longer term. i wanted to follow-up on what you think putin positive view is for the short and long-term? you have been fairly general and where you think things are headed. i wonder if you could be more specific. to obviously read his letter 18 members of the european community about what he wanted to do. he has leverage over ukraine in terms of gas and the money being owned. what do you think his immediate plans are, how do you think -- how far do you think he will go, what is he doing about the elections, will he move before and after? over the next six months, do you see this turning into a real crisis for the european and world community or simply a crisis for ukrainians? >> given the time, we are going to bring those questions back with a concluding set of comments. possibilities to association agreements to putin's plan. >> to forget about crimea is not a good idea.

absolutely not. , russia, i think, yes putin is not prepared to undertake any military operations. simply it is trading. it does not mean that you should not take it serious, but that is the intention, to have a negotiation position to have something to give up of achieving the goal. the goal is crimea, crimea forever. just to recognize that is normal. but i do not think you should forget about crimea. it is not normal in 21st century to undertake such operations like it is 17th century. that would destroy the that has existed for many years. , on concrete

actions, as i've said, the environment is such that putin has a lack of legitimacy inside the country. are getting in history, recollection of russian land or something like that, just to have consolidation of , popularity among ordinary people. encouraging,ng and i would say, the low instincts of chauvinism, etc. unfortunately that is now the case. but that is absolutely there ise, as soon as a consistent approach, russian opposition, which is getting

weaker and weaker, but continues to pursue their own alternative yview. i think that will work. elections, of course he does not want elections in ukraine. it would be viewed as free and fair. he would like to have poor government just so that every time, to claim he has a right to protect the people, russian citizens come a russian speaking people. we already mentioned, the united mentioned, they were not under any danger, it any threat. that is why all this is simply a lie, there were no arguments of protection for russian speaking people. elections. in russia, too, we are facing

problems with elections. we thought there is some kind of liberalization in this area, our party suddenly registered, so we have access to elections. we got our representatives down in two regions, and today the duma adopted another piece of , designed to be just for our party. it means again, we are coming to ,he environment, the instrument very practical, not through the revolution, but through normal ways, constitution, having a gradual changing in the whole .nvironment we lost such opportunity. today, i already made a creatent that we have to

another wave of protest in russia. it could happen may be in one year, but people understand that. the failure of putin to perform appropriately as he promised to people. propaganda in ukraine would be another failure. disappointment of people. that would speed up the whole collapse of the regime. why a lot of different circumstances. we should deal with them, but in this case, general western opposition, principal position is absolutely necessary. >> thank you very much a lot more questions in the audience but we have run out of our hour. let me thank you. as david said at the beginning, thank you for your own courage, coming here to the atlantic

council to continue this conversation. the atlantic council has been a platform for these debates. we had a foreign minister twice in the past 12 months, hearing one perspective. we have invited other russian government officials to the stage to continue the conversation. we are grateful you've taken time out of your schedule to offer your alternative you to vladimir putin. we will continue this conversation in the days and weeks to come, particularly next week, where we will be convening many of those of you that follow these issues for continuing conversation about what is the future of a europe whole and free and where can russia find its place in that vision and strategy. and thank our guest, the former prime minister are russia. thank you. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] >> last month, a vail symposium held a debate on the safety of genetically modified foods known as gtmo's. we heard from advocates and entrepreneurs on the health and industrys efforts to cover-up the dangers. here is more about that now. >> of all the independent scientist that i interviewed around the world, and i've been to 40 countries, they all agree, whether they are against or for o's, they all agree, it was released far before the site was ready. i don'tess itself,

agree, is irrelevant. the process of genetic engineering causes massive collateral damage, hundreds of thousands of mutations up and down the dna, far more than conventional breeding, and they do not evaluate it. so some independent scientists looked at monsanto's koran after it was on the market and found a gene that would normally summit was switched on, and that gene produces an allergy and. allergicave an reaction. somebody may die from the core that is genetically engineered, unlabeled as containing an allergen, but the process of genetic engineering triggered a switch on of that gene and 43 others. , the world health organization, australian medical association, no problem with gmo's. are all of these part of the conspiracy that a person with no scientific training has

uncovered? note are organizations without some scientific names, these are real medical and protective organizations. in europe, which is very anti-gmo, in australia, all over the world come in the epa, who we pay attention to when it comes to global warming or something like that. would not pose unreasonable risk to human health and the environment. i could come up with dozens of these. the australian and new zealand food safety group. we have identified no safety concerns for any of the gm foods we have assessed. is this reasonable? that something that is extraordinarily a poison here, this is just fear mongering. all of these organizations are just ignoring it? portion of a debate held last month by the vail symposium. you can see the entire event at

8:00 tonight here on c-span. here on c-span two, it is authors exploring america. american three, history tv, with a look at the confederacy during the civil war. i remember on saturday, the first conversation i had with a group of people, it was not where you are from what your school would like, but about ukraine. it was about politics. it was about our believes on education and religion. after that moment i was like, wow, this week is going to be intense. it has been really cool to see the evolution of our friendships and bonds, just talking about politics, talking about our experiences, what we've learned, who we have met. this is an experience i will never forget. >> i have always been cynical about it, that i could never go that far in politics, politics is such a caustic environment,

but slowly throughout the week, different speakers andrew people i've met, have chipped away at that opinion that has been so ingrained in my head. i thought maybe i want to make a difference and run for something local and stay local in my community. like president obama said yesterday, he told us, don't get cynical. this nation does not need any more cynical people. that will not help relieve the problems we have. >> one of the things that gets brought up about our generation is our social media. we are able to express our opinions very easily. we can send a tweet about what we think. i think that starts conversations, and we like to talk a lot, so there is conversation on social media. we like to get our opinions out there. >> this whole week has been about learning. i come from a small town where yt is very politicall

homogenic, and there is not much chance for people who do not think the same to get their opinions out without being ridiculed. being here with the other delegates has given me an opportunity to learn other viewpoints and to also get my ideas out without the fear of being shunned for thinking differently. fromgh school students across the country discuss their participation in the u.s. senate youth program. a weeklong government and leadership education program held annually in washington, sunday night at 8:00. yesterday, nicholas k, the u.s. representative for somalia discussed the country's progress for governance and security. somalia hold elections in 2016. we heard about that as well as ongoing humanitarian efforts in the region. held by the u.s. institute of peace, this is one hour, 40 minutes. >> welcome to the united states institute for peace. i am johnny carson, senior i will at usip, and

serve as this morning's moderator for our program on somalia. i am also extraordinarily pleased to be able to introduce our guest this morning, ambassador nicholas kay, who is the head of the united nations assistance mission in smalley and, and also the u n secretary general's special representative for that country. a slow andundergoing steady political and security transformation. for most of the past two and a has beendes, somalia used and held up as a classic example of a failed state.

a country without a functioning securityt, economy, or apparatus. a lawless country, incapable of protecting its people, its borders, or its natural , and a country that has generated problems for its regional neighbors and also for the international community. a mere five years ago, at the beginning of 2009, the situation in somalia appeared to be at its observersnt, and many had clearly written it off. eat european troops who had been troops who ethiopian

have been fighting against extremists have been driven out of the country. the transitional federal government, at the time led by president on dell yusef ahmad, was in chaos. he was about to step down. called al-shabaab, a radical element of the islamic , was spreading its rule across the country, including the capital, mogadishu. they had control of probably less than one square mile of the city in and around villa somalia. years havet five seen an enormous amount of

change and enormous amount of progress. today, the transitional federal government is no longer there. the former president, hossein shaikh, stepped down. there is a new provisional constitution, a new president, new prime minister, and tremendous and growing international support. on the military side, led by uganda, but also including troops from marin d eq opiate, kenya, and as far away as sierra leone. al-shabaab pushed you,f mogadishu, has my

and many of the major towns and cities in south-central. at the same time, we have seen a sharp decrease in the level of piracy off the coast of somalia in the red sea. there has been change, and somalia looks different from the way it did five years ago, 10 years ago, or 20 years ago. us thewe have with person who is most responsible for the conduct of the united nations' operations on the ground in somalia today, ambassador nick kay. has aador kay

distinguished diplomatic , a former british , andsador to the sudan also later to the democratic .epublic of the congo i can think of no better person to be conducting the business of the u.n. and the international community than ambassador kay. wise, and knows how to operate in very tough political and security environments. in my last position at the department of state, nick and i were colleagues. basis, andn a weekly

sometimes, on a daily basis. we have traveled across central africa together doing difficult drc, rwanda,e uganda, and other places. me tois a great honor for , aable to ask ambassador kay good friend, to talk about how he sees the current situation in , and whether the slow, steady progress that i mentioned is, in fact, real, or is it a barrage -- mirage? were is it today, where do expected to be the next year and the year after? it is my pleasure to invite

ambassador kay to make some remarks. >> thank you very much, indeed, for those kind words, and thank you to usip for inviting me. it is great to be in this magnificent building. manyat pleasure to see so of you here continuing the strong interest in somalia. in the audience several familiar faces as well. some of whom have served with me in somalia in the missions, or visited recently. i'd like to technology a former british ambassador. suzanne is in the audience as well. allen is a former colleague. i feel i am amongst friends, so i will speak frankly and freely, deeply conscious that this is also being webcast.

and that my job probably hangs on the line. >> [laughter] >> i'm not going to speak from a script, although i have an extreme a good grip prepared by my team in the united nations, but i would just elaborate a few comments off-the-cuff, as it were. very much look forward to opening questions and discussions. traveling, here and to speak,as much because there is a lot of collective knowledge and wisdom which would be rash of me to leave today without having fully exploited. so i look forward to that part of the meeting. the title that i think i was given is great, because i did not have to think of it, but a very good title.

peril --progress or progress and peril? i'm not sure, but sort of which wasures what johnnie saying in his opening comments. i have spent a lot of my time having to field the question, how is it going with somalia, are you optimistic? all of those rather difficult questions. it is a difficult set of -- i couldecause stop now. essentially there is progress, and that progress is in peril. both of the above are true. there is not an either or option. and imper, 2012, johnnie were both doing our respective jobs in our foreign ministries, supposedly overseeing lots of

sub-saharan african business. -- i think related there is no doubt about that -- at the end of the transition in september 2012. hossein shaikh, not a former warlord, someone who came with good credentials. it really felt like the dawn of a new age. hopes were very high. . imagine, unrealistically high now, 18 months later, the fact that those high hopes are now tinged with harsh realism, it is only normal and natural. i do not think we should be particularly surprised. tough the last 18

months. coincidedl government with the end of the u.n. mission, the beginning of our mission in june. i have traveled a little bit of hossein shaikh mahmud, and i can attest it is pretty tough going. it, reallygh about comes as no supplies. we are more or less in the same boat as the international community and the federal government. we are faced with the same sets of challenges. at the top of the list probably is security. this is a challenge. al-shabaab is a determined, ruthless enemy with a lot of intent and quite a lot of capability, and they use it

against the federal government and against the united nations, and anybody from the international community who is there to help. very nondiscriminating. i do not discriminate between humanitarians and political missions, they do not discriminate between nationalities. the turks are very high on their list of targets as well as western non-muslim countries as well. so we are all in the same boat, facing those challenges, an enemy that is determined to derail international support and assistance for somalia. and determined to destabilize the government of somalia. so we share that challenge with the federal government, they find it very difficult to move around mogadishu. they find it difficult to move outside of mogadishu. we as the international community find it. we all travel in these wretched armored vehicles with pickups full of guys with kalashnikovs

to protect us. we are very much in the same boat there. we also face the same challenge of the week or 30 well nonexistent institutions, as johnnie said, the prototype of every failed state in the world, i think, somalia was. the phrase was coined to describe somalia. staters of nonfunctioning , nonexistent institutions on the whole. state presents, control, even in mogadishu, let alone around the rest of the country, very weak that presented a challenge to the international community. capacityapacity, human , very, very weak within the ministries, institutions in mogadishu.

