World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts

(Photo credit: BBC)

One of our most popular speakers, Dr. Javier Corrales,  Associate Professor of Political Science at Amherst College, will speak at an Instant Issues event on Wednesday, February 6, 2013 at noon on Chavismo after Chávez in the Community Room at 1350 Main Street—3rd Floor (Sovereign Bank), downtown Springfield.

The cost for members is $5 without a lunch and $15 with a lunch provided.  Nonmembers cost is $10 without a lunch and $20 with a lunch provided.  To reserve a sandwich (tuna, turkey or vegetarian), email or call the World Affairs Council office at 413-733-0110.  You can also register and pay online with a credit card here.

RSVP deadline for this event is Monday, February 4, 2013.

Most radicals will remember Hugo Chávez for his spending side. Javier Corrales tells us he should be remembered also for his selling side.

Javier Corrales at an Instant Issues event in April 2011

Javier Corrales authored or co-authored U.S.-Venezuela Relations since the 1990s: Coping with Midlevel Security Threats, Dragon in the Tropics: Hugo Chávez and the Political Economy of Revolution in Venezuela and Presidents Without Parties, edited The Politics of Sexuality in Latin America and is a contributor to The Huffington Post. His research has been published in academic journals such as Comparative Politics, World Development, Political Science Quarterly, World Policy Journal, Latin American Politics and Society, Latin American Research Review, Current History, and Foreign Policy. He serves on the editorial board of Latin American Politics and Society.

The Instant Issues series is generously sponsored by Wells Fargo Advisors LLC, Wilbraham & Monson Academy, Prosperity Candle and A. L. Cignoli Company, Our media sponsor is BusinessWest.

Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Council past president, Ken R. Furst

Over a hundred members and friends of the World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts gathered on November 12 at the Springfield Marriott to hear retired Ambassador Ryan Crocker in conversation with Council Past President Ken R. Furst about Afghanistan and other hot spots in the Middle East.  The title of the presentation was “Lessons from a Long War: The US and the Strategic challenges of the Broader Middle East”.

FieldEddy Insurance was the generous sponsor of the evening.

The event was covered by local media and an audio recording is online at New England Public Radio’s Audio/Files site.  Video is available on YouTube.com here.

Additionally, the World Affairs Council recognized Ellen Gill of Burati Travel, who recently stepped down from the Board of Directors after more than 10 years of service.

Ambassador Crocker meets with students.

Ambassador Crocker met with about two dozen students from Wilbraham & Monson Academy and The Berkshire School for additional conversation after the formal program.

Outgoing Director, Gary LeFort being recognized by Executive Director, Cyd Melcher and President, Gary Breton.

Despite some stiff competition from across the street, the 2012 Annual Meeting & Dinner of the World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts at the Springfield Sheraton was well attended and featured good food, sparkling company, gratitude for outgoing board members and a thoughtful, hopeful conversation about global sustainability.

Jim Laudato, Kathy Breton & Daphne Hall enjoy a drink and conversation before the event

The evening began with a reception where members and new friends met and enjoyed conversation before the program.  Council Board President Gary Breton–representing the evening’s sponsor Bacon Wilson, PC–welcomed the group, reported out on our busy year and successful year and noted that we ended FY2012 in the black.  (If you would like a copy of the World Affairs Council’s annual report, please contact the office at 413-733-0110.)  Nominating Committee Chair Ken R. Furst recognized outgoing board members including Gary LeFort, Ellen Gill, Tom Manzi, Dennis Egan, and Dieter Lutz.

Gary Breton then introduced the evening’s speaker, Hampshire College President Jonathan Lash, an internationally recognized expert on the subject of global sustainability.  Lash’s remarks were at once thorough, down to earth, frank and optimistic.  After the event many attendees described him as one of the best speakers the Council has ever had.

Hampshire President Jonathan Lash speaks on global sustainability

Audio of Jonathan Lash’s remarks is available here.

All in all it was a great way to kick off our 2012-2013 Program Year.  Many thanks to all who turned out.

Douglas H. Johnson describes border challenges in Sudan & South Sudan

Hampshire College President Jonathan Lash at 2012 Annual Meeting

Thanks to board member Jeremy Cole, Producer/Owner of JDColeTV, LLC, we have audio available for two recent World Affairs Council programs:  our October 4 special Instant Issues After Hours event featuring Douglas Johnson on Sudan and South Sudan, and the 2012 Annual Meeting featuring Hampshire College President Jonathan Lash who spoke on global sustainability.

Both programs can be accessed here.

Ambassador Ryan Crocker

The World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts is pleased to present Former US Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker on Monday, November 12, 2012 at a dinner event beginning at 6:00 pm at the Springfield Marriot Hotel.   Ambassador Crocker’s talk will be on “Lessons from a Long War: The US and the Strategic challenges of the Broader Middle East”.

The cost of the event is $50 per person.  Please reserve your place by Wednesday, November 7.   You can pay using a credit card here.

Ambassador Ryan Crocker is a Career Ambassador within the United States Foreign Service and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He was the United States Ambassador to Afghanistan from 2011 to 2012; the United States Ambassador to Iraq from 2007 to 2009; he previously served as the U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan from 2004 to 2007, to Syria from 1998 to 2001, to Kuwait from 1994 to 1997, and to Lebanon from 1990 to 1993. In January 2010 he became Dean of Texas A&M University’s George Bush School of Government and Public Service. He was nominated by President Barack Obama in April 2011 to serve as the next U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan.  In August, Crocker was named Yale University’s first Kissinger Senior Fellow at the Johnson Center for the Study of American Diplomacy.

