WACA's Cover to Cover conference call on Wednesday, December 9, at 2:00-2:30 PM ET, featured Glenn Robinson, Associate Professor at Naval Postgraduate School and President of WAC Monterey Bay on his book, Global Jihad: A Brief History. Most violent jihadi movements in the twentieth century focused on removing corrupt, repressive secular regimes throughout the Muslim world. But following the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, a new form of jihadism emerged - global jihad - turning to the international arena as the primary locus of ideology and action. With this book, Glenn Robinson develops a compelling and provocative argument about this violent political movement's evolution.

World Affairs Councils Podcast

Cover to Cover: Glenn Robinson on Global Jihad

Listen now to WACA's KNOW NOW conference call on Wednesday, December 2, at 2:00-2:30 PM ET, featuring Firoz Peera, board member and past Chair of the World Affairs Council of Charlotte.  The Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) is China’s ambitious multi-decade project to create a modern day version of the ancient Silk Road, a powerful route that provided the foundation for the very first wave of globalization across a vast Eurasian landscape. Mr. Peera will discuss the nature & scope of the BRI and its geo-strategic implications in this new age of great power rivalry. Peera is a board member and past Chair of the World Affairs Council of Charlotte. With a strong interest in history and geopolitics, he has been an avid watcher of China’s ascendency to superpower status.

KNOW NOW: Firoz Peera on China's Belt & Road Initiative

Listen now to WACA's Cover to Cover conference call from Thursday, August 6, at 2:00-2:30 PM ET, featuring Lesley Blume, award-winning journalist, historian, and New York Times bestselling author, on her book Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-Up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World. Just days after the U.S. decimated Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nuclear bombs, the Japanese surrendered unconditionally. But even before the surrender, the U.S. government and military had begun a secret propaganda and information suppression campaign to hide the devastating nature of these experimental weapons. The cover-up intensified as Occupation forces closed the atomic cities to Allied reporters, preventing leaks about the horrific long-term effects of radiation which would kill thousands during the months after the blast. For nearly a year the cover-up worked - until New Yorker journalist John Hersey got into Hiroshima and managed to report the truth to the world. Released on the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, Fallout is an engrossing detective story, as well as an important piece of hidden history that shows how one heroic scoop saved - and can still save - the world.

Cover to Cover: Lesley Blume on Hiroshima Revealed

Listen now to WACA's Cover to Cover conference call from Thursday, July 16, at 2:00-2:30 PM ET, featuring Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Fellow for the Middle East at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and an Associate Fellow of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Program, on his book Qatar and the Gulf Crisis.   In 2017, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Qatar, launching an economic blockade by land, air and sea. Well into its second year, the standoff in the Gulf has no realistic end in sight. With the Bahraini and Emirati criminalisation of expressing support for Qatar, and the Saudi labelling of detainees as ‘traitors’ for their alleged Qatari links, bitterness has been stoked between deeply interconnected peoples. The adviser to the Saudi crown prince advocating a moat to physically separate Qatar from the Arabian Peninsula illustrates the ongoing intensity - and irrationality - of the crisis. Ulrichsen offers an authoritative study of this international standoff, from both sides.

Cover to Cover: Kristian Coates Ulrichsen on Qatar and the Gulf Crisis

Listen now to WACA's Cover to Cover conference call from Tuesday, June 23 at 2:00-2:30 PM ET, featuring Mira Rapp-Hooper, Stephen A. Schwarzman Senior Fellow for Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a Senior Fellow at Yale Law School's Paul Tsai China Center. Shields of the Republic: The Triumph and Peril of America’s Alliances Mira Rapp-Hooper reveals the remarkable success of America’s unprecedented system of alliances developed during the Cold War. Today, China and Russia seek to break America’s alliances through conflict and non-military erosion. Meanwhile, U.S. politicians and voters are increasingly skeptical of alliances’ costs and benefits and believe we may be better off without them. But what if the alliance system is a victim of its own quiet success? Rapp-Hooper argues that America’s national security requires alliances that deter and defend against military and non-military conflict alike.

