San Diego World Affairs Council

Month: March 2021

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Mar 1

Distinguished Speaker Series - Audie de Castro, Esq, on "Trade and Tourism in the Philippines"

Apr 1

U.S. Soft Power in Foreign Policy Series Part II

Upcoming WAC Events

January 25, 2021

Star Speakers at Councils This Week; Op-Ed by WAC Atlanta President; WACA Engage America; AWQ Updates; Meet WACA's New Interns; Council Highlights; and more!

Star Speakers at Councils This Week

Jovan Jovanovic

President, Civic Platform

WAC CO Foothills - Tue, Jan. 26

Trita Parsi

EVP, Quincy Institute

WAC Kentucky - Tue, Jan. 26

Princess Reema bint Bandar

Amb. of Saudi Arabia to the U.S.

WAC Houston - Wed., Jan. 27

Frederick Kempe

President and CEO

Atlantic Council

LAWACTH - Wed., Jan. 27

Zurab Pololikashvili

Secretary-General

UN World Tourism Organization

WorldBoston - Thur., Jan. 28

Jay Bryson

Mng. Dir. & Chief Economist Wells Fargo Corp. & Inv. Bank

WAC Charlotte - Thur., Jan. 28

"Resilience, Courage Needed to Plot Way Forward"

Atlanta Journal-Constitution Opinion By WAC Atlanta President, Charles Shapiro

There’s a useful phrase in Spanish that we lack in English: “auto golpe”. Literally it means self-coup. An auto golpe occurs when a president instigates an attack by the military or by mobs against the legislature. The purpose is to extend the president’s term in office.

What occurred on January 6 was an auto golpe. A huge crowd of people went to Washington to protest Congress certifying the electoral vote. A smaller group of radical extremists, egged on by lies and demagoguery, invaded the Capitol to stop the formal tally of the Electoral College vote. Make no mistake. This was not an attack against a building, but against the Congress of the United States. It was an attack instigated by the Chief Executive against a co-equal branch of the United States government. The goal was to overturn the results of the November 3 election and to take away the votes cast by my fellow Georgians. That some members of Congress promoted the Big Lie of widespread electoral fraud is astounding.

I am furious about the mayhem in the Capitol: people in tactical gear intending to hang the Vice President of the United States and bind members of Congress with zip ties; others beating Capitol police officers with flagpoles while chanting “USA, USA” as if it were the Olympics. And their targets were not just our elected representatives. The Confederate flags waving inside the rotunda signaled loud and clear that, to these invaders, Black lives do not matter, while their t-shirts emblazoned with “6MWE” (Six Million Weren’t Enough) and “Camp Auschwitz” represent an obscene glorification of the Holocaust. This rabble and their actions are appalling to all of us and antithetical to the values of American democracy.

When I asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to speak to the World Affairs Council in July, I had no idea that he would become a national hero five months later by defending the rule of law against inordinate pressure from U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and President Trump. He was a bit wonky last summer talking about voting machines and procedures. I told a friend afterwards that Raffensperger is “the straightest of straight shooters.” Thank goodness. And thank goodness for Gov. Brian Kemp, who supported Raffensperger at considerable political risk.

As a 34-year career diplomat, sworn to defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic, it pains me that Georgia’s Secretary of State demonstrated more political courage than the U.S. Secretary of State, who said not one word about the auto golpe. Raffensperger is a statesman in the truest sense of the word. In contrast, Secretary Pompeo spent his last week in office setting political traps for his successor.

The next few months will be precarious. In World Affairs Council programs about COVID-19, speakers invariably stressed that companies must be resilient. It never occurred to me that we would need democratic resilience after a mob attack on our democracy.

The task we face now is to ensure that January 6 was the high-water mark of these golpistas -- domestic terrorists and insurrectionists. The World Affairs Council will do our part to promote global, democratic and inclusive analysis by providing experts to cut through distortion and outright lies. As poet Amanda Gorman challenged us at the Inauguration, we must be brave enough to be it.

Charles Shapiro is the president of the World Affairs Council of Atlanta and a former U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela.

WACA's Engage America Speaker Series

KEI: Future of Korea 2021

U.S.-Korea Relations in a New Era

Thursday, Jan. 28 at 6:30 PM ET

Marc Knapper

Deputy Asst. Secretary for Korea and Japan, U.S. State Department

YoungJae Kim

Economic Minister, Embassy of the Republic of Korea to the U.S.

