Council of the Month: Richard Haass Around the Network; Cover to Cover on the Gulf Crisis; Star Speakers on Council Webinars; WACA's Clifford and MWAC's Hyslop on Journalism Webinar; WAC Pittsburgh's Emerging Global Leaders Seminar; Host a KNOW NOW Call; ICYMI; + more Highlights!
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Dr. Haass is one of the most articulate, thoughtful analysts in the United States regarding global affairs and U.S. foreign policy. He will discuss how we can become more informed, discerning citizens by understanding how the world works, how international acts impact us domestically, and how we can help shape U.S. responses. Haass will also explain how he studies world events, global politics, financial shifts, cultural uprisings, and ancient and modern history to make sound, independent judgments regarding events around the globe. Finally, Dr. Haass will engage with the audience in a frank, lively Q&A regarding international challenges.
Other Councils hosting Richard Haass this week:
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Thursday!
Cover to Cover on Qatar and the Gulf Crisis
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Register now for WACA's
Cover to Cover conference call
Thursday, July 16, at 2:00-2:30 PM ET, featuring
Kristian Coates Ulrichsen on his book
Qatar and the Gulf Crisis. Dr. Ulrichsen is a Fellow for the Middle East at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and an Associate Fellow of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Program,
In 2017, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Qatar, launching an economic blockade by land, air and sea. Well into its second year, the standoff in the Gulf has no realistic end in sight. With the Bahraini and Emirati criminalization of expressing support for Qatar, and the Saudi labelling of detainees as ‘traitors’ for their alleged Qatari links, bitterness has been stoked between deeply interconnected peoples. The adviser to the Saudi crown prince advocating a moat to physically separate Qatar from the Arabian Peninsula illustrates the ongoing intensity of the crisis. Ulrichsen offers an authoritative study of this international standoff, from both sides.
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Cover to Cover on Podcast
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Star Speakers This Week on Councils' Virtual Programming
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Amb. (ret.) John Emerson
Chairman
American Council on Germany
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Donna Hrinak
President, Boeing Latin America and Canada
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General (ret.) John Allen
President
Brookings Institution
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Elizabeth Cousens
President and CEO
United Nations Foundation
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Aundra Wallace
President
JAXUSA Partnership
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Michelle Nunn
President and CEO
CARE USA
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*Scroll down to the Council Highlights section to view all programs from Councils this week!
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WACA's Clifford and MWAC's Hyslop on Journalism Webinar -
July 28
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Clifford and Hyslop will also cover how trade disputes and agreements show how international cooperation reaches into every aspect of society no matter what country you are in. The pandemic has shown the world is connected, and (much like the Council Network) local journalists can highlight international stories impacting their community and regional matters that impact the global community.
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WAC Pittsburgh's Emerging Global Leaders Seminar
COVID-19 x Series
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Through the series students will connect with peers and experts, strengthen their understanding of the overarching global impacts of the pandemic and how these issues shape the world around them, and learn how to take meaningful and informed action as youth to build our world back better.
This program is free and open to
all
high school students!
Register here.
- Wednesday, July 1, at 3:00 PM ET: COVID-19 x Health Care
- Wednesday, July 8, at 3:00 PM ET: COVID-19 x Environment
- Wednesday, July 15, at 3:00 PM ET: COVID-19 x Politics
- Wednesday, July 22, at 3:00 PM ET: COVID-19 x Economy
- Wednesday, July 29, at 3:00 PM ET: COVID-19 x Education
This event is part of a series of new virtual events framed around the Building Back Better agenda.This international agenda was created to have a holistic approach to post-disasters recovery. It encourages communities to evaluate and rethink our society and, instead of rebuilding things the way they were before, to rebuild our systems to be a more just, equitable, and resilient than before.
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Host a KNOW NOW Conference Call in 2020!
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WACA's
KNOW NOW conference call series features global thought leaders, as well as local authorities in government, business, academia, and cultural fields. We invite Councils to submit KNOW NOW speaker suggestions and moderate these calls!
