Hussein IbishSenior Resident Scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute(AGSI)After over two years without a president, in January the Lebanese parliament elected former Lebanese Armed Forces Chief of Staff Joseph Aoun the country's head of state. The deadlock, largely caused by Hezbollah's implausible but insistent efforts to install its ally Suleiman Frangieh, was largely broken by the extreme weakening of the Iranian-backed Shiite party in its disastrously miscalculated confrontation with Israel, sparked by the post-October 7 2023 Gaza war. This sudden degradation of Hezbollah as a paramilitary organization, and concomitant political waning, could open a new opportunity for the revival and strengthening of the Lebanese state. Yet this potential opportunity – with the necessary determination of a wide range of national leaders not yet in evidence – has come at an enormous cost to the country, especially its devastated south. And it will require not merely considerable external diplomatic and financial support, but also a favorable regional strategic and political environment. The most significant factor will almost certainly be developments in Syria following the downfall of the 54-year-long Assad family dictatorship. The emerging order in Syria will, as always, play a heavy role in what may be possible in Lebanon, with scenarios ranging from the development of a stable and tolerant new order that can play a constructive role in Lebanese as well as Syrian reconstruction, to renewed Syrian civil conflict and national fragmentation that can spread into northern Lebanon and beyond. Meanwhile, neighbors like Israel and Iran remain eager to meddle with and take advantage of any opportunities they can find in the Lebanese quest for greater state integration and reconstruction. This talk will examine these dynamics as an integrated, textured web of urgent but unanswered questions, teasing out various possibilities and imponderables that will help shape the near-term future for the long-suffering Lebanese people.

Speaker: Rebecca Bellovin (University of Connecticut)Title: Characterizing perfectoid covers of abelian varietiesAbstract:Perfectoid spaces have emerged as a key tool in p-adic Hodge theory over the past decade, generalizing earlier ideas due to people like Fontaine and Wintenberger. I will discuss some history and applications of this circle of ideas, before talking about recent work characterizing perfectoid covers of certain abelian varieties. This is joint work with Hanlin Cai and Sean Howe.

SPI is hosting a virtual panel on 4/8 from 5-6 PM on science policy careers in the government. We have four alumni panelists. Come hear about their career paths and ask any questions you may have!Please find the panelist bios below:Dr. Jack Reid is an engineer on the Science, Technology Assessments, and Analytics team at the US Government Accountability Office, where he works out of the Boston Field Office. There he develops reports for Congress on technology policy issues and serves as an expert advisor to analysts conducting audits of federal government programs in the areas of environmental justice and aerospace technology. A born and raised Texan, he obtained dual bachelor's degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Philosophy at Texas A&M University before heading off to New England for grad school after a short stint as a shock and vibrations engineer at Sandia National Laboratories. He pursued another dual degree at MIT, this time master's in technology policy and aerospace engineering. His work during this period focused on defense acquisition policy and included a couple of internships at the RAND Corporation. Most recently he completed a PhD, also at MIT but in a quite different field: the use of satellite earth observation imagery for sustainable development and urban planning decision-making.Dr. Scott Olesen is a Lead Data Scientist in the CDC Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics. The Center’s mission is deploy better data and better analytics to improve infectious disease outbreak response. He earned his PhD at MIT, where he studied environmental microbiology and the human microbiome, and completed postdoctoral training at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health, where he focused on the epidemiology of antibiotic resistance. He served as Scientific Director for OpenBiome, the fecal microbiota transplantation bank, before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, when he shifted to epidemiology consulting work for state and federal government, the US Navy, the National Basketball Association, and, finally, Biobot Analytics, a wastewater epidemiology company.Mr. Martin Holmes has served as a professional staff member on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence since February 2023. In that capacity, he focuses on oversight of the National Security Agency, including a wide range of topics including signals intelligence, cybersecurity, research, microelectronics, and artificial intelligence. Prior to joining HPSCI, Martin was the Chief of Space Domain Strategy for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Before that, he served as a space policy analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.Dr. Rebecca Black specializes in policy development, communications strategies, and evaluation for scientific research programs. She has used cutting-edge computational approaches to evaluate the performance and impact of over twenty large-scale federal scientific research initiatives. Dr. Black has developed and executed comprehensive communication plans for audiences including the general public, scientific researchers, policymakers, and executive leadership. She is an experienced biomedical researcher and has published peer-reviewed publications that studied systems-level therapeutic effects in disease-relevant models. Dr. Black efficiently synthesizes information, implements projects, and builds collaborations across scientific and engineering disciplines.

Please RSVP here.Speaker:Dmytro Kuleba is a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and served as the foreign minister of Ukraine from March 2020-September 2024. Prior to that, he was deputy prime minister on matters of European relations from August 2019 to March 2020. He is internationally recognized as one of the most influential diplomats of his generation and a global champion for democracy, freedom, and resilience.Discussants:Carol Saivetz is a senior advisor in the MIT Security Studies Program at the Center for International Studies (CIS). She is the author and contributing co-editor of books and articles on Soviet and now Russian foreign policy issues.Elizabeth Wood is Ford International Professor of History at MIT. She is the author most recently of Roots of Russia’s War in Ukraine as well as articles on Vladimir Putin, the political cult of WWII, right-wing populism in Russia and Turkey, and US-Russian Partnerships in Science. She is director of the MIT-Ukraine Program at CIS.This event is co-sponsored by the Center for International Studies, the MIT-Ukraine program, and the MIT Security Studies Program (SSP).

"Do you ever feel that life holds a deeper meaning beyond what you currently understand? The truth is profound—there are countless mysteries of existence, divinity, and the self that lie beyond our awareness. There is so much we don’t know, and even more that we don’t realize we don’t know."Join us on this exciting journey of Discover Your Self to explore the unknown territories of life and delve into the science of spirituality. This course, based on the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita, will equip you with proven methods to achieve true inner joy and answer your deepest questions about life's higher principles. This Course explains Proven methods to attain the true inner joy of heart and gives answers to all the Inquiries about Higher Principles in life like the pathway for unlimited and everlasting happiness from the eyes of scriptures like Bhagavad Gita in a scientific perspective.Salient Features:Discover the Game of LifeDiscover Inner SelfDiscover The Ultimate GeniusDiscover Manual of LifeDiscover Lasting SolutionDiscover Sublime Joy Through SoundDiscover The Real Eternal LoveDiscover The Happy PlanetYou are invited to join us every Tuesday 6:00-7:00 pm. To your pleasure we have free delicious sattvik vegetarian dinner is available after every session.Event details:6:00 pm-6:10 pm: Mantra Meditation and kirtan6:10 pm-6:50 pm: : Session7:00pm : Dinner along with Q&A.Venue: MIT Room 56-180, 32 Vasaar Steeet, Cambridge MA Kindly RSVP here https://forms.gle/DEXUz6ig6dJZoU1k7Regards, MIT Vedic Vision Forum

This yoga practice provides the opportunity to relax and de-stress as well as to stretch, strengthen, and balance your body. The practice begins with a meditative centering followed by warm-ups, a posture flow, and a restful final relaxation. We conclude with a closing and some time for connecting with your fellow yogis.The yoga postures are led at a moderate intensity. Lower intensity modifications are always offered and there is absolutely no obligation to do any posture. The goal is to make the class accessible to beginners as well as experienced practitioners. Listening to your body is the key to safety, especially in this online format.Registration is required on our wellness class website. If you do not already have an account on this website, you'll need to create one. This is fee-based class and open to the entire MIT community.