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SUMMARY:U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://politicaljar.com/event/u-s-import-and-export-price-indexes-11/
LOCATION:Washington\, DC
CATEGORIES:BLS,IMPORTANT
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251216T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251216T090000
DTSTAMP:20260623T191145
CREATED:20251216T023408Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251216T133417Z
UID:36183-1765875600-1765875600@politicaljar.com
SUMMARY:In-Town Pool Call Time
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://politicaljar.com/event/in-town-pool-call-time-264/
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251216T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251216T110000
DTSTAMP:20260623T191145
CREATED:20251208T034343Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251208T034343Z
UID:35345-1765879200-1765882800@politicaljar.com
SUMMARY:Understanding the Conflict in Sudan
DESCRIPTION:.\n\n\nFor more than two years\, Sudan has been in the throes of a violent civil war following attempted civil-military rule. Fighting has been intense between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)\, a paramilitary group with origins in the Janjaweed militia that was previously accused of atrocities in the war-ravaged Darfur region. \nThe war has been taking on a new dimension as additional actors have appeared on the geopolitical scene. Countries such as Egypt\, Turkey\, Iran\, Qatar\, Russia\, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have all been accused of supporting one side or the other of the conflict depending on their strategic interests. Join Perry World House as we seek to explain some of the background of this entrenched conflict\, who the key players are and what are their motivations in Sudan\, and what we expect to see in the short-\, medium-\, and long-term. \n\n\n \nSPEAKERS\nAli B. Ali-Dinar is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Africana Studies. Dr. Dinar obtained his B.A. and M.A. from University of Khartoum\, Sudan\, and his Ph.D. in Folklore and Folklife from University of Pennsylvania. \nHis research interests include Sudanese popular culture\, the politics of identity\, and the history of colonial and post-colonial Africa. Among the courses he taught are: “African Conflicts”\, “Sudanese Arabic I\, II”\, “Reading Historical Arabic Manuscripts”\, “The Darfur Conflict”\, “Sudan Civil Wars”\, “Dress and Material Culture.” \nHis publications include: “Historical Perspective on Darfur Geopolitical Status in the Context of Modern Sudan “\, in Darfur Political Economy: A Quest for Development\, Hamid Eltgani Ali (ed)\, forthcoming 2011\, “The Darfur Conflict: A Natural Process or War by Design?”\, in: Darfur and the Crisis of Governance in Sudan: A Critical Reader\, Salah M. Hassan & Carina E. Ray (Eds.)\, Cornell University Press\, 2009. \nMark Malloch-Brown has had a long career in international affairs\, development\, business\, and communications. At the United Nations\, Mark Malloch-Brown led the global promotion of the UN Millennium Development Goals as head of the UN Development Programme (UNDP). At the UNDP\, and previously as vice president of external affairs at the World Bank\, he led reform efforts to increase the impact of both organisations. He later served as Kofi Annan’s chief of staff\, and then as UN Deputy Secretary General\, before joining the British government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown\, as minister responsible for Africa and Asia from 2007 to 2009. Most recently\, he was president of the Open Society Foundations\, the world’s largest private funder of independent groups working for justice\, democratic governance\, and human rights. Mark Malloch-Brown is a Visiting Professor in Practice at the London School of Economics (LSE)\, he was knighted for his contributions to international affairs\, and is currently on leave from the British House of Lords. \n \nMODERATOR\nMarie Harf comes to Penn with two decades of varied experience in the U.S. federal government\, higher education\, media\, and politics. Previously she worked as senior advisor for strategic communications to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and deputy spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State\, as the foreign policy director on Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign\, and as a Middle East analyst and spokesperson at the Central Intelligence Agency. She has also held senior roles at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and for Congressman Seth Moulton’s political organization. Since 2017\, Harf has been an on-air commentator for Fox News. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Indiana University with concentrations in Jewish Studies and Russian and Eastern European Studies\, and a master’s degree in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia.
