Throughout U.S. history there are presidents whose qualities separated them from the rest and propelled them to the highest office Washington’s honesty, Lincoln’s leadership, Kennedy’s charisma, Roosevelt’s fortitude, the list could go on. But which of these qualities can be transferred to the next generation? What leadership lessons apply today? I…

KEYNOTE – Salvatore A. GiuntaSpecialist Salvatore A. Giunta distinguished himself at the risk of his life in the Korengal Valley, Afghanistan, on October 25, 2007. While under heavy enemy fire, Specialist Giunta sprinted towards cover and engaged the enemy. After seeing that his squad leader had fallen, Specialist Giunta exposed himself to enemy fi…

Cyberspace is like the Wild West – a vast and lawless land. Both cyber warfare and cyberweapons have been used in the Russo-Ukrainian war. Rapid technology advancement and global dynamics challenge governments to protect military and critical infrastructures. Can the 2024 U.S. election occur without interference? Cyber expert Christopher Whyte join…

Since Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have been in power, Russia and China have been each other’s biggest cheerleaders. Director of China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Bonny Lin notes that “the bond has been decades in the making, but Russia’s war in Ukraine has tightened their embrace.” Leading the BRIC alliance…

In 2023, 39.1% of all U.S. businesses were owned by female entrepreneurs. The number of women elected in congressional leadership has increased by 15% in the past 20 years. Today, women make up 28% of the 118th U.S. congress. That said, of the 193 member states of the United Nations, only 13 of those leaders are women. There is still much work to b…

“America’s secret weapon is a blue note in a minor key,” proclaimed the New York Times. In the late 1950’s, President Eisenhower looked to fight the Cold War using the cool weapon of jazz. The State Department hoped that showcasing popular American music around the globe would not only introduce audiences to American culture, but also win them over…

War is catastrophic for nations and can bring businesses to a complete halt. When Russia attacked Ukraine, U.S. companies such as McDonald’s and Starbucks closed their stores. Millions of dollars of Ukraine’s infrastructure has been destroyed. War’s cost can be simplified into three parts: the opportunity cost of resources, the destruction of physi…

Part of the Dialogues for Democracy SeriesForty countries will hold major elections in 2024, including Taiwan, Russia, Mexico, and the U.S. As technology “improves” and cyber-attacks become more difficult to predict, elections have become more susceptible to meddling. At the same time, social media has transformed our news consumption – and it’s ha…

Even though globalization has become a negative concept for some, the reality is that there is no going back. While the politics of globalization are debated, Professor Małgorzata Zachara-Szymańska says, “All social organizations have ‘gone global’ within the last several decades; they are more interconnected and more dependent on global processes,…

ABOUT THE SPEAKERGeneral David Petraeus, U.S. Army (Ret.) served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2011-2012 and as commander of U.S. Central Command from 2008-2010. His highly decorated 37-year military career included combat commanderships of the Surge in Iraq and the U.S./Coalition Forces in Afghanistan. He established the KKR …

ABOUT THE PANELISTS:Sam Brownback currently serves as co-chair of the International Religious Freedom Summit, is a senior fellow at Global Christian Relief, and is chairman of the National Committee for Religious Freedom. While serving as ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom under the Trump Administration from 2018 until 2021, Br…

In this year’s Gail Koppman History Lecture Series, the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) Summit just a few weeks ago revealed the ever-growing presence of nonwestern nations arraying themselves against NATO and the West. The BRICS nations share one common concern: U.S. sanctions on global trade and investment. New alliances an…

ABOUT THE AMBASSADORHis Excellency, Jean-Arthur Regibeau, Belgian Ambassador to the United States The Ambassador represents His Majesty The King of the Belgians and Belgium’s federal government in the United States of America and in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. He is responsible for the direction and work of the Embassy and its Consulates, incl…

..Do you believe in the importance of international education and connections? The nonprofit World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth is supported by gifts from people like you, who share our passion for engaging in dialogue on global affairs and building bridges of understanding. While the Council is not currently charging admission for virtual …

Kevin Cassidy is currently the director and representative to the Bretton Woods and Multilateral Organizations for the International Labour Organization (ILO) Office for the U.S. Prior to his appointment, Cassidy served as the senior communications and economic and social affairs officer for 11 years in the ILO office for the United Nations with ad…

Each year, The Economist publishes “The World Ahead” series: an informed prediction of the major themes that will dominate the coming year. Spanning topics from politics to technology to sociology and more, this series edited by Tom Standage is as ambitious as it is awe-inspiring. On December 8, Standage rejoins the Council to discuss his publicati…

Boston College Professor of History Heather Cox Richardson supplies her 1.2 million Substack subscribers with her interpretation of history and current events in her daily newsletter called Letters from an American. In her new book Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, Richardson argues that “America is at a crossroads. A country that…

