This week in DC.

Well I'm not in DC right now, but I thought I would try to keep up with my DC events board as best as I can for those of you lucky enough to reside in the nation's capital.

Wednesday, January 30

Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Afghanistan Update
Full committee closed hearing on "An Afghanistan Update."
Witnesses: Members of the intelligence community testify
Location: S-407, U.S. Capitol. 3:30 p.m.

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP)
Discussion on "Intelligence and the Prevention of Conflict: The National Intelligence Estimate Process and Iran's Nuclear Ambitions." [Note: RSVP required.]
Participants: William Burr, senior analyst at the National Security Archive of George Washington University; Avner Cohen, senior fellow at the Jennings Randolph Fellowship Program of USIP; former United Nations Chief Weapons Inspector David Kay, senior fellow of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies; Jeffrey Lewis, deputy director of the Nuclear Strategy and Nonproliferation Initiative at the New America Foundation; George Perkovich, vice president of studies for global security and economic development of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Paul Pillar, associate professor of Georgetown University and former national intelligence officer for the Near East and South Asia at the CIA; Leonard Spector, director of the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at Monterey Institute of International Studies; and Steven Heydemann, vice president of the Grants and Fellowships Program and special adviser of the Muslim World Initiative of USIP
Location: USIP, 1200 17th St., NW, 2nd Floor Conference Room, Washington, D.C.. 10 a.m.

The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS)
Book discussion on "The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis" with author Reese Erlich.
Location: IPS, 1112 16th St., NW, Suite 600, Washington, D.C.. 12 noon

The Afghanistan Study Group
News briefing to introduce three major reports on Afghanistan.
Participants: Senate Small Business Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass.; Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn.; Gen. James Jones, co-chair of the Afghanistan Study Group and chairman of the Atlantic Council of the U.S.; former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Thomas Pickering, co-chairman of the Afghanistan Study Group; Harlan Ullman, author of the National Defense University report; David Abshire, president and CEO of the Center for the Study of the Presidency; Fred Kempe, president and CEO of the Atlantic Council
Location: 419 Dirksen Senate Office Building. 2 p.m.

The New America Foundation (NAF)
Discussion on "The Threat of Nuclear Terrorism: Overblown or Understated?" [Note: RSVP to communications@newamerica.net with your name, affiliation and contact information.]
Participants: Michael Levi, fellow in science and technology at the Council on Foreign Relations and director of the Program on Energy Security and Climate Change at the Council on Foreign Relations; Priscilla Lewis, director of the U.S. World Initiative at NAF; and Jeffrey Lewis, director of the Nuclear Strategy and Nonproliferation Initiative at NAF
Location: NAF, 1630 Connecticut Ave., NW, Seventh Floor, Washington, D.C.. 2:30 p.m.

The University of Maryland (UMD)
Book discussion on "The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis."
Participants: Reese Erlich, author of "The Iran Agenda"; and Hannes Artens, author of "The Writing on the Wall"
Location: The University of Maryland, Tydings Hall, College Park, Md.. 7 p.m.

Thursday, January 31

Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Afghanistan
Full committee hearing on "Afghanistan: A Plan to Turn the Tide?"
Witnesses: Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher of the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs; retired Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, former commander of the European Command and supreme allied commander Europe; former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Pickering; and former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Richard Holbrooke
Location: 419 Dirksen Senate Office Building. 9:30 a.m.

The Brookings Institution
Discussion on "Back to the Future: U.S.-Turkish Relations After the Bush Presidency." [Note: Register online: http://www.brookings.edu]
Participants: Mark Parris, visiting fellow of foreign policy at the Brookings Institution; Gundez Aktan, member of Turkish Parliament, the National Movement Party; Emre Gonensay, former foreign minister of Turkey; and Suat Kiniklioglu, member of Turkish Parliament, the Justice and Development Party
Location: Brookings Institution, 1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, D.C.. 10:30 a.m.

The Cato Institute
Policy forum on "NATO's (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) New Troubles: Afghanistan, Kosovo and the Future of the Alliance." [Note: Register to, 202-789-5229, events@cato.org, or online: http://www.cato.org]
Participants: Stanley Kober, research fellow in foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute; Susan Eisenhower, chairman emeritus of the Eisenhower Institute; Lawrence Kaplan, director emeritus of the Lemnitzer Center for NATO and European Union studies at Kent State University; and Jeremy Shapiro, fellow and director of research at the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution
Location: Cato Institute, 1000 Massachusetts Ave., NW, F.A. Hayek Auditorium, Washington, D.C.. 11 a.m.

The William Penn House
Book discussion on "The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis," with author Reese Erlich.
Location: William Penn House, 515 East Capitol St., SE, Washington, D.C.. 6:30 p.m.

The World Affairs Council (WAC)
Discussion on "Kosovo: A New East-West Crisis?" [Note: Register online: http://www.worldaffairsdc.org]
Participants: Janusz Bugajski, director of the New European Democracies Project at CSIS; Michael Haltzel, senior fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins University SAIS; Daniel Serwer, vice president at the Center for Post-Conflict Peace and Stability Operations at the United States Institute of Peace; and Dimitri Simes, founding president of the Nixon Center
Location: WAC, 1800 K St., NW, Suite 1014, Washington, D.C.. 6:30 p.m.