All countries, whether democracies or not, have been influenced by the growth of information technologies. In this panel discussion at the Aspen Ideas Festival, moderator R. James Woolsey, past director of the Central Intelligence Agency, leads a fascinating exploration of "Human Rights in the Information Age" with discussants Samantha Power and Michael Posner. The three participants offer their thoughts and views on human rights, and consider the role IT plays in this sphere.
R. James Woolsey is vice president of the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton and an officer in its global resilience practice. Previously, he served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency and delegate-at-large to the U.S.-Soviet Strategic Arms Reduction Talks and Nuclear and Space Arms Talks. He has also been a partner in the law firm of Shea & Gardner in Washington, D.C. Woolsey is currently co-chairman of the Committee on the Present Danger, as well as chairman of the advisory boards of the Clean Fuels Foundation and the New Uses Council and a trustee of the Center for Strategic & International Studies and the Center for Strategic & Budgetary Assessments.
Samantha Power is a journalist, writer, and professor. She is currently affiliated with the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School. From 1993 to 1996, Power covered the Yugoslav wars for various prominent media outlets. She is a scholar of foreign policy especially as it relates to human rights, genocide, and AIDS. Her book A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 2003. In 2004, Power was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 top scientists and thinkers of that year.
Michael Posner, president of Human Rights First, has been at the forefront of the international human rights movement for nearly 30 years. As its executive director he helped the organization earn a reputation for leadership in the areas of refugee protection, advancing a rights-based approach to national security, challenging crimes against humanity, and combating discrimination. He is a frequent public commentator on these and other issues, and his opinion essays have appeared in many newspapers.
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