The World Beyond the Headlines from the University of Chicago

A talk by Arvind Panagariya.

Arvind Panagariya discusses his new book, "India: The Emerging Giant", a history of the economic development of India since independence and the "definitive book on the Indian economy" according to Newsweek editor Fareed Zakaria. Panagariya is Jagdish Bhagwati Professor of Indian Political Economy, International and Public Affairs, and Economics at Columbia University. He is also a former chief economist at the Asian Development Bank and an adviser to several multilateral financial institutions including the IMF and the WTO. The author or editor of several books and numerous scholarly articles, Panagariya also writes a monthly column in the Economic Times, India's top financial daily, and contributes to multiple media outlets including the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, India Today, The Newshour with Jim Lehrer, and CNN (Asia).

From the World Beyond the Headlines Series.

A talk by Bernard Lown, MD.

Physician, author, and Nobel Prize-winning peace activist Bernard Lown discusses his new memoir, "Prescription for Survival: A Doctor's Journey to End Nuclear Madness". The inventor of the defibrillator, Dr. Lown was also a peace and anti-nuclear activist, participating in the founding of Physicians for Social Responsibility in 1960 and of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War in 1981. In 1985, IPPNW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Dr. Lown is currently Professor of Cardiology Emeritus at the Harvard School of Public Health.

From the World Beyond the Headlines Series.

A talk by Steve LeVine.

Russia is once again front and center in the wake it's invasion of Georgia and effective re-assertion of dominance in the Caucasus region. What levers can the U.S. and Europe assert against Putin's aggression? What is Russia's political calculus and how can we change the inputs into their equation? Are there key insights into the Chechen wars and Putin's post-presidency plans that can help us visualize the future? BusinessWeek foreign affairs correspondent and author Steve LeVine discusses Russia's objectives, advantages and vulnerabilities in Georgia and the Caucasus region in the wake of the recent clash in Georgia.

From the World Beyond the Headlines Series.

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.

"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.