Soft power – the ability to shape the preferences and behaviors of others through attraction and persuasion, rather than coercion, holds a significant place in today’s global landscape. Through a seemingly innocuous sport, the U.S. and China were able to thaw icy relations in the 1970s - “ping-pong diplomacy” - showcasing how cultural exchanges can…

“To deeply know and understand others is a way of life,” observes New York Times bestselling author David Brooks in his upcoming book, How to Know a Person. Drawing on insights from psychology, neuroscience, theater, philosophy, history, and education, Brooks presents a comprehensive approach to fostering meaningful human connections that prioritiz…

Congressman Colin Allred is currently serving his third term as the U.S. Representative for Texas’ 32nd Congressional District. Allred was born and raised in North Dallas where he was class president of Hillcrest High School and earned a full-ride football scholarship to Baylor University. He deferred his acceptance to law school to play in the NFL…

In 2018 word broke out that Alphabet Inc’s Google, reacting to employee outrage, would not renew its contract with the Pentagon for Project Maven. Project Maven involved AI analysis of aerial drone imagery and Google employees claimed this association with warfare violated their “do no harm” principle. Autonomous weapons expert Paul Scharre reports…

Every year the U.S. Department of State International Women of Courage (IWOC) Award recognizes women from across the globe who have demonstrated exceptional courage while advocating for everything from world peace to human rights. They bring great empowerment to women and girls, but often with personal risks and sacrifices. While the names of the a…

President & CEO of the Council on Foreign Relations Richard Haass joins the Council to discuss his latest publication The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens. Haass argues that good citizenship is not only a right, but also a duty, and that individuals must actively participate in the democratic process in order to maintain a healt…

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson argues in her best-seller Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents that race in America can be compared to the caste systems of India and Nazi Germany. The New York Times called the book “an instant American classic.” Her 2010 best-seller, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Mi…

The Honorable Mike Pompeo is the 70th Secretary of State (2018-2021). Previously, he served as the Director of the CIA from 2017-2018. Pompeo graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1986, and after leaving active duty received a law degree from Harvard Law school. He began his legal career in 1998, and later turned to entrepreneurship …

In 2019, Marie Yovanovitch was serving as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. A seasoned diplomat, Yovanovitch watched the 1993 constitutional crisis and street fighting in Russia. For years, she witnessed Putin’s election meddling, cyberattacks, and vast misinformation in Ukraine. Yet, upon president Volodymyr Zelenskyy being democratically elected, then-…

Each year, The Economist publishes “The World Ahead” series: an informed prediction of the major themes that will dominate the coming year. Spanning topics from politics to technology to sociology and more, this series edited by Tom Standage is as ambitious as it is awe-inspiring. On December 14, Standage rejoins the Council to discuss his publicat…

The world changed on that day in August 1945 when the American B-29 bomber released the 7,900 pound “Little Boy” nuclear bomb over the city of Hiroshima, Japan, and 77 years later nuclear weapons remain a primary global issue. Today, a nuclear weapon can fit into a suitcase. Join us for a special Mel Kusin National Security Lecture on nuclear threa…

From the presence of drones to the power of social media, the Russian invasion of Ukraine is changing the face of warfare as we know it. How will the U.S. military adapt to the evolving future of warfare? Join us for a discussion with former Under Secretary of Defense Michèle Flournoy on America’s strategy for success in the uncertain times ahead, …

Today, American democracy faces a polarized population. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham has found a timely message to American leaders in the example of Abraham Lincoln: the survival of democracy demands a firm conscience. A frail, imperfect man, Lincoln overcame his limitations and was willing to risk his career to uphold his deep fai…

The political polarization of America in 2022 is not a new phenomenon, but what is often missing is the political will to find a middle ground. Even while in fierce opposition to the policies of President Ronald Reagan, who was swept into office in a landslide, Democrat House Speaker Tip O’Neill said, “In the best interest of America, the hand of c…

Our challenge is to remain good citizens in a politically and socially divided world. The Freedoms Foundation’s David Harmer says, “When we recognize what we share in common and work through our differences with civility, we can preserve and advance freedoms for all.” At the Bill and Barbara Benac Human Dignity and Fairness for All Lecture, Harmer …

Do massive floods worldwide and soaring heatwaves foreshadow changes in the global climate status quo? Last February, the freeze in Texas caused massive power outages, damage to infrastructure, and 172 people lost their lives. What does a system more resilient to catastrophic risk look like? Is our response coming too late? Council on Foreign Relat…

