On August 20, the Afghan people went to the polls to vote in the country's second presidential elections since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001. Despite record levels of voter registration, a heavy campaign of intimidation by insurgents is reported to have depressed turnout, and allegations of fraud in the run up to and conduct of the election have raised questions about how legitimate the eventual announcement of official results will be perceived by the Afghan people.

Please join the Center for American Progress for an assessment of the elections and their implications for the future Afghan government and U.S. policy in the region, featuring observations from international election monitors Eric Bjornlund and Brian Katulis and NPR National Security Correspondent Jackie Northam.

Money-Driven Medicine provides the essential introduction Americans need if they are to become knowledgeable participants in healthcare reform. Produced by Academy Award-winner Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side; Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) and based on Maggie Mahar's acclaimed book by the same name, the film offers a behind-the-scenes look at the $2.6 trillion U.S. healthcare system, how it went so terribly wrong and what it will take to fix it.

Money-Driven Medicine reveals how the "medical-industrial complex" has wrested power from doctors, turning medical care into just another commodity and patients into profit centers. The result? While many uninsured and underinsured Americans receive too little care, the well-insured often get unnecessary, even risky care.

Please join us for a provocative Q & A immediately following the film,including how screenings of Money-Driven Medicine can advance comprehensive health reform.

For more information on the film or to purchase DVDs, visit www.moneydrivenmedicine.org.

In September 2007, President George W. Bush signed legislation significantly expanding reporting requirements for those who registered as lobbyists. During last year's presidential campaign, Barack Obama refused to accept campaign contributions from lobbyists and, following his election, precluded lobbyists from working on his transition team in the fields of policy on which they had lobbied. Upon becoming president he banned people accepting positions in the new administration from taking positions as lobbyists for two years following their departure from government and severely limited the number of appointments available to those who had in previous years worked as lobbyists.

Join the Center for American Progress and American University's Center for Congressional & Presidential Studies for a symposium on the impact of special interests, featuring expert panels and a keynote speech by Norm Eisen, Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform.

EVENT CANCELLED: Due to unforeseen circumstances this event has been cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Haiti has been plagued by variety of intractable problems throughout its history, but a rare "dual opportunity" exists in the country right now. Haiti's physical security is better than it has been in a long time and the United States can rethink its U.S.-Haiti policy. CAP researchers traveled to Haiti in June 2009 to examine Haiti as a sustainable security case study, looking at security and development challenges.

The Center for American Progress is pleased to host Haitian Prime Minister Michèle Pierre-Louis for a discussion about Haiti's future prospects and the release of the report "Haiti's Changing Tide: A Sustainable Security Case Study."

The Obama administration has made a strong commitment to making Africa a priority in U.S. foreign policy. From President Obama's trips and speeches in Cairo and Ghana to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's August 2009 trip to Africa, the president and secretary of state have emphasized that progress in Africa requires partnerships built on shared responsibility. This is the earliest in any U.S. administration that both the president and the secretary of state have visited Africa.

In Africa, the Obama administration has been working to encourage new solutions to old challenges. Join us for a discussion on ways that we can work with the international community to foster good regional governance, prevent conflict and violence, and provide a foundation for future stability, human development, and sustainable economic growth.

The federal government responded to the 2008 financial meltdown by providing enormous amounts of public funds to troubled financial institutions and markets. These bailouts, which made clear that "systemically significant" financial institutions will receive taxpayer support should they be on the verge of failure, were heavily criticized for lacking measures to ensure transparency and accountability. Against this backdrop, the Center for American Progress is releasing a new report authored by Emma Coleman Jordan, Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center, which proposes the implementation of "public directors" whenever significant public funds are directed towards private entities.

Please join the Center for what promises to be a fascinating and timely discussion around Prof. Jordan's proposal, with opening remarks from the Honorable Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, followed by a panel of distinguished speakers.

Author Colin Beavan, in research for his next book, began the No Impact Project in November 2006. A newly self-proclaimed environmentalist who could no long avoid pointing the finger at himself, Colin leaves behind his liberal complacency for a vow to make as little environmental impact as possible for one year. No more automated transportation, no more electricity, no more non-local food, no more material consumption...no problem. That is, until his espresso-guzzling, retail-worshipping wife Michelle and their two year-old daughter are dragged into the fray. Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein's film provides a front row seat into the experiment that became a national fascination and media sensation as well as an intriguing inside look at the familial strains and strengthened bonds that result from Colin's and Michelle's struggle with their radical lifestyle change.

As the immigration reform debate heats up in Washington, D.C., hundreds of faith communities across the country are showing a new, grassroots-led activism on behalf of undocumented workers and their families. From Greensboro to Dallas, Lancaster to Bellingham, people of faith are engaged in a wide range of activities and advocacy rooted in theological and moral ground.

A new report by the Center for American Progress documents these efforts, tying them together into an authentic grassroots national faith movement that is urging leaders in Washington to join their cause.

Please join our distinguished panel of faith leaders for an enlightening and provocative conversation on the pressing issue of immigration reform.

Colombia, with U.S. assistance, has fought for more than a decade a high stakes battle for control of the country and its future against both left-wing guerilla and right-wing paramilitary groups that are largely financed through illegal drug trafficking. Colombia's strategy under President Alvaro Uribe has taken a strong line in confronting the armed groups and drug traffickers, but has also emphasized the reintegration of demobilized former combatants, and social and economic development as cornerstones of a peace-building process.

Frank Pearl, High Commissioner for Peace and High Counselor for Social and Economic Reintegration, will discuss the steps Colombia is taking to reintegrate former combatants, gain widespread community support and involvement in the reintegration process, reduce extreme poverty and inequality, and create a more stable and peaceful Colombia.

This year, the federal deficit will exceed 11 percent of the gross domestic product—higher than at any point in the country's post-war history. Though the size of the current deficit is due largely to pre-existing policies, economic recession, and one-time policies to revive the economy, there is no question that public concern over the long-term fiscal gap has intensified.

Please join the Center for American Progress and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities for a conference designed to lay the intellectual groundwork for efforts that the administration and Congress should undertake—once the economy has fully recovered—to put the nation on a more sustainable fiscal path.