National Update
Monthly Newsletter of the World Affairs Council System
November, 2005

Wishing Everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

In This Issue...

Our Chairman's Circle
Countdown to January Conference
Ford Grants to Chicago
San Francisco' s North American Forum
Password Section for National Website
NewsNotes

Join the Chairman's Circle

The Chairman's Circle, created in January 2005, has had an exciting first year.  Its purpose is to build the council system, raise visibility, enhance the national conference, and honor key figures for outstanding public service.

The kickoff event was the 2005 Chairman's Dinner honoring former Secretary of State Colin Powell.  Circle members got a chance to meet the Secretary and be photographed with him. To view and order pictures from the event go to http://www.collages.net, username: WACA, password: 7519.

Members toured NATO's Allied Command Headquarters in Norfolk in June and had a private luncheon with Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani, Jr. the current Vice-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  Members then flew to Jacksonville and out into the Atlantic.  They stayed overnight on the USS Theodore Roosevelt to see night and day air operations.

On December 16, Circle members will recieve a private tour of the King Tutankamun