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Weekend Program

(Check back for frequent updates.)

Friday, October 26th

(Friday registration and the Welcome Dinner will take place at the Holiday Inn Metrodome, 1500 Washington Avenue South.)

2:00pm - 7:00pm: Registration (outside Aragon Ballroom, Lobby Level)

7:00pm - 9:00pm: Welcome Dinner (Aragon Ballroom, Lobby Level)

Keynote Speaker: Congresswoman Betty McCollum (MN-4)

The evening’s program includes presenting local Minneapolis long-time member and peace activist Harlan Smith with the 2007 Presidential Award, remarks from Citizens for Global Solutions 2007 Flash Movie Contest winner Jeff Knight, Flash and poetry slam videos, and Congresswoman Betty McCollum speaking about the U.S. role in the world.

Saturday, October 27th

(All events on Saturday will take place at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 301 19th Avenue South.)

8:00am - 9:00am: Breakfast and Registration (Atrium)

9:00am - 9:30am: Short Film: What Future for the United Nations? (Cowles Auditorium)

This DVD presentation, narrated by Mike Kronisch and featuring retired TV news anchor Walter Cronkite, addresses the current weaknesses of the U.N. system. The structure of the Security Council is an anachronism favoring the five main World War II victors, and the General Assembly is crippled by no decision-making powers. A very real need exists to reform the United Nations, such that its capacity to act as a world governing body is enhanced and it can perform the functions it was created for.

Mike Kronisch presents several reform measures – including the Binding Triad and weighted voting in the Security Council – that significantly increase the powers and representation of the General Assembly and attempt to create a Security Council representative of present-day international relations and better able to act in times of crisis.

9:30am - 10:30am: Weighted Voting at the United Nations (Cowles Auditorium)

What is it? How could it be implemented? Could it achieve the essential goal of giving the U.N. authority to create binding international laws? Can it be utilized as a tool to further democratize the U.N. and ensure that decisions more accurately reflect the changing demographics of our interconnected world?

Speakers: Joe Schwartzberg, Mike Kronisch

10:30am - 10:45am: Break

10:45am - 11:45pm: Building Just & Lasting Peace from a Global South Perspective (Cowles Auditorium)

What are the key peace and security issues that matter for citizens of the Global South? Do they believe the issues most important to them are being adequately addressed by the western powers? What can be done to ensure that priority global issues reflect concerns across the entire international community?

Speaker: Bharat Parekh

11:45pm - 1:00pm: Lunch (Atrium)

1:00pm - 2:15pm: The U.N. Emergency Peace Service and the International Criminal Court: Prevent, Protect and Punish (Cowles Auditorium)

From Darfur to Congo, the need for a strong international justice mechanism coupled with an established U.N. emergency force is clear. What needs to be done to ensure that the international community remains committed to strengthening both the ICC and UNEPS?

Speakers: Bill Pace, Don Kraus

2:15pm - 3:30pm: Thinking Ahead (Cowles Auditorium)

What will the world look like in 2057 (fifty years from now)? What are the most urgent global problems to get under control by then? What global structures, especially at the United Nations, are essential for trying to solve these problems? What should the United States do to facilitate creating these structures?

Speaker: Tad Daley

3:30pm - 3:45pm: Break

3:45pm - 4:45pm: Creating a Nuclear Weapons-Free World (Cowles Auditorium)

Since its inception in 1968, the Non-Proliferation Treaty has played a key role in global security by limiting the spread of nuclear weapons. Recently, however, countries inside and outside the NPT have sought nuclear technology for energy purposes or to gain political clout, and promises made by signatories are not being kept. How can we bolster the non-proliferation regime to meet the challenges of the 21st century? How can we compel the nuclear weapons states to fulfill their promises of disarmament?

Speaker: Didier Jacobs

4:45pm - 5:00pm: Closing Remarks

Closing remarks will be presented by Citizens for Global Solutions World Federalist Institute Director, Scott Hoffman.

5:00pm - 7:00pm: Dinner on your own

7:00pm - 9:00pm: Film Event

Join us for a showing of the award-winning film The Devil Came on Horseback.

The Devil Came on Horseback exposes the tragedy taking place in Darfur as seen through the eyes of an American witness who has since returned to the U.S. to take action to stop it. Using exclusive photographs and first-hand testimony, former U.S. Marine Captain Brian Steidle takes the viewer on an emotionally charged journey into the heart of Darfur, Sudan.

Hailed as "superb" by New York Times award-winning columnist, Nicholas Kristof, The Devil Came on Horseback is an International Film Circut release of a Break Thru Films production in association with Global Grassroots & Three Generations.

Discussion to follow, including ideas on what you can do in your community to help stop the genocide in Darfur.

Speakers: Don Kraus, Fatema Abdul Rasul

Sunday, October 28th

(All events on Sunday will take place at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 301 19th Avenue South.)

8:00am - 9:00am: Breakfast & Registration

8:00am - 9:00am: Citizens for Global Solutions Chapter Leaders Working Breakfast* (Room 186)

*For current Chapter Leaders or Chapter Representatives only.

9:00am - 10:00am: Book Discussion with Didier Jacobs (Cowles Auditorium)

Author Didier Jacobs discusses his recent book "Global Democracy: The Struggle for Political and Civil Rights in the 21st Century." Come debate his thesis that the quest for political equality (‘one person, one vote’) for global public policy is both a desirable and realistic project for the 21st century.

10:00am - 11:00am: Book Discussion with Jim Yunker (Cowles Auditorium)

James A. Yunker, Professor of Economics at Western Illinois University, will discuss and answer questions about his recent book "Political Globalization: A New Vision of Federal World Government" (University Press of America, 2007).

11:00am - 11:30am: Meet the authors and book sales (Atruim)

*Please note: checkout from the Holiday Inn Metrodome is at noon.