February 8, 2021
WACA exceeds gift matching goal; Council of the Month: Los Angeles WAC & Town Hall; Star Speakers; EU Medium-Term Economic Outlook; Council Highlights; and more!
Thanks to You, WACA Surpassed Our Fundraising Goal!
Dear Colleagues and Friends:

I am excited to share some great news:

Dozens of supporters like you rallied to contribute $78,100 for the World Affairs Councils of America’s fundraising campaign!

Thank you very much for enabling us to exceed our challenge match of $50,000 — your generosity will enable WACA and the Council network to strengthen our convening power and reach new audiences together. We are grateful for your support and your belief in the work we do to engage our communities and educational institutions in civil, fact-based discussions on the world’s most pressing issues.

Thank you for helping us kick off 2021 in the best way possible.
Bill Clifford, President and CEO
The Conversation America Needs: Civility, Bipartisanship, and America's Standing in the World
Tuesday, Feb. 9, at 6:00 PM ET
WorldDenver, Colorado Springs WAC, and WAC Colorado Foothills co-present Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (left) and General (ret.) Wesley Clark for a town hall discussion on the need for more unity and bipartisanship in our national politics and foreign policy. They will discuss the renewed commitment to civics, civility and citizenship that is needed to resolve political differences and address the major issues that face America, especially in foreign policy, national security, and world affairs.
Star Speakers at Councils This Week
Co-Authors: Julia Gillard &
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Yanzhong Huang
Global Health Sen. Fellow, CFR
John Walsh
President, UGI Corporation
Major General Paul Ormsby
Canadian Defense Attaché to US
Todd Shaw & Chris Richardson
Author & Former Diplomat
Jorge Castañeda
Fmr. Foreign Minister of Mexico
Council of the Month: Los Angeles WAC & Town Hall
The Los Angeles World Affairs Council & Town Hall hosts Dan Schnur's weekly "Politics in the Time of Coronavirus" livestreams every Tuesday at 2:00 PM ET. 

The novel Coronavirus is rapidly altering our local, state, and federal political landscapes. While daily news outlets offer a constant stream of updates, our new weekly series, Politics in the Time of Coronavirus with Dan Schnur, takes an analytical approach to the biggest headlines of the week and elevates the stories you may have missed. This interactive digital forum connects the daily news to larger political trends, and seeks to answer your most pressing political questions. Dan, a politics professor at USC, Pepperdine and UC Berkeley, assesses the tactical actions taken by our political leaders, and also dive into broader topics that are intimately affected by our politicians and their policies. Learn more!
Bill Gates and Don Cheadle on Feb. 19
Los Angeles World Affairs Council & Town Hall, Writers Bloc, and the World Affairs Councils of America are proud to present Bill Gates and Don Cheadle for a live virtual discussion on Gates' new book How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need on Friday, February 19, 2021.

*Your ticket purchase includes a hardcover copy of How to Avoid a Climate Disaster.
WACA's Engage America Speaker Series
United States Institute of Peace

Options for Peace and U.S. Policy: Findings and Recommendations of the Afghanistan Study Group
Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 7:00 PM ET
Michael Phelan
Senior Advisor, Africa and Asia
USIP
EU Medium-Term Economic Outlook: Vaccine and New Policy Developments Fuel Optimism
Thursday, February 25 at 1:00 PM ET
As the global economy emerges from the pandemic, the EU has launched an ambitious Recovery Plan that will underpin strong growth and a green, digital transformation.

With the pace of vaccine distribution set to increase steadily over the coming months and a Brexit deal on the books, there is good reason to be optimistic about the future. Although the second wave of the pandemic will inevitably delay the recovery of the EU economy, green shoots are beginning to show and the outlook for the second half of 2021 looks rosy.
AWQ National Competition
The Carlos and Malú Alvarez 2020-2021 Academic WorldQuest National Competition is scheduled to be held virtually on April 16-17, 2021.

AWQ Administrators
The AWQ local competition questions have been sent! The National Competition will utilize MyQuiz.org and Zoom breakout rooms. More technical details on the National Competition format to be announced.

2021 New Guideline!
Due to the AWQ National Competition being virtual in 2021 and endeavoring to be as inclusive as possible, each Council may bring up to three teams to the National Competition - whether you have a local competition or not. Even if your Council joins another Council's competition remotely, each Council may bring up to three teams to WACA's virtual National Competition in April.

If you have questions about AWQ, please email Laura Duncan at lduncan@worldaffairscouncils.org.
Monday 2/8

World Affairs Council of Western Michigan hosts Suzanne DiMaggio, Senior Fellow at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, for “North Korea: Getting Diplomacy Back on Track.” 

Naples Council on World Affairs hosts Charles Kupchan, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, for “Isolationism: A History of America’s Efforts to Shield Itself from the World.”  

Montana World Affairs Council hosts Karen Adams, Professor at the University of Montana, for "Why Alliances Form and Change."

