CHIASMOS: The University of Chicago International and Area Studies Multimedia Outreach Source [video]

A talk by Jonathan Mahler and Neal Katyal.

In his latest book, The Challenge: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld and the Fight over Presidential Power, Jonathan Mahler chronicles the challenge to the assertion of presidential power in the designation of enemy combatants. Written with the cooperation of the attorneys who represented Hamdan, Lt. Commander Charles Swift and Georgetown constitutional law scholar Neal Katyal, Hamdan vs. Rumsfeld is the inside story of the historic Supreme Court case and its effect on executive authority and the rule of law. Mahler and Katyal appear together to discuss the book, the case, and the future of presidential power.

From the World Beyond the Headlines Series.

The growing instability and resurgence of Islamic extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan pose a great threat to U.S. interests and global security. In his new book, "Descent into Chaos", Ahmed Rashid examines the rising insurgency, booming opium trade, and weak governance in Afghanistan, concluding that U.S. strategy in the region has been a complete failure. Ahmed Rashid is a Pakistani journalist based in Lahore. He was the Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review, for 22 years until the magazine was recently closed down. He presently writes for the Daily Telegraph, London, the International Herald Tribune, the New York Review of Books, BBC Online, The Wall Street Journal, The Nation, and academic and foreign affairs journals. He appears regularly on international TV and radio such as CNN and BBC World Service. He is the author of three books, including the best sellers Taliban and most recently Jihad. From the World Beyond the Headlines Series.

"Our government can make you disappear." Those were the words Steven Wax never imagined he would hear himself say. In his twenty-nine years as a public defender, Wax had never had to warn a client that he or she might be taken away to a military brig, or worse, a "black site", one of our country's dreaded secret prisons. How had our country come to this? The disappearance of people happens in places ruled by tyrants, military juntas, fascist strongmen?governments with such contempt for the rule of law that they strip their citizens of all rights. But in America? "Kafka Comes to America" reveals where and how our civil liberties have been eroded in favor of a false security, and how each of us can make a difference. From the World Beyond the Headlines Series.

In his book "Innocents Lost: When Child Soldiers Go to War", Jimmie Briggs book provides a vitally important perspective on the global tragedy of child soldiers. More than 250,000 children have fought in three dozen conflicts around the world. From the "little bees"" of Colombia to the "baby brigades" of Sri Lanka, the subject of child soldiers is changing the face of terrorism. Briggs was awarded the John Bartlow Martin Award from Northwestern University for a story about the Gulf War's impact on children, which became a finalist for a National Magazine Award. Briggs is a New York-based writer, teacher, and freelance journalist. He has written for the Washington Post, The Village Voice, El Pais, Emerge, Vibe, LIFE, and The New York Times Magazine. He served as an advisor to the movie "Blood Diamond", and is currently completing a book on rape as a weapon of war. Briggs is the first African American to be appointed as Goodwill Ambassador and Special Envoy for Children and Armed Conflict by WAFUNIF at the UN. From the World Beyond the Headlines Series.

A talk by Robert Repetto. Is development sustainable? Certainly not the way the world is now going about it. Major trends are heading straight toward ecological and human disasters and if they are not changed and changed soon, development efforts will fail for billions of people, comprising mainly the world?s most vulnerable populations. Climate change, water scarcities, pollution, population growth, and growing pressures on natural resources that are already extremely stressed reinforce one another in raising these vulnerabilities.

Is disaster inevitable? Of course not. But a change in direction is essential and bringing about that change will require significant, even drastic, changes in economic, political, and social patterns. The institutional, market, and political failures that have brought the world to this point will have to be addressed and reformed. If development is to be made sustainable, business as usual is not an option.

Robert Repetto is Professor in the Practice of Economics and Sustainable Development at Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. This event was the keynote address for "Is Development Sustainable?", a conference in honor of Ted Steck's retirement.

"Superclass" provides the first in-depth examination of the connections between the global communities of leaders who are at the helm of every major enterprise on the planet and control its greatest wealth. It is an unprecedented examination of the trends within the superclass, which are likely to alter our politics, our institutions, and the shape of the world in which we live. Rothkopf is also the widely acclaimed author of "Running the World: The Inside Story of the National Security Council and the Architects of American Power". He is currently a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and a teacher of international affairs at Columbia University's Graduate School of International and Public Affairs. From the World Beyond the Headlines Series.

A talk by Marda Dunsky, former Arab affairs reporter for the Jerusalem Post and editor on the national/foreign desk of the Chicago Tribune. As world attention is renewed and refocused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the sixtieth anniversary of its seminal year of 1948, Marda Dunsky takes a close look at how more than two dozen major American print and broadcast outlets have reported the conflict in recent years. Marda Dunsky has developed and taught a unique media literacy course on American mainstream reporting of the Arab and Muslim worlds at Northwestern University and DePaul University. From the World Beyond the Headlines Series.

A talk by Michael Levin. In The Next Great Clash, Michael Levin presents evidence of a global political order on the verge of a historic power shift from West to East. A reemerging China is the only nation with the latent capacity to challenge American hegemony, and Levin demonstrates that such challenges to the status quo usually lead to war. From the World Beyond the Headlines Series.

A historical overview of the situation in southern Thailand and southern Philippines is presented, followed by a discussion on peace building efforts in conflict regions. Panelists give special attention to welfare and security issues in these areas. The panel is moderated by Kikue Hamayotsu (Ph.D., Department of Political Science, Northern Illinois University). Panelists include: Kriya Lanputeh (Yala Islamic University), Abdulghoni Suetair (Prince of Songkla University), Pattama Hamingma (Asian Muslim Action Network and Asian Resource Foundation), Shahana Abdulwahid (Institute for Islamic Studies, University of the Philippines), Minalang Barapantao (Mindanao State University). From the World Beyond the Headlines Series.

This panel addressed the conflict in the Darfur region of The Sudan and the allegations of genocide; the adequacy of the international response to the crises and proffer solutions to end the conflict.

Vincent O. Nmehielle, Principal Defender of the Special Court for Sierra Leone and Associate Professor of Law, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) School of Law, Johannesburg, South Africa;

Samuel Totten, Senior Researcher (Fulbright Scholar), National University of Rwanda; Genocide Scholar, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville;

Ambassador David Scheffer, Mayer Brown/Robert A. Helman Professor of Law, Director, Center for International Human Rights, Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago; former U.S. Ambassador-At-Large for War Crimes Issues

Part of a two-day conference on "Genocide: Crimes Unpunished, Lessons Unlearned."