Lobsang Nyandak, Dalai Lama's Representative to the U.S.

Lobsang Nyandak

Kalon Lobsang Nyandak is the Representative of The Dalai Lama to the Americas. He is also the former Tibetan Minister of Finance and Health. He worked as the Founding Executive Director of the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy, a member of the Tibetan parliament, Tibetan Youth Congress and the National Democratic Party of Tibet. He has held his current position since September 2008, and works with the Office of Tibet in New York.

Bringing his knowledge of the nation of Tibet and the current situation with China’s occupation, Mr. Nyandak will be speaking on “A Future Prospect for Tibet” this Friday, March 20th, at the Hilton Hotel at 12 p.m. He will also be speaking in Juneau on Wednesday, March 18. We hope you come to take this opportunity to hear an amazing speaker and learn more about the people of Tibet and current and future political situation in their country.

Mr. Nyandak is an advocate of recognizing Tibet as a “de facto colony of China.” He is also helping to encourage the release of political prisoners, stating that more than a thousand Tibetans are being “arbitrarily detained by China.” Over 70% of these prisoners are Tibetan nuns and monks. Working to resolve differences with China and help these prisoners gain freedom is part of Nyandak’s goal as he shares his knowledge with the United States.

If you are interested in Mr. Nyandak’s presentation, please RSVP to Alaska World Affairs Council at 276-8038 or info@alaskaworldaffairs.org Lunch is $20 for members, $25 for non-members, and coffee is $6.

--Chloe Miller

Nick Lawson

     Doctors without borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international humanitarian organization founded by doctors and journalists in France in 1971. Today DWB is responsible for providing clinical aid to over 60 countries, those threatened by war, violence or poverty. The organization itself bases its actions on being ethical and objective and impartial. The true idea behind DWB is supporting and helping people, not necessarily governments or any political objective. Still that doesn't mean they are politically inactive or impotent, far from it. In 1985 they publicly objected to the Ethiopian government moving thousands of individuals, most recently DWB was adamant in calling for the international community to recognize the atrocities happening in Darfur.

     In the end, DWB is continually working to provide high quality health care to the third world through its 27,000 members. The idea that only those with money should be treated is ludicrous, and goes against everything which doctors should stand for. In the end, it really is about the patient. If only others would remember what the Hippocratic Oath actually says....

     Todays speaker is Nick Lawson, current Director of Director of Field Human Resources for Doctors Without Borders. This man began work in 1997 as logistical and administrative expert in southern Sudan during a civil war. During his time with DWB he has held 11 other positions and supported everything from wars to natural disasters. Prior to joining the DWB organization, Mr. Lawson worked in a variety of other fields in both Australia and internationally.

Representative from India YES program

YES (Youth Exchange and Study) Program is an innovative high school exchange program funded by the U.S. Department of State's Burearu of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The program has been described as follows: "This public diplomacy initiative builds bridges of international understanding, especially between Americans and people in countries with significant Muslim populations."

There are currently YES students in Alaska, and AFS Alaska (the foreign exchange program) expects to sponsor three students in the upcoming school year. The students may be coming from: Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Thailand or Turkey.

A representative of the YES program from India will be visiting Anchorage March 23, 24, 25 and is available to talk with anyone who is interested in learning about this program, hosting students and working to foster international cultural understanding.

Please let me know if anyone is interested in meeting or discussing the YES program.
Thank you,

Nancy Wainwright
AFS Alaska
volunteer Support Coordinator
345-7666

Come find out more about the program Doctors Without Borders on Friday March 13th

Have you ever wanted to know more about the program Doctors Without Borders? Come to the Alaska World Affairs Council program on Friday the 13th of March to hear:

Nick Lawson, Director of Field Human Resources, Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Nick will be speaking about - “Managing an Emergency: Behind the Scenes at Doctors Without Borders”

Friday, March 13th, 2009 – Hilton Hotel
Doors open at 11:30 a.m. - Program begins at 12:00 p.m.

