Many Americans enjoy access to the very best that medical knowledge and medical technology can offer, but our health care delivery system is riddled with inefficiency, quality is uneven, and roughly half of all patients do not receive recommended care. One of the most critical steps towards improving our health care system and garnering better value for our health care spending is to change how we deliver health care in ways that improve patient outcomes, lower costs, and improve health care productivity. Health information technology can play a significant role in this transformation.

We are pleased to invite you to a private evening reception, featuring remarks by Gen. Wesley K. Clark (Ret.), to kickoff the America in the World: Forging a New Vision for Foreign Policy and International Security conference, sponsored by the Center for American Progress and The Century Foundation. The conference will take place the next day at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill. The evening reception will also celebrate the release of the book Power and Superpower: Global Leadership and Exceptionalism in the 21st Century, a joint publication of the Center for American Progress and The Century Foundation.

The United States entered the 21st century as a global leader, emulated for its ideals as much as respected for its power to shape events. During the 20th century, American leadership served as the bedrock for the international order, promoting prosperity and peace both at home and abroad. But in the first years of the new century, a belligerent U.S. foreign policy, exemplified by war in Iraq, the rejection of international treaties, and disregard for traditional allies gave the impression to many that the United States had abandoned its role as a responsible leader. Power and Superpower calls for a foreign policy that encompasses all of America's strengths and respects the commitments we share with the rest of the world, the only sure path to America's continued global leadership and influence. In this volume, some of the United States' most distinguished and experienced policymakers and experts identify pressing foreign policy issues facing the United States and provide analysis and answers for creating a progressive foreign policy that harnesses power in support of a peaceful and prosperous world.

Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter, says that Power and Superpower is "A comprehensive review of the needed change of course in America's global engagement-daunting in its scope and ambitious in its objectives."

Thomas Pickering, former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and Ambassador to the United Nations, says Power and Superpower is "An excellent series of wide ranging essays by some of our most experienced foreign policy thinkers. It will give a clear sense of why we are in such deep trouble, how we got there, and most importantly some trenchant thoughts on what to do about it. A must read for all who follow foreign policy closely."

Anne Marie-Slaughter, Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, says "Power and Superpower is one-stop shopping for all Americans determined to get out country back on track. It offers an outline for a new American century that is genuinely consistent with American values-a century not of torture and terrorism, but liberty, democracy, and justice under law."

At a time when the American people are beginning the process of choosing new leaders, the conference on Tuesday, June 12, 2007, explored how the United States can re-assert its leadership for a more peaceful, prosperous, and secure world.

Sponsored by The Century Foundation and the Center for American Progress, the conference featured speakers and panels on today's most pressing international issues of peace and security, including U.S. nuclear weapons policy, configuring America's defenses to 21st century realities, America's role in the Middle East, the global economy, and energy and the environment. Panelists included established and emerging voices in the international policy realm, including senior policy makers.

Speakers included former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Wesley Clark, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, former CIA Director John Deutch, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and Egypt Daniel Kurtzer, former Secretary of Treasury Bob Rubin, Senator Gordon Smith, and former Deputy Commander, Headquarters U.S. European Command Charles Wald.

The full-day conference continued a tradition of highly successful foreign policy consultations organized jointly by the Center for American Progress and The Century Foundation in New York in 2006 and in Washington in 2003.

Research on stem cells is rapidly moving forward and possible clinical benefits are considered as an ultimate goal. As the science advances, current policies in the E.U. and in the U.S. are the subject of continuous debate. As these policies continue to evolve, it is important to maintain an international dialogue, so that policies do not diverge in a manner that slows research and hampers collaboration.

Drink and appetizer specials will be available from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Please join the Center for American Progress for a presentation by Matthew C. Nisbet and Chris Mooney on how scientists and their allies can “frame” scientific knowledge to connect to the American people. Scientists often approach public communication as a technical discussion. But Nisbet and Mooney argue that this focus on details actually impedes the delivery of scientific knowledge. Using a series of case examples, they will suggest a new approach for science communication that employs language with broad appeal and emphasizes shared values.

The first film of its kind to chronicle the reasons behind Iraq's descent into guerilla war, warlord rule, criminality, and anarchy, "NO END IN SIGHT" is a jaw-dropping, insider's tale of wholesale incompetence, recklessness, and venality. Based on over 200 hours of footage, the film provides a candid retelling of the events following the fall of Baghdad in 2003 by high ranking officials such as former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Ambassador Barbara Bodine (in charge of Baghdad during the Spring of 2003), former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell Lawrence Wilkerson, and General Jay Garner (in charge of the occupation of Iraq through May 2003), as well as Iraqi civilians, American soldiers, and prominent analysts.

"NO END IN SIGHT" examines the manner in which the principal errors of U.S. policy-the use of insufficient troop levels, allowing the looting of Baghdad, the purging of professionals from the Iraqi government, and the disbanding of the Iraqi military-largely created the insurgency and chaos that engulf Iraq today. How did a group of men with little or no military experience, knowledge of the Arab world, or personal experience in Iraq come to make such flagrantly debilitating decisions? "NO END IN SIGHT" dissects the people, issues, and facts behind the Bush administration’s decisions and their consequences on the ground to provide a powerful look into how arrogance and ignorance turned a military victory into a seemingly endless and deepening nightmare of a war.

Please join us for a provocative panel discussion and Q&A session immediately following the film.