Troy Stangarone

Senior Director and Fellow, Korea Economic Institute

World Food Program USA

Feeding the World Through Innovation: How Technology & the Corporate Sector Collaborate to Fight Global Hunger

Thursday, Feb. 4 at 10:00 AM ET

Gabriela Alvarado

WFP Chief of IT Emergency Preparedness and Response

Bernhard Kowatsch

Director, WFP’s Innovation Accelerator

Tiffani Burt

Exec. Director, Sealed Air Innovation and Sustainability

WorldOregon's 2021 International Speaker Series

February 4

Nikole Hannah-Jones — 1619, Race, & Democracy

Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist

February 25

Maryn McKenna & Marcel Curlin, MD — COVID-19 & the Path to Recovery

Science/medical journalist & infectious disease specialist

March 4

Ari Shapiro — Journalism, Facts, & Other Things Considered

Cohost of NPR's All Things Considered

April 7

Tom Colicchio — Hunger, Food, & Human Rights

Acclaimed restauranteur and Top Chef lead judge

See series details here.

Meet WACA's Spring 2021 Interns!

Paige Chickering

Paige is currently a Junior at American University in DC where she is majoring in International Studies with a focus on global development & inequality and US foreign policy, as well as minoring in Arabic language. In addition to her interest in improving our global development and aid systems, Paige is also particularly passionate about the environment and global sustainability.

Allison Lampert

Allison is a current senior at Bradley University, majoring in International Studies and Spanish with minors in Political Science and Business Studies. She is passionate about global cultures and foreign relations. Allison helped to create opportunities for students to learn about various topics in foreign relations and she also worked in partnership with the Peoria Area World Affairs Council.

AWQ 2020-2021 National Competition Updates

It is confirmed the 2021 Academic WorldQuest National Competition in Washington, DC will be held virtually. Additional announcements will be forthcoming.

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 packet has been sent! Details about the National Competition platform and format will be announced by the end of this week. If you have not received the local competition questions or you have questions of your own, please email Laura Duncan at lduncan@worldaffairscouncils.org.

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. We look forward to your participation! If you have questions about this, please email Laura Duncan at lduncan@worldaffairscouncils.org.

AWQ Brainstorming Meeting Webinar Recording

View the December 17, 2020 recording (Passcode: $so7k47t)

Monday 1/25

Dayton Council on World Affairs hosts Gregory Korte, Bloomberg Senior National Correspondent, for “From Obama to Trump to Biden: Three Presidencies Viewed from the Press Pool.”

Traverse City International Affairs Forum hosts Charles Webb, U.S. Coast Guard Air Station TC Commander, for “The Lifesaving Role of the U.S. Coast Guard: A Tribute to VADM John Currier.”

Naples Council on World Affairs hosts Joseph Cirincione, Author of Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons, for “Is There A New Nuclear Reality in Our Future?”

Los Angeles World Affairs Council and Town Hall hosts a panel of experts for “The Future of U.S. Policy in Afghanistan.”

Tuesday 1/26

Colorado Foothills World Affairs Council hosts Jovan Jovanovic, President of the Civic Platform, for “Democracy vs. Geopolitics Western (Un)Intentional Support for Autocracy.”

World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Sothern Indiana hosts Trita Parsi, Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, for “Prospects for Iran Nuclear Deal 2.0.”

World Affairs Council Jacksonville hosts Admiral (ret.) James Stavridis, Operating Executive of The Carlyle Group, for “Sailing the Cyber Sea: Understanding the World of Cyber Security.”

World Affairs Council of Philadelphia hosts Charlotte Alter, Senior Correspondent at TIME, to discuss her book, The Ones We've Been Waiting For: How a New Generation of Leaders Will Transform America.

Sarasota World Affairs Council hosts Ambassador (ret.) Rick Barton, Princeton University, for “Endless Wars, Refugees, and the U.S. Role in a Turbulent World.”

World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth hosts Adrian Woolridge, Political Editor for The Economist, for “The Wake Up Call: Why the Pandemic has Exposed the Weakness of the West – and How to Fix It.”

World Affairs Forum hosts Oona A. Hathaway, Professor of International Law at Yale Law School, for “International Agreements as Political Tools.”

