Plastic Planet: Can a Global Treaty Stop the World Choking on Plastic Pollution?

Monday, July 14th

12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET

As global plastic pollution continues to escalate—potentially causing $4.5 trillion in economic damages by 2040—the international community is preparing for a critical round of negotiations in Geneva. This meeting, formally known as INC-5.2, builds on five prior sessions of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) and is expected to be the final meeting to develop an international legally binding global treaty to end plastic pollution. Finding the “landing zone” for a treaty that is effective and ambitious is the defining challenge of the Geneva negotiations. It requires striking a delicate balance: it needs to be ambitious enough to meaningfully address the full life cycle of plastics and curb pollution at its source, yet flexible enough to secure broad participation from countries with divergent economic and political interests. Expert speakers for this event are Dr. Patrick Schröder, Senior Research Fellow at the Environment and Society Centre, Jane Barton, Head of UK Delegation for Plastics Treaty Negotiations, Margaret Spring, Chief Conservation and Science Officer, Monterey Bay Aquarium, and HE Ambassador Luis Vayas Valdivieso, Ambassador of Ecuador to the UK, and Chair of the UN International Negotiation Committee on Plastic Pollution.

Report Launch: Russia’s Future Rulers

Monday, July 14th

2:00 PM

Join the Atlantic Council in its Russia Tomorrow series for an event on the generational shifts taking place in Russia’s leadership and the inner workings of the Kremlin court. This event features, author Mikhail Zygar, nonresident senior fellow at the Eurasia Center, who will look ahead to the people and personalities that may shape Russia’s future. This event will also focus on the broader dynamics inherited by these potential successors from the older bureaucratic aristocracy of today’s Putin regime. Brian Whitmore, nonresident senior fellow at the Eurasia Center, will moderates the virtual panel discussion.

Next Steps in US-China Great Power Competition with the House Republican Policy Committee

Monday, July 14th

3:30 PM – 4:30 PM ET

As the Trump administration and 119th Congress recalibrate the United States’ foreign policy and national security approach, they need to maintain strategic clarity about the danger that an unchecked Chinese Communist Party would pose to U.S. global leadership and the American homeland. From critical supply chains and artificial intelligence to nuclear deterrence, competition with China has developed into a new cold war. Amid this great power competition, policymakers in Washington have a heightened responsibility to ensure U.S. grand strategy protects American interests against the CCP’s efforts to reshape the foundations of international relations to suit its authoritarian and autocratic vision. Join Hudson Senior Fellow Michael Sobolik for a panel discussion with key members of the House Republican Policy Committee. They will explore the full-spectrum competition between the U.S. and China and identify how policymakers can sustain the strategic foundations necessary for American security and prosperity for this century and beyond.

Global Swing States and the New Great Power Competition

Wednesday, July 16th

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET

It has become increasingly commonplace to observe the return of great power competition, the contest over the future of the international order, and the critical role that pivotal, multi-aligned states—or “global swing states”—will play in the outcome. Brazil, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Türkiye will together exert disproportionate influence over the future of the international order. The United States lacks, however, an overall strategy for ensuring that their policies and actions mesh with American priorities rather than those of Beijing and Moscow. Panelists will explore how to engage global swing states to bring about a vision of world order favorable to U.S. interests. The discussion will begin with remarks by Richard Fontaine and Gibbs McKinley. Following that, Kathy Gilsinan, senior editor at Puck News, will moderate a panel featuring Richard Fontaine, Ambassador Mark Green, former president of the Wilson Center and USAID administrator during the first Trump administration, and Matan Chorev, associate director at RAND Global and Emerging Risks.

Geofencing AI Chips: Evaluation “Call Home” Mandates for Semiconductor Security

Wednesday, July 16th

2:00 PM – 3:30 PM ET

In response to rising concerns about the diversion of advanced semiconductors to China and other adversaries, some policymakers are proposing new “chip security” mandates requiring location verification features—so-called “call home” technologies. While advocates describe these measures as low-cost and straightforward, the reality is more complex. Embedding policy-driven features into chips has a checkered past, and such mandates risk accelerating the shift toward non-U.S. suppliers. Join the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) and the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) for an expert discussion on the implications of location verification requirements for AI chips. Speakers for this event are Daniel Castro, Vice President and Diretor, Center for Data Innovation Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, Neil Chilson, Head of AI Policy, Abundane Institute, Stephen Ezell, Vice President, Global Innovation Policy, and Director of the Center for Life Sciences Innovation Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, and Zach Isakowitz, Disinguished Fellow, Tech Policy Program Center for European Policy Analysis.

The Future of U.S.-Haiti Relations

Thursday, July 17th

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET

Since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, Haiti has been engulfed in crisis, with well-armed criminal gangs and Haitian Security Forces battling for control of the capital Port-Au-Prince. President Trump recently classified some Haitian criminal gangs as foreign terrorist organizations, paving the way for lethal military action to restore stability. The administration has also announced plans to end deportation protection for roughly 500,000 Haitians residing in the United States, putting them at risk of violence if they return to Haiti. These developments raise urgent questions: What are U.S. interests in Haiti and how might these interests translate into concrete policy objectives? How do these interests interact with the aspirations of the Haitian people and to what extent are they in conflict or compatible? And are measures like terrorist designations and support for mercenaries viable, or wise, strategies for restoring order? Speakers for this event include Kiki Hunegs, Rand, Zuri Linetsky, Institute for Global Affairs, Louis-Henri Mars, Lakou Lapè, Wolf Pamphile, Haiti Policy House, and Christopher Shell, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.