The Worldview Institute Spring 2010 Semester
The Worldview Institute of UNA-NY announces the enrollment for its Spring 2010 semester. Our program consists of a ten-seminar sequence intended for young business executives at U.S. based multi-national corporations and young professionals within the NGO, U.N., and diplomatic and academic communities.
The current global economic situation provides a backdrop to these presentations, which provide valuable insights into global issues in business and politics. Our program addresses the understanding of corporate responsibilities and the political and cultural contexts of doing business in various regions of the world.
The seminars are offered in association with the UN Department of Public Information (DPI).
Program fees are $395 for new participants (which includes a one-year introductory membership to UNA-NY and a light supper with each program), or $350 for previous alumni. This also includes informal opportunities to chat with the presenters at wine receptions and catered dinners in different Missions to the United Nations.
NOTE: These seminars are not open to the general public, and registration is required before attendance. Walk-ins not allowed.
The semester is now SOLD OUT.
However, a waiting list is available, and if you would like to add your name, please contact Ann Nicol at (212) 907-1353 or email anicol@unanyc.org.
Seminar 1: April 14, 2010
Sudan: A Misunderstood Giant
Sudan is huge, and like all exceptionally large countries, it has regions with rich particularities and resources. Many of these are part of the current international lexicon - problems between north and south Sudan, problems in Darfur, size of oil reserves, relations with China, relations with immediate neighbors, the list goes on and on. We should have a chance to delve deeper into the warp and weft of this giant of Africa. This seminar will feature Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed, Permanent Representative of the Republic of the Sudan to the United Nations. He will join Ambassador Ahmad Kamal in a conversation followed by Q/A.
Faculty:
Ambassador Ahmad Kamal, President and CEO, The Ambassador's Club at the United Nations
Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed, Permanent Representative of the Republic of the Sudan to the United Nations
The Hungarian Mission to the UN
227 East 52nd Street
6:30 - 7:00 p.m. Reception
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Seminar
Seminar 2: April 21, 2010
What's Wrong with The United Nations and
How to Fix it
The United Nations was established six decades ago after World War II but it is perpetually in crisis. What exactly is wrong with the UN and how can we fix it? Is it possible to retrofit the world body? What are the problems of international leadership and decision-making in a world of self-interested states? This seminar will focus on the diagnosis and the cure to the world organizations' inherent difficulties.
Faculty: Thomas G. Weiss, Presidential Professor of Political Science, Director, Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, City University of New York
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Conference Room 44A
One Bryant Park, New York, NY
6:30 - 7:00 p.m. Reception
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Seminar
Seminar 3: April 28, 2010
Facing the Crises of our Time: What is Global Citizenship in the 21st Century?
Where do business and diplomacy connect? What role do public-private partnerships play in achieving the Millennium Development Goals? This seminar will discuss how the private sector can help to create a better world with a view from the United Nations.
Faculty: Gillian M. Sorensen, Senior Advisor, United Nations Foundation
The UN Foundation
801 Second Avenue, 13th Floor, New York
6:30 - 7:00 p.m. Reception
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Seminar
Seminar 4: May 5, 2010
A Little Capital is an Empowering Thing
Thirty years of anecdotal evidence and an increasing empirical data shows that access to financial services not only has an impact in lifting women and their families out of poverty but has an even more important impact on women's sense of empowerment by changing their status within homes and communities. Women's World Banking, the world's largest network of microfinance providers, works to keep the focus of microfinance on women — as clients, as leaders and as innovators.
Faculty: Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President and CEO, Women's World Banking
Women's World Banking
8 West 40th Street, 9th Floor
6:30 - 7:00 p.m. Reception
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Seminar
Seminar 5: May 12, 2010
What the Greece Debacle Revealed About EU (Dis)Unity
Greece's recent financial travails demonstrated, yet again, that despite protestations and treaties to the contrary, Europe is still a very dysfunctional place. The seminar will cover the Greek/German stand-off and its implications for other potential bailout candidates (notably Spain and Portugal) and touch on the discussions around a proposed European Monetary Fund.
