TOMORROW
Cover to Cover
With Andrew Bacevich; World Food Program USA Grant Deadline; AWQ National Competition Registration Opens; Betty Cruz Named New President and CEO of WAC Pittsburgh; Councils' Star Speakers; WACA's Bill Clifford in Corpus Christi; Council of the Month; + more!
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TOMORROW!
Cover to Cover
:
Bacevich on 'The Age of Illusions'
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Bestselling author Bacevich will explain how within a quarter of a century of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, the United States found itself grappling with gaping inequality, permanent war, moral confusion, and an increasingly angry and alienated population, as well, of course, the rise of Trumpism.
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2020 WACA-World Food Program USA Grant Opportunity
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WACA is excited and proud to partner with the
World Food Program USA
(WFP USA)
for a WACA
Engage America
Speaker Series in 2020!
World Food Program USA is a non-profit that supports the mission of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the leading humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. By mobilizing individuals, lawmakers and businesses in the U.S. to advance the global movement to end hunger, WFP USA bolsters an enduring American legacy of feeding families in need around the world.
We launched our partnership at the
WACA 2019 National Conference in early November, with keynote remarks by
Phil Karsting, Vice President of Policy at WFP USA (then interim CEO), and a distinguished panel on
Climate Change and Food Insecurity.
Now, it's your turn! We invite
applications from World Affairs Councils to participate in
WACA’s 2020 World Food Program USA grant-funded speaker series.
Eight (8) Councils will be selected to participate in this
Engage America
series.
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AWQ National Competition Registration Opens!
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Registration for the
Carlos and Malú Alvarez 2020 Academic WorldQuest National Competition is now open! The AWQ championship weekend program will be held in Washington, DC on
April 24-25.
This year's competition will be held on
Saturday, April 25 at the United States Institute of Peace.
For topics, study guide, and other information about this year's competition, please
click here.
Hotel Reservations:
WACA has secured a group hotel block at
The Westin DC City Center (1400 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20005) at a special rate of
$169 / night plus tax. The block will expire April 2.
Reserve today!
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Betty Cruz Named New President of WAC Pittsburgh
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The
World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh announces
Betty Cruz as its new President & CEO! Currently the leader of Change Agency, a social enterprise which she founded in 2016, and Project Director for All for All, an immigrant inclusion initiative, Cruz has nearly 20 years of experience in community outreach, communications, partnership-building, and program management. She will officially assume her WAC Pittsburgh role on
January 21.
“My vision is to continue our focus on global education and expand the Council's reach to new audiences across generations, races, cultures, faiths, ideologies, and economic backgrounds. I am humbled to get to do this work together with our community, experienced team, and Board to continue building a World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh that is locally relevant, nationally recognized, and globally connected. The need for fact-based, nonpartisan, and meaningful ways to learn about world affairs remains as palpable today as ever,” said Cruz. On behalf of the national Council network, WACA extends a very warm welcome to Betty!
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Convening Power of the WACA Network This Week
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Ambassador Jon M. Huntsman Jr.
2020 Utah Gubernatorial Candidate
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Jamal Abdi
President, National Iranian American Council
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General (ret.) Wesley Clark, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander
Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas
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Barbara Finamore
Senior Strategic Director for Asia
Natural Resources Defense Council
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Hamse Warfa
Co-Founder & Executive Vice President
BanQu
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WACA President to Speak in Corpus Christi
The
World Affairs Council of South Texas has arranged for WACA President and CEO
Bill Clifford to deliver a luncheon talk
Wednesday, January 15
,
on Asia's changing geopolitics and its impact on U.S. alliances in the region. Clifford is also excited to speak with the International Baccalaureate students of W.B. Ray High School on the same topic.
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Council of the Month: WAC Western Michigan
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For eight consecutive weeks, global experts speak to WACWM members on a range of strategic international topics. Attendees have two opportunities to engage directly in Grand Rapids with presenters: Monday nights in the Aquinas College Performing Arts Center and Tuesday afternoons in the Calvin University Covenant Fine Arts Center Recital Hall (see photo).
The Tuesday presentations are livestreamed to member corporate partners and across the state, to sites such as Northern Michigan University, the City of Holland, Montcalm Community College, Western Michigan University—and even to an institution in Germany, Rhein-Wall University. The speaker-experts brought to West Michigan are also scheduled for smaller interactions at business roundtables, in college classrooms, and with civic leaders.
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2020 Global Ties U.S. National Meeting
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Exchange programs have the power to connect the world. From
January 22-25, 2020, the GT Network of 120+ nonprofits based around the U.S. and the world will convene at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, DC to celebrate the "faces" who make exchange programs happen every day: participants and alumni, locally-based hosts and coordinators, government agencies, and more.
The
2020 National Meeting will also serve as the launch for a year-long campaign by the Office of International Visitors of the U.S. Department of State to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the International Visitor Leadership Program, the U.S. Department of State's premier professional exchange program, and its achievements in advancing American foreign policy, prosperity. and security.
WACA's annual members breakfast will take place
Thursday, January 23 (time TBD).
