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President's Message
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Dear Colleagues and Friends,
For the past month, everyone - world leaders, U.S. elected representatives and government agencies, companies and nonprofit organizations, the media and academia, and private citizens as well as those who would visit our country - has been trying to find firm footing as the Trump Era dawns.
This is true of the White House itself, which appears to be recovering from early controversies at the National Security Agency, where the president has appointed the highly respected Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster as his new top adviser.
And it is true for WACA, and for me, too. In my Jan. 30 introduction to our monthly newsletter, I made a few observations and took one position. The position - that WACA "stands in solidarity with a free and independent press" - I believe is noncontroversial and essential.
Of all the excellent commentary in recent weeks on the proper role of media in our democracy, one in particular stands out: the Wall Street Journal's foreign-affairs columnist Bret Stephens delivered the Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture last week at UCLA (the
full transcript was published by TIME). It is sensitive, thoughtful, and personal. Full disclosure: WACA hosted Mr. Stephens for a
Cover to Cover author call in December 2014 to discuss his book,
America in Retreat: The New Isolationism and the Coming Global Disorder. While I often disagree with his columns, I read them with respect because they consistently challenge my assumptions and invite reflection and learning.
The primary intention of my letter was to encourage Councils to continue to stimulate public dialogue and learning opportunities with the forums you convene. I made a serious effort to support my observations with more than 25 diverse sources that I thought could be helpful to Councils, linking to a range of voices specifically to uphold the nonpartisanship that we all hold dear.
While feedback in e-mails and from some 35 Council leaders, staff, and local Board members who attended WACA's Feb. 9 breakfast meeting at the Global Ties U.S. annual meeting was broadly supportive, a few leaders wrote to sharply criticize the letter. I accept and regret that the note's tone caused misunderstandings.
My aim has always been to serve Councils so that they can be maximally inclusive, and enable WACA and the Council network to provide as wide a tent as possible for sharing local, national, and global perspectives. The WACA national office and I remain so dedicated.
Many Councils tell us that they are still finding their own footing when it comes to the issue of nonpartisanship, and to what constitutes permissible advocacy. Thanks to our discussion at Global Ties and subsequent research, I will offer several resources in our monthly newsletter next Monday. I look forward to continuing the conversation.
Yours,
Bill Clifford, President and CEO
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America's Diplomats: Applications Due February 24
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The World Affairs Councils of America is pleased to announce our renewed collaboration with the American Academy of Diplomacy on a program series entitled America's Diplomats. The program features a screening of the PBS film America's Diplomats followed by a discussion of the role of U.S. diplomacy with a distinguished former ambassador.
Additional discussions following the film will focus on examining and analyzing what the American public wants to know about foreign policy, what they expect from foreign policy, and what makes people comfortable or uncomfortable with the conduct of American foreign policy.
The Academy will make available a former ambassador to speak on the importance of contemporary American diplomacy. The event will include a Q&A session with Council audiences.
The America's Diplomats program will be conducted through June 2017. The 2017 program Application Form
is due by
February 24, 2017
. Find application details here.
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WACA Podcast: David Biello
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Listen to the podcast here.
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WACA 2017 National Conference
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Save the Date!
WACA's 2017 National Conference
will be held on
November 15-17
For more than two decades, the World Affairs Councils of America's annual conference has presented top government officials, diplomats, business executives, civic leaders, think tank policy experts and journalists to a national audience. Council leaders and members from WACA's affiliates across the country engage with these speakers and thought leaders over the course of three stimulating days in our nation's capital. The
2016 event was great, and we look forward to welcoming you back this November!
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Academic WorldQuest 2016-2017
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This year's
AWQ Study Guide
, is now available, along with complete information about the Carlos and MalĂș Alvarez 2017 Academic WorldQuest
National Competition.
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
.
Registration for the AWQ National Competition has started.
Teams
must complete this Registration Form as soon as possible in order to participate.
Registration forms are due no later than March 20!
Hotel Reservations:
To utilize our special hotel rates, book your room now at the Washington Marriott at Metro Center (775 12th St. NW, Washington, DC 20005)! For reservations click here
. Book now! These discounted rates expire
March 30
.
Thank You to Our Generous Sponsors:
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World Affairs Councils Highlights
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Monday, February 20
World Affairs Council of Western Michigan's Great Decisions lecture series featured Jack Segal, former diplomat and co-chairman of the International Affairs Forum (Traverse City), on "Nuclear Insecurity: Next Steps?"
