Background Briefing: November 27, 2023
The Possibility of a Ceasefire and the Probability of a Resumption of the War in Gaza
We will begin with the two day extension of the pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas as more hostages are released and explore the possibility of a ceasefire as well as discuss the probability of a resumption of the war. Joining us is Brian Katulis, a senior fellow and vice president of policy at the Middle East Institute. He was formerly a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress where he focused on U.S. national security policy in the Middle East and South Asia. He lived and worked in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and Egypt and was a Fulbright scholar in Amman, Jordan, where he conducted research on the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan. An Arabic speaker, he is co-author of The Prosperity Agenda.
Many Members of Congress Quit in Frustration Over Polarization and Gridlock
Then we will look into the exodus of Senate and House members of congress who are quitting in many cases because of frustration with polarization and gridlock as a minority within a minority prevents majority rule. Joining us is James Thurber, the University Distinguished Professor of Government and Founder and Former Director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University, Washington, D.C. He is author of numerous books and more than eighty articles and chapters on Congress, interest groups and lobbying, and campaigns and elections and he is the author of Congress and Diaspora Politics: The Influence of Ethnic and Foreign Lobbying and, most recently, Campaigns and Elections American Style.
Deteriorating Relations Between India and Canada and India and the US as China’s Influence in the Indo-Pacific Grows
Then finally we will assess how much the deteriorating relations between Canada and India and tension between the US and India over an assassination plot on American soil are impacting joint effort to deal with China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific. Joining us is Cleo Paskal, a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies focusing on the Indo-Pacific region and the strategic implications of the intersection of geopolitical, geoeconomic, and geophysical change. She has briefed government departments of the United States, United Kingdom, the European Union, India and many others and she is the author of Global Warring: How Environmental, Economic, and Political Crises Will Redraw the World Map. She recently testified before Congress on Chinese influence operations in the Pacific Islands and we will discuss the The Sunday Guardian “Three Upcoming Events That Could Torpedo Pacific Peace.”