Tuesday 1:30 - 4:20pm - Ali Nouri

Artificial intelligence (AI) holds significant promise for societal advancement, offering the potential to enhance decision-making, streamline processes, and even revolutionize fields such as cancer treatment. However, the proliferation of AI also raises substantial national security concerns, including the potential to help malicious actors develop bioweapons, launch sophisticated cyber attacks, and create other grave threats to public safety. The strategic importance of semiconductors underpinning AI technologies has triggered intense global competition, with nations scrambling to secure chip manufacturing capabilities and supply chains as matters of national security and economic prosperity. The course will explore federal initiatives, both past and present, that aim to take a multi-agency approach toward mitigating AI-related security risks while strengthening domestic semiconductor production and innovation. These initiatives may encompass the implementation of rigorous testing and vulnerability assessments of AI systems, establishing safeguards against weaponization of emerging technologies, and supporting researchers to drive innovation that upholds U.S. strategic interests in the global AI landscape. In a task force focused on AI security policy, students will critically examine the federal government's response to these emerging threats in the AI sector.

Dr. Ali Nouri was a Deputy Assistant to President Biden and Deputy Director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. Previously he was nominated by the President and confirmed by the US Senate as an Assistant Secretary in the Department of Energy where he led the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. Prior to joining the Biden Administration Dr. Nouri was the President of the Federation of American Scientists, a public policy organization focused on countering WMDs, addressing emerging infectious diseases, and crafting policy solutions to science, technology, and national security challenges. Dr. Nouri previously served on US Senate staff as a science and technology fellow, an energy and environment advisor, a national security advisor, and a legislative director over nearly a decade. He has also served as an advisor to the office of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan where he developed initiatives to block the applications of biotechnology toward biological weapons. He earned a B.A. in biology from Reed College and a Ph.D. in molecular biology from Princeton University.

Wednesday 7:30-10:20pm - Martin Flaherty

The People’s Republic of China [PRC] presents the greatest and most complex challenge to the realization of international human rights.  No other society has realized so many economic and social rights so quickly and on such a vast scale.  Yet the PRC remains among the greatest and most persistent offenders of civil and political rights.  Assaults on human rights and the rule of law have increased dramatically under Xi Jinping. Domestically, the has engaged in often brutal crackdowns on ethnic and religious minorities, civil society groups, lawyers, human rights advocates, and academics, including Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong.  Beyond its own borders the PRC has also sought to stifle criticism of its actions beyond its borders.  Finally, the PRC has also sought to undermine international human rights law at the UN and in other fora.

This Task Force will study the PRC’s ongoing assault the rule of law and consider what possible steps that the US government under the Biden Administration should respond.  Specific topics include: academic freedom, legal reform, anti-discrimination, the environment, women’s rights, and LGBT issues, as well as possible responses in international forums, including the UN.  The Task Force will make recommendations to relevant organizations in New York and Washington D.C., including the Council on Foreign Relations, Congressional Staff, the State Department, and National Security Council staff at the White House, and Congress.

Martin S. Flaherty is Leitner Family Professor of International Law and Founding Co-Director of the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School and Visiting Professor at Columbia Law School.  He is also a founder of the Committee to Support Chinese Lawyers, and President of the American Association of the International Commission of Jurists.

Wednesday 1:30-4:00 PM - Andrew Buher

The United States faces a severe youth mental health crisis. Two years ago, the U.S. Surgeon General took the unusual step of issuing a public advisory on the state of youth mental health. The advisory documented how the Covid-19 pandemic has worsened student mental health challenges, leading to higher rates of youth depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicide.

This task force will consider this fundamental question: What is the responsibility and ability of America's schools to address the youth mental health crisis? The task force will examine strategies, policies and interventions that lead schools and districts to successfully support student mental health. Specific topics include: the purpose of schools and schooling; how public schools work (and don't); the state of student mental health; and barriers and opportunities to support youth mental health in schools.

The task force will consist of a series of discussions with each other, the instructor, and with prominent education, government and healthcare leaders. Additionally, throughout the course, students will develop and refine practical skills, including giving and receiving feedback, facilitation, oral and written communication, and teamwork and collaboration.

Andrew Buher is Founder and Managing Director of Opportunity Labs, a national nonprofit organization that exists to build and champion meaningful opportunities for children. Previously, he was appointed by President Obama to serve as a White House Fellow at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development where he was Special Assistant to Secretary Julian Castro. Prior to his work at HUD, Andrew was the Chief Operating Officer of the New York City Department of Education and before that Chief of Staff to the Department's Chancellor, Dennis Walcott. Andrew has served as a lecturer at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy and is a Senior Fellow at FutureEd, a nonpartisan think tank at Georgetown.  His writing and commentary has been featured in The Hill, CNN, Politico, EdWeek, and the NY Daily News.

