Large scale use of wind power can alter local and global climate by extracting kinetic energy and by modifying turbulent transport in the atmospheric boundary layer. We explored the climatic impacts of extracting 3-20 TW of electricity with a suite of numerical experiments using two independent atmospheric GCMs and to parameterizations of the wind-turbine arrays. Wind power has a negligible effect on global-mean surface temperature, but at continental scales, the average magnitude of climatic change due to wind power can be significant in comparison to the reduction in climatic change achieved by the substitution of wind or fossil-fuels.

Octobers and democracy in Thailand are inextricably entwined. On 14 October 1973, thirty years to the day before Dr. Pitsuwan will speak at Stanford, Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn, Thailand's strongman prime minister, was driven into exile. Parliamentary democracy flourished for three years until it was violently shut down in October 1976 following Thanom's return. On 12 October 2002 in Bali, extremist Muslims took more than 200 lives and made terrorism an urgent priority for Thailand and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Relevant events in Southeast Asia in October 2003 include three summits--of ASEAN (Bali, 7-8 Oct.), of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (Kuala Lumpur, 16-18 Oct.), and of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (Bangkok, 20-21 Oct.), the latter to include U.S. President George W. Bush. Dr. Pitsuwan will this unusual conjunction of anniversaries and summits to explore some of the ways in which democracy, terrorism, regionalism, and Islamism in Southeast Asia overlap and intersect. About the speaker Surin Pitsuwan served as Thailand's foreign minister from 1997 to 2001. He was the first Muslim to hold that post. He has been a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Thailand's House of Representatives since 1986. He has also been a columnist for Thai newspapers and a political science lecturer in Thammasat University. In 1983-84 he was a legislative assistant to U.S. Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro. He earned a PhD from Harvard University in 1982 after graduating cum laude from the Claremont Men's College in Claremont, California.

Recently released Israel state archives indicate that during its formative years the Israeli government actively sought to expand its relations with Asian states based on the belief that ties with countries in Asia would break the political siege erected around it by the Arabs. At that time, the Israeli foreign ministry was of the opinion that good relations with Asia would disprove the Arab claim that Israel was imperialistic, foil the Arab design to cut Israel off from the east completely, and persuade the Arabs that it was time to make peace and come to terms with Israel's existence. After having failed to make inroads into what Israeli decision-makers considered to be key Asian countries at that time (India and the PRC), Israel turned to a newly independent Japan. This talk will highlight Japan's response to Israel's initial advances between 1952-1956, before Japan became dependent on Arab oil, by drawing upon primary sources in Japan and Israel.

On 19 January 2001, General Angelo Reyes, then chief of staff of the armed forces, led a transfer of military support from democratically elected but disgraced President Joseph Estrada to his vice-president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. A day later, Arroyo became president. At the time, the general defended his action as "promot[ing] the public good under extreme circumstances." Soon thereafter, President Arroyo named him her secretary of defense. In July 2003, nearly 300 heavily armed junior military officers seized the center of Manila?s business district, rigged explosives around the buildings, and demanded President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?s resignation. They accused Reyes of corruption and urged him to resign as well. Reyes denied the charge as baseless. Saying he wanted to spare his family and the armed forces further abuse, he resigned in August. In October, President Arroyo appointed him Ambassador-at-Large for Counter-Terrorism. What if any conditions justify military intervention in the name of the public interest? In this lecture, Reyes will argue that in certain extreme circumstances, civilian democracy can be served by military intervention. He will also warn, however, that such intervention can undermine democracy in the long run. Angelo Reyes' military career lasted thirty-five years. He commanded at all levels of the Philippine armed forces. His field experience included counter-insurgent operations in Mindanao and Luzon. He holds advanced degrees from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Asian Institute of Management in Manila. On Wednesday, October 1, 2003 he was appointed Ambassador-at-Large for Counter-terrorism by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

This event is part of the Japan Brown Bag series, co-sponsored by Shorenstein APARC and CEAS. Please feel free to bring your lunch.