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National Conventions: On-Site Student Seminar Opportunity
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The presidential election is only 10 months away, but the major political parties will first convene in Milwaukee and Charlotte for the National Conventions.
The Washington Center's Internship and Academic Seminars program will host
two-week academic programs held on-site at both the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention.
Open to college undergraduate and graduate students, these seminars feature a blend of academic lectures, panel discussions, small group meetings, and site visits. During the week of the conventions themselves, participants will gain hands-on experience through fieldwork assignments; working with political groups, media organizations, or a host committee. Housing is guaranteed in the host city.
WACA encourages you to advertise this unique opportunity to schools and students in your communities. Space is limited, so please contact
James Liska at
james.liska@twc.edu if interested.
Click here to view
more logistical details, program dates and deadlines, and student eligibility requirements.
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February
Cover to Cover
:
Professor Yuli Tamir on
Why Nationalism
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Register now for WACA's
Cover to Cover conference call on
Wednesday, February 19 at 2:00-2:30 PM ET, featuring
Professor Yael (Yuli) Tamir, President of Shenkar College and an adjunt professor at the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University, on her book,
Why Nationalism.
Around the world today, nationalism is back—and it’s often deeply troubling. Populist politicians exploit nationalism for authoritarian, chauvinistic, racist, and xenophobic purposes, reinforcing the view that it is fundamentally reactionary and antidemocratic. But Tamir makes a passionate argument for a very different kind of nationalism—one that revives its participatory, creative, and egalitarian virtues, answers many of the problems caused by neoliberalism and hyperglobalism, and is essential to democracy. Join WACA for a conversation with Professor Tamir on why it is more important than ever for the Left to recognize these qualities of nationalism, to reclaim it from right-wing extremists, and to redirect its power to progressive ends.
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Monday 1/13
Tennessee World Affairs Council hosts
General (ret.) Wesley Clark, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, and former Governor of Arkansas
Mike Huckabee, for “Renew America Together.”
Details
World Affairs Council of Seattle hosts professor
James Hollifield, Director of the Tower Center at Southern Methodist University, for “Back to the Future: The Migration Challenge in Trump’s America.”
Details
World Affairs Council of Philadelphia hosts a panel of experts for “Emerging Voices.”
Details
Tuesday 1/14
World Affairs Council of Western Michigan hosts
Ambassador Jon M. Huntsman Jr., 2020 Utah Gubernatorial Candidate, for “Inaugural Vandenberg Prize Luncheon.”
Details
World Affairs Council of Atlanta hosts
James Azar, Co-Founder and CMO of CyberHub USA, for “Nation of Disinformation?”
Details
Sarasota World Affairs Council hosts
Jamal Abdi, President of the National Iranian American Council, for “The Political of Hate Have Driven the U.S. and Iran to the Brink.”
Details
World Affairs Council of Maine hosts
Barbara Finamore, Senior Strategic Director for Asia at the Natural Resources Defense Council, for “Will China Save the Planet?”
Details
World Affairs Council of Jacksonville hosts
Admiral James G. Stavridis, USN (ret.), Chief International Security Analyst for NBC News, for “Global Power and Sea Power.”
Details
World Affairs (Northern California) hosts
Anna Péczeli, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Center for Global Security Research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, for “The Future of the U.S.-Russian Arms Control Process.”
Details
World Affairs Council of Inland Southern California hosts
Mark Katz, Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, for “Russia’s Increasing Presence in the Mideast…What Are Putin’s Goals?”
Details
Wednesday 1/15
World Affairs Council of South Texas hosts
Bill Clifford, President and CEO of the World Affairs Councils of America, for “Asia in Turmoil? Fallout from Japan-Korea Feud and China’s Belt & Road Initiative.”
Details
World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana hosts
Hamse Warfa, Co-Founder & Executive Vice President of BanQu, for “Dignity Through Data: Blockchain for Social Impact.”
Details
World Affairs Council of Greater Reading hosts
Chris Pruitt, President and CEO of East Penn Manufacturing, for “East Penn Today, Locally, Nationally, and Internationally.”
Details
World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth hosts
Thomas Bollyky, Director of the Global Health Program at the Council on Foreign Relations, for “Global Health Care: What Is the U.S. Doing About It?”
Details
World Affairs Council of Rhode Island hosts
Douglas Hsu, Director-General of the Taipei Economic & Cultural Office in Boston, for “Understanding Asia: Taiwan, China, and U.S. Foreign Policy.”
Details
Cleveland Council on World Affairs hosts
Ambassador (ret.) Stephen Young, former Consul General of the U.S. to Hong Kong, for “Taiwan and the U.S.: What Does the Future Hold?”
Details
Global Minnesota hosts
Tom Hanson, Diplomat in Residence at the Alworth Institute for International Affairs at the University of Minnesota, for “2020 U.S. Foreign Policy Update.”
Details
Los Angeles World Affairs Council & Town Hall hosts
Heather Williams, Senior Policy Researcher at the RAND Corporation, and
Maryam Zar, Founder of Womenfound, for “What’s Next for U.S.-Iran Relations?”