Wednesday 1:30-4:00 PM - Doug Mercado

For 2025, the United Nations estimates that 305 million people in 72 countries require urgent assistance due to conflicts and natural disasters. These people face acute needs in terms of food, health care, shelter, water/sanitation and protection. The UN humanitarian planning document calls for $47 billion in funding in 2025 to address these humanitarian challenges.

In recent years, nearly 90% of global humanitarian funds have come from donor governments with private sources making up the remainder. While donor funding levels have been somewhat erratic over the past decades, the first months of 2025 witnessed a cataclysmic drop in humanitarian financing as the United States and other countries deprioritized support to international disaster response organizations and their life-saving programs. At a time when global humanitarian needs are growing, aid agencies are faced with unexpected, sudden and steep cuts to their funding. They will have to do more with less.

On top of this seismic shift in funding, aid agencies are witnessing an erosion of respect for international humanitarian law that has been built up over decades. States and non-state actors now appear to view the observance of humanitarian norms as less of an obligation than in recent times. As a consequence, humanitarian actors face greater challenges to the delivery of vital assistance to vulnerable populations.

This task force will assess the impact of shifting donor government priorities on the international humanitarian system, focusing on how financial cuts and a retreat from humanitarian norms affect both aid agencies and disaster-affected communities. It will also develop policy recommendations aimed at helping the humanitarian sector navigate this abrupt change and sustain the delivery of aid to vulnerable populations in a principled and effective manner.

Doug Mercado has worked in the field of international disaster assistance and post-conflict recovery for most of the past 35 years on assignments with the United Nations, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and various non-governmental organizations. He has managed frontline humanitarian relief operations and refugee assistance programs in dozens of countries including Sudan, Iraq, Colombia, Moldova, Angola and Bosnia-Herzegovina. He led USAID’s Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) in West Africa for the Ebola outbreak and served as the US humanitarian affair advisor at the US Mission to the UN in New York. He is currently on the board of Movement in Refuge, a NGO dedicated to providing opportunities for sports to refugees in Bangladesh. He previously served as an officer in the US Navy. Mr. Mercado earned a BA in History from William and Mary, a MA in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin and a MPP from Princeton University.

Thursday 1:30-4:20pm - Mihir Kshirsagar

The Social Media & Youth Mental Health Taskforce tackles the policy questions linking digital platforms and adolescent wellbeing. This seminar focuses on translating rigorous academic insights into concrete policy and legal action.Working directly with key policy partner, you will be part of an effort to develop and support evidence-based regulations protecting vulnerable young users. This initiative combines deep analysis with practical advocacy, offering a firsthand look at how policy is forged.

Taskforce Activities Include:

• Analyzing the landscape of existing and proposed youth online safety legislation.
• Developing substantive research and supporting materials for active litigation efforts.
• Distilling technical information and academic findings into persuasive policy arguments.
• Collaborating across disciplines to address multifaceted policy challenges.
• Presenting actionable findings to policymakers shaping the future of digital safety.

This taskforce addresses a complex, rapidly evolving public policy challenge, providing a unique opportunity to make a tangible contribution while experiencing the direct pathway from academic inquiry to policy implementation.

Mihir Kshirsagar runs CITP’s first-of-its-kind interdisciplinary technology policy clinic that gives students and scholars an opportunity to engage directly in the policy process. Most recently, he served in the New York Attorney General’s Bureau of Internet & Technology as the lead trial counsel in cutting edge matters concerning consumer protection law and technology and obtained one of the largest consumer payouts in the State’s history. Previously, he worked for Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP and Cahill Gordon Reindel LLP in New York City on a variety of antitrust, securities and commercial disputes involving emerging and traditional industries. Before law school he was a policy analyst at the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C., educating policy makers about the civil liberties implications of new surveillance technologies. Kshirsagar attended Deep Springs College and received an A.B. from Harvard College in 2000 and a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 2006. 

Monday 7:30-10:20pm - Juan Carlos Pinzon

Latin America is perceived as a region of high growth potential and prosperity opportunity, due to its demographics, natural resource endowment and democratic values. Unfortunately, persistent problems have placed the region falling behind others in the world. The current era of digital economy, energy transition, and technology, become an ideal occasion for policies to enhance human capital, competitiveness, investment, and stability. The recent Covid-19 pandemic as well as the ongoing global power competition, has demonstrated the need to reshape the global supply chains, it is also a unique opportunity for both Latin America and the US to prepare a new model for effective hemispheric development. In summary, this Policy Task Force will analyze policy options to unleash the economic potential of Latin America and benefit its population.   

We will discuss with policymakers in Washington, Latin American leaders and policy experts from different countries and institutions. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has convened to receive our Policy Paper, as they are building policy recommendations both for the Administration and other governments in the region.

Juan Carlos Pinzon is the John L. Weinberg/Goldman Sachs & Co. Visiting Professor and Lecturer at Princeton University. He served as Ambassador of Colombia to the U.S. from 2015-2017 and 2021-2022. He holds a Master in Public Policy from Princeton University and a Master in Economics from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana.