The event will be moderated by Professors Deepa Ollapally of the Elliott School of International Affairs and Kavita Daiya of the Columbian College of Arts & Sciences. The student panel will feature the following young scholars of international affairs:

Rahul Bhatia graduated from the Elliott School of International Affairs with a master’s degree in Security Policy Studies in 2019. He is currently the Security Studies Program Coordinator and a Research Assistant at Carnegie India. Rahul leads Carnegie India’s project on the study of Sino-Indian border tensions and also coordinates events, seminars and dialogues. His research focuses on Indian security policy and the Indo-Pacific region. He is based in New Delhi.

Vaibhav Jain is a 2019 graduate of George Washington University with degrees in Economics and International Affairs. He is currently based out of his hometown—New Delhi—where he is a supply chain manager with a leading steel company. He is also the co-founder of a stealth startup that is working on digitizing India’s small and medium businesses. He is the Director of Policy Initiatives at Young India, a DC-based progressive diaspora organization that is focused on making India’s democracy work for her last citizen.

Akshaya Sadras is from Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh and she graduated in 2018 from the Elliott School of International Affairs with a concentration in Economic Development and double majoring in Economics. She worked at the Indian Mission to the UN in the Humanitarian and Social Council. She is currently working at her family law firm specializing in criminal, civil and family law while pursuing her law degree.

Thursday, April 29, 2021

6:30 PM – 8:00 PM IST (UTC+05:30)  | 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM EDT

WebEx Events

US-India interests and worldviews are presently converging in unprecedented ways in the Indo-Pacific. How are relations between these two democracies evolving for a post-pandemic era in this vital region? What does the first 100 days of the Biden administration tell us?

CONFERENCE AGENDA

6:30-6:35 PM IST  |  9:00-9:05 AM EDT –  Conference Moderator Welcome

Deepa Ollapally, Director, Rising Powers Initiative and Research Professor of International Affairs, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University

6:35-6:55 PM IST  |  9:05-9:25 AM EDT  –  Keynote Remarks and Commentary

Joseph C.C., Pro-Vice Chancellor and Professor, Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, CHRIST (Deemed to be University).

Brian Heath, Acting Deputy Chief of Mission and Minister-Counselor for Management Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India.

Alyssa Ayres, Dean, Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University; Adjunct Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations

Commentary on “India and the United States in a More Multipolar World”

6:55-7:40 PM IST  |  9:25-10:10 AM EDT  –  Panel Remarks and Moderated Conversation

Daniel Twining, President, International Republican Institute (IRI)

“Taking US-India Relations Forward: Why Values Matter”

Joshua White, Associate Professor of Practice of South Asia Studies and Fellow, Edwin O. Reischauer Center for East Asia Studies at Johns Hopkins SAIS, Washington, D.C. and Nonresident Fellow in the Foreign Policy program at The Brookings Institution

“Security and Strategy in the Indo-Pacific: Deepening the Partnership”

Richard M. Rossow, Senior Adviser and Wadhwani Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies at Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), Washington, D.C. CSIS

“Post Pandemic Economics: New Prospects for Cooperation”

Discussants

Madhumati Deshpande, Department Coordinator (Head of Department) and Assistant Professor, Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore.

N. Manoharan, Associate Professor of International Studies, Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore

7:40-8:00 PM IST  |  10:10-10:30 AM EDT  –  Audience Q&A

This conference is being held in partnership with The George Washington University, US Department of State and CHRIST (Deemed to be University).

Keynote Remarks

Alyssa Ayres was appointed Dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University effective February 1, 2021. Ayres is a foreign policy practitioner and award-winning author with senior experience in the government, nonprofit, and private sectors.

From 2013 to 2021, she was senior fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), where she remains an adjunct senior fellow. From 2010 to 2013 Ayres served as deputy assistant secretary of state for South Asia. During her tenure at the State Department in the Barack Obama administration, she covered all issues across a dynamic region of 1.3 billion people at the time (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) and provided policy direction for four U.S. embassies and four consulates.

Her work focuses primarily on India’s role in the world and on U.S. relations with South Asia in the larger Indo-Pacific. Her book about India’s rise on the world stage, Our Time Has Come: How India is Making Its Place in the World, was published by Oxford University Press in January 2018 and was selected by the Financial Times for its “Summer 2018: Politics” list. An updated paperback edition was released in 2019. She served as the project director for the CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force on U.S.-India relations, and, from 2014 to 2016, as the project director for an initiative on the new geopolitics of China, India, and Pakistan supported by the MacArthur Foundation.

Ayres received an AB from Harvard College and an MA and PhD from the University of Chicago. @AyresAlyssa

Brian Heath is the Acting Deputy Chief of Mission and Minister-Counselor for Management Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor, Heath most recently served in Washington, D.C. as acting director of Policy, Planning, and Resources for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.