two or three good people at the top of every ministry and then nothing but made it really, on the whole. that is the challenge for a government wanting to deliver an ambitious program of jobs, health, education to their people. it is a problem for international partners trying to help them to do that. poverty. lack of resources. and that is a challenge that faces us as internationals, faces the country as well. it is often easy to forget just how poor somalia is. are very shakys in terms of reliability, but one that always sticks in my mind is this is a government trying to run a country nearly the size of afghanistan, 9 million people, huge needs in terms of education, infrastructure, everything, and how much money does it get from its own resources to do that?

it survives entirely off the revenue from the ports in mogadishu, and in a good month, the government gets $10 million a month from that. that has gone up. it used to be about $5 million 12 months ago. economic indicators are sort of positive, but that is the only government -- money the government has to run itself. storesre most department on the corner of any washington street here have a higher revenue than the federal government of somalia. so, are there problems that we share and face together? corruption, no doubt about it. of a, in the absence functioning state institutions last 22 years, in great competition for resources and survival, then yes, corruption has been endemic, and it is

still there in the system as well. it is a problem that the federal government faces trying to root it out, and we as internationals, face that challenge, too. factionalism,s, huge, partisan political havetures which, again, built up in the absence of states, functioning institutions, lack of a democratic system, people have had to rely on clans much more the past 20 years. again, that face a challenge for the federal government, and for us. lots of challenges. what i find, in a way, slightly why were we so hopeful in september 2012? this great bubble

of optimism? all we have done now is put on -- why did wet ever think there would be no corruption after september 2012? why did we think there would be no clan shooting and fighting after september 2012? why on earth did we think it was suddenly going to be like that? i think we were perhaps going orough collective euphoria we were all making the wrong stuff. i don't know. >> we are where we are.

we see a series of challenging conditions in the country. are we making progress? >> i think we are. i will go through the heading of , politics, international engagement. i will come back to the negative stuff as well. i will hopefully wrap up with a little bit of what do we do. progress, rapidly to progress at the moment is dominated by the offensive

,aking place across the country and i certainly pay tribute to , and we shoulds not neglect. their sons union has and daughters in harm's way in a way that most do not do. they are also fighting very bravely. both are taking losses and casualties. that's an important part of the equation, what's happening. when i arrived last year and one of my questions was why has the offensive against al-shabaab stop? why were towns no longer being taken?

the last i was told was resources. they understand these things better. was amazon was overstretched. the security council approved just over 4000 extra troops as well as more and abler's. -- more enablers. tocifically it authorized you in to give nonlethal logistics to this malian national army. those are two significant developments that have played to

this initiative on the third of march to get underway. it has been pretty successful in the last six or seven weeks it has been going on. beenations tend to have retaken from al-shabaab, many of them not involving direct fighting. one or two had to be fought for. this is quite an ambitious operation happening in a geographically spread area. involved,ctors are and it's benefiting from ethiopian forces being atorporated as part of that. this stage i understand they are consolidating, and there is likely to be a second phase.

it's good that government to significantds towns and villages where it wasn't before. it's good because al-shabaab has been deprived sources of revenue. it's good because al-shabaab have been denied training bases. you may have seen on al jazeera was anw months ago there al-shabaab training camp -- quite impressive. they have 200 or 300 people being trained to be suicide bombers. i am not impressed with the and even less impressed by the person who mentioned my name as being one of the people the students were secretly focusing on. camp now is a

somali national army base. they have been liberated. al-shabaab has been removed. is good. being deprived of revenue, being deprived of training facilities, places where they can operate with impunity. this will go up. >> it brings challenges as well. >> there is no doubt this operation is resenting second-order challenges. has left the town so they control the countryside. they are interfering with traffic and stopping food from reaching these places. there is a great onus on helicopters and air supplies to resupply amazon forces, and we don't have enough helicopters. i won't be the first that you have heard bemoan the lack of , but it's a serious issue we are facing now, and

this is not just civilian , which theelicopters united nations does need, but they have virtually no military helicopters whatsoever and therefore have no capability of protecting their supply routes from the air, and it's remarkable to me and deeply disturbing that no african union member states have come forward with helicopters for the african union mission. i shall be in new york tomorrow repeating the same message that without that military air amazon are in peril. that is going on. meanwhile, you will have seen consequence of the offensive. al-shabaab have increased

activism in mogadishu. that was predicted. it has been happening over the and couple months, yesterday and today they have assassinated a member of parliament each day in mogadishu. a reminder from them they are , a reminder they are determined to undermine the government, create the impression the government has no control. i think this will continue. i'm not a great tactician. i guess if i was an al-shabaab terrorist and under pressure being chased out of towns and villages i controlled, what would i try to do? i would try to lend some kind of mogadishu,unch in unseat the government, particularly the international , if they could force

the international community to retreat, that would be a strategic success. i think we can expect them to continue to try to do that in the coming weeks. security is a mixed richer. is underl al-shabaab pressure and progress is being made, but it throws up challenges. and it throws up risk of a ,acklash from al-shabaab particularly in mogadishu. it might be elsewhere as well. within the region they may also try to conduct it. political progress. are we doing that? yes and no. are somaliaet items

has committed itself to doing three things. one, forming itself into a federal state, and that means grouping together some of the federal member states. secondly, having a constitution that enshrines what a federal state is. a final constitution which will be submitted to a referendum, and thirdly, to have democratic one-vote elections across the whole country in 2016. those are big-ticket challenges. any of those would be quite a for most countries. doing all three of those in the context i described at the isinning for somalia outrageously ambitious.