For Reservations
Please RSVP by Wednesday, March 11th to the Alaska World Affairs Council
by telephone 276-8038 or by email to info@alaskaworldaffairs.org .
Lunch Program $20 for Members - $25 for Non-Members - $6 for Coffee

Nicholas Lawson, Director of Field Human Resources for MSF-USA, began working for the organization in 1997 as logistical and administrative expert in an MSF project in southern Sudan, during that country’s brutal civil war. Since then he has held 11 other positions within the organization, which have taken him to humanitarian hotspots like Afghanistan, Burundi, East Timor, and Malawi. Over his years of experience with the organization, he has risen through the organizational ranks from logistician, to field coordinator, logistical coordinator, and finally head of mission. Nick’s extensive field experience prepared him for the headquarter role of Recruitment Officer for Field Human Resources at MSF-Australia in Sydney. Today, he continues to use these skills to lead the New York-based human resources team that recruits and places American in MSF projects.

Prior to joining MSF in January 1997, Nick worked in the finance, construction, education, and hospitality industries, both in Australia and internationally. He studied Anthropology at the University of Western Australia.

For more information about Doctors Without Borders, please visit http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

-Lise Falskow

Links to CSPAN recordings of some National Conference Presentations

I'm back in Anchorage. 70 degrees and SoCal beaches/hiking in Malibu Canyon yesterday. Jet travel is an amazing thing...

Several members of the Alaska World Affairs Council attended the National Conference 19-20 Feb 2009 in Washington DC. CSPAN-2 taped four of the presentations from the conference, the topics and URLs to access the videos are below:

Sheikha Lubna al Qasimi, UAE Minister of Foreign Trade - http://www.c-span.org/Watch/watch.aspx?MediaId=HP-A-15680

David Stafford, Northrop Grumman - The Economic Impact of Climate Change - http://www.c-span.org/Watch/watch.aspx?MediaId=HP-A-15631

Dr. Charles MacCormack, Save the Children - The Global Food Crisis - http://www.c-span.org/Watch/watch.aspx?MediaId=HP-A-15632

Jagdish Bhagwati, author of In Defense of Globalization - Trade in the Obama Era - http://www.c-span.org/Watch/watch.aspx?MediaId=HP-A-15633

-Keith

General Carrol H. Chandler

January 9th, 2009
     This week the Alaska World Affairs Counsel presents General Carrol H. Chandler, presenting "An Airman's Perspective: Executing Air, Space and Cyber Power To Fly, Fight and Win in the Pacific". This should provide interesting insights into the military persepective on conflicts in the Pacific. General Chandler is presently the current Commander, Pacific Air Forces.
     The general graduated in 1974 from the United States Air Force Academy and has commanded a numbered air force, two fighter wings, a support group and a fighter squadron. Previous to his current assignment as Commander of PACAF, Gen. Chandler completed two tours at the Pentagon, as well as two tours at Headquarters Pacific Air Forces. Some of the generals experience in the Pacific was gained in his prior command. Prior to assuming his current position the general served as Commander of Alaska Command (ALCOM), Alaskan North American Aerospace Defense Command Region, 11th Air Force and Joint Task Force - Alaska which has its headquarters at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska.

Last Friday, as I assume everyone remembers we had David Shorr of The Stanley Foundation speaking. The topic, of course, dealt with foreign policy and the role that the US should fill in the international community. I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Shorrs' call for a new and more relevant approach to internation events, both economic and military. It seems that as a nation we seem to be stuck in the age of "might makes right" and the voice of the international community doesn't seem to be a concern.

"The real crisis we face is not one of capitalism or American decline, but of globalization itself. As the problems spill over borders, the demand for common action has gone up. But the institutions and mechanisms to make it happen are in decline."

-David Shorr

With growing globalization the world really is becoming a much smaller place, one where states much come to a consensus on many actions before following through. That's not to say that goverments shouldn't be allowed to govern themselves, simply that any action with far reaching repercussions extending outside of the state should at least to some degree be influenced by those being effected. I would love to hear anyone's opinions on the US and our future role with the globalization of the world!

Next Friday at 11:30 am the doors open at the Anchorage Hilton to our speaker Dr. Karin von Hippel who will be discussing the "Root Causes of Terrorism". Dr. von Kippel is the codirector of the CSIS Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project and senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program. Some of her more recent works include The terrorist exception: a response to Roger Scruton, A Counterradicalization Strategy for a New U.S. Administration, and Five Steps For Defeating Terrorism

Please excuse my brevity this week ladies and gentlemen, it is finals week and I have my final round of exams tomorrow. I hope to see you there this Friday!

John Darnall