Heath has served in numerous leadership roles, including consul general at the U.S. Consulate General in Karachi, Pakistan; minister-counselor for Management Affairs at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York; director of the U.S. Regional Embassy Office in Al Hillah, Iraq; and consular officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Mumbai, India. During assignments in Washington, he worked as a senior advisor in the Under Secretary of State for Management’s Office of Management Policy; and served as a special assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State for Administration. He is the recipient of multiple Department of State Superior and Meritorious honor awards.

Heath graduated from Fordham University with a bachelor’s degree in political economics, earned a law degree from Rutgers University and received his master’s degree in national security studies from the National War College. @USAndIndia

Dr. Fr. Joseph C. C. is Pro-Vice Chancellor and Professor, Department of International Studies and History, CHRIST (Deemed to be University). He is also Director of Student Affairs, at the University. 

A noted expert on maritime history, Fr. Jose is a member of both the Indian History Congress and South Indian History Congress. He has authored or co-authored four books and numerous peer-reviewed articles on wide-ranging issues and presented papers at both national and international conferences. He recently edited a book, Revisiting a Treasure Trove: Perspectives on the Collection at St Kuriakose Elias Chavara Archives and Research Centre. One of his latest publications is “Organization Culture and Work Values of Global Firms: Merging Eastern and Western Perspectives.”

His areas of interest are Maritime Studies, Organizational Culture and Work Values.

Apart from history, Dr. Fr. Jose is well versed in theology and philosophy. He is a passionate teacher and an able administrator. 

He holds a PhD in History from Pondicherry University, India. @ChristBangalore

Conference Moderator

Deepa M. Ollapally is Research Professor of International Affairs and the Associate Director of the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at the Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University. She directs the Rising Powers Initiative which tracks foreign policy debates in major powers of Asia and Eurasia.

She is a specialist on Indian foreign policy, India-China relations, Indo-Pacific regional and maritime security, and comparative foreign policy outlooks of rising powers and the rise of nationalism in foreign policy. Ollapally is the author of five books including Worldviews of Aspiring Powers (Oxford, 2012). Her current research focuses on maritime and regional security in the Indo-Pacific. She is currently writing a book on Big Power Competition for Influence in the Indo-Pacific. She has won grants from Carnegie Corporation, MacArthur Foundation, Smith Richardson Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation and Asia Foundation for work related to India and Asia.

Ollapally has held senior positions in the policy world including US Institute of Peace; and National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University. @DeepaOllapally

Panelists

Richard Rossow is a Senior Adviser and holds the Wadhwani Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies at Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). In this role he helps frame and shape policies to promote greater business and economic engagement between the two countries. He joined CSIS in 2014, having spent the last 16 years working in a variety of capacities to strengthen the partnership between the United States and India.

Prior to CSIS, he served as director for South Asia at McLarty Associates, leading the firm’s work for clients in India and the neighboring region. From 2008 to 2012, Rossow was with New York Life Insurance company, most recently as head of International Governmental Affairs, where he developed strategic plans for the company’s public policy and global mergers and acquisitions work.

Earlier, Rossow served as deputy director of the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC), the world’s leading advocacy group on behalf of strengthening economic ties between the United States and India. While at USIBC, he managed the Council’s policy groups in the energy, information technology, insurance, media and entertainment, and telecommunications sectors. Rossow received his B.A. from Grand Valley State University in Michigan. @RichardRossow

Daniel Twining is President of the International Republican Institute, based in Washington, DC. He heads IRI’s team of over 700 global experts to link people and governments, motivate people to engage in the political process, and guide politicians and government officials to be responsive to citizens.

Previously, he served as counselor to the President and director of the Asia Program at The German Marshall Fund of the United States. As counselor, he served on the executive management team that governs GMF’s annual operations; as director of the Asia Program, he led a team working on the rise of Asia and its implications for the West. Prior to GMF, Twining served as a member of the U.S. Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff, as foreign policy advisor to U.S. Senator John McCain, and as a staff member of the U.S. Trade Representative. He has taught at Georgetown University and served as a military instructor associated with the Naval Postgraduate School. He has been a columnist for Foreign Policy and Nikkei and has lived in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe.

Twining holds a BA with highest distinction from the University of Virginia and MPhil & DPhil degrees from Oxford University, where he was the Fulbright/Oxford Scholar from 2004-07. @DCTwining

Joshua T. White is Associate Professor of the Practice of South Asia Studies and Fellow, Edwin O. Reischauer Center for East Asia Studies at The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Washington, D.C. and a Nonresident Fellow in the Foreign Policy program at The Brookings Institute. His research focuses on political and security issues in the Indian subcontinent, and explores the growing ties between South and East Asia.