If a Council leader moderates a KNOW NOW call in 2020, their Council will receive a $100 rebate back on Council Dues.
*Please note that this rebate offer only applies to Councils who are current on their 2020 Dues.
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Admiral William McRaven Former Commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command
WAC Monterey Bay - June 23
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The Hon. Robert Gates
22nd U.S. Secretary of Defense
WAC Dallas/Fort Worth
June 18
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LaJune Thomas Lange, Hon. Consul for South Africa in MN
Zintle Koza, Director of Int'l Orgs. at the Nat'l Treasury
Global Minnesota - June 22
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Meghan O’Sullivan, Director of the Geopolitics of Energy Project at Harvard Kennedy School
WAC Connecticut - June 3
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Stacey Abrams
Former Minority Leader
Georgia House of Representatives
WAC Atlanta - May 28
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Nancy Lindborg
President and CEO, USIP
Bill Clifford
President and CEO, WACA
WACA - May 28
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*To view archives of all Council webinars from March 2020-present, please visit WACA's Councils' Virtual Events
resource page.
Please note: to view this resource, you must be a Council executive, staff, or board member with a login to WACA Members's Only portal. If you have questions about your login or wish to have an account created, please contact
Rachel Pastor at
rpastor@worldaffairscounsil.org.
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WAC Greater Reading Welcomes New President Lausch
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Following the completion of her two-year term,
Lynn Brown stepped down from her role as President of the
World Affairs Council of Greater Reading on June 30, 2020. WACA extends a warm welcome to
Dr. Solomon Lausch, who now serves as President of WAC Reading as of
July 1, through
June 30, 2022.
Dr. Lausch is well known to the Greater Reading community as a member of the board of directors, Executive Director of Berks Business Education Coalition, and as past Superintendant of the Schuylkill Valley School District. He began his professional career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Micronesia, teaching English as a second language.
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In Memoriam
WACA is saddened to learn of the passing of
Barbara Kessler Banker, former President of Williams Insulation and one of the Founding Members & Board Member of the
World Affairs Council of San Antonio.
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WACA Comms Associate Writes Blog for Women's Foreign Policy Group
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Rachel Pastor, WACA Communications and Marketing Associate, co-authored a
blog post for the Women's Foreign Policy Group on the challenges and benefits of entering the foreign policy world during a pandemic. Published Thurs., July 2, the blog discusses the opportunities to develop new strategies for global engagement and a reimagined approach to people-to-people diplomacy. This outlook was largely informed by research for the U.S. Department of State's Office of International Visitors into areas of opportunity and continued success for the International Visitor Leadership Program.
Read the blog here.
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Monday 7/13
Tuesday 7/14
Los Angeles World Affairs Council and Town Hall hosts
Ambassador (ret.) John Emerson, Chairman of the American Council on Germany, and
William Drozdiak, Senior Fellow at the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution, for “
A Bastille Day Discussion.”
World Affairs Council of Seattle hosts
Donna Hrinak, President of Boeing Latin America and Canada, and
Michael Camilleri, Director of the Peter D. Bell Rule of Law Program at the Inter-American Dialogue, for “
An Update on Latin America.”
Tennessee World Affairs Council hosts Professor
Thomas Schwartz, Vanderbilt University, for “
Global News Review.”
Wednesday 7/15
World Affairs Council of Atlanta hosts
Ambassador André Haspels, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the U.S., for “
U.S.-NL Relations.”
World Affairs Council of Greater Houston hosts
Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations, to discuss his book
The World: A Brief Introduction.
Global Minnesota hosts
Tom Hanson, Diplomat in Residence at the Alworth Institute for International Affairs at the University of Minnesota, for “
Artificial Intelligence and Data.”
World Affairs (Northern California) hosts
Steven Pifer, William Perry Research Fellow at Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation, for “
Where Is Russia Heading in 2020?”
World Affairs Council of Hilton Head hosts
Ashley Jenkins, Recycling Educator and Coordinator for Beaufort County, for “
Summer Forum.”