however, is it doable? i still firmly believe it is. we have to in a half years. i think we will have a much clearer idea of whether it is doable by the end of this year, because there is a draft framework of actions for 2016 the government is preparing with a tight timetable of exactly what needs to happen, and there is no real margin for slippage. parliament has gone back. keyas to in those several so we of legislation, will know quite soon whether this outrageously ambitious project is going to be doable or not. reason stage there is no

to say it can't be done. meanwhile, apart from having --s different than of action plan of action, there is an outbreak across somalia of free-market process to become federal member states, so on the ground people are taking the to set up their own federal states without waiting for a federal government led , but we have currently a dispute with those advocating three regions and those advocating six region state, which is a difficult issue. we still have the implementation of the interim administration of

is taking timeh to work through, and then we have had other freelance were they declared they wanted to be a state. it was a few weeks ago when it seemed like more or less every day a new president was appointed somewhere. it seemed to be a growth industry with the self-appointed resident. -- president. that's fine. what's encouraging is the federal government has been andng more of a proactive leading role on this. it can't be directive, and it can't be imposed on mogadishu. impose the feelings at the local level, and there are buterent stakeholders,

there has to be some structure to it, especially if they are going to reach the timetable of by the end of this year forming the new provisional federal map of somalia with all the interim member states. we are supporting and encouraging a slightly more structured approach to this. see how we get on. i am cautiously optimistic we can reach that goal by the end of this year of somalia's having toided the new federal map. the international engagement , i think there is progress worth remarking.

johnnie alluded in his opening comments that somalia is a unique land of internationalism. it has been quite experimental in many ways. we have the african union doing the fighting. we have the united nations giving the report and the mandate from the security council. it is quite an innovative model. but it's working. it's delivering the results that were hoped for and expected. on that side. there is a second unique bit which has come into play last , which isin brussels

they are embracing fully comprehensive new deals based on principles of partnerships state and theile donor community. again, progress is being made. the architecture is there. the funding mechanisms are being established. the multi-partner trust funds. they have at least 200 million identified. flagship start sending projects the government has identified, and at last i hope people will start to see where , but there has been

frustration setting up the architecture and work lands for the new deal. that i hope is about to change over the next few months. more progress, economic and financial governments. with weak institutions, prevalent corruption over the economy decades, and an that is vibrant but unregulated. there is now a finance minister in washington for the meeting a couple weeks ago.

he comes with the experience of running save the children east africa. he has very good work plan for , which willtaxation make him the popular man in mogadishu but also in washington. and is working closely with the development bank. -- bank. it's a new mechanism that came ,bout after the crisis caused but it is showing encouraging a valuable wealth for creating the environment we need. beginning itn the

rapidly goes to buy notes on those. i think, and i was saying before, pitting one of the biggest perils and one of the messages i have been given in ofhington to -- i think one the biggest perils and one of the messages i have been given in washington is the peril of the international community taking a dive on somalia. crisesre many competing and areas for attention, whether the central african republic, south sudan, syria, ukraine, clearly somalia is not that level. if the international

interest visibly drops, not only will resource mobilization drop and it does need resourcing, but also it will give space and latitude to somali politicians perhaps to revert to some of their less attractive and productive ways of behaving. i think it requires senior international attention and high-level donations. there will be one in november. messagingontinuing from international political leaders, not just encouraging the government, not just but at timesmalis giving pointed messages to those

who might seek to spoil the progress being made. it is destabilizing the government. peril, the humanitarian one. and over two years ago, two a half years ago, somalia was in the headlines because there was a dreadful famine. nearly 500,000 people died. we are not in that position now. it has recovered. however, it's showing worrying signs, indicators of potential food insecurity. some of it related to the offensive that happened, displacement of people. we don't know the impact that will have on planting or harvesting. that is an element always, and

the result of al-shabaab blockading food supplies to downs. all of that, there is a that couldscenario lead to severe food problems. all of that against the background of the first peril of international attention, and most demonstrably, in terms of funding for the humanitarian activities. the consolidated appeal for humanitarian this year is $933 million. as of yesterday only $111 million was found, so that was well percent funding. wsp and others are laying off staff because they don't have the funding. all of that in the context where

but may be faced with a severe food insecurity issue, so i am concerned the a perilousn risk is one. we forget sometimes the scale of humanitarian needs in somalia linked to poverty, the conflict, any one day, there are at least 50,000 children who are severely undernourished and at risk of death. it's about one of the worst countries in the world to be a child. your life expectancy is very low. currently the unit is feeding just over one million people every day in somalia. is feeding one million people every day in somalia. these figures would cause shock horror were they and other countries.

in the caves of somalia people become immune to this. -- in the case of somalia people become immune to this. the first peril is not thinking ahead. it is linked to what i just said. we get a little trapped in the ame old same old. this is a persistent country with problems with government. sometimes you can't spot the opportunities when they happen, and you are not ready to exploit them. are potentially in that situation with transformation of government extension of made in 25 new

districts. not necessarily in as good a shape as we should be in order to exploit those opportunities of the liberated -- delivering stabilization affects. simple things like enabling the government to be able to visit -- they can't go to these places unless they have air transport, mostly helicopters, and they say, we don't have enough of those or they are in short supply. more funding for the federal and toent to be mobile get around this country is definitely needed. the final peril i think for me and i think more widely is for the international community getting the security alance wrong, making miscalculation on security.