Details
Naples Council on World Affairs hosted David Rohde, national security investigations editor at Reuters and a CNN contributor, on "Inside the Strained U.S.-Saudi Alliance"
Details
Richmond World Affairs Council hosted William L. Murray, senior public policy and electric policy director for Dominion, on "21st Century Energy Policy" Details
Tuesday, February 21
Cleveland Council on World Affairs hosts WACA Conference keynoter Evans Revere, nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center for East Asia Policy Studies and senior advisor with the Albright Stonebridge Group, on "The Future of U.S. and North Korea Relationship" Details
WorldBoston hosts Arthur R. Kroeber, nonresident senior fellow at Brookings-Tsinghua Center, on "China in the Time of Trump"
Details
World Affairs Council of Palm Beach hosts Frank Cilluffo, Associate Vice President and Director of the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University, on "U.S. and Global Cybersecurity"
Details
Indiana Council on World Affairs hosts Dr. Ana Maria Ferreira, professor of Spanish in the Global Language and Cross-Cultural Studies Department at the University of Indianapolis, on "Latin America's Political Pendulum"
Details
World Affairs Council of Atlanta hosts Dr. Jagdish Sheth, professor in the Goizueta School at the Emory University, on "India in 10 Years: A Progress Report"
Details
World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana hosts Firas Hamza, senior digital transformation advisor at Microsoft, and Djenita Pasic, business attorney, on "Voices from Refugees Through the Decades"
Details
World Affairs Council of Western North Carolina hosts a Great Decisions lecture series featuring Rick Devereaux, career Air Force officer, on "Nuclear Security"
Details
World Affairs Council of Rhode Island hosts Dr. Timmons Roberts, Professor and director of the Center for Environmental Studies at Brown University, on "Global Progress in Cooling a Warming Earth"
Details
World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth host Geneive Abdo, senior fellow at the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East with the Atlantic Council, on "Rebirth of the Shi'a-Sunni Divide"
Details
Colorado Foothills World Affairs Council hosts Laura Secor, author of Children of Paradise, on "The Struggle for the Soul of Iran"
Details
Wednesday, February 22
World Affairs Council of Orange County hosts Congressman Adam Schiff, representative of California's 28th Congressional District and top Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, on "The Russian Threat to the U.S. and the Democracies around the World"
Details
World Affairs Council of Charlotte hosts Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America and co-chairman of the January 2017 meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on "U.S. Economic Growth and the Global Economy" Details
WorldDenver hosts Eleanor Allen, CEO of Water for People; Paula Macllwaine, Deputy CEO of American Water Works Association; Katy Sill, water and sanitation advisor in the USAID Water Office in the Bureau for Economic Growth, Education, and Environment; and Dr. Marshall Davert, President of MWH, Government and Infrastructure for the Americas and Asia Pacific, on "UN Sustainable Development Goals: Clean Water and Sanitation"
Details
World Affairs Council of Washington - DC hosts Dr. Robert Barrett, expert with the Middle East Institute, and a Senior Fellow with the Joint Special Operations University and the Air Force Special Operations School, on "The Gulf and the Struggle for Hegemony"
Details
Global Minnesota hosts Michael Shifter, President of Inter-American Dialogue, on "Latin America: Prospects for Peace and Progress"
Details
Greater Cincinnati World Affairs Council hosts Danielle McDonald, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Northern Kentucky University, on "Is Justice Blind? Race, Class, and Our Criminal Justice System" Details
World Affairs Council of Northern California hosts James Russell, Associate Professor at the Department of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School, on "Saudi Arabia: Can It Survive as a Nation-State?"
Details
World Affairs Council of Greater Houston hosts Jennifer Harris, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, on "War by Other Means: Geoeconomics and Statecraft"
Details
W
orld Affairs Council of Jacksonville hosts Jeremy Siegel, Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, on "What's Ahead for Global Markets and the Economy?"
Details
World Affairs Council of Tacoma hosts John Wiesman, Secretary of Health in the Washington State Department of Health; Dr. David Reyes, Assistant Professor in the Nursing and Healthcare Leadership Program at the University of Washington Tacoma; and Janna Bardi, Assistant Secretary at the Prevention and Community Health Division at the Washington State Department of Health, on "Global Health"
Details
Thursday, February 23
World Affairs Council of New Hampshire hosts Fernandez-Arias, Spanish diplomat and fellow at Harvard's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, on "Examining Xenophobia: How Will the International Community Protect Human Rights and Promote Tolerance?"
Details
World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh hosts Steve Orosz, former Deputy Assistant Secretary General with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, on "Current Challenges Facing NATO"
Details
World Affairs Council of Sonoma County hosts George Rutherford, a board-certified pediatrician and an expert on epidemiology and control of communicable diseases, on "Zika Virus in the Americas: Return of the Columbian Exchange"
Details
Santa Fe Council on International Relations hosts Siegfried Hecker professor in the Department of Management Science and Engineering and a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, on "Nuclear North Korea and Lessons for the Iran Deal"
Details
The North County Chapter at the San Diego World Affairs Council, hosts Reverend Daren Erisman, expert on Christian-Muslim relationships, on "The One and the Many: The Challenge of Unity and Diversity within Islam"
Details
World Affairs Council of Northern California hosts Donald Sharpes, Professor in the Emeritus College at Arizona State University, on "ISIS: The Collapse of a Caliphate"
Details
Montana World Affairs Council hosts Hayley Smith, founder of Lifting Hands International, on "Refugee Crisis: A Discussion of Global Importance"
Details
Institute of World Affairs (Milwaukee) hosts Alex Bozmoski, director of strategy and operations at republicEN, and Michael Vickerman program and policy director at Renew Wisconsin, on "Change of Climate: Energy Policy and the Environment"
Details
Friday, February 24:
World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth hosts Elliot Ackerman, author and journalist, on his book "Syria: Dark at the Crossing"
Details
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Travel the World from WAC Philadelphia
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Travel with Council Leaders - hear them lecture on Travel the World tours from the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia!
Joyce M. Davis, President, World Affairs Council of Harrisburg,
Journey to Southern Africa: February 26 - March 13.
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The World Affairs Councils of America 1200 18th St., NW, Suite 902, Washington, DC 20036 Phone (202) 833-4557 Fax (202) 833-4555 Email waca@worldaffairscouncils.org Website www.worldaffairscouncils.org |
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