He previously served at the White House as senior advisor and director for South Asian Affairs at the National Security Council. He played an instrumental role in advancing the U.S.-India relationship, with a focus on deepened defense and security cooperation and expanded opportunities for trade and investment. Earlier, he served as senior advisor for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon where he supported Deputy Secretary of Defense Ash Carter in advancing the U.S.-India Defense Technology and Trade Initiative, and advised on a broad set of defense issues related to the department’s rebalance to the Asia-Pacific.

White has held short-term visiting research fellowships at the Lahore University of Management Sciences, and the Institute for Defense and Strategic Analyses in Delhi. He graduated magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Williams College with a double major in history and mathematics, and received his PhD with distinction from Johns Hopkins SAIS. @JoshuaTWhite

Discussants

Madhumati Deshpande is the Department Coordinator (Head of Department) and Assistant Professor in the Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore.  Her areas of research interest include international relations and foreign policy analysis, Indian foreign policy, US foreign policy and political theory.

Deshpande has previously been a graduate assistant and election observer in the Jimmy Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia and observed elections in East Timor and Guyana. She also held the position of editor for Springer Reference works. She has published several articles in various peer reviewed journals and three book chapters.

She completed her Masters in Political Science from Karnataka University, Dharwad and holds a PhD from The School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. @ChristBangalore

N. Manoharan is an Associate Professor of International Studies, Christ (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru. Until recently he served at the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), Prime Minister’s Office, and Ministry of Defence, New Delhi. He was South Asia Visiting Fellow at the East-West Center Washington and is a recipient of Mahbub-ul Haq international award for research. 

His areas of interest include internal security, terrorism, Sri Lanka, Maldives, human rights, ethnic conflicts, multiculturalism, security sector reforms and conflict resolution. 

His main books include: Developing Democracies, Counter-terror Laws and Security: Lessons from India and Sri Lanka; ‘Security Deficit’: A Comprehensive Internal Security Strategy for India; India’s War on Terror; SAARC: Towards Greater Connectivity; Ethnic Violence and Human Rights in Sri Lanka. 

Manoharan’s forthcoming book is on Federal Aspects of Foreign Policy: The Role of Tamil Nadu Fishermen Issue in India-Sri Lanka Relations. He writes regularly for leading newspapers, websites and reputed peer-reviewed international journals.

Manoharan has a PhD from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. @ChristBangalore

In advance of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the GW East Asia National Resource Center, the GW Institute for Korean Studies, the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, and the Asian Studies Program invite you to join a panel discussion that will examine critical issues in Asian and Asian American inclusiveness, representation, and equity in the fields of academia, policy research, journalism, and community activism.

Taiwan’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been widely analyzed, especially due to its swift actions to curb the spread of the virus despite close proximity to and deepening tensions with China. In examining this topic, it is often helpful to look back at Taiwan’s history, including it’s response to the 2003 SARS epidemic, relations with China, and positioning in wider international organizations and affairs. Join OAS and the Sigur Center for this timely discussion as we seek to unpack Taiwan’s response to COVID-19 from a variety of perspectives and discuss potential outlooks for the island’s continued pandemic response.

For almost four decades, Afghanistan has experienced ceaseless violence and political turmoil. Between 1979 and 1989, Afghan mujahideen fought against the Afghan central government and its Soviet backers. The 1990s saw the fall of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the rise of mujahideen-led governments including the Taliban. In 2001, US and coalition forces invaded Afghanistan and ousted the Taliban regime. Nearly two decades later, the US is still embroiled in the Afghan quagmire. The US and Taliban signed an agreement in late February of 2020 outlining provisions for an American withdrawal. In September, Taliban and Afghan government representatives met for peace negotiations that continue today. 

This event, Global Prospects | Afghanistan’s Status and Hope for Peace, is part of the 2021 DPE Symposium and Global Prospects Virtual Series: Leadership and Transformation in Times of Crisis. The series addresses the challenges brought globally and regionally by violent actors and their political, economic, and cultural effects. Afghanistan has faced decades of violence that have shaped it in these domains. With the 2020 US-Taliban deal, and peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban, Afghanistan is at a major crossroads. In this discussion, we will speak with Benjamin Hopkins, Director of the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, Jonathan Schroden, Director of CNA’s Center for Stability and Development, and Abubakar Siddique, a Senior Correspondent at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, about the current situation on the ground in Afghanistan, how peace talks have progressed, and what an American withdrawal means for the country.

This event is co-sponsored by the Onero Institute, the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, and the Delta Phi Epsilon professional foreign service fraternity and sorority at GWU. The webinar will be free and open to the public.