WACA will host  Howard French to discuss his new book,  Everything Under the Heavens: How the Past Helps Shape China's Push for Global Power , for this month's Cover to Cover conference call Tuesday, April 11, at 2:00-2:30 PM ET.

Howard French is Associate Professor of Journalism at Columbia University. He wrote from Africa for The Washington Post, and later was The New York Times bureau chief in Central America and the Caribbean, West and Central Africa, Japan, and China. French is the recipient of two Overseas Press Club awards and a two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee. He has written for The Atlantic, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine, and Rolling Stone, among other national publications. (Full bio.)

"Everything Under the Heavens is the most persuasive account I've ever read of how China's history shapes its foreign policy and that of its neighbors today. A subtle and beautifully written book that offers surprising lessons for how Americans and Asians should respond to China's rise. Strongly recommended for policy makers and citizens alike." - Susan Shirk, Chair of 21st Century China Center, University of California, San Diego.

SAVE THE DATES! 

WACA is  pleased to announce that the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh will graciously host the Spring Leadership Meeting for Councils on June 8-9, one day before the WACA National Board's Summer Meeting on June 10.  The program opens with a welcome reception (to which a prominent foreign policy expert has been invited) on Thursday, June 8. Spring Leadership workshops will be held from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm on Friday, June 9. Including a keynote luncheon with  Chris Howard, President of Robert Morris University. 

Dr. Howard is a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and earned a doctorate in politics as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. He also has an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School. Dr. Howard's service to his country began as a helicopter pilot, then as an intelligence officer, where he was assigned to the elite Joint Special Operations Command. After 9/11, he served in Afghanistan in the Air Force Reserve and was awarded the Bronze Star. He also served as the Reserve Air Attaché to Liberia. Dr. Howard won the Campbell Trophy, the nation's highest academic award for a senior college football player. Dr. Howard is the founder and a trustee of the Impact Young Lives Foundation, a nonprofit organization that brings South African college students of color to the US for summer educational and cultural tours.

WACA will share reservation links later this week for our group blocks at Kimpton Hotel Monaco Pittsburgh and Drury Plaza Pittsburgh Downtown (for up to three nights in downtown Pittsburgh).

The full Spring Leadership Meeting agenda, activities such as visits to The Andy Warhol Museum and Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, and the program registration fee and hotel information, will be announced as soon as possible.

We look forward to seeing you in Pittsburgh! 

Brookings Institution highlights  the Columbus Council on World Affairs in a post "Creating a Globally Fluent Region in Columbus, Ohio" about CCWA's new program  to educate and train its community. "Global fluency," the Brookings authors say, enables communities to "identify and capitalize on new economic opportunities, successfully integrate newcomers, and ensure the population is prepared to adapt to rapidly changing economic realities." 

"The CCWA's programs are unique in that they are designed to better ensure long-term economic vitality and quality of life in the Columbus region by increasing the global fluency of its existing residents, not just support executives that conduct business internationally or help new foreign executives make the adjustment to living in the region."  Read full article here . 

World Affairs Council Upstate on April 27 will host a half-day  Global Fluency Training and Regional Forum led by Brad Gosche, Senior Director of the Global Fluency Institute of the Columbus Council.

World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth's Global I.Q. Minute featured Mexico's Ambassador to the United States Gerónimo Gutiérrez. I n this episode with Jim Falk, Ambassador Gutiérrez touches on what he sees as a hopeful future for an improved NAFTA. Regarding campaign issues, i.e., the "wall," the Ambassador says that does not form "part of the bilateral agenda."  Listen to the podcast .

The Carlos and Malu Alvarez 2017 Academic WorldQuest National Competition will be held on Saturday, April 29 , at the

National Press Club in  Washington, DC. 

This year's National Competition will feature a welcome reception at the  United States Institute of Peace , on  Friday, April 28, at 4:30-6:00 PM.  For Topics, Study Guide, and other information click  here . 

Please see the 2017 Program Schedule and stay tuned for updates. 

This year's  AWQ Study Guide , is also on our website. 

USIP Reception Welcoming Remarks: 

WACA is pleased to announce that  Ambassador William Taylor, Executive Vice President of USIP, will make welcoming remarks entitled  " Peacebuilding in Practice" , at the AWQ 2017 Reception at the  United States Institute of Peace .

   

Travel with Council Leaders - hear them lecture on Travel the World tours from the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia!

2017 travel schedule includes trips to: 

• Mimi Gregory, VP and Program Chairman, Naples Council on World Affairs, Cruise the Face of Europe:  May 15 - 30
• Dr. Carla Thorson, Senior VP of Programs, WAC of Northern California, Circumnavigation of Iceland: Aug. 1 - 9 
• Kay Maxwell, Executive Director, World Affairs Forum (Stamford), Silk Road Odyssey: Oct. 3 - 19
• Derrick Olsen, President, WAC of Oregon, Trade Routes of Coastal Iberia: Oct. 9 -17
• Ambassador Mark Johnson, Founder, WAC of Montana, Mystique of the Orient: Oct. 17 - 29
• Dr. Jerry Leach, fmr. President, World Affairs Councils of America, Inside Morocco: Oct. 20 - Nov. 2

Contact www.wacphila.org/travel  or call 1-800-942-5004 , ext.  209  or 217 .