This Monday in Washington

lantern at the Tidal Basin

The cherry blossoms will bloom in Washington this week. Congress remains in recess. The 2013 Sakura Matsuri will end the week on Saturday April 13th. HERE you can find the history of Japan's gift of the cherry trees to the city of Washington.

THE POLITICAL TURMOIL IN ITALY ON THE STABILITY OF EUROPE. 4/1, 10:00-11:30am. Sponsor: Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE). Speakers: PIIE fellows Dave Stockton, Jacob Kirkegaard and Barbara Kotschwar.

NEGOTIATING WITH IRAN: HOW BEST TO REACH SUCCESS. 4/1, 10:00-11:30am. Sponsor: Brookings. Speakers: Martin Indyk, vice president and director of foreign policy at Brookings; Javier Solana, former European Union high representative for common foreign and security policy, and distinguished fellow at Brookings; Gary Samore, former National Security Council coordinator for weapons of mass destruction, and executive director for research at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

THE FUTURE OF CHINA AND JAPAN-CHINA RELATIONS. 4/1, 1:30-3:00pm. Sponsor: Carnegie. Speakers: Akio Takahara, Professor of contemporary Chinese politics, Graduate School of Law and Politics, University of Tokyo; James L. Schoff, Senior Associate in the Carnegie Asia Program.

PREVENTING GENOCIDE AND PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS IN PLACES SUCH AS CONGO, SUDAN, SOUTH SUDAN AND SOMALIA. 4/1, 3:00-4:00pm, Washington, DC. Sponsor: School of International Service (SIS), American University. Speakers: SIS Dean James Goldgeier and John Prendergast, SIS/MA '90, co-founder of the Enough Project.

SUPER-LEGISLATURES: EVALUATING DODD-FRANK'S CFPB (CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU) AND OLA (ORDERLY LIQUIDATION AUTHORITY) PROVISIONS AND OBAMACARE'S IPAB (INDEPENDENT PAYMENT ADVISORY BOARD). 4/1, 4:00-5:00pm. Sponsor: Cato. Speakers: former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and former White House Counsel C. Boyden Gray, founding partner at Boyden Gray & Associates LLP; Michael Cannon, director for health policy studies at Cato Institute; Louise Bennetts, associate director of financial regulation studies at the Cato Institute. 

THE POWER AND LIMITS OF LAW: TERRITORIAL AND MARITIME DISPUTES IN EAST ASIA. 4/1, 5:00-7:00pm, Washington, DC. Sponsor: SAIS, Johns Hopkins. Speaker: Professor Peter Dutton Director of the China Maritime Studies Institute, The U.S. Naval War College.