what do i mean by that? that if we conscious in our security and sufferd posture a significant attack, this is likely to lead to us withdrawing from somalia. we are only tentatively on the and exposedgadishu june 19. we had compound attacks. .e lost some colleagues some of the programs since june have been based in nairobi and not on the ground in mogadishu. are about to reverse that and reintroduce the programs on the ground, but i am deeply conscious that is one of the

wrist, and there are scenarios in which if we take further that would losses, have further strategic effect on our mission. we lost colleagues two weeks ago. another harsh reminder this is a fairly lawless place in which we operate, and are you in are going through wery day some personal risk. have to encourage other member states to be present in mogadishu more and more. i encourage the u.s. to be present but at the same time leaving its right we should be there, that we should stay, that

we should accept the risks. i am conscious that there are risks and if we get hit very adly it might have an impact. those are some perils but keep me going. we keep to the plan. we have very good mandates. we should continue to support that. compact, new deal wech is a good framework. should stick with that and make that work and make sure we deliver in the next few months. and we have a good robust security operation presence, and we need to fund that and keep that sustained as well.

potentially we do plan a. [applause] >> thank you very much for giving us a very broad and comprehensive up eight on developments in somalia. developments in somalia. i know we have a large audience today and there will be lots of questions. i'd like to start off the discussion by asking several of and the first one pertains to neighbors. us some indication of the ongoing political and security relationships that

exist between mogadishu and djibouti, anda, sure.e those>> the regional relationship is absolutely vital. the neighbors are quite important. they have the capacity for good or ill. currently, i think the relationships are strong. noteworthy in the last two months is a strengthening relationship with ethiopia. enabled thed to -- incorporation of egypt. given theially,

history of ethiopian engagement in somalia, which has not always been happy or well received by somalis, there has been a strategic change in approach both from ethiopia and the government in somalia to each other. that is positive. they are committed to working .or achieving stability somali led government. it in itsees strategic interest to have a strong, stable somalia. i think that is encouraging. things unique about the -- in defiance of often normal practice, it is normal for normal -- neighboring countries to take part in peacekeeping

countries, it is entirely constituted by neighboring countries. ethiopia, did you booty -- d jibouti. envoy who isecial now being very active on the political file supporting the prime minister and trying to take forward the limitation of the agreements. it is welcome is taking a leading supporting role for the federal government. we know kenya is an important partner. the headline is dominated by the

detention and return of somalis from nairobi. the hr point of we have expressed our concerns about those to tensions and the need for compliance with international law and practice. refugees should certainly not be deported. in kenya should have the right to be refugees in kenya. >> can i ask you about another neighbor? regional government. there is a new president there. who had formally been a prime minister in the previous transitional federal government.

the former president has stepped aside. what is the relationship between --alia >> great, johnny. lexicon, it is not a neighbor. it is a part of somalia and in the process of agreeing and coming to a settlement on the nature of the federal relationship. it is encouraging at the moment, with the president's background as a natural and federal thetician, possibly even

vision of returning to a national federal role -- what that means is he is very the puntd in getting land mogadishu relationship back on track. the prime minister is intending to visit soon. possibly the speaker of parliament. really getting down to the about how they can relate to each other. it is a conversation that the whole of somalia needs to have. what is the share of resources between the center and the federal member states? is the most advanced in terms of being a member state. it is likely to lead the way on

the conversation. >> before we open this up, let me ask you a larger question. appeal ine continuing somalia for al-shabaab? who joins al-shabaab these days? why are they able still to continue bring in recruits? question. probably we still don't collectively understand it as well as we should. -- united states has nations has no intelligence capability. no ability to look behind the scenes and understand these

things as some member states can. is they havense relied on a converse -- combination of some coercion, some intimidation. also some amount of economic opportunity that they offer to people without any other economic opportunity. mixed into that, some local alongcs where potentially clan lines or others, there is interest in supporting them. there is no-- evidence the numbers are growing. one would intuit they are reducing, particularly under the pressure they are under. the feature i have seen is 5000. number of people.

but i think that is probably a guesstimate many of those will be foot soldiers who are eminently persuadable when the time comes to rehabilitate. emphasis to putting establish rehabilitation centers. there is one in mogadishu. -- -- onee kiss my in kismaya. they go through the judicial system. judicial system. concern ares trained in the vocational skill.

convinced that eventually there will be a .olitical discussion some of the hardest of the heart may never be open to that kind of discussion. insurance -- i am sure some others will be. i'm not sure the time is right at the moment. i'm sure the assembled knowledge in the room will attest to the fact that most conflicts and in some kind of political settlement. >> if you don't mind, we will open up to the audience. one question on the left-hand side. i am dave buffalo, a military advisor. for rule of law, one of shabbat carrier trolls -- when

al-shabaab controls territory, ofimposes its radical form islam at the end of a kalashnikov. in order for somalia to establish rule of law, it courts, --lease, police and courts. the somali federal government, do not help establish that rule of law in these liberated areas, we will lose the people by replacing al-shabaab control with chaos. what are we doing to help focus on the rule of law and what could or should we be doing? >> thank you. brooks went to take a couple question mark -- o take a couple?

>> thank you, ambassador. digital outreach of the was department of state. somalia and can -- counterterrorism. you mentioned about realism. it is veryt, difficult to see the vision toward national elections. what is your assessment and strategic movement if that is not the case? a lot of somalis are talking about the notion of somalia -- that is what we see on social media. my second question is with regard to somali american

gentleman, who is in britain in belgium. -- and a bill jim. i know his family. he has five children and a wife. he is in prison. i don't understand what is going on. he is not charged. have any consideration talking to the built-in elgianities -- b authorities? >> thank you, we will take those questions. >> what to be done about rule of law. has moreer al-shabaab accessible justice. yeah. challengee immediate

is in the newly recovered areas, where it is obviously important that there should be some reasonable administration and rule of law in the aftermath of al-shabaab leaving. thedestabilization? -- stabilization plan is one that traditional justice systems and looking for traditional leaders in those areas to dispense justice rather systemve a five-star imported from mogadishu, which is not politically accessible or practical in any way. build at theg to picture of what is happening on the ground. report suggests

using a combination of traditional elders and and the somali national army, at least in the .ftermath there is a need for the training of police in these places. the idea is to train police ratherted than sending them from mogadishu. that is the immediate force -- problem. that isa lot of work .eeded there

they are providing assistance, to the facilities and ministries. this is going to take quite a wild. fundamentale legislation that needs to be put in place. parliament has a list of about for one person or each of those is a priority. they need to get through them. this is a parliament that has only gotten through four laws in the last 18 months. again, very ambitious. but prioritization will be necessary.