In this year’s Gail Koppman History Lecture Series, the Civil War may have ended on April 9, 1865, but over 150 years later, the fight for a stable democracy continues with polarizing civil tension in the United States. The fight to preserve the Union is more tightly knit with the fight for democracy than any of can imagine. What are the implicatio…

No recent administration has been so intensely scrutinized as that of President Donald Trump. “Insiders,” media, and Congressional hearings attempt to interpret what happened behind the scenes at the Trump White House. Peter Baker, chief White House correspondent for The New York Times, and Susan Glasser, staff writer at The New Yorker and founder/…

The monarchy is a national symbol of the UK and a traditional unifying point, as we have just witnessed. As the United Kingdom said goodbye to its longest-reigning monarch, questions arose about how many of the 56 commonwealth nations would retain King Charles III as their sovereign. What is the impact of the Queen’s passing on the world? Does it c…

Hacking is no longer a far-off, fictional plot from science fiction. We all participate in the digital world. The threats to individuals and their identities are real and inevitable; no person or corporation is exempt from identity theft or data breach. Last year, Microsoft was infiltrated by at least 10 different hacker groups as a result of softw…

Over the past century, Americans have seen several iterations of the Republican Party, from the post-WWII Eisenhower days to Reaganomics to the rise of Trump’s MAGA movement. Amid so much change, how does one define the modern-day Republican Party, and what does it mean to be a conservative in 2022? Political scholar Matthew Continetti seeks to ans…

When facing technical difficulties with your computer, the easiest solution is often just to reboot it. But can you hit control, alt, delete on a political party? In his book, American Reboot: An Idealist’s Guide to Getting Big Things Done, former Republican congressman and CIA officer William Hurd argues you definitely can. Dubbed “the future of t…

Honeybees seem to attract the spotlight but our pollinators in general are in a bind. We aren't helpless though. Everyone has the capacity to be a huge help to our bee populations, both native and introduced, but first we must discuss what’s threatening them and why we need to act. Join us in this special Earth Day conversation with Dr. Sammy Ramse…

Only three months into the new year, the world has already faced a multitude of new challenges. From humanitarian crises to threats to global democracy to the resurgence of Covid-19 and crippled supply chains, there are many obstacles to clear in the months ahead. Furthermore, with the escalating war between Russia and Ukraine and increasing access…

The Abraham Accords represent the first public normalization of relations between an Arab nation and Israel since 1994. The future looms on the precipice of change as this joint statement between the State of Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States signals an opening between Israel and the Middle East. This is evidenced by the Ameri…

Reporter Kelly Weill has spent most of her journalism career covering misinformation and conspiracy theories. As a recent college graduate in 2016, Weill entered the media world at a time of immense change, when terms like “fake news” and “disinformation” became part of the mainstream American vocabulary. Coinciding with this time was the rise in “…

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Russia could not feel "safe, develop, and exist" because of what he claimed was a constant threat from modern Ukraine. Immediately after, a full-scale military invasion on Ukraine was launched, resulting in number of casualties, both military and civilian. With President Joe Biden’s recent …

Not all heroes wear capes, but the best of them take brave stands for people most in need. With a life devoted to issues that affect people in the margins, that bravery is woven in the very fabric of who Shalonda Spencer is. She has spent her career affecting legislation regarding women’s rights, foreign affairs, immigration, healthcare, and educat…

Dan Hunt is no stranger to the professional sports industry. His father, Lamar Hunt, was key to the establishment of professional sports in the U.S. He founded professional leagues and owned many teams – notably the Kansas City Chiefs (NFL) and FC Dallas (MLS). Dan inherited his father’s passion, working with him to make Toyota Stadium a reality an…

There are countless examples of spies in modern popular culture. There are not, however, many examples of the reality behind modern espionage, a world that’s changing faster than most people realize. Rapid advances in technology, combined with ever-changing geopolitical dynamics, have created an intelligence world that Dr. Amy Zegart argues looks q…

Making important decisions under pressure can be tough for even the most confident individuals. Marc Polymeropoulos, a 26-year CIA veteran, has some solutions to offer. In his new book, Clarity in Crisis, Polymeropoulos shares his approach to leadership, an intentional process he honed over his long career, during which the consequences of his deci…

The Economist’s “The World Ahead” series is published every year as an outlook of what is likely to occur in the upcoming year. Tom Standage, the series’ editor, will share an overview of the publication’s content, delving into informed predictions of the year to come, analysis of world affairs from experts and public figures, and important topics …

About Jessica L. BedoyaGlobal financial services firm Deloitte projects that the collective economies of Latin America will grow by 3.8 percent in 2022. Some countries, like Colombia, are expected to grow by as much as 5.8 percent. What’s going on down south? On January 11, regional expert Jessica Bedoya will share her insight into Latin America’s …