Tuesday 2/9

World Affairs Council of Seattle hosts Julia Gillard, Former Prime Minister of Australia, and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Board Chair of GAVI - the Vaccine Alliance, to discuss their book Women and Leadership: Real Lives, Real Lessons.  
 
Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy hosts Yanzhong Huang, Senior Fellow for Global Health at the Council on Foreign Relations, for “China’s Vaccine Diplomacy.” 

WorldBoston hosts John Brennan, Former CIA Director and NBC analyst, to discuss his book Undaunted: My Fight Against Americ's Enemies, at Home and Abroad.

World Affairs Council of Greater Houston hosts Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the U.S., for “Her Royal Highness Reema bint Bandar Al Saud.” 

Tennessee World Affairs Council hosts Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, Kurdistan Regional Government Representative to the U.S., for “Global Dialogue.” 

Foreign Policy Association hosts Ryan Hass, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, for "A China Agenda for the Biden Administration."

World Affairs Council of Seattle hosts Dana Tizya-Tramm, Chief of the Vuntut Gwitchin Government, for “The Artic Today: Indigenous Peoples, Climate Change and the Environment.” 

World Affairs Council of St. Louis hosts Stephen Graves, Director of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Missouri, for “Reparations to Redress Historical Injustices.” 

World Affairs Council of Hilton Head hosts Colin Moseley, Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon, for “Delivering Health Care.” 

Wednesday 2/10

World Affairs Council of Greater Reading hosts John Walsh, President of UGI Corporation, for “The Future of Energy.” 

World Affairs Council of Seattle hosts Jessica Mathews, Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, for “Reviving the Iran Nuclear Deal: The Challenges for the Biden Administration.” 

Santa Fe Council on International Relations hosts Brad Allenby, Founding Director of the Center for Earth Systems Engineering and Management, for “The Rise of Cognitive Ecosystem: Advantage Authoritarianism?” 

World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth hosts Alexis Coe, New York Times Best Selling Author, to discuss her book You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington. 

World Affairs Council of Columbia hosts Dhabie Brown, Humanitarian Policy Advocate for CARE USA, for “Fighting the Global Impact of COVID-19 Through Advocacy.” 

World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts hosts photojournalist Winslow Martin for “Nagorno Karabakh Conflict.” 

World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana hosts Christiane Holzinger, Founder of 360 Business Planner, and Jessica Morgan, Development Director of Louisville Tourism, for “The Future of Tourism in a Post-Covid World.” 

Southeast Connecticut World Affairs Council hosts Trita Parsi, Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, for “America and the Middle East in 2021.” 

Los Angeles World Affairs Council & Town Hall hosts Jasmine Plummer, Research Scientist at Cedars-Sinai, and Eric Vail, Director of Molecular Pathology at Cedars-Sinai, for “Covid-19 Mutations.” 

World Affairs (Northern California) hosts Robert Paarlberg, professor at Wellesley College, for “The Future of Food: Resetting the Table.” 
 
Thursday 2/11

World Affairs Council Upstate hosts Todd Shaw, Chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of South Carolina, and Chris Richardson, Immigration Attorney, for “Global Cry for Racial Justice.” 

World Affairs Council of Philadelphia hosts Major General Paul Ormsby, Canadian Defense Attaché to the U.S., for “The Past, Present, and Future of the U.S.-Canada Defense Relationship.” 

Foreign Policy Association hosts Jorge Castañeda, Former Foreign Minister of Mexico, for "America Through Foreign Eyes."

World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth hosts Robert Zoellick, Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, to discuss his book American in the World: A History of U.S. Diplomacy and Foreign Policy. 

World Affairs Council of Charlotte hosts Tom Standage, Deputy Editor and Columnist at The Economist, for “What Will 2021 Bring to the World?” 

World Affairs Council of Orange County hosts Amb. (ret.) Peter Bodde, former U.S. Ambassador to Libya, for “Libya, a Way Forward Beyond Competing Interests.” 

WorldOregon hosts Lavell Wood, Principal at Alder Elementary School, for “What’s Race Got to do with Me?” 

World Affairs Council of Greater Houston hosts Philip Gordon, author, to discuss his book Losing the Long Game: The False Promise of Regime Change in the Middle East. 

World Affairs Council of Connecticut hosts a panel of experts for "Chinese Lunar New Year."

Santa Fe Council on International Relations hosts a panel of experts for “President Biden and the World: a View from Europe.”

Friday 2/12

International Relations Council (Kansas City) hosts Kaitlyn Allen, Founder of Global Affairs Associates, for “The Energy Sector.” 

Peoria Area World Affairs Council hosts a panel of experts for “Vaccines and Vaccinations From Development to Deployment.” 

Los Angeles World Affairs Council & Town Hall hosts a panel of experts for “How Gen Z Can Shape the Future of Technology.”