howie

Meetings of the CIR Book Club are at the main library in downtown Santa Fe.  Meetings are open to the public.
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Call Lee Berry, Book Club Coordinator, for more information: 986-8552.

Speaker: John Hearn

Topic: Limiting Drug Production in Colombia

Location: The Forum, Santa Fe University of Art and Design, 1600 St. Michael’s Drive

Although for years Colombia has been pushed off the front pages by Iraq, Afghanistan and war on terror, the country still plays a vital role in the stability and security of the Western hemisphere, not to mention its continuing status as the source of the substantial flow of cocaine and other drugs into this country and Europe through Mexico and other channels. For this reason, Colombia today is still one of the largest recipients of US foreign assistance in the world – dwarfing all other programs in Latin America.

The country represents a major priority for US Foreign Policy in terms of the war on drugs and terror and our mandate to export and strengthen democracies in the developing world. It is also our staunchest ally in the hemisphere and represents a model of cooperation with the United States and a bulwark of support for US policy in Latin America.

The US Embassy in Bogota is one of the biggest in the world and includes representatives from over 40 US Government Agencies.  The presentation will focus on the evolving state of the war on drug production in Colombia – what has worked and what has not – and offer lessons from experience on new directions for how to maximize the impact of our considerable military and economic investment in Plan Colombia I and II (well over $8 billion since the year 2000 with hundreds of millions more proposed over the next five years). It is important that the nature of the ongoing drug production phenomenon and how to address it be understood by US policy makers and the general public so that it, and the ongoing guerilla conflict that it feeds, can be mitigated. To date this understanding has been lacking, resulting in severe deterioration of needed program impact. How this can be turned around through the application of vital lessons from experience will be covered in the presentation.

John Heard is a former Senior Foreign Service Officer with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Peace Corps with tours in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Paraguay, El Salvador, Bosnia and the Philippines plus a number of years in Washington. No stranger to conflict and post-conflict settings, in El Salvador as Associate Mission Director for Operations he managed a major multi-sector portfolio that literally kept the country afloat during the most difficult years of that war (1987-1992). In Bosnia, following the Dayton Accords, he supervised a massive business development program instrumental in reactivating industry in the devastated economy of the time (1996-98). Later, in retirement, from January 2003 through mid 2007, he was Country Director for the Pan American Development Foundation program in Colombia where he supervised implementation of a $160 million USAID financed program dedicated to addressing the drug production problem at the farm level and the need to develop social and economic solutions for hundreds of thousands of people displaced by violence from the ongoing conflict. This involved directing a staff of 160 spread over 18 field offices throughout critical conflict and post conflict zones of the country. John has since remained in close touch with Colombia in a consulting status and has returned several times a year to the present time.

Purchase your tickets by calling the Office 982-4931 or click on the posting title to use the PayPal link available on this website.  (Note that, if purchasing tickets here, you will need to return to this page multiple times to add tickets with differing “Fee Types” to your shopping cart.)  When checking out using this website to purchase tickets, be sure to give us the names of attendees in the “Comments or special instructions” box.  Your name(s) will be added to the list of attendees and no tickets will be issued.  You should receive an email both from this website and PayPal confirming the purchase.

Location:  The Forum, Santa Fe University of Art & Design, 1600 St. Michael’s Drive

Lecture Title: Saudi Arabia – A Problematic Ally?

Speaker: Toby Jones

Saudi Arabia is the world’s major oil producer, which means that the U.S., being highly dependent on foreign oil, is highly dependent on Saudi Arabia. But the Kingdom is a conservative absolute monarchy that fosters radical Islam around the world. With the current unrest in the Arab World can Saudi Arabia remain stable? What if not? What will result?

Toby Jones is a historian of the modern Middle East. His interests are varied. Jones’s scholarship focuses primarily on the political intersections between science, technology, the environment, knowledge production, and the state formation, war, and Islamism. Before joining the history department at Rutgers University, Jones taught at Swarthmore College. During the 2008-2009 he was a fellow at Princeton University’s Oil, Energy and the Middle East project. From 2004 to early 2006 he worked as the political analyst of the Persian Gulf for the International Crisis Group where he wrote about political reform and sectarianism.