Thursday 7/16
World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth hosts
Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations, to discuss his book
The World: A Brief Introduction.
World Affairs Council of San Antonio hosts
Katsuo Nishikawa, Director of the Center for International Engagement at Trinity University, for “
Instagram Live Discussion.”
World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth hosts author
Daniel Silva to discuss his book
The Order.
Friday 7/17
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The World Affairs Councils of America is an independent, nonpartisan organization dedicated to engaging the public and leading global voices to better understand the world, America’s international role, and the policy choices that impact our daily lives and our future.
Your generous contributions will strengthen our capacity to support the World Affairs Council Network through educational and civic initiatives - any amount helps.
Your donation goes to:
- Academic WorldQuest Endowment
- Our flagship youth education program. We are 23% away from achieving our $1M goal!
- New Horizons Councils Fund
- Any monies donated to this fund are set aside only for World Affairs Councils' use
- New Horizons General Operations
- Help support WACA carry out its educational mission with initiatives such as the National Conference, Cover to Cover and KNOW NOW monthly conference calls, the Engage America Speaker Series, and general office operations
You can give in one of several ways:
- Pay with your credit card via the donation buttons at the bottom of this page
- Mail a check to the WACA National Office (1010 Vermont Avenue NW, Suite 516, Washington, DC 20005)
- Make a gift of appreciated stock
- Request a distribution from your Donor Advised Fund
- Check with your employer to see if they will match your gift!
With the passing of the CARES Act, most individual taxpayers will become eligible for significant tax benefits for charitable contributions made this year. Two of these benefits will be:
- A $300 Above-the-Line Charitable deduction, meaning that individuals who do not itemize their deductions will be eligible to claim up to $300 of charitable deductions in 2020, on top of the standard deduction
- Modified Limitations on Cash Charitable Contributions - for 2020, the 60% AGI limitation on cash contributions to 501(c)(3) organizations, such as WACA, is suspended
Click on the categories below to make a donation and view more information about the benefits of your contribution. We thank you for your support!
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Access Council Virtual Programming via WACA's Members-Only Portal
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WACA is busy preparing a number of additional resources for the Members-Only section! WACA strives to provide Councils with easy access to tools, guidelines, events, and more that add value to our Members both personally and professionally, to our Councils' overall operations, and to the Network as a whole. This is a top priority for the National Office, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.
That is why we've added two resource sections dedicated to COVID-19 related information and digital programming available to the public by Councils.
The goal is to make the Members-Only section a one-stop shop for all Council needs. However, these sections are only as good as the information contained within, so we are calling on all Councils to please submit any documentation per the categories below, or any other information helpful to the Network.
The Members-Only section is a private benefit for our Council Members. Please contact
Rachel Pastor at
rpastor@worldaffairscouncils.org for login details and account creation.
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COVID-19 Updates & Tracker
Health & Wellness
Educator Resources
- Ohio Council for the Social Studies Resource Document -- Bill Hilt, President/CEO, WAC Northwest Ohio
- To help alleviate some of concerns with distance learning and explaining the current health crisis, the list is a compilation of K-12 Social Studies lessons, activities, and resources. It also has guidelines for explaining COVID-19 to young people.
- Zoom CEO announcement of free platforms for K-12 schools
WACA Updates: Messages from President and CEO Bill Clifford
*To view Council Member Resources on the WACA website, you must be a Council leader, staff, or board member and have an account
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WACA's National Speaker Database Needs You!
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We have recently debuted WACA's
Speaker Database 2.0. In this new iteration, we have expanded our list of speakers and made it easier than ever for you, as Council staff and board members, to engage with it.
We want your speakers! Please submit your speakers through the "
Submit Your Speakers" button on our website.
You need to have an account through our website in order to view and interact with the database and submit your speakers. To check if you have an account, please visit your
Council Member page on the WACA website and see if you are listed as a staff or board member. If you are not, you will not be able to interact with the database yet.
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1010 Vermont Avenue NW, Suite 516, Washington, DC 20005
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