Registration
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Join the Carnegie Endowment for Today’s Challenges, Tomorrow’s Leaders, a special half-day conference designed to engage early-career professionals and students hosted by the 2023-2024 James C. Gaither Junior Fellows. Over the course of three sessions, leading experts and emerging voices in the foreign policy space will discuss issues impacting youth around the world, including the evolving global order and role of institutions, climate change, artificial intelligence (AI), radicalization, and shifts in the information landscape.
Through the conference’s panels, we will explore the factors that will shape future foreign policy and invite participants to engage with pressing questions of the moment. How can the principles of global governance be reformed to better reflect the challenges Gen Z faces, such as climate change, AI governance, and nuclear security? In addressing the radicalization of youth by powerful non-state actors and illicit networks, what strategies do policymakers have to counter these influences? How has a changing information environment shaped the world and how can emerging policy scholars navigate it?
Join us for an in-person discussion on how to address these critical challenges in the world that we’ve inherited. A light reception will be hosted at the beginning of the event.
Keynote
Opening Keynote Address
Abby Finkenauer, United States Special Envoy for Global Youth Issues at the Department of State, will deliver the opening keynote. Dan Baer, senior vice president for policy research and director of the Europe program at the Carnegie Endowment, will provide introductory remarks.
Dan Baer
Senior Vice President for Policy Research, Director, Europe Program
Abby Finkenauer
United States Special Envoy for Global Youth Issues at the Department of State
Panel
Perspectives on the Information Environment
The information environment is the space where people process information to make sense of the world. Conflicts within it, motivated by geopolitical tensions or enabled by emerging technologies, can challenge its integrity. How do we develop evidence-based policymaking for the governance of the information environment? How can we study and understand phenomena within it, from polarization to misinformation?
For early career researchers, these issues are particularly salient—the information we consume shapes our lives. What distinct approaches can younger scholars bring to issues of the information environment? How can we approach and navigate rapid technological change while building our policy voices?
Join our panel as they discuss the impact of the information environment, both on our world and on their own research and careers. Fiona Brauer, junior fellow in Carnegie’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance program, will moderate this discussion with Quinta Jurecic, a fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and senior editor at Lawfare, Vishnu Kannan, advisor to the president at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Samantha Lai, senior research analyst with Carnegie’s Information Environment project.
Fiona Brauer
James C. Gaither Junior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program
Samantha Lai
Senior Research Analyst, Technology and International Affairs
Quinta Jurecic
Fellow at the Brookings Institute and Senior Editor at Lawfare
Panel
Youth and Radicalization
The global community has witnessed a concerning rise in youth radicalization, which has manifested across various ideological spectrums and geographical boundaries. From the violent allure of al-Shabab in the Horn of Africa, to the rise of radicalized politics among young populations in the United States and Europe, the pathways to extremism are as diverse as they are perilous.
What drives young individuals toward extremist ideologies? How do digital platforms and social networks contribute to or combat these dangerous trends? What role can educators, policymakers, and community leaders play in preemptively addressing the factors that may lead to radicalization?
This session will feature insights from experts including Aneliese Bernard, director at Strategic Stabilization Advisors, Doug Klain, nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council, and Sarah Yerkes, senior fellow at Carnegie’s Middle East program as they explore the contexts, implications, and potential solutions for this pressing issue. The panel will be moderated by Francesca Nyakora, junior fellow at Carnegie’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance program.
Francesca Nyakora
James C. Gaither Junior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program
Sarah Yerkes
Senior Fellow, Middle East Program
Doug Klain
Policy Analyst at Razom for Ukraine and a Nonresident Fellow at the Atlantic Council
Aneliese Bernard
Director at Strategic Stabilization Advisors
Panel
Existential Risks and Global Challenges
Issues like nuclear nonproliferation, climate change, and artificial intelligence (AI) share a unique mandate for international cooperation, as the risks associated with each transcend national borders. Not all issues are created equal, but learning from previous approaches to global governance is necessary for younger generations to recognize missteps and work towards new solutions.
How can tomorrow’s leaders build on existing platforms of multilateral cooperation and deliver a brighter future? What can be learned from previous attempts at multilateral cooperation on global risks? How will new issues like AI challenge governance norms and reshape global institutions?
Dan Helmeci, junior fellow in the Carnegie Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics program, will lead a discussion with Stewart Patrick, director of Carnegie’s Global Order and Institutions program, Milo McBride, fellow in Carnegie's Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics program, and Kylie Jones, research assistant in the Nuclear Policy program at the Carnegie Endowment.
Daniel Helmeci
Research Assistant, Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program
Stewart Patrick
Senior Fellow and Director, Global Order and Institutions Program
Kylie Jones
Research Assistant, Nuclear Policy Program, Technology and International Affairs Program
Milo McBride
Fellow, Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program