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Jan Kavan, Diplomat of the Czech Republic, Former President of the United Nations General Assembly

In the age of "globalization," we have not yet realized and embraced a global dialogue. Russia, China and the United States are now vying for domination and have begun a new arms race--flouting all treaties and agreements to the contrary. Many areas of the world continue to suffer from poverty, human rights violations, war, oppressive and authoritarian governing, toxic waste build-up, genocide and other horrors, while other areas of the world hold all the wealth.

Join us as we explore the role of the United Nations and the UN Millennium Development Goals with regard to human rights, world government oversight, and paths to peace in the face of a new arms race. Mr. Kavan will speak on the threat of a new cold war brewing between the United States and Russia.

Mr. Jan Kavan, Czech diplomat and politician, advocate of democracy and human rights, was President of the fifty-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly from 2002-2003. He served as the Czech Republic's Deputy Prime Minister for Foreign and Security Policy from 1999-2002, and as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1998-2002, most recently serving as a Deputy in the Czech Parliament. While Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Kavan also served as his country's representative to the European Union's Convention on the future of Europe, holding the posts of Vice-President of the State Security Council, Chairman of the Committee for Intelligence Activities and Executive Vice-Chairman of the Government Committee for European Integration. Between 1996 and 2000, Mr. Kavan represented the Czech Social Democratic Party as Senator in the upper House of Parliament. An author of "Charter 77", Mr. Kavan has been active in the area of human rights and is a staunch opponent of the United States plan for ballistic missile defense in Eastern Europe.