Details
San Diego World Affairs Council hosts
Richard Nuccio, Team Leader of the European Union's Parliamentary Support Project for Myanmar's Union-level Joint Public Accounts Committee, for “From Dictatorship to Democracy? Myanmar’s Uneasy Transition.”
Details
World Affairs Council of Upstate hosts author and professor
Akan Malici, Furman University, for “Iran and Nuclear Weapons.”
Details
World Affairs Council of Philadelphia hosts a panel of experts for “What Really Causes Instability in the Middle East.”
Details
Thursday 1/16
Santa Fe Council on International Relations hosts
Ambassador (ret.) Vicki Huddleston,
Emile Nakhleh, Director of the Global and National Security Policy Institute at the University of New Mexico, and professor
Todd Greentree, Global and National Security Program at the University of New Mexico, for “War With Iran? Risks and Implications.”
Details
World Affairs Council of Seattle hosts
General (ret.) Barry McCaffrey, former Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, for “A Rapid Response Discussion on Iran.”
Details
World Affairs Council of Greater Houston hosts
John Gans, Director of Communications and Research at Perry World House, for a book event, “
White House Warriors: How the National Security Council Transformed the American Way of War.”
Details
Savannah Council on World Affairs hosts
Robert Suettinger, Senior Policy Analyst at Rand Corporation, for “The Current Relationship Status of the U.S. & The People’s Republic of China.”
Details
Santa Fe Council on International Relations hosts President Emeritus
John Dobson for “Tariffs and Trade: Looking Backward and Forward.”
Details
Juneau World Affairs Council hosts
Shelby Surdyk, Project Coordinator at Point Hope, for “Depleted Uranium in Iraq: A Summary of Public Health Impacts and Controversy.”
Details
Worcester World Affairs Council hosts
Daniel Maxwell, Henry J. Leir Professor in Food Security at Tufts University, for “Famine and Conflicts Around the World.”
Details
Indiana Council on World Affairs hosts
C. Christine Fair, Provost’s Distinguished Associate Professor, Georgetown University, for “The Afghan War: Why We Lost.”
Details
World Affairs Council of Sonoma County hosts professor
Tom Ginsburg, University of Chicago, for “How to Save a Constitutional Democracy…Including Ours.”
Details
Olympia World Affairs Council hosts professor
Jonathan Warren, University of Washington, for “Bolsonaro and the Resurgence of Brazilian Fascism.”
Details
Friday 1/17
World Affairs Council of Inland Southern California hosts
Laura Russ, Regional Economic Officer at the U.S. Office of Arabian Peninsula Affairs, for “U.S. Policy on the Arabian Peninsula – What Are America’s Diplomatic Goals?”
Details
WorldOregon hosts associate professor
Yan Liang, Willamette University, for “Great Decisions: China’s Road into Latin America.”
Details
Alaska World Affairs Council hosts musicians
Mike Dawes,
Olli Soikkeli,
Cenk Erdogan, and
Jim West for “Have Guitar, Will Travel: Travel Tips, Music, and Stories from England, Finland, Hawaii, and Turkey.”
Details
Saturday 1/18
World Affairs Council of Greater Hampton Roads hosts
Captain Robert “Gus” Gusentine, USN (ret.), for “Great Decisions: The Philippines and the U.S.”
Details
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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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Travel the World With WAC Philadelphia
Travel with Council Leaders
- hear them lecture on Travel the World tours from the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia!
2020 travel schedule includes trips to:
- Ambassador Mark Johnson, former Vice Chair, World Affairs Councils of America, Egypt & the Eternal Nile: January 28-February 11, 2020
- Ambassador Heather Hodges, President and Ambassador in Residence, Cleveland Council on World Affairs, Barcelona: April 18-26, 2020
- Lise Falskow, President & CEO, Alaska World Affairs Council, Scottish Isles and Norwegian Fjords: May 16-24, 2020
- Dr. Pamela Zeiser, Education Liaison, World Affairs Council of Jacksonville, Berlin Uncovered: May 24-31, 2020
- Jim Falk, President & CEO, World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth, Arctic Expedition: Voyage Under the Midnight Sun: June 9-19, 2020
- Ljubomir (LJ) Stambuk, President & CEO, World Affairs Council of Charlotte, Sailing Ancient Trade Routes: Helsinki to Copenhagen: June 27-July 9, 2020
- Craig Snyder, President & CEO, World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, Ukraine Seminar: July 5-16, 2020
- Mimi Gregory, Vice President and Program Chairman, Naples Council on World Affairs, Cruising the Adriatic and Aegean Seas: September 9-17, 2020
- Bill Clifford, President & CEO, World Affairs Councils of America, Ancient Greece Odyssey: October 22-30, 2020
- Don Samford, Chairman of the Education Outreach and Program Committees, Peoria Area World Affairs Council, Legendary Turkey: October 2-16, 2020
- Derrick Olsen, President, WorldOregon, Romance of the Douro River: October 13-24, 2020
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1010 Vermont Avenue NW, Suite 516, Washington, DC 20005
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