the trusteeship, i have not heard anything about the trusteeship. but i probably don't follow the same social media as you do. a is to support elections. thatat, it acknowledges elections may not be possible in all the territories. bere will need to alternative arrangements. at this stage, 2.5 years after that, it is impossible to predict how much of the territory will or will not be under government control. if you extrapolate from the last steps are dramatic

being made but we don't know. the planning is to plan on elections everywhere but be realistic and know there are some areas where and not be possible. and some alternative mechanism might be need it -- needed. if a country was going to be doing any one of the three things that smalley has decided to do, any one of those things would be a major challenge. holding elections in a country that has not had elections since the late 1960's is a challenge. and if you unpack what holding there aremeans important issues to do with political parties. there has to be a law establishing political parties. a highly fraught issue.

what is the role of religion? in any way? allowed regional, national, political dynamics. a lot to sort out. overall i still think somalia -- it sound like a huge generalization and potentially condescending -- my general sense is somalia is well acted to this kind of thing after 23-24 years of fighting. politically, people have turned the page and do not want to fight. particularly the younger generation. discussion, they love language and words and argument. i think are well-suited to a

resolution of problems by political processes. they have many traditional approaches to reconciliation and which haveolution, worked throughout the years in one way or the other. sitting under a tree in solving the problem is something that many somalis will say, leave us to do that and we will do it. hugely culturally condescending of me, but i do think there is groundsg there which is for optimism and encouragement. well.e last-minute as somalia, in many countries, it

is particularly good at getting up to the wire and then pulling off what seems to be pulling -- seems to be impossible. i think there is a chance to do that. we will go back and forth. jim, you had your hand up. >> i am formally dod and co-conspirator with ambassador carson. question about the somali diaspora. in various times in the past two decades, it has either been a positive influence or a complicating factor. engaginga strategy for the diaspora, whether in the gulf or europe or north america. what might the components of such a strategy be? >> we will take what -- the

gentleman in the blue shirt. >> doug brooke, consultant. my question is on security factor reform -- sector reform. are the troops and police being properly paid and so on? >> we will take those two. and i also remember the question as well. i'm afraid i do not know what the former president of the region is doing. i will ask my colleagues. but it does not sound like a human issue. but i will inform myself about it. is very, yes -- strategy? -- is there a strategy? >yes, i think it is distinct and

important. about a third of the population is outside of somalia. 3 million or so. very concentrated in specific areas. in terms of engaging them, i don't love that i have a strategy. minnesota meetings in and london and nairobi. i would be -- abu dhabi. i think it is important to talk to them and here. -- hear. ofspora is always a question dichotomy. there are two schools of thought, two visions. forces fore either

change in good, they have modern approaches and modern exposure to institutions and ways of doing things. a great asset and resorts for their country -- a resource for their countries. that is the good. certainly plenty of evidence of that, with the young diaspora returning to the issue and -- returning to mogadishu. is the otherese -- version. they become a little bit stuck in time. a little bit more extreme and fixed in their views than the communities back in the home country. the clan feuding and divisions

sometimes seem to exist deeper in the diaspora and they fund of that back and -- and inflame it back in somalia. in ways which are unhelpful. more exaggerated than the committees -- communities on the ground. there is misinformation, rumors, stories that are changed and exaggerated any telling -- any telling between in the incident that happens. re-told in it is minneapolis, is a very different story. i think they can -- it is a mixed thing. elections, will the ds per have a vote --

diaspora have a vote? there has to be a citizenship law. in election law. sure.t it is not my decision. but it will be interesting to see how that plays out. theecurity sector reform -- answer is, lots of people are doing that. this is not a country like afghanistan or sierra leone where there has been a single framework nation or organization. you can say, they are doing the army. they are doing the police. in somalia, it is blessed with a number of partners doing little bits. which puts a great onus on the need for coordination, federal government led coalition --

coronation -- federal government led coordination. secretary and a lot of working groups and committees that are tasked -- training working groups, logistics working group. any police. -- and the police. necessaryoordination when there are so many actors doing little bits. it is a concern to me because i don't think, when you add up all yet little bits, they add up to a sufficient w hole. this is an under resourced area. it will be a costly process.

i don't think internationally we have gathered sufficient resources to do that. for a stockimely taking of the plan and the strategy. good strategies and plans from the london conference last may. how far have we got? what more is needed? that probably needs to be done by a smaller group of countries. those who were most directly involved. those who are involved on the military side. states. the european union. the u.k. to some extent. turkey. the uae i have probably forgotten some others. bit. will also play a

at least half a dozen. these are not comfortable bedfellows, or traditional bedfellows. the uae is more accustomed to doing things slightly on its own. some of the others, including the u.s., are very focused on what they are doing. eu,rs, perhaps the you -- it requires a bit of coronation which is happening. paying a better story -- is a better story. the army has been paid by turkey nine months. i direct support

to fund the army salaries. most of which are being received. there is sometimes a daily -- delay. most of the gets through. that is important. biometricof doing registration and payment system, but that has not been put in place yet. lot onas done quite a the stipend for the army. police, too. being recruited. recruits helping to 2400 police this year. with a biometric payment system in place. payments in general, again, progress is happening. civil servants are now being paid through special financing financed by nor a --

norway. they are identified, registered, and paid against a biometric system. program, thegship world bank is establishing. it will be for teachers. the will be reinforcing program called go to school, which is aiming at enrolling one million children in school. 250,000tarted with since it began in september. as well as recruiting teachers and the opening of new school buildings for the first time across somalia. first time since 1991. the schools are in south-central as well as puntland.