Jones is author of Desert Kingdom: How Oil and Water Forged Modern Saudi Arabia, forthcoming in the fall 2010 with Harvard University Press. He is currently working on a new book project America’s Oil Wars also to be published by Harvard University Press. Jones has published articles in The International Journal of Middle East Studies, Middle East Report, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy’s online magazine, the Arab Reform Bulletin, Strategic Insights, and the CTC Sentinel.

He has presented his work at the annual meetings of the Middle East Studies Association, the American Historical Association, the Society for the History of Technology, the International Studies Association, and the American Political Science Association. He also presented his research and political analysis at Cornell University, Georgetown University, Harvard University, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, New York University, Princeton University, Syracuse University, The College of New Jersey, and Yale University.

At Rutgers Jones teaches courses on the Arab-Israeli Conflict, the modern Middle East, oil, the environment in the Middle East, and war and revolution in Iran and Iraq.

You may purchase tickets using Paypal by clicking on the title of this posting to bring up the ticketing feature that will appear below or by calling the office at 982-4931.  When purchasing tickets, be sure to give us the names of attendees.  Your name(s) will be added to the list of attendees; no tickets will be issued.

Topic:  Arab Spring: Prospects for Democracy

Speakers: Lorne Craner and Ken Wollack

Location: The Forum, Santa Fe University of Art & Design, 1600 St. Michael’s Drive

You may purchase tickets here by clicking on the title of this posting to bring up the ticketing feature that will appear below this text or by calling the office at 982-4931. When purchasing tickets, be sure to give us the names of attendees. Your name(s) will be added to the list of attendees; no tickets will be issued.

Location:  The Forum, Santa Fe University of Art and Design, 1600 St. Michael’s Drive

Title: Egypt in Revolution

Speaker: Professor Nathan Brown of George Washington University

Egypt is one of the most important, if not the most important Arab country in the world, but we know very little about the new and confusing mix of forces and politics that has emerged following the removal of Mubarak. Will the future see anything like a genuine democratization of the country or will Egypt become a new Iran?

Professor Brown received his B.A. in political science from the University of Chicago and his M.A. and Ph.D. in politics and Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University. He teaches courses on Middle Eastern politics, as well as more general courses on comparative politics and international relations. His dissertation received the Malcolm Kerr award from the Middle East Studies Association in 1987.

Professor Brown is author of Peasant Politics in Modern Egypt (1990); The Rule of Law in the Arab World: Courts in Egypt and the Gulf (1997); Constitutions in a Non-Constitutional World: Arab Basic Laws and the Prospects for Accountable Government (2001); and Palestinian Politics After the Oslo Accords: Resuming Arab Palestine (2003).

Professor Brown is the recipient of Fulbright grants to study in Egypt and the Gulf and teach in Israel. He also served two years as Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Professor Brown was recently selected as a 2009 Carnegie Scholar by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Under this grant, Professor Brown will analyze the impacts of increased participation by Islamist groups in electoral politics on both the movements themselves and the political systems in which they operate.

You may purchase tickets using Paypal by clicking on the title of this posting to bring up the ticketing feature that will appear below or by calling the office at 982-4931. When purchasing tickets, be sure to give us the names of attendees. Your name(s) will be added to the list of attendees; no tickets will be issued.

CIR Spring Tour to Southwest France

15 Days/14 Nights

$3195 per person in double occupancy, including breakfasts and dinners.  Single supplement is $675

The CIR travel committee has put together a fabulous tour to one of the most fascinating parts of France. The trip is scheduled to begin in Toulouse on May 15. The price is based on a group of 16 people in a private van with English-speaking guide. Hotels are all of high quality, 3* or 4*, and several are part of the prestigious Logis de France group. We provided the hotel websites so that you can look at them in more detail. Most have English versions.

Dinners are included for 12 of the 14 nights. You can be sure that these will be high-quality French dinners, with plenty of fois de gras and duck dishes. You are not likely to lose weight on this trip.

All breakfasts are included.

As good CIR members, you have been following the saga of the Euro. The present price of the trip is based on the present value of the Euro, as of today it is around $1.35. If there is a large change up or down the cost of the trip could change, in other words it could get somewhat more or less expensive. A huge run up of the Euro is probably unlikely however .

In the event that we do not reach 16 people the price of the trip will increase, but not too steeply.

