<p>As Turkey's "Operation Olive Branch" to secure a buffer zone along its southern border with Syria against the People's Protection Units (YPG) nears its 60-day mark, Turkey and Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces claim to be closing in on the city of Afrin. The operation has increasingly become a political and military concern for the U.S., as U.S.-supported YPG forces have begun to divert their attention from fighting ISIS to fighting against Turkey. &nbsp; Recent high-level visits by U.S. officials to Ankara, including Secretary Tillerson&rsquo;s visit in February, indicate that despite critical statements, these two NATO allies are still interested in finding common ground to avoid permanently damaging the U.S.-Turkey relationship. &nbsp; THO&rsquo;s second teleconference on &ldquo;Operation Olive Branch&rdquo; will bring distinguished experts from Turkey and the U.S. together to provide an update on the ongoing operation&rsquo;s political and military status.</p>

Ambassador (Ret)

Former US Ambassador to Syria (2011-2014) 

Former Spokesperson for the Free Syrian Army

<div>
<p>New America is a think tank and civic enterprise committed to renewing American politics, prosperity, and purpose in the Digital Age. We generate big ideas, bridge the gap between technology and policy, and curate broad public conversation. Structurally, we combine the best of a policy research institute, technology laboratory, public forum, media platform, and a venture capital fund for ideas. We are a distinctive community of thinkers, writers, researchers, technologists, and community activists who believe deeply in the possibility of American renewal.</p>
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<div>
<h2>Our History</h2>

<p>New America was founded in 1999 to nurture a new generation of public intellectuals&mdash;scholars, policy experts, and journalists who could address major social, economic, and political challenges in ways that would engage the public at large&mdash;and to provide a set of blueprints for American renewal in an era of globalization and digitization. The initial challenge, which continues today, was to find the minds and foster the debates needed to guide American renewal in an era of profound, exhilarating, but often threatening change.</p>

<p>Under the leadership of founding president&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newamerica.org/our-people/ted-halstead/">Ted Halstead</a>&nbsp;and his successor&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newamerica.org/our-people/steve-coll/">Steve Coll</a>, New America became a vibrant intellectual community and public policy institute. Its fellows and program staff have incubated and advanced breakthrough ideas in a wide range of domestic and international policy arenas. Today we have a staff of some 150 people, a budget of roughly $25 million, and a wide array of programs and undertakings. Our CEO and president is,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newamerica.org/our-people/anne-marie-slaughter/">Anne-Marie Slaughter</a>, who assumed the role in 2013.</p>
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<div>
<h2>What They Said at the Time</h2>

<p>&ldquo;A new entry in the public policy community, the New America Foundation, [will] provide something different ... It will introduce younger voices, break out of the traditional liberal and conservative categories and produce unconventional ideas.&rdquo;&nbsp;<br />
<strong>&mdash;&nbsp;The New York Times&nbsp;</strong>(May 15, 1999)</p>

<p>&ldquo;The latest think-tank in Washington, DC, the New America Foundation, is devoted to exploring the sort of political topics that will be at the heart of the digital age&hellip;It has scooped up a good proportion of the brightest American thinkers under 40 in its fellowship program.&rdquo;&nbsp;<br />
<strong>&mdash;&nbsp;The Economist</strong>&nbsp;(October 30, 1999)&nbsp;</p>

<p>&ldquo;It&#39;s the think tank for Generation Next: a hot and hip collection of young, media- savvy scholars who are trying to reinvent the way Washington thinks.&rdquo;<br />
<strong>&mdash;&nbsp;The Washington Post</strong>&nbsp;(May 11, 1999)</p>

<p>&quot;Eschewing party lines, the New America Foundation may become the only think tank that matters.&rdquo;&nbsp;<br />
<strong>&mdash;&nbsp;Esquire</strong>&nbsp;(March 1, 2000)</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
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<div>
<h2>Our Work</h2>

<p>As a civic enterprise, we are committed to the solution of public problems. Solutions at scale are likely to require the combined efforts of the public, private, and civic sectors as well as a blend of technology, policy, and politics. New America provides a platform that enables individuals and groups working on these solutions to drive different stages of change, from inspiration to implementation. Our work concentrates in the following categories:</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<p>Identifying and nurturing new and diverse thinkers, researchers, and writers and helping them join the public conversation.</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Developing and implementing ideas and policies to address public problems at the local, state, federal, and international level.</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Bridging the worlds of technology, policy, politics, and academia, both by creating, testing, and piloting new technologies and integrating existing technologies into policy solutions.</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Using media and live events to share ideas and engage audiences in the nation&rsquo;s capital and across the country around shared challenges.</p>
	</li>
</ul>

<h2>&nbsp;</h2>

<h2>Our Aspirations</h2>

<p>New technologies change how we live and work&mdash;disruptions that in turn affect families, schools, social networks, civic organizations, political preferences, and foreign policy. They reshape what we buy and sell and where and how we invest our capital, creating new winners and losers. Over time, however, the nature and impact of these technologies depend on choices made by governments, businesses, civic groups, and communities. American institutions today&mdash;the workplace, the family, the schoolhouse, the doctor&rsquo;s office, the corner store, the bank, the voting booth, the town hall, the military, the embassy&mdash;have only begun to transform and adapt to a digital economy and society. It is up to all of us to make the choices necessary to ensure that transformation upholds America&rsquo;s founding values of liberty, equality, democracy, and justice.</p>

<p>New America&rsquo;s staff, fellows, board, and alumni believe in the possibility of transformative change. For hundreds of years America has repeatedly managed to reinvent its society, economy, and political system in the face of sweeping changes at home and abroad, while still holding to the promise of a society in which every individual has an equal chance to live up to his or her potential. We believe that through the power of people, ideas, technology, and participatory democracy, we can and must renew ourselves again.</p>
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New America

Fellow, International Security Program

Teleconference - Turkey's "Operation Olive Branch": An Update on the Political and Military Situation

<p><strong>WHO WE ARE?</strong></p>

<p>The Turkish Heritage Organization (THO) is a non-profit organization established to promote discussion and dialogue around Turkey’s role in the international community and issues of importance in the U.S.-Turkey bilateral relationship.</p>

<p>Founded by a group of Turkish-Americans with backgrounds in business and community leadership, the THO and its Advisory Board of global scholars strive to foster a deep and comprehensive dialogue to strengthen the relationship between Turkey and the United States, as well as the larger international community.</p>

<p><strong>WHAT WE DO?&nbsp;</strong></p>

<p>From security and energy to humanitarian aid, the economy, education and technology, the Turkish Heritage Organization explores the critical issues in the U.S.-Turkey bilateral relationship. THO seeks to expand channels of communication and bridge the gap between government officials, opinion leaders and subject experts.</p>

<p>THO partners with leading think tanks and universities to host roundtables, panel discussions and other programs that promote and highlight these key issues. Its leadership has been widely quoted in leading global publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, and the Wall Street Journal.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>WHY WEDO IT?&nbsp;</strong></p>

<p>The strong partnership between the United States and Turkey is rooted in common values and strategic interests, and reinforced by the enduring links between the people of both countries. THO is deeply committed to broadening and deepening this partnership on a bilateral, regional and global level through dialogue and engagement that spans an extensive range of government, private and non-profit sectors and topics.</p>


Teleconference - Turkey's "Operation Olive Branch": An Update on the Political and Military Situation

Host

Turkish Heritage Organization

Speakers

Amb (Ret) Robert S Ford

Osama Abu Zaid

Oubai Shahbandar

Conversations Matter