we should always remember that challenges,those corruption, etc., despite all that, progress is being made and can be made. things, the solutions. biometric payment systems. these were introduced in afghanistan, and other countries. we have been through that chain of payments. the international community collectively has got a lot of experience, positive and successful experience, helping states recover from conflict and fragility. we need not to be too downcast. we know how to do this. we have seen it done before. it can be done. >> we are going to take a couple

more questions from both sides. you had a question? the gentleman in the brown jacket. >> i am helen from the wilson llan from the wilson center. can you talk about the prospects for some only land -- somaliland? >> lawrence freeman. africa desk. the new deal in the u.s. was from roosevelt and was very heavily oriented toward infrastructure, economic development, energy, and putting people to work. can you say something about how this is -- you mentioned finance and world bank, are there projects to build roads question market grow food. this of those -- is of primary

importance. people lose faith. they were not given jobs. as a result, the fault line develop ethnically. it was a lack of dividend and desperation on the people. maybe you could say something about that. in terms of real economic development. >> they keep. -- thank you. we will come back to you. >> somaliland. good question. is in and, as we know, unique position. it is deeply entrenched in its own view and claim of independence. it is also singularly not recognized as an independent state.

so the international legal position is extremely clear. every security council resolution reading forms -- -affirms the integrity and sovereignty of somalia. but there is a government deeply entrenched in its personal sense of independence. my general sense is that situation is likely to prevail for quite some time. as mogadishu, somalia, south-central address the issues of drawing up the new federal constitution, having eventually

elections in 2016, all of that somaliland with outside of that. i suspect that that will prevail. that said, there are talks brokered by turkey going on. they are being institutionalized. those talks are looking at areas of mutual interest. more at the technical level. they may progress to political level discs cousins -- discussions as well. it is good the turkish government is putting the time and effort into supporting that. for amisom, i have been to somaliland once.

shortly after i began the mission back in june or july, a very good visit. what -- well-received and looked after. impressive developments they are making. then i went for a last meeting of the program with the president. he was very polite and charming. he told me not to come again. [laughter] said, you are the head of the united nations assistance mission in somalia. i think you will find, you have the wrong country. your mandate from the security council to promote federalism, constitution, elections -- hollywood -- how dare you do that here.

i can entirely understand from their side of the telescope why they said that. why they felt that. i think it is slightly regrettable, because it means does many other things. we are supporting security sector reform. a justice. doing a large amount of human rights through building. -- human rights rebuilding. all these things would be of interest to some all land -- somaliland. my hope is -- we did not fall out. i respect their view on this. there will come a time when we will sit down and talk it through again. i am always open to that conversation.

>> i totally agree. i think it is a huge missing link and component. whatu ask the president, does he want? come in can't somebody and do 30 kilometers of the road? that would make a difference. conversations would help. he is very keen on infrastructure projects. is leaders,o far the ifi's who would traditionally do this kind of are not yet engaged and looking at that kind of project. but i'm hoping they well as they become more comfortable with the conditions in somalia.

which brings us back to security again. the world bank has been intrepid. financialrnational institution, they are being very intrepid. they are taking office space in mogadishu. are prepared to engage and work on the ground. fi's are so other i intrepid yet. it is linked to security. financial governance and the need to change a little bit the dial and dial-up major infrastructure and economic generating projects.

>> we will take two questions. here in the front, and in the gentleman in the blue jacket. augment -- akmed. i lived most of my adult life in the u.s.. thank you, ambassador, for your work. i met you briefly and september september in mogadishu. i am still hopeful. i am hopeful that you will do some elections if questions -- my elections. is there a is, program or effort to bring about

peace among the tribal groups? we know that many countries, like in south africa, there was a model that they used to bring folks and he'll. -- heal. we need to heal. what is the u.n., the international community doing? can you touch upon that? thank you very i am mark with refugees international. within theion on -- broader humanitarian context, the challenges there. it huge number of displaced people are living in mogadishu. evicted as land prices have increased. when i was there in september, they were working closely to prevent evictions.

they were short-term and forcible. i want to know if there has been an update on that in terms of finding anything. thank you. >> thank you very much. thereand reconciliation, is interest in it from the federal government as well. the parliament, too. they are looking into a truth and reconciliation commission and draft law. what i'm not 100% sure about is is universal within somalia the appetite for all of this. it is a delicate area. moment, the reconciliation that is happening is happening more or less as a part of the federal zone process.

disputes and differences need to clanconciled within the and local contexts. going towards forming regional -- interim regional administrations. what the00% sure appetite more generally is for holding people for account to -- for some of the terrible things that have happened. it is very difficult to say. i would say my impression is the general consensus is we shouldn't be holding people to account. we should turn the page. some of the dreadful things that happened are so dreadful the --

of following that avenue holding people to justice for what has happened would be de-stabilizing. i think that is a view that is not universal. people who have been detained. -- divisiveive figure. his clan thinks he should be released and given a government pension. only some of the clan think that. responsiblehe is for the deaths of many innocent people. words, putin their up against the wall and shot. inevitably, there is quite a range of deep feelings and

emotions on this issue. -- it isat the moment the national vision 2016 strategy. space,ning of clinical political parties. process ofen as a real reconciliation. we will see. links to land as well. some of it is fundamental disputes -- not about land. sensitive issues like the river valley. it is not surprising in a country that is relatively dry, there's a lot of disputes over those bits of land that are relatively wet. over the last 24 years, people have moved.

land has been occupied. >> procreative in some cases. appropriated in some cases. it --at is sort of but sorted out is an open question. there is work being done on it, including the fao. more that is is .oing to be need to done things to the problem, -- unfortunately, there was a confrontation between people, authorities, disputing ownership over land. some of which was occupied by idp's. some of them were cut in the shooting.

