The debate over national energy policy is bound to heat up as the presidential and congressional elections grow closer, both on the campaign trail and in the halls of Congress. This panel will explore just how much can realistically be expected out of Congress this year in altering the country’s energy course and what new challenges and opportunities we might confront in the expanding global market for energy resources.

Ambassador Carlos Pascual offered a keynote address that placed the regional development of renewable energies in the context of U.S. global energy policy. The Mexico Institute’s Senior Advisor for its Renewable Energy Initiative, Duncan Wood, then launched a series of new reports entitled, "RE-Energizing the Border: Renewable Energy, Green Jobs and Border Infrastructure."

Water wars are unlikely within the next 10 years, but other water challenges will increase the risks of instability, exacerbate regional tensions, and distract countries from working with the U.S. on important policy objectives, according to a U.S. intelligence community assessment.

Turkish foreign policy is coming under increasing scrutiny since the election of the ruling Justice and Development Party in 2002. Critiques state that Turkish foreign policy is becoming 'neo-Ottoman' or 'Islamist', arguing that Turkey is moving closer to the Middle East than Europe. The underlying hypothesis of Hamid Akin Unver's lecture however, argues that Turkey's foreign policy is not becoming more Islamist; it is becoming more British, following a pattern of external affairs in which identity is becoming increasingly more pronounced. By focusing on three case studies: Turkey’s self-appointed role as an energy hub between Europe and Russia, its role in NATO and its recent installation of the missile defense shield, and finally, its changing stance against Iran and Syria following the Arab Spring, the lecture will discuss how identity (as it relates to the narratives of history and culture) shape Turkey’s foreign policy understanding and patterns of cooperation and conflict.