PAST EVENTS
Kissinger in the Middle East - Lessons in Diplomacy
Join The Common Good as we discuss the lessons we can take from the brilliant strategic efforts and the carefully considered steps of the past to seek more effective efforts for peace in the future. There are lessons here for diplomacy that can be employed not only in that region but in other conflicts around the world.
About The Event
Palestinians, though three presidents have tried and failed.
To understand the role of American diplomacy in the Middle East, Ambassador Martin Indyk returned to the origins of America-led peace efforts and the man who created the Middle East peace process - Henry Kissinger. Based on his research into American and Israeli archives, interviews with Kissinger, and his own years of experience as the US ambassador to Israel, Indyk’s new book, Master of the Game: Henry Kissinger and the Art of Middle East Diplomacy, offers the key to securing stability, and with that, peace in the Middle East.
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Martin S. Indyk is a Distinguished Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Previously, he was the John C. Whitehead Distinguished Fellow in International Diplomacy in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution. Indyk served as the U.S. special envoy for the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations from July 2013 to June 2014. Prior to his time as special envoy, he was vice president and director of the Foreign Policy program and a senior fellow and the founding director of the Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings.
Robert Hormats has served five U.S. presidential administrations, including as Deputy U.S. Trade Representative with the rank of Ambassador, and Senior Economic advisor to Dr. Henry Kissinger, General Brent Scowcroft and Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski on the National Security Council staff in the White House. He served as Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment with Secretary Clinton His experience in the financial sector includes 25 years at Goldman Sachs (International) rising to the level of Vice Chairman.
Screening and Discussion on "Best of Enemies"
The Common Good hosted a special documentary screening of “Best of Enemies” and held a panel discussion and Q&A with the directors of "Best of Enemies," Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville, and legendary talk-show host Dick Cavett, moderated by Alex Witt.
The Common Good hosted a special screening of “Best of Enemies” and held a panel discussion and Q&A with the directors of "Best of Enemies", Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville, and legendary talk-show host Dick Cavett, moderated by Alex Witt.
'Best of Enemies' is a documentary about the legendary series of nationally televised debates in 1968 between two public intellectuals, the liberal Gore Vidal and the conservative William F. Buckley Jr. Intended as commentary on the issues of their day, these vitriolic and explosive encounters came to define the modern era of public discourse in the media, marking the big bang moment of our contemporary media landscape when spectacle trumped content and argument replaced substance. “Best of Enemies” delves into the entangled biographies of these two great thinkers and luxuriates in the language and the theater of their debates, begging the question, “What has television done to the way we discuss politics in our democracy today?”
Alex Witt hosts the MSNBC show Weekends with Alex Witt on Saturdays and Sundays. Since joining the network in 1999, Alex has hosted across both dayside and primetime platforms, as well as reported from the field during Presidential election seasons and overseas. Alex contributes to NBC Nightly News, the Making a Difference series and Today.
Dick Cavett was the host of The Dick Cavett Show, which aired on ABC from 1968 to 1975 and on public television from 1977 to 1982. Dick Cavett is the author of Talk Show: Confrontations, Pointed Commentary, and Off-Screen Secrets, and is the co-author of Cavett (1974) and Eye on Cavett (1983). He has also appeared on Broadway, on television, and in films.
Robert Gordon is a Grammy Award-winning writer, producer, and director. He has made 8 feature documentaries and is the author of 6 books, including Can’t Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters. Gordon is also the author of It Came From Memphis, a book about Memphis music and culture, and he produced the book’s two companion CD’s.
Morgan Neville is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. Through a series of films on important music subjects (including The Brill Building, Sam Phillips and Sun Records, Nat King Cole, Brian Wilson, Leiber & Stoller, The Highwaymen, and Burt Bacharach), Neville has documented stories of songwriters and producers who helped shape 20th-century music.
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Screening and Discussion with: Robert Greenwald and Jim Miller
The Common Good was proud to present a special screening of Robert Greenwald’s new documentary Rethink Afghanistan
The Common Good was proud to present a special screening of Robert Greenwald’s new documentary Rethink Afghanistan about the US military presence in Afghanistan following the September 11th attacks. Jim Miller, the Executive Director of Brave New Films joins Greenwald in discussion of the film.
Robert Greenwald is the president of Brave New Foundation as well as being a producer, director and political activist. Greenwald is the director/producer of several documentaries: “Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers” (2006), “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price” (2005), and “Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War of Journalism” (2004). He also executive produced a trilogy of political documentaries: “Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election” (2002); “Uncovered: The Iraq War” (2003), which Greenwald also directed; and “Unconstitutional” (2004). His films have garnered 25 EMMY Award nominations, four Cable ACE awards nomination, two Golden Globes, the Peabody Award, the Robert Wood Johnson Award and eight awards of excellence from the Film Advisory Board. In 2002 Greenwald was awarded the 2002 Producer of the Year Award by the American Film Institute.
Jim Miller is the Executive Director for Brave New Foundation. He joined the company when the Foundation was initially formed by putting together the coalition of over 100 groups (including Amnesty International, MoveOn True Majority, and Voters For Peace) to push their unique system of distributuion and house screenings for Iraq For Sale. Since then Jim has strengthened their distribution coalition so that their short videos now get 1.5 million views per month. His film experience began over 20 years ago working on the film Bull Durham and includes being the Director of Development for The Shooting Gallery, an independent film company which produced ‘Sling Blade’ and ‘You Can Count on Me’, and Head of Acquisitions for Cinema Park Distribution.
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The Common Good has been hosting events since 2006 that cover important issues of today, highlighting speakers who have worked to bolster our democracy and can provide great insight on the issues that matter.