World Affairs Council of the Quad Cities hosts Dr. Lisa Killinger, Palmer College of Chiropractic, for “Women in Islam: at the Crossroads of Faith, Culture, Rights, and Values.”

World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts hosts Daniel Shapiro, Founder and Director of the Harvard International Negotiation Program, for “Hot Topic in Leadership & Negotiation: Negotiating the Non Negotiables in the Arab-Israeli Conflict and Beyond..”

International Relations Council (Kansas City) hosts a panel of experts for “International Film Club: The Breadwinner.”

Wednesday 1/27

World Affairs Council of Maine hosts Lisa Anderson, Professor Emerita at Columbia University, for “Reflections on the Arab Spring Ten Years After the Protests in Midan Tahrir.”

Los Angeles World Affairs Council and Town Hall hosts Frederick Kempe, President & CEO of the Atlantic Council, for “Restoring U.S. Global Leadership.”

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

World Affairs Council of Seattle hosts Jennifer Huang Bouey, Senior Policy Researcher at RAND Corporation, and Thomas Bollyky, Director of Global Health Program at the Council on Foreign Relations, for “Vaccine Nationalism.”

World Affairs (Nothern California) Hosts Andrei Tsygankov, Professor at San Francisco State University, for "Russia and the United States: An Asymmetric Relationship .”

Southeast Connecticut World Affairs Council hosts journalist-author duo Peter Baker, The New York Times, and Susan Glasser, The New Yorker, to discuss their book, The Man Who Ran Washington .

Worcester World Affairs Council hosts Eitan Peled, UNICEF USA Child Migration & Protection Program Manager, for “Child Migration Policy in the Biden Administration.”

Thursday 1/28

WorldBoston hosts Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General of the UN World Tourism Organization, and Myron Brilliant, Executive Vice President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, for “Business & Tourism in the Post-Covid World.”

World Affairs Council of Charlotte hosts Jay Bryson, Managing Director and Chief Economist at Wells Fargo Corporate and Investment Bank, for their “The 2021 Global Economic Outlook.”

World Affairs Council of Atlanta hosts Tammy Hurt, Sonic Rebel Managing Partner, for “Empowering Cities Through Music.”

Santa Fe Council on International Relations hosts Todd Greentree, Research Associate at University of Oxford, for “President Biden’s Foreign Policy Priorities.”

World Affairs Council of Greater Reading hosts Lee Lukoff, Professor at American University, for “Israeli Politics, the State of U.S. – Israeli Relations and the Recent Peace Accords.”

World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth hosts Charles Kupchan, Senior Fellow at Council on Foreign Relations, to discuss his book Isolationism: A History of America’s Efforts to Shield Itself From the World.

Los Angeles World Affairs Council and Town Hall hosts Aparna Pande, Director of the Hudson’s Initiative on the Future of India and South Asia, for “Is India the Next Global Superpower?”

Los Angeles World Affairs Council and Town Hall hosts Brian Peck, Director of USC's Center for Transnational Law & Business, for “Globalization After 2020: Reset or Retrench?”

World Affairs Council of the Dessert hosts Ted Nordhaus, Director of Research at the Breakthrough Institute, for “The Election’s Over. What Now for Global Warming?”

World Affairs Council of Orange County hosts Sam Brannen, Director of the Risk at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, for “Global Macro Trends Shaping 2021 and Beyond.”

World Affairs Council of Greater Houston hosts David McMillian, Director of Sales at Advanced Applications, and Enzo Ochoga, Agile Coach, for “Leadership Summit."

World Affairs (Northern California) hosts “Common Space Forum: Conspiracy Theories.”

Friday 1/29

World Affairs Council of Greater Houston hosts Abby Rapoport, Publisher and Co-Founder of Stranger’s Guide, for “Global Connections.”

WorldOregon hosts Elizabeth Bennett, Professor at Lewis and Clark College, for “Great Decisions: The End of Globalization?”

International Relations Council (Kansas City) hosts Michelle Arthington, Brokerage Sales Support Manager at UPS Supply Chain Solutions, for “International Career Series: Global Freight.”

Saturday 1/30

World Affairs Council of Monterey Bay hosts Gregory Gause, Head of the International Affairs Department at Texas A&M University, for “Security Issues in the Persian Gulf, 2021.”

Sunday 1/31

Peoria Area World Affairs Council hosts Kenichi Okada, Consul General of Japan in Chicago, for “Japan-United States Relations.”