the local authorities were armed and uniformed people. they prosecuted their claim for that bit of land. it was a nasty incident. what was not was the somali national army somehow turning on idp's. it was all about a dispute over land. i have no doubt that the difficulty of their operating, particularly since the difficulty of the attack since has-- on their compound, made it hard for them to work. with central government authorities and the mayor of in terms of making and implementing a plan for the proper treatment of idp's.

movedof idp's have been in mogadishu by the local authorities. strategynce with the and plan that the unhcr had worked up with the local authorities. they were able to do that because they were not so present on the prowl and -- ground. is our last question and response. the ambassador has given us a broad and comprehensive overview of both the progress and the perils that he sees with respect to developments in some only a. -- in somalia. measure the progress.

i think you have outlined some of the clear things that have been done. flags forg difficulties ahead are also quite clear. nick, i want to personally thank you for being with us this morning. --h us here at the u of united states institute of peace. we are committed to trying to prevent and mitigate and resolve difficult conflicts like the one that has existed so long in somalia. we appreciate enormously your work and service in helping to move that situation into a more stable and secure one. i would like everyone to join me in thanking the ambassador for

his presentation. nicholas kay, they give very much. -- thank you very much. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> here is a look at our primetime schedule. starting at 8:00 p.m., the veil mposiumng them -- vail sy holds a debate on the safety of genetically modified food. the tv on authors exploring america. and on c-span three, american history tv with a look at the confederacy during the civil war. for more than one year, there have been allegations and insinuations that i knew about the planning of watergate. involved inng -- extensive plot to cover it up.

the house judiciary committee the -- is now investigating these charges. allarch 6, i ordered materials turned over to the committee. these included tape recordings of 19 presidential conversations. documents from private white house files. on april 11, the judiciary committee issued a subpoena for 42 additional tapes which it said were necessary. i agreed to respond to that subpoena. >> 40 years ago, president nixon responded to a house judiciary committee subpoena. response, plus response from former washington post journalist carl bernstein. part of american history tv on c-span three.

over 35 years, c-span brings a but affairs offense from washington directly to you. putting you in the room at congressional hearings, white house events, briefings, and conferences. and offering a fleet gavel-to-gavel coverage of the house. .e are c-span created by the cable tv industry 35 years ago. and brought to you as a public service. like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. strauss, the last u.s. ambassador to the soviet union, died at the age of 95. this is almost 10 minutes. >> we meet here this morning in

god's house to remember robert strauss. you know, ladies and gentlemen, some inter-politics to accumulate power. others because politics provides them with the opportunity to implement policy. others are drawn to that bloodsport just for the pleasure of living in a world of adrenaline fed intrigue. and then there was bob strauyss. raised in west texas, the son of depression era general store owners got into politics for all of that. the power, the policy, and the pressure -- pleasure. and for many other reasons as well.

theearned his craft in brass knuckles world of texas politics. he became the very shrewdest of political operators. a powerbroker with few peers. an joint diplomat who -- adroit diplomat who could be trusted during critical point in america's history. remains aauss is and symbol for the brand of thattisan bridge building our country desperately needs today. especially so in the city. bob was as smooth as silk. developing close ties with every american president from lyndon johnson to barack obama. this democrat was so good at nurturing relationships that he became a confident to nancy

reagan. it,as president carter put after losing to her husband, robert strauss is a very loyal friend. he waited a whole week before he had dinner with ronald reagan. [laughter] democratic party after his landslide -- it's landslide loss in 1972 by carrying carter's residential campaign four years later. then he served as america's troubleshooter in the medial -- middle east after the camp david accord. he became the last ambassador to the soviet union during the final throes of the cold war. then he was our first ambassador to the russian federation.

last two assignments were partly the result of a typical strauss wisecrack, which he made to george h w bush. the two of them were adversaries, but they were also really good friends. strauss told president bush he had voted against him in 1988, and he would do so again. not easily offended, president bush felt it was important to demonstrate to soviet officials that work opposition should no longer be considered treasonous in their country. it should be viewed instead as loyal opposition. to use a british phrase. that was bob, our loyal opposition. he could make you laugh with his sharp wit. he could also make you cringe at his acerbic tone. often times at the same time.

he was particularly irreverent during gridiron club dinner's. for instance, about president carter, he said, he prayed a lot to read but in fairness, you would too if billy was your brother. [laughter] about the second president bush, he said george w thought that fettuccine alfredo was the president of italy. [laughter] about me, he said jim baker doesn't understand a lot about the jewish heritage. he thinks that a matt sobol -- event ball is a social yamakahllama, -- an d a is a --

had anyone of us earthly idea what an eastern style sauna was. and 20uite a few vodkas minutes in the heat, the president picked up a bundle of eucalyptus branches and begin thrashing me. he said he did that to open up the pores. strausstnessing this, bolted from the scene. once outside, he told our security detail, give the president on the phone. his secretary of state is buck naked and being beaten by the president of kazakhstan. above all, bob was a pragmatic centrist. he was a one-of-a-kind wisemen.

civility, bob once said, does not have to be something that only old men recollect. whether you are in politics or in the press, it should be the standard of behavior. so, ladies and gentlemen, i can imagine the scene when bob met our creator who greeted him with a simple question. is a question that each of us should ask ourselves from time to time. would you have done anything differently while you are on earth? responded exactly as he did in 1993 when a reporter asked him the same question. i don't have any regrets about anything in my life, he explained. deal.d the whole dam

we, we not only like to you, loved you. the whole damn deal. we really miss you. we will see one the other side. -- >> tonight on c-span, the debate of genetically modified food. policy on net neutrality as reporting on the wall street journal. rulesc will propose new allowing internet service providers to offer faster service to content companies such as netflix and skype if they are willing to pay a fee. the fcc's previous net neutrality rules were overturned by a court earlier this year.