By Daniel Siegeltuch Daniel Byman, professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, joined the World Affairs Council-Washington, DC on September 16, 2015 for an Author Series event. His new book,Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Global Jihadist Movement: What Everyone Needs to Know, assesses the threat of radical Islamic terrorism throughout the world and examines the evolution of global jihad.
0 Comments
By Julia Schoonover On Wednesday, September 9, 2015, World Affairs Council-Washington, DC hosted a Foreign Policy Panel debate, “Should Congress Pass a Resolution of Disapproval of the Iran Nuclear Agreement?” The event was moderated by Anna Mulrine, Defense Correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor. Ms. Mulrine opened the debate by reminding everyone that currently President Obama has the support he needs in Congress go ahead with the Iran Nuclear Agreement. She also went on the state that this is one of the most highly debated topics since the Iraq war.
By: Analise McNicholl From July 20-24th, WAC-DC will host high school students from across the DC area at the annual Leadership Academy on International Affairs. The week will include insight from expert guest speakers, student-led discussion, and interactive simulation games aimed at helping students understand the pivotal role of globalization in today’s interconnected world.
By Ben van der Horst On Tuesday July 21, 2015, World Affairs Council – Washington, DC hosted a Foreign Policy Panel event, “Thaw in US-Cuba Relations: What’s Next?” On July 20, 2015, the Cuban flag flew over its embassy in Washington, DC for the first time after 54 years of hostility resonating from the Cold War era. T In December 2014, President Barack Obama revealed to the public his secret negotiations with Cuban officials and his goals of renormalizing US-Cuba relations for good. While many see this as a positive development, there are still many issues that stand in the way of normalization. The WAC-DC discussion addressed the challenges and potential impacts for the United States and Cuba in the process of reestablishing regular relations. Panelists Included: Peter Hakim, President Emeritus, Inter-American Dialogue; Ambassador Otto Reich, former Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs and President of Otto Reich Associates, LLC; and Sarah Stephens, the Executive Director of the Center for Democracy in the Americas. The program was moderated by Maria Peña, the Washington Correspondent for impreMedia.
By: Allie Estremera On Tuesday July 7, 2015, World Affairs Council-Washington, DC hosted a Foreign Policy Panel event, “Greek Financial Crisis and Referendum: Another Step Closer to the Grexit?” On July 5th, 2015, the Greek government held a referendum on whether the country would accept the bailout terms provided by its creditors. 61 percent of Greeks voted against the austerity plan that would also provide Greece with some debt relief in the form of cash payments to the Greek Central banks. The program addressed the future of Greece and the EU, but the most pressing issue of the night was what a “Grexit” would mean for the EU? The panelists were: Dr. Theodore C. Kariotis, a professor of economics for the University System of Maryland, and Dr. Constanze Stelzenmüller, the inaugural Robert Bosch senior fellow with the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution. The program was moderated by John Greenwald, a partner at Cassidy Levy Kent and WAC-DC Board Member.
By Ben van der Horst On Thursday June 25, 2015, World Affairs Council – Washington, DC hosted a Foreign Policy Panel event, “One Year Since Caliphate Declared: Combatting ISIL.” On June 29th, 2015, it will have been exactly a full year since ISIL declared itself a Caliphate and the US strategy to combat ISIL has yet to be fully developed. ISIL now controls almost a third of both Iraq and Syria and their territorial influence is still growing. Their recruitment strategy is extremely effective and they continue to receive new acolytes every day. There are 22,000 foreigners fighting for ISIL who represent over half of the world’s countries. The program addressed the challenges that the United States and its Coalition Allies must face if they are to degrade and destroy ISIL. Panelists included: Thomas Sanderson, co-director and senior fellow in the Center for Strategic International Studies Transnational Threats Project, and Dr. Shadi Hamid, a fellow in the Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World in the Center for Middle East Policy, and the author of “Temptations of Power: Islamists and Illiberal Democracy in a New Middle East” (Oxford University Press, 2014). The program was moderated by Bryan Bender, The Defense Editor and National Security Correspondent for POLITICO. By Gabby LaVerghetta Education needs to bring the world into the classroom. That was the theme of Ashok Regmi’s presentation “The Importance of Empowering Youth Around the World” at WAC-DC’s 2015 Summer Institute on International Affairs for High School Educators. Regmi is Director of Social Innovation at the International Youth Foundation in Baltimore, an organization dedicated to developing young people into productive and engaged citizens. To understand the changes needed in education, Regmi said, we must look no further than six global trends occurring now. By Analise McNicholl At the Fund for Peace, on-the-ground researchers approach conflict like doctors approach illness; analyze the symptoms of conflict, isolate the problem and judge its severity. Through the Fragile States Index (FSI), researchers collect data at national, provincial, and local levels and rank their findings based on a scale of 12 indicators of stability. However, some states consider the ranking system controversial because it allows western nations to judge the development of more impoverished and conflict-ridden areas.
Welcome to the World Affairs Council - Washington, DC blog! Follow us for the latest updates on our global education programs, recaps of our public events, and more! |
|