May 15 Auch

Arrive in Toulouse. You will be met at the airport and taken to the first stop on the tour, the beautiful city of Auch, around 45 miles away. The rest of the day is free to relax and get over jetlag. Dinner at the hotel Hotel de France.

May 16 Auch

Visit the Auch Cathedral, a Unesco World Heritage Site. Drive to St. Puy and visit the Chateau de Monluc and a tasting of their famous Pousse-Rapiere Armignac-based appertif. Then drive to the medieval town of Condom with its many historical monuments. After that, visit two more famous medieval towns–Larresingle and Forces. Dinner and night at Hotel de France.

May 17 Siorac in Perigord

Leaving Auch, stop at the old town of Lectoure. Then more medieval towns–Monpazier and Villefranche de Perigord. Space does not permit any detailed description of all these and towns to be visited, but we can say that each dates from medieval times or earlier and that each has attractions making it worthy of our attention. Dinner and overnight at the Relais du Perigord.

May 18 Siorac

After breakfast depart for the secularly located of Beyrac, high on the Dordogne River. Two more beautiful old towns follow–Roque Ggeac and Domme. These villages are all located on mountain tops in seemingly impossible settings. Optional activites include a visit to the Chateau of Josephine Baker and/or a boat trip on the river. (Optional activities mentioned here and below incur an extra cost, usually $7-10 per person.) Dinner and overnight at Relais du Perigord.

May 19 Rocamadour

Today some of the most notable sites of the area are visited. These include the Grotto of Lascoux, where the pre-historic wall paintings have been recreated. The day also includes a visit to another famous Dordogne town, Sarlat. Dinner and overnight at Hotel Les Eclargies.

May 20 Rocamadour

This is a free day in Rocamadour, during which you can walk around this spectacular vertical town.

May 21 Cahors

After breakfast visit two of the most beautiful towns in France, Carennac and Loubressac. There is an optional visit to the well-known Grotto of Padirac. Ovenight at La Chartreuse, a Logis de France hotel. Dinner on your own.

May 22 Cahors

After seeing something of Cahors, visit the Roman town of Gaillac, a place famous for its wines. Enjoy a wine tasting at the Chateau of Langrezette. Dinner and overnight at La Cartreuse.

May 23 Albi

Visit another town set along a river and on a mountainside, St Cyr Laopie. Stopping at some more medieval towns on the way, arrive at beautiful Cordes sur Ciel, again a mountainous town. Continue on to Albi. Dinner and overnight at Hotel du Grand St Antoine.

May 24 Albi

A guided tour of Albi, with its impressive cathedral, a unescao World Heritage site. Also, the Toulouse Latrec Museum. Albi was his home city and it has the largest collection of his works in the world. Dinner and Overnight at Hotel du Grand St Antoine.

May 25 Floure de Minervois

Visits to even more beautiful towns such as Mazamet and Minerve, and ending up at the village of Floure. On the way, climb up to the 4 mountaintop castles of Lastours. These castels look like something out of a fairytale setting. Dinner and overnight at the 4* Chaeau de Floure.

May 26 Quillan

After breakfast, travel through the scenic mountainous area of Corbieres. Visit the Chateau de Termes, a Cathar castle. Just in case you are weak on the background of the Cathar castles (here is a website you can have a look at). Then stop at the even more spectacular Cathar castles of Queribus and Peyreperteuse. Time may not allow for visiting all of these. It will depend on how long the visits last. There will be some uphill walking as well. Dinner and overnight at Hotel la Chaumiere in Quillan.

May 27 Quillan

There is a lot more to see in this region. We are leaving this day open for now until the itinerary is decided. We may consult the group about how they want to spend this day, given the many choices. Dinner and overnight at Hotel La Chaumiere.

May 28 Toulouse

On the way stop at the old city of Foix, with its chateau. Upon arrival in Toulouse you will be free to explore the old parts of this interesting city. Overnight at Hotel Mercure Wilson.

May 29

After breakfast, transfer to the airport for your flights.

Not included in cost of the trip:

International airfare
Drinks at dinner
Tips
Entrance to some sites

For further information write or call Steve Kutay, CIR travel chairman:

505-995-9816
skutay@comcast.net