URL:https://politicaljar.com/event/understanding-the-conflict-in-sudan/
LOCATION:Perry World House\, 3803 Locust Walk\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20251216T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20251216T120000
DTSTAMP:20260623T191145
CREATED:20251208T034756Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251208T034756Z
UID:35354-1765882800-1765886400@politicaljar.com
SUMMARY:"Smartphone Democracy" (Francois Brochet) book discussion
DESCRIPTION:This book explains how 20th century “representative democracy” changed into 21st century “direct democracy” in Europe. NYC also just changed\n\n\nIf you have noticed that smartphones have radically changed our social activity over the last two decades\, do you think that smartphones have radically changed our political activity as well? Francois Brochet does. In Smartphone Democracy\, he carefully deconstructs patterns of smartphone use as well as their effects on political systems. He concludes that no matter how hard we try\, 21st-century political processes cannot be replaced by the previous 20th-century norms that were used to generate the familiar patterns of our representative democracies. \n \nWe have slowly developed new habits that derive from our quick reactions to smartphones. Over a couple of decades\, these habits have made voting on a yearly (or four-year basis) too slow for the multitudes. The result is a political change seen in the phenomenal growth of global populist movements often characterized by millions of internet users liking\, sharing\, tweeting\, “truthing”\, re-tweeting\, or “re-truthing” their preferences. And all of this informational sharing is under the control of a charismatic leader whose data analysts help shape decisions made by governments. \n \nThe iphones and social platforms that were invented in the early 2000’s quickly spread throughout the world. There are currently 7.4b smartphones in use and 5.4b social media users worldwide. Beginning in 2007\, Barack Obama and his knowledgeable tech team first used only texting to collect 2.2m volunteers who then interacted with 10 million voters. This resulted in his gaining 3 million donors and a vast majority of support among both 18-30 year-old voters and Black/Hispanic voters which led to his victory in the 2008 presidential election. His “Yes We Can” slogan was picked up in Spain by the Podermos (meaning “We Can”) movement in 2014 and by the end of 2015 that left-wing populist movement won 20.7% of the Spanish votes cast (5.1m) using digital techniques. \nSince 2002\, populist politics have been developing and spreading through many countries. In Italy and Hungary\, the voting for the populist leaders is currently larger than the voting for the traditional parties’ leaders (58% and 54% in 2022). \nIn the United States\, populism is usually thought of as a right-wing phenomena (based on the use of social media platforms by the Republican party)\, but on November 5th Zohran Mamdani’s left-wing populism made him the new mayor of New York (a city with more economic power than Canada). He gathered 104\,000 volunteers who made 4.4m phone calls and knocked on 3.1m doors which led him to obtain just over 1m votes and win the election. A few days later\, he used Blue Sky Social to collect 50\,000 resumes so that he could hire people for his upcoming mayoral administration. \nAdditionally\, California Governor Gavin Newsom began to use left-wing populism based on social platforms last summer. At first he just imitated the Trump tweet-clash style using all capital letters\, but since then his Press Office team has been maintaining a constant presence on Twitter/X and he has now become the leading contender for the 2026 elections. \nThe “smartphone democracy” methods that Brochet describes have become standardized wherever they are used and are fairly easy to understand. They are best summarized in another book (The Engineers of Chaos: How the engineers of chaos multiply anger and frustration using their algorithms by Da Empoli\, 2025) which offers a quick and somewhat blunt analysis: \n“A process of microtargeting is used to mine anger and resentment about certain political topics which then get channeled into political energy. \nEmotional content is prioritized over rational discourse on the platforms which then amplify polarization and replace traditional political debate with strong emotions like anger\, fear\, and resentment (often about hot topics like immigration). \nThe logic of the political actions which become catalyzed by the platforms involves three simple operations: \n1) identify both hot topics and fractures that divide public opinion\, \n2) push the most extreme positions and make them clash with each other\, and \n3) project this confrontation back onto the public as a whole. \nThese three operations then generate anger and frustration which overheat the general atmosphere.” \n \nThis book discussion will offer a 25-minute presentation about the ideas in Smartphone Democracy with questions and comments invited. The remaining time will be devoted to breakout groups and a general discussion. Join us for an engaging experience.
