STATUS OF WOMEN

As US President Barack Obama nominates the first female to head the male-dominated Secret Service, and in honor of women’s history month, Shari Bryan, Vice President at the National Democratic Institute and Judith Warner, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, discuss the progress and setbacks (sexual attacks and gang rape) affecting the status of women in the United States and the developing world.

ANALYSIS OF OBAMA'S TRIP TO MIDEAST

Natan Sachs, a fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution and Ghaith al-Omari, Executive Director at the America Task Force on Palestine assess the politics and substance of President Obama’s recent trip to Israel, the West Bank and Jordan with host Carol Castiel, including prospects for reviving peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians and points of convergence and divergence between Tel Aviv and Washington on the Syrian conflict and Iran’s nuclear program.

CYBER SECURITY AND CHINA'S HACKING

Jason Healey, Director of the Cyber Statecraft Initiative at the Atlantic Council and Jessica Herrera-Flanigan, Partner at the Monument Policy Group, discuss cyber security in the wake of the growing cyber hacking threat, mostly from China, with host Carol Castiel. Healey and Herrera-Flanigan discuss the significance in the Obama Administration’s policy shift toward more direct and public criticism of China as well as other measures being considered to combat cyber espionage and potential attacks on US vital infrastructure.

VENEZUELA AFTER CHAVEZ

Eric Farnsworth, Vice President of the Council of the Americas and the Americas Society and Ray Walser, Senior Policy Analyst specializing in Latin America at The Heritage Foundation, discuss the legacy of Hugo Chavez with host Carol Castiel and what his death means for the future of Venezuela and US – Venezuela relations.

KENYA ELECTIONS

Richard Downie, Deputy Director and fellow with the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Bronwyn Bruton, Deputy Director of the Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center, preview the issues and continuing tribal tensions in the upcoming Kenyan elections with host Carol Castiel. They discuss implications for U.S. policy in Kenya and the region in the first election since the 2007 vote devolved into ethnic violence.

PREVIEW IRAN NUCLEAR TALKS IN KAZAKHSTAN

Alex Vatanka, non-resident Scholar at the Middle East Institute, and Emanuele Ottolenghi, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, preview next week’s crucial talks with world powers in Almaty, Kazakhstan over the Islamic Republic’s controversial nuclear program as well as discuss the political stakes and implications of Iran’s upcoming presidential election (June) with host Carol Castiel.

DRONES DEBATE

The use of drones and targeted killing, key elements of the Obama Administration’s counter-terrorism strategy, have come under growing public scrutiny and criticism due to the program’s increasing lack of transparency and oversight. On this edition of Encounter, Danya Greenfield, Deputy Director of the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, and Thomas Lynch, Distinguished Research Fellow for South Asia and the Near East at the National Defense University, spar over the scope and the future of the drone program as the United States seeks to balance both national security concerns and civil liberty values.