Cover to Cover: Mira Rapp-Hooper on America's Alliances

Listen now to WACA's Cover to Cover conference call from Thursday, May 14, at 2:00-2:30 PM ET, featuring Michael Klare, Senior Visiting Fellow at the Arms Control Association and Professor Emeritus of Peace and World Security Studies at Hampshire College, on his book All Hell Breaking Loose: The Pentagon's Perspective on Climate Change Of all major institutions in American society, none take climate change as seriously as the U.S. military and the Pentagon. Drawing on previously obscure reports and government documents, renowned security expert Michael Klare shows that the U.S. military sees the climate threat as imperiling the country on several fronts at once. The military now regards climate change as one of the top threats to American national security, and is busy developing strategies to cope with it.

Cover to Cover: Michael Klare on Climate Change

Listen now to WACA's KNOW NOW conference call from Thursday, May 21, at 2:00-2:30 PM ET, featuring Ambassador Luis Moreno, former U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica, on U.S.-Latin America relations. Ambassador Moreno was in conversation with Armen Babajanian, Executive Director of the World Affairs Council of San Antonio. U.S. interest in Latin America has grown significantly over the years and political, socio-economic, and cultural factors have influenced the conduct of American diplomacy in the region. What does the future hold for U.S.-Latin America relations and what impact will these relationships have on their respective economies and political structures? Listen as Ambassador Moreno and Armen Babajanian take an in depth look into Latin America, a region comprised of more than 30 countries with varying economies, leadership styles, and roles in the international arena.  

KNOW NOW: Amb. Luis Moreno on U.S.-Latin America Relations

Listen now to WACA's Cover to Cover conference call from Wednesday, May 6 at 2:00-2:30 PM ET, featuring Dr. Nina Ansary, UN Women Global Champion for Innovation and Visiting Fellow at The London School of Economics Centre for Women, Peace & Security.  Anonymous Is a Woman: A Global Chronicle of Gender Inequality Anonymous Is a Woman: A Global Chronicle of Gender Inequality takes readers on a 4,000-year historic journey to expose the roots and manifestations of institutionalized gender discrimination; dismantle centuries of historical bias through biographical profiles of fifty extraordinary, yet forgotten women innovators; and challenge ingrained stereotypical assumptions to advance an unconventional argument for equality and inclusivity.

Cover to Cover: Dr. Nina Ansary on Global Gender Inequality

Listen now to WACA's KNOW NOW conference call from Tuesday, April 28, at 2:00-2:30 PM ET, featuring Ambassador (ret.) Kathleen Stephens, President and CEO of the Korea Economic Institute. Ambassador Stephens joined WACA President and CEO Bill Clifford to discuss the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on South Korea, U.S.-South Korea relations, and U.S. policy in Asia. 

KNOW NOW: Ambassador Kathleen Stephens on U.S.-South Korea Relations

Listen to WACA's KNOW NOW conference call from Wednesday, April 15, at 2:00-2:30 PM ET, featuring Mohammed Ali Abdallah, Political Advisor for U.S. Affairs to the Prime Minister of Libya (leader of the U.S.-UN-recognized Government of Libya). The conflict and violence that has handcuffed Libya's progress post-revolution continues to plague Libyans’ efforts to revitalize and rebuild the war-torn country.  In cooperation with the international community, Libyans established the interim Government of National Accord to unite the country’s factions and build a stable civil society. In April 2019, Khalifa Haftar and his forces launched an attack on Tripoli to overthrow the GNA, instigating a war that over the past year has killed more than 2,200 people, displaced over 200,000, and made oil-rich Libya the center of an international proxy. One year after Haftar began his advance on Tripoli, listen as Mr. Abdallah and WACA President and CEO Bill Clifford discuss the state of the war in Libya, the role of external powers, and prospects for resolution.

