The video recording of this event can be watched on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j57OuqbtD9Q&feature=youtu.be

In an age of terrorism, where should a democratic society draw the line on government surveillance? Edward Snowden’s explosive disclosures about the National Security Agency’s intelligence-collection operations have ignited an intense debate about the appropriate balance between security and liberty in America. In a special series this year, nationally prominent experts will explore the critical issues raised by the NSA’s activities, including their impact on our security, privacy, and civil liberties. This timely series will address one of the most challenging questions the nation faces today as it tries to strike the right balance between safety and liberty. The Security Conundrum will look behind and beyond the headlines, examining the history and implementation of the NSA operations, the legal questions generated by them, the media’s role in revealing them, and the responsibility of Congress to oversee them. It will also address the NSA’s uneasy and evolving relationship with Silicon Valley. Each session in the series is designed to explore these issues from a different vantage point. The guest speakers, in conversation with Stanford scholars, will probe the problems, explain the political, legal, and technological contours of the NSA actions, and outline ways to preserve the nation’s security without sacrificing our freedoms. 

An Evening with U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein

Senator Dianne Feinstein has been at the vortex of the debate about Edward Snowden’s disclosures since he exposed an array of National Security Agency surveillance programs in 2013. As chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence from 2009-2014, and now the ranking minority member, Senator Feinstein has tried to help the nation strike the appropriate balance between security and liberty as she and her Senate colleagues examined NSA practices in light of the Snowden materials. She also played a leading role in the Senate investigation of the Central Intelligence Agency detention and interrogation program following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Senator Feinstein pressed to make the Senate report public. Some parts of the study were released in December 2014. A California Democrat and Stanford graduate, she has served in the Senate since 1993.

In her May 28 appearance at Stanford, Senator Feinstein will discuss the Congressional role in overseeing America’s intelligence agencies, including the NSA and CIA, and establishing the laws that govern their operations. The format for her appearance will be a colloquy with Philip Taubman, a consulting professor at Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation and former Washington bureau chief of The New York Times. 

To register for a free ticket, please follow this link.

The Security Conundrum is co-sponsored by Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, the Center for International Security and Cooperation,the Hoover Institution, Stanford Continuing Studies, Stanford in Government, and the Stanford Law School.

Due to the high interest in this event, we have moved it to a larger room.  It is now in the Oksenberg Conference Room, Encina Hall, 3rd floor.

The February Minsk II agreement introduced a fragile ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, following a year of crisis and conflict between Kyiv and Moscow.  Ukrainian President Poroshenko needs to grapple with a daunting list of critical economic and political reforms.  Russian President Putin, however, appears intent on destabilizing the Ukrainian government and has the means, including military force, to do so.  What can we expect next in the Ukraine-Russia stand-off, and how should the West respond?

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Steven Pifer is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, where his work focuses on arms control, Ukraine and Russia. A retired Foreign Service officer, his more than 25 years with the State Department included assignments as deputy assistant secretary of state with responsibilities for Russia and Ukraine (2001-2004), ambassador to Ukraine (1998-2000), and special assistant to the president and senior director for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia on the National Security Council (1996-1997).

Co-sponsored by the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and The Europe Center.

Professor Jaeho Yeom, president of the elite Korea University in Seoul and a Stanford Political Science PhD will examine the historical development, current changes, and future course of East Asian universities. Drawing on his own experience at Korea University, where his initiatives include the "pioneering intellectuals" program to encourage and support student creativity, President Yeom will examine many aspects of higher education, including shifts in educational methodologies, demographics, the pressures of globalization, and changes in government and private funding. 

Professor Jaeho Yeom earned a PhD in political science at Stanford University for his research on Japanese industrial policy for high technology. He has taught public administration at Korea University since 1990. He was Executive Vice President of Korea University before being appointed President in March 2015. President Yeom has also taught or conducted research in Japan, Australia, China, and the United Kingdom. He served as an expert member of the Korean Presidential Commission of Science and Technology Policy and a board member of the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation. He also served as president of The Korean Association for Policy Studies in 2007 and of The Korean Association for Contemporary Japanese Studies in 2008. Currently, he is chairperson of the Policy Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, member of Public Service Evaluation Committee, and Editor in Chief of Asian Research Policy. President Yeom is the author of numerous books and studies, including Future Strategy for Test, Research, and Evaluation of Food and Drug (2011, NIFDS).

Abstract:

Ballroom dancing legend Pierre Dulaine will discuss his 'Dancing Classrooms' method which he applied in his award winning documentary 'Dancing in Jaffa' to bring Arab and Jewish children together through dance. Mr. Dulaine will speak about the film, his journey into the world of dance and his experience as a Judge on the Arabic version of the TV show 'So You Think You Can Dance.'  Talk features audio-visual presentation and free lunch.

Speaker Bio:

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Pierre Dulaine was born in Jaffa, Palestine in 1944 to an Irish father and a Palestinian mother--both of whom fled the area in 1948.  After eight months of moving several times, Dulaine's family settled in Amman, Jordan. In 1956, the Suez Crisis forced Dulaine's parents to flee the country, eventually resettling in Birmingham, England.  In 1994 Dulaine founded the Dancing Classrooms program in New York City's public schools in which he encouraged children from various backgrounds to dance together. He later traveled to the city of his birth, Jaffa, to visit his childhood home and to make a film, 'Dancing in Jaffa,' where he brought Israeli Arabs and Jews together through dance and music.  His life was also fictionalized in the film Take the Lead starring Antonio Banderas.  More recently, Pierre Duaine has gained much acclaim in the Arab world for his role as Judge on the Arabic version of the TV show 'So You Think You Can Dance' where he encouraged young Arab men and women to pursue dance as way of dealing with difficult circumstances and certain outdated social taboos.

(See flyer for a list of the co-sponsors)

Note: A screening of 'Dancing in Jaffa' will take place on campus on May 29. For more information, click here.

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