Faculty: Stacy-Marie Ishmael, Reporter, The Financial Times
The Financial Times
1330 Avenue of the Americas, New York
6:30 - 7:00 p.m. Reception
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Seminar
Seminar 6: May 19, 2010
India and the Multilateral System
In this seminar, we will trace the origins of the Multilateral System, principally the United Nations and the trading system based on the current WTO. The focus of the presentation will be India's participation within this system and India's expectations in the coming decades.
Faculty: Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations
Indian Mission to the United Nations
235 East 43rd Street, New York, NY
6:30 - 7:00 p.m. Reception
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Seminar
View photos from this seminar here
Seminar 7: May 26, 2010
Yemen: Learning the Lessons – Avoiding the Mistakes of Iraq and Afghanistan
Yemen bursts onto American consciousness about once a decade and then Brigadoon-like slides into near oblivion again. This process of constant rediscovery is accompanied by breathless articles of its near collapse, its imminent failure. Yet it never quite fails. It also never quite succeeds, but with every turn of this wheel the stakes of failure for both the Yemenis and the U.S. grow. What are the realities of Yemen? What can and should the U.S. do to prevent state failure and what lessons should we take from Iraq and Afghanistan in framing our policies?
Faculty: Ambassador Barbara K. Bodine, Diplomat in Residence, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Conference Room 44A
One Bryant Park, New York, NY
6:30 - 7:00 p.m. Reception
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Seminar
View photos from this seminar here
Seminar 8: June 2, 2010
Identity, Solidarity and Islam in Europe
Islamic immigration into Western Europe has become one of the hottest political topics on the Continent. Right-wing populists rail against the challenge to national identity and the abuse of the welfare state, centrists worry about the implied threat to domestic security, and left-wingers complain about the treatment of women and the end of tolerance. What is true at the national level is true for the European Union as well — particularly as the EU negotiates to bring Turkey among its members. Many in the European Union believe that Turkish accession poses an existential threat. This seminar explores different perspectives on the debate about Islam and Europe.
Faculty: Erik Jones, Professor of European Studies, SAIS Bologna Center, Johns Hopkins University
Permanent Mission of Belgium to the United Nations
885 Second Avenue, New York, NY
6:30 - 7:00 p.m. Reception
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Seminar
Seminar 9: June 9, 2010
Cultural Competence: Crossing the Business Divide
In the last ten years, the number of people participating in the global economy has increased from one million to more than five million. We do business, we trade, travel locally and internationally, we have to cooperate and get along with each other, and communicate with others on the other side of cultural boundaries. This seminar outlines some practical approaches to acquiring cultural competence in the workplace and includes some useful interactive self-assessment exercises.
Faculty: Dr. Béatrice Hecht-El Minshawi, President and CEO, Interkultur, Bremen, Germany
UBS
1285 Avenue of the Americas (bet. 51st and 52nd Streets)
13th Floor
New York, NY
6:30 - 7:00 p.m. Reception
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Seminar
Seminar 10: June 23, 2010
Impacts of the Financial Crisis on Latin America
A comparison will be offered of both the regional performance vs. previous crises in Latin America, as well as other regions in the developing world during the recent world financial crisis. In this context, there will be an analysis of the short and long-term challanges facing the return to growth.
Faculty: José Antonio Ocampo, Former United Nations Under-Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs
Professor and Director, Economic and Political Development, SIPA, Columbia University
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Conference Room 44A
One Bryant Park, New York, NY
6:30 - 7:00 p.m. Reception
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Seminar
June 18, 2010
Graduation Dinner
Keynote Speaker: Ambassador Milton Nathaniel Barnes, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Liberia to the United Nations
Location: The National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, New York
For more information, please contact Ann Nicol at (212) 907-1353 or email anicol@unanyc.org.