KNOW NOW: Mohammad Ali Abdallah on the Libyan Conflict

Listen now to WACA's Cover to Cover conference call from Thursday, April 9 at 2:00-2:30 PM ET, featuring Daniel Markey, Senior Research Professor and Director of the School of Advanced International Studies' Global Policy Program at Johns Hopkins University. China's Western Horizon: Beijing and the New Geopolitics of Eurasia Under the ambitious leadership of President Xi Jinping, China is zealously transforming its wealth and economic power into potent tools of global political influence. But China's foreign policy initiatives, even the vaunted "Belt and Road," will be shaped and redefined as they confront the ground realities of local and regional politics outside China. In China's Western Horizon, Daniel Markey anticipates that China's deepening involvement will play to the advantage of regional strongmen and exacerbate the political tensions within and among Eurasian states.

Cover to Cover: Daniel Markey on China's Geopolitics

WACA's KNOW NOW conference call Thursday, March 26, at 2:00-2:30 pm ET, featuring Dr. Jonathan Quick, Senior Fellow at Management Sciences for Health, on COVID-19 and global epidemics. Dr. Quick was in conversation with WorldBoston President and CEO Mary Yntema.  In January 2018, Dr. Quick spoke at WorldBoston's Great Decisions series on the topic of "Global Health: Progress and Challenges," having recently published his book The End of Epidemics: The Looming Threat to Humanity and How to Stop It. As the book says, "Somewhere in nature, a killer virus is boiling up in the bloodstream of a bird, bat, monkey, or pig, preparing to jump to a human being. This not-yet-detected germ has the potential to wipe out millions of lives over a matter of weeks or months." Listen to Dr. Quick and Mary Yntema discuss what has changed since his Great Decisions talk, how effective local and global efforts have been in combating COVID-19, and what we can expect in the coming weeks and months.

KNOW NOW: COVID-19

WACA's Cover to Cover conference call on Thursday, March 19, at 2:00-2:30 PM ET featured Susan Sloan, associate director of a global advocacy organization, on her new book: A Seat at the Table: Women, Diplomacy, and Lessons for the World Many countries face challenges of migration, terrorism, climate change, and the spread of fast-paced technology. Those who are sitting around the table will change the course of history and redefine how we solve critical problems. Join WACA for a conversation with Susan Sloan as she shares stories from women ambassadors spanning the globe, the impact of gender-diversified leadership, and why varied voices lead to stronger resolutions and enhanced team dynamics. 

Cover to Cover: Susan Sloan on Gender Parity in Diplomacy

First Council leadership discussion on the impact of coronavirus and opportunities for Network support. Conference call held and recorded on March 17, 2020.

First Council Leadership Conference Call re: Coronavirus 3.17.2020

Listen now to WACA's KNOW NOW conference call from Wednesday, February 26, at 2:00-2:30 pm ET, featuring Felipe Muñoz, Advisor to the President of Colombia for the Colombia-Venezuela Border. Mr. Muñoz will be in conversation with WACA Chief Operating Officer Liz Brailsford.As a consequence of the economic and political collapse in Venezuela, more than 1.6 million Venezuelan migrants and refugees have crossed the border and fled to Colombia seeking safety and opportunities for their future. The government of Colombia is going to extraordinary lengths to provide humanitarian relief to this unprecedented influx of migrants and making tremendous efforts to integrate the migrants into society. Listen to the conversation with Felipe Muñoz to learn more about the magnitude of the crisis, the efforts undertaken by the Government of Colombia, and the role that the U.S.

KNOW NOW: Felipe Muñoz on the Colombia-Venezuela Migrant Crisis

WACA Podcasts feature the most influential authors and experts on subjects of national and international importance. Moderated by WACA President and CEO Bill Clifford.

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World Affairs Councils Podcast

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