Declassified Stories of US Spies
Domini Hofmann, Executive Producer & Director
March 24, 2019 (Sun) 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
NOTE: Due to the unavailability of the speaker, this talk has been CANCELLED. +More Info
Afghanistan After 9/11
Douglas Wise, Senior Intelligence Officer
April 5, 2019 (Fri) 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Albuquerque Journal Auditorium
7777 Jefferson NE
In the aftermath of the devastating attack on September 11th, 2001, the Nation came together and mounted a response which took the fight to the enemy in Afghanistan. CIA was tasked with developing, leading, and coordinating this effort. Fifteen days after 9/11 the first of several CIA teams landed in Afghanistan and, working with the forces of the Afghan Northern Alliance, began operations against al-Qaiida, the Taliban and the Afghan Army. This is the story of one of those teams; a team deployed to the far eastern side of Afghanistan in an isolated camp near Asadabad at the southern end of the Konar Valley along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Eighteen years later, US troops are still in Afghanistan. What’s happening? What are the prospects for the future? +More Info
Beirut: Gateway to the Middle East
Monika Ghattas, Ph.D.
April 14, 2019 (Sun) 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Albuquerque Museum
2000 Mountain Rd NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104
Dr. Ghattas will take us on a virtual tour of Beirut, a city that is a polyglot mixture of East and West—in languages, food, and in many cultural nuances. She will focus on the city’s reputation as the gateway to the Middle East. +More Info
Vibrant Cinema in India
Nandini Kuehn, Ph.D.
May 12, 2019 (Sun) 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Albuquerque Museum
2000 Mountain Rd NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104
Commercially successful films from India which originated in Mumbai and are now called “Bollywood” have influenced movies like Slumdog Millionaire – but what makes Bollywood films so popular remains a mystery. Why do millions of Indians, and a growing number outside of India enjoy three-hour films with fantastic themes, non-stop songs and dances, and unbelievable plots? Nandini Kuehn will help us understand what defines these films and their success, and glimpse the emerging market for new, vibrant cinema in India. +More Info
US Approach to Nuclear Weapons in the Trump Administration: Is the World Safer or More Dangerous?
Jill Hruby, former President, Sandia National Labs
June 21, 2019 (Fri) 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Albuquerque Journal Auditorium
7777 Jefferson NE
It is customary for a new US president to issue a Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) within the first 18 months after taking office. President Trump followed this tradition with the release of his administration’s NPR in February 2018. This talk will focus on what is the same and what is different about this new nuclear policy and how it may stabilize or destabilize the behavior of other nuclear nation states. Finally, this talk will briefly address how Trump’s nuclear policy effects New Mexico. +More Info
Politics and Paranoia: India from Gandhi to Modi
Dr. Aroop Mangalik
July 19, 2019 (Fri) 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Albuquerque Journal Auditorium
7777 Jefferson Blvd. NE
India is unique, not only for its diverse cultures, but also for its turbulent politics, which Aroop Mangalik will explore in this lecture. After independence from Britain in 1947 and traumatic turmoil as the subcontinent was separated into Muslim Pakistan and secular India, the country settled into imperfect democracy under the India National Congress Party. Although 80 per cent of Indians remained locked in poverty, the middle class bloomed. But India’s Hindu majority, particularly those who had prospered, began to feel uneasy about the growing power of the Muslim minority. By 2014 a charismatic politician, Narendra Modi, fanned that unease into outright paranoia and became Prime Minister. All dissent was suppressed. Even the constitution, which explicitly declared that India was a secular state, is under attack. How did India’s leadership evolve to this state and what’s next? +More Info
