World Affairs Council of Washington, DC
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The World Affairs Council of Washington, DC, founded in 1980, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization in Washington, DC. The group's efforts are aimed at informing and educating the public about contemporary international affairs. Its corporate sponsors include Aramco Service Company, AIG, Raytheon, and ExxonMobile[1], and it relies primarily on dues from individual and corporate members.[2]
The Council is an affiliate of the Foreign Policy Association in New York and is part of a national network of 86 World Affairs Councils representing 500,000 members throughout the United States.
Contents |
[edit] Mission Statement
The aim of the World Affairs Council of Washington, D.C. is to provide opportunities for education on world affairs and current events in the D.C. area. The Council organizes events and programs focused on international issues for students, educators, and the general public. These programs are meant to allow the public access to foreign policy experts, provide resources for educators in conveying world issues in their classrooms, and give students opportunities to learn about foreign affairs and the Foreign Service through events, special programs, and internships.[3]
[edit] Programs and Events
The World Affairs Council organizes a number of events in the D.C. area geared toward providing educational opportunities focused on international affairs. These events include public programs featuring journalists, public officials, and foreign policy experts, seminars for educators, and outreach programs for students.
[edit] Public Programs
Foreign Affairs Series The Foreign Affairs Series includes panels and speakers featuring foreign policy experts and public officials who discuss current events and other timely topics. These events typically include a panel discussion of experts or include discussion of opposing views on U.S. foreign policy. Speakers at the Foreign Affairs Series have included Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid, US Ambassador Chas. W. Freeman, and Colombian Ambassador Camilo Alfonoso Ospina Bernal.
Meet The Ambassadors Series The Meet the Ambassadors Series invites both U.S. and Foreign Ambassadors to speak about the regions they work in and with in public events. Recent speakers have included Afghan Ambassador Said Taeb Jawad, U.S. Ambassador Ronald E. Neumann, and Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Álvarez Herrera.
Embassy Series In the Embassy Series, event attendees visit foreign embassies in Washington, D.C. and meet with the ambassador or other embassy officials. Embassies have included those of South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Spain.
Author Series The Author Series features prominent authors whose work focuses on foreign affairs issues. Recent speakers have included Ashraf Ghani, author of Fixing Failed States; Ellen Frost, author of Asia's New Regionalism; and Sir Lawrence Freedman, author of A Choice of Enemies: American Confronts the Middle East.
Town Hall Meetings Forums are conducted by a panel of experts who discuss and debate global topics. Past meetings have included Global Climate Change, Nuclear Arms Proliferation, and Darfur.
Distinguished Speaker Series The Distinguished Speaker series allows council members and guests to attend talks with leading figures in the international community. These speakers have included Lloyd’s Chairman Lord Peter Levene and General (Ret.) Anthony Zinni.
Young Professional Events Unlike other WACDC events, Young Professional occasions are held exclusively for the Council's Young Professionals and their guests, providing for a more relaxed environment to enable those in the working young professional community in the District to meet one another and converse about the most pressing global issues of the day.)
[edit] Education Programs
Summer Institute for High School Educators In its 19th year, the Summer Institute on International Affairs affords high school teachers with an international outlook from around the greater Metropolitan area and across the country the opportunity to learn how to bring an understanding of global issues and world affairs into the classroom. The week-long seminar consists of reputable speakers, workshops, discussions and idea exchanges, and embassy trips, providing the visiting educators the chance to better recognize how the United States fits into to the greater international arena.
Young Journalist Program Launched in 2004, the Young Journalist program’s mission is to present high school journalists with the opportunity to meet in an exclusive setting with American policymakers, academics, writers, diplomats, and others with relevant international experience. The program enables these students to develop their journalism skills while reporting, interviewing, thinking, and writing critically.
Youth Forum Series WACDC also hosts all-day forums targeting local high school students and their teachers, with specific topics focused on key and relevant issues in today’s international arena.
Worldquest Worldquest is an academic competition with programs geared toward high school students and young professionals in which teams answer questions pertaining to foreign affairs, geography, foreign culture, international organizations, and recent history. Such competitions take place at the local level, arranged by individual branches of the World Affairs Council, and goes onto a national competition arranged by the World Affairs Councils of America in Washington, D.C. The D.C. branch also arranges monthly Worldquest competitions for young professionals in the D.C. area. Both competitions entail four-person teams that answer questions during seven rounds with varying categories, as well as questions that test the competitors’ knowledge of international flags and world leaders.
[edit] Notable Speakers
Notable speakers at WACDC events have included:
- Joe Biden - Senior US Senator from Delaware. [5]
- John Mearsheimer - Professor of political science at the University of Chicago, co-author of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.
- Stephen Walt - Professor of international affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, co-author of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.
- Vincente Fox - Former President of Mexico.
- Dennis Kucinich - US Representative from Ohio's 10th district.[6]
- Saqr Ghobash - Former Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the United States.
- Susan Page - Washington Bureau Chief for USA Today.
- General Wesley Clark - Retired General and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander. [7]
- Rajiv Chandrasekaran - Currently assistant managing editor for continuous news at The Washington Post, wrote the book Imperial Life in the Emerald City.
- Ronald E. Neumann - Former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan.
- Carlos Westendorp y Cabeza - Ambassador of Spain to the United States.
- Bill Plante - CBS News White House Correspondent.
- Anthony Shadid - Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the Washington Post specializing in Islamic affairs.
- Sir Lawrence Freedman - Professor of War Studies at King's College London with expertise in nuclear strategy and the Cold War.
- Ahmed Rashid - Pakistani journalist and author of several books on political upheval in South and Central Asia, including Descent into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia.
[edit] Current Board of Directors and Staff
The members of the current Board of Directors of the World Affairs Council of Washington, D.C. are Robert D. Bauerlein, Robert J. Berry (Treasurer), Julia Chang Bloch, Joseph Caracuel, Ronald Covais, Diana Lady Dougan, John M. Duff, Jr., Chas. W. Freeman, Jr., R. Michael Gadbaw, Patrick Gross (Co-Founder and Former Chairman), Michael Haltzel (Secretary), A. Elizabeth Jones, Franklin Kramer (Chairman), Noel Lateef, Richard P. Merski, Philip A. Odeen, Thomas J. Reckford (Vice-Chairman), Helmut Sonnenfeldt, Togo D. West, Jr., Wesley S. Williams, Jr., R. James Woosley, Howard Woolley, and Tobia Mercuro.[8]
The current president of the Council is Heidi Shoup. [9]
