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Starts: 10/02/2021 @ 10:00 am
Ends: 10/02/2021 @ 3:30 pm

Godwin College, East Hartford, CT

The World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts is pleased and proud to join the World Affairs Council of Connecticut in presenting Global Security Forum 2021 on October 1 & 2. The Global Security Forum brings the world's top leadership directly to the citizenry. Generals, experts, policymakers, and foreign leaders convene in Connecticut, a center for national defense, to address the most critical global security issues of today and the opportunities of tomorrow. Previous Global Security Forums have featured speakers including current Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, General Daniel Hokanson, 29 th Chief, National Guard Bureau, General David Petraeus, U.S. Army (Ret.), Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins, nominee, Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Affairs, Dr. Richard Haass, President, Council on Foreign Relations, and more. GSF 2021 will be hosted virtually and in person to address the central theme: Competing for the future. GSF2021 will explore emerging technologies, evolving battlefronts, and shifting global power centers to address why nations must innovate to day in order to compete for tomorrow.

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Starts: 09/22/2021 @ 7:00 pm

The World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts and Springfield will co-present a virtual event titled "Sports Diplomacy in Western Massachusetts and Beyond," scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 22, starting at 7 p.m. The evening will feature Ryan Murphy, Program Officer in the Sports Diplomacy Division of the State Department. Since 2009, Murphy has been directly overseeing the International Sports Programming Initiative (ISPI) for the Sports Diplomacy Division of the State Department, the division’s annual sports grant competition portfolio. In addition, he also serves as a liaison with the United States Olympic Committee and National Governing Bodies of Sport. Mr. Murphy will be in in conversation with Ms. Irene Rotondo ’22, Editor-in-Chief of The Springfield Student and a Communications/Sports Journalism major.

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Starts: 09/09/2021 @ 2:00 pm

Dr. Katherine Brown, President and CEO of Global Ties US and author of "Your Country, Our War: The Press and Diplomacy in Afghanistan", will on Thursday, September 9 at 2:00 PM EDT on "Afghanistan: How to Keep Supporting Our Allies" via Zoom. The event is free and open to the public. Before joining Global Ties US--the largest and oldest citizen diplomacy network in the United States--in 2018, Dr. Brown was a Public Policy Manager at Facebook, Inc., where she was also in residence as a Council on Foreign Relations’ (CFR) International Affairs Fellow. From 2013-2016, she served as the Executive Director of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy at the U.S. Department of State, an office authorized by Congress to appraise and strengthen U.S. engagement activities with foreign citizens. Dr. Brown previously served in the U.S. government as an assistant to the National Security Advisor at the White House; as a communications advisor at the American Embassy in Kabul; and as a Professional Staff Member at the Committee on Foreign Affairs at the U.S. House of Representatives.

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Starts: 06/09/2021 @ 12:00 pm

Consul General of Mexico Alberto Fierro Garza will speak at an Instant Issues Online event on Mexico/US Today: Neighbors, Partners and Friends on Wednesday, June 9 at Noon (EDT). Consul General Fierro was previously the Minister for Culture and Education at the Mexican Embassy to the United States and Executive Director of the Mexican Cultural Institute. He has been a member of Mexico's Diplomatic Corps since 1993. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he has served as Director General for Educational and Cultural Cooperation and Deputy Director General for North America. He was the Consul of Mexico in Orlando, FL and in St. Paul, MN. Early in his career he served as Deputy Cultural Attaché at the Mexican Embassy in Washington and as Cultural Attaché at the Mexican Embassy in Canada. If you have difficulty registering, try using a browser such as Chrome or a different device. If you do not have a PayPal account, you can click through when paying and check out with a regular credit card as a guest. Contact us if you continue to have trouble and we will get you registered. This event is generously sponsored by Glenmeadow, Sir Speedy, and Wilbraham and Monson Academy.

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Starts: 05/04/2021 @ 2:00 pm

Dr. Peter Abbott, OBE, British Consul General to New England will speak to us on Tuesday, May 4 at 2:00 PM EDT on Global Britain and the UK-US Special Relationship. Dr Abbott has been a member of Her Majesty’s Diplomatic Service for 15 years. Before becoming British Consul General to New England in 2020, he served as Counsellor at the British High Commission in Islamabad, Pakistan, with operational oversight of the largest mission in the UK’s overseas diplomatic network. Deputy Consul Tom Nickalls will also take part in this presentation. This event is free.

Starts: 04/15/2021 @ 12:00 pm
Ends: 04/15/2021 @ 1:00 pm

Western New England University School of Law Dean Sudha Setty will speak at a virtual event on National Security Priorities in Biden’s First 100 Days on Thursday, April 15, 2021 at Noon (EDT). Sudha Setty became Dean of the School of Law in 2018, and has served on the faculty since 2006. Dean Setty has taught courses in Constitutional Law, Law & Terrorism, National Security & Government Accountability, Contracts, and Business Organizations. She was a visiting scholar at the University of Cape Town Faculty of Law in 2018, a Fulbright Senior Specialist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law in 2014, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law in 2011. She was awarded Western New England Law School's Catherine J. Jones Professor of Year Award in 2009, 2016, and 2018, was recognized in 2015 as Trailblazer by the South Asian Bar Association of Connecticut, and received the 2017 Tapping Reeve Legal Educator Award from the Connecticut Bar Association. In July 2018, she was elected to membership in the American Law Institute.

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Starts: 03/24/2021 @ 7:30 pm

Online

Former CNN Asia Correspondent--and Northampton native--Mike Chinoy will speak to us at a virtual event on his new book Are You With Me?: Kevin Boyle and the Rise of the Human Rights Movement on Wednesday, March 24, 2021 at 7:30 PM. This event is presented in cooperation with the Western New England University School of Law. As a foreign correspondent for CNN for 24 years, Mike Chinoy won Emmy, Peabody and Dupont awards for his journalism. While he worked primarily in China and North Korea, he also reported on the Troubles in Northern Ireland in the 1970s and 80s. It was during this time that he met Kevin Boyle. Chinoy is currently a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the University of Southern California’s US-China Institute and is based in Hong Kong. His books include China Live: People, Power, and Television Revolution (1999), Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis (2008), and The Last POW (2014). Are You With Me? is currently available in Kindle format in the US with the paperback due to be released here on March 1. Generously sponsored by Glenmeadow and Wilbraham & Monson Academy.

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Starts: 02/10/2021 @ 12:00 pm
Ends: 02/10/2021 @ 1:00 pm

Online

Documentary photographer Winslow Martin will speak at an Instant Issues Online event on Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at noon ET on Behind the Soldier: A Journal of the War over Nagorno Karabakh. In Behind the Soldier Martin chronicles with words and pictures what he witnessed in Armenia, during its war against Azerbaijan. The war was fought over the long-disputed territories of Nagorno Karabakh. Martin stayed in the capital of Yerevan, realizing that everyone, everywhere was in the war. Armenia is a small country, so the battle front was always close to home. His photos of volunteers helping the cause, soldiers going and coming from war, refugees, street demonstrations, funerals, etc. combined with this commentary tell a compelling story about Armenia and life during war. (Pictured here: Volunteers prepare Yerevan’s Yerablur Cemetery for multiple burials a day.) Martin will be in conversation with longtime friend of the Council, Elizabeth Winship, former Senior Assistant Director of Admissions at Elms College and current Head Librarian at Wroclaw International School in Poland. The cost for this event is $10, free for students. Generously sponsored by Glenmeadow and Wilbraham & Monson Academy.