#17
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002
From: "JOSEPH DRESEN" <DRESENJO@WWIC.SI.EDU>
Subject: Conference Announcement
NEWS RELEASE
Woodrow Wilson International
Center for Scholars
Wilson Center's Kennan Institute to Hold Conference on
the U.S. Assessments of the Soviet and Post-Soviet Russian Economy
WASHINGTON, D.C.The Wilson Center's Kennan Institute and the Department of Defense's Office of Net Assessment will hold a conference titled, "U.S. Assessments of the Soviet and Post-Soviet Russian Economy: Lessons Learned and Not Learned" on March 27-28, 2002. The conference will examine how the United States developed assessments of the Soviet and Russian economy, the mistakes that were made, and the lessons to be drawn that will improve future assessments. The Honorable James R. Schlesinger, former Secretary of Defense and Energy and former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), will deliver the keynote address. The event will be held in the Center's 6th floor auditorium. The Woodrow Wilson Center is located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center at 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.
"The U.S. government over the last half-century has expended billions of dollars and tremendous human resources on trying to understand what takes place in Russia. Now that we are at a moment of change in the U.S.-Russian relationship, it seems prudent to review past experience with an eye towards finding lessons for the future," said Blair Ruble, Director of the Kennan Institute.
The Agenda and Speakers The conference will be divided into three panel discussions and will conclude with the keynote address by the Honorable James R. Schlesinger. The speakers and discussants represent widely different points of view on the accuracy of U.S. estimates of the Soviet and Russian economy -- from Soviet growth rates and percentage of military spending to the economic impact of Russia's transition from the command economy. The underlying social aspects of Russian society during this tumultuous period will also be examined. Attendance at the conference will be by invitation only. For registration, please contact Mr. Joseph Dresen at (202) 691-4245 or (dresenjo@wwic.si.edu).
Panel One: "Revisiting the Estimates and Analyses of the Soviet Era" Speakers: Nikolai Petrakov was an economics advisor to Mikhail Gorbachev. In 1990 he was one of the drafters of the unimplemented "500 Days" Soviet economic reform program. He is now Director of the Market Economy Institute in Moscow. Abraham Becker of RAND is a leading specialist on Soviet economics. He served for eighteen years on the Military-Economics Advisory Panel to the Director of the CIA. The discussants for the panel will be Igor Birman, a former consultant to the Department of Defense and other U.S. government agencies and Robert Campbell, Distinguished Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at Indiana University.
Panel Two: "Assessments of Russian Reform Programs" Speakers: Mikhail Zadornov, is a Deputy in the Russian State Duma and was Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation from 1997-99. Prior to his service as Minister of Finance, he was Head of the Committee for Budget, Taxes, Banks, and Finances. Zadornov also participated in drafting the "500 Days" program. Mark Medish served in the Clinton administration as special assistant to the president and senior director of the National Security Council (NSC), where he assisted the president and the National Security Advisor in forming and implementing U.S. foreign policy toward Russia and the NIS. He is now a partner in the public law and policy practice group of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P. in Washington. The discussants for the panel will be Peter Reddaway, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University, and Anders Åslund, Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Panel Three: "Understanding the Underlying Social Aspects of Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia" Speakers: Yuri Levada, Director of the All-Russian Center for Public Opinion (VTSIOM), Russia's equivalent to the Gallup Organization, is a leading Russian sociologist and pollster. Judyth Twigg, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Virginia Commonwealth University is an expert on Russian health and social welfare. The discussants for the panel will be Arthur Miller, Professor of Political Science at the University of Iowa, and Richard Dobson, Research Analyst in the Office of Research, U.S. Department of State.
Keynote Speaker The Hon. James R. Schlesinger, chairman, MITRE Corporation, and senior advisor, Lehman Brothers currently divides his time between the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where he serves as counselor, and the investment banking firm of Lehman Brothers.
In March 1969, Schlesinger began his government service as assistant director of the Bureau of the Budget (later the Office of Management and Budget) and served for a period as acting director. In August 1971 he was selected by President Nixon to become chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and in February 1973, was named director of the Central Intelligence Agency. From July 1973 to November 1975, he served as the Secretary of Defense. In 1976, President-elect Carter asked Schlesinger to become assistant to the president, charged with the responsibility of drafting a plan for the establishment of the Department of Energy and a national energy policy. From August 5, 1977-1979, Schlesinger was the nation's first Secretary of Energy, taking the oath of office one day after President Carter signed the legislation creating the new department.
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars is the official, national memorial to Woodrow Wilson, the 28th U.S. president. Established by Congress in 1968 to commemorate Wilson's service to the nation, the Center is a nonpartisan institution of advanced study that promotes scholarship in public affairs. The Wilson Center convenes the thinkers and the doers, scholars and policymakers, in the confident hope that through shared research and dialogue, better understanding and wiser policy will emerge.
###
Location:
6th Floor Auditorium
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC
Directions to the Center and instructions for entering the building can be found at (http://wwics.si.edu/FORTHCOM/septcal.htm).
To register for the conference, please complete the following:
Name:
Address:
Telephone:
Fax:
E-mail:
Please indicate which panels you are interested in attending:
Panel 1 ("Revisiting the Estimates and Analyses of the Soviet Era")
Yes ______ No ______
Panel 2 ("Assessments of Russian Reform Programs")
Yes ______ No ______
Panel 3 ("Understanding the Underlying Social Aspects of Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia") and Keynote Address
Yes ______ No ______
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