URL:https://politicaljar.com/event/smartphone-democracy-francois-brochet-book-discussion/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251216T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251216T130000
DTSTAMP:20260623T191145
CREATED:20251208T032226Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251208T032226Z
UID:35262-1765886400-1765890000@politicaljar.com
SUMMARY:Instant Issues: Dr. Laura Reed on The Future of Nuclear Weapons
DESCRIPTION:Laura Reed will speak on The Future of Nuclear Weapons in a Perilous World. She will review key threats & steps needed for a safer world.\n\n\nThe World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts will present an Instant Issues lunchtime discussion with Dr. Laura Reed\, on The Future of Nuclear Weapons in a Perilous World. The program will take place on Tuesday\, December 16 from noon to 1 pm at 1350 Main Street\, 9th Floor Gallery\, in downtown Springfield. \nA popular Council speaker\, Laura Reed is a political scientist specializing in international security and American foreign policy. Until 2022\, Dr. Reed taught political science at the University of Massachusetts\, Amherst. Reed served as the Secretary of the U.S. Pugwash Committee when the international Pugwash organization received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. She has been a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government\, a visiting Scientist at MIT’s Security Studies Program\, as well as serving as a program officer at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Over the course of her career\, Dr. Reed taught at Wellesley College\, Boston College\, Mount Holyoke College\, and Hampshire College\, as well as serving as the Assistant Director of the Five College Program in Peace and World Security Studies. Her work has received funding from the National Science Foundation\, the Ford Foundation\, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation\, the Ploughshares Fund\, and the U.S. Institute of Peace. \nFor those who purchase a meal\, box lunches with a choice of sandwich–turkey\, tuna\, roast beef\, vegetarian–will be available first come\, first served. Lunches also include deli salad\, a cookie\, chips\, and soda or water. (Attendees may bring their own lunch or choose not to eat.) \nRegistration deadline for a lunch provided is Tuesday\, December 9th. \nThe Instant Issues series is generously sponsored by Wilbraham & Monson Academy & Sir Speedy \nMedia Sponsor: The Republican \nMedia Partner: FOCUS Springfield \nSpecial thanks to NAI Plotkin \nThe World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts is a nonpartisan educational organization dedicated to fostering civil discourse on international events and foreign policy. Our speakers’ opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Affairs Council or our affiliates.
URL:https://politicaljar.com/event/instant-issues-dr-laura-reed-on-the-future-of-nuclear-weapons/
LOCATION:1350 Main St\, 1350 Main Street\, Springfield\, MA\, 01103\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://politicaljar.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2218266716e6a812492bec7df3927c3e.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251216T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251216T140000
DTSTAMP:20260623T191145
CREATED:20251216T023409Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251216T184856Z
UID:36184-1765893600-1765893600@politicaljar.com
SUMMARY:The President participates in an Ambassador Credentialing Ceremony
DESCRIPTION:Closed Press
URL:https://politicaljar.com/event/the-president-participates-in-an-ambassador-credentialing-ceremony-3/
LOCATION:Oval Office
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20251216T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20251216T180000
DTSTAMP:20260623T191145
CREATED:20251208T035215Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251208T035215Z
UID:35381-1765900800-1765908000@politicaljar.com
SUMMARY:Multnomah County Politics Uncovered with District Attorney Nathan Vasquez
DESCRIPTION:Dive into local politics with DA Nathan Vasquez live and in person—get the inside scoop on Multnomah County!\n\n\nMultnomah County Politics Uncovered with District Attorney Nathan Vasquez\nJoin Partnership for Progress for an in-person event where we dive deep into the world of Multnomah County politics with none other than District Attorney Nathan Vasquez! Get the inside scoop\, ask your burning questions\, and discover what really goes on behind the scenes. Don’t miss this casual and insightful gathering – perfect for anyone curious about local politics.
URL:https://politicaljar.com/event/multnomah-county-politics-uncovered-with-district-attorney-nathan-vasquez/
LOCATION:The Fields Bar & Grill\, 1139 Northwest 11th Avenue\, Portland\, OR\, 97209\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://politicaljar.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/72b4c359cbcd0818f63cf9470d0bea86.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251216T201500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251216T201500
DTSTAMP:20260623T191145
CREATED:20251216T023410Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251217T000401Z
UID:36185-1765916100-1765916100@politicaljar.com
SUMMARY:The President participates in a Hanukkah Reception
DESCRIPTION:Pre-Credentialed Media
URL:https://politicaljar.com/event/the-president-participates-in-a-hanukkah-reception/
LOCATION:East Room
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