World Affairs Council Past President Ken R. Furst traveled to Kabul with a delegation of other leaders from World Affairs Councils across the country in the spring of 2012 where they were the guests of Ambassador Crocker.  More information about Ken’s trip to Afghanistan, please check out his blog on this website.

You can read an article about the event including an interview with Ryan Crocker The Springfield Republican as well as an op-ed piece by Ken R. Furst here.

Academic WorldQuest 2013 will take place locally on Saturday, January 19, 2013 from 2 – 5 p.m. at the Rivers Memorial auditorium at Western New England University in Springfield.  This year competition is open to public or private high schools in any of the four westernmost counties of Massachusetts or in northern Connecticut.

The categories are:

• US Economic Competitiveness
• US Education: Competing Globally
• US Energy Policy
• Middle East
• Afghanistan/Pakistan
• China
• UN Millennium Goal: Environmental Sustainability
• Geography
• Current Events
• Cuban Missile Crisis: 50th Anniversary

AWQ 2012 Champions Springfield Renaissance Consider a Question

The winning team will go on to compete at the national Academic WorldQuest competition hosted by The World Affairs Councils of America in April.

Please help us spread the word!  Teachers, administrators or parents interested in learning more about fielding a team should contact the World Affairs Council at 413-733-0110 for more information including a study guide which will provide information about preparing for the competition.

World Affairs Council board member Rich Rediker and his wife Gayle are again generously opening up their lovely home in Hampden to the World Affairs Council to watch and discuss the third presidential debate between President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney on Monday, October 22, 2012.  Social time will begin at 8:00 p.m. with the debate scheduled to start at 9:00 p.m.

The debate will focus on foreign policy and take place at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, and Bob Schieffer, Chief Washington Correspondent for CBS New and host of Face the Nation will moderate.

This event is free, but you are invited to bring a dish to share if you would like. Please call the World Affairs Council office at 413-733-0110 by Monday, October 15 to let us know how many people are in your party and if you plan to bring any of the following:  Appetizer, Dessert, Beer, or Soda.  You can also register on our Facebook page.

This promises to be a fascinating evening so please join us and feel free to bring a friend or two.

Jonathan Doster

Dr. U Ba Win, Vice President of Early College Policies and Programs at Bard College at Simon’s Rock, and photographer Jonathan Doster will speak on What’s going on in Burma/Myanmar?  on Wednesday, October 24, 2012 at noon in the Community Room at 1350 Main Street—3rd Floor (Sovereign Bank), downtown Springfield.

The cost for members is $5 without a lunch and $15 with a lunch provided.  Nonmembers cost is $10 without a lunch and $20 with a lunch provided.  To reserve a sandwich (tuna, turkey or vegetarian), reply by email or call the World Affairs Council office at 413-733-0110 or register on line here with a credit card.

U Ba Win

RSVP deadline for this event is Monday, October 22, 2012.

The Instant Issues series is generously sponsored by Wells Fargo Advisors LLC, Wilbraham & Monson Academy, and A. L. Cignoli Company, Our media sponsor is BusinessWest.

Photo collage of the flags of South Sudan and Sudan from The Voice of Russia

The World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts, in partnership with the Five College African Studies Council, and PAHMUSA, will present Dr. Douglas H. Johnson on “Oil, People, and the Border Conflict between Sudan and South Sudan” at a special Instant Issues After Hours event on Thursday, October 4 at 5:30 p.m. at  The Glass Room at Elegant Affairs, 1380 Main Street in downtown Springfield.  The cost is $15 per person.  Hors d’oeuvres will be provided and there will be a cash bar.

Dr. Douglas H. Johnson

The RSVP deadline for this event is Tuesday, October 2.  Please call the Council at 413-733-0110 to make reservations or register on line here.

Fighting broke out earlier this year between Sudan and South Sudan around the Heglig oil field on the border between the two countries.  Is the conflict there only about oil, or are there other issues involved?  Douglas H. Johnson is a scholar specializing in the history of North East Africa, Sudan and the Southern Sudan.  He is a former member of the Abyei Boundaries Commission established by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, and the author of When Boundaries become Borders (2010) and The Root Causes of Sudan’s Civil Wars: Peace or Truce? (2011).  Dr. Johnson is currently a visiting scholar at Haverford College.

The Instant Issues series is generously sponsored by Wells Fargo Advisors LLC, Wilbraham & Monson Academy, and A. L. Cignoli Company,

Our media sponsor is BusinessWest.

Edward Guay, Principal at Wintonbury Risk Management

The World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts is pleased to partner with the Western New England University International Business Program to present Edward Guay, Principal of Wintonbury Risk Management on How “The Committee to Save the World” Nearly Destroyed It, and What Can Be Done Now to Bring It Back. Tuesday, November 27 at 8:00 a.m. at Rivers Memorial Auditorium at WNE.  The cost is $20 at the door.

This program is part of WNE’s International Business Breakfast Series.

A frequent and popular visitor to the World Affairs Council, Edward Guay is the principal of Wintonbury Risk Management, a political, economic, investment, and business risk consultancy.  Guay served previously as the Chief Economist of CIGNA Corporation and as Senior Managing Director of CIGNA Investment Management. During a 30-year career with Connecticut General Corporation and with CIGNA, Guay held a variety of financial industry research, economics, and investment strategy positions, rising to Chief Economist and then to Senior Managing Director. Guay organized Wintonbury Risk Management in 1998.  Mr. Guay is a global macro strategist. He has a long history of accurately predicting major shifts in business, financial, and political conditions. He specializes in the identification of those forces for change that will shape future events, either gradually or in climactic fashion, causing consensus business, investment, political, or geopolitical strategies to go awry. He is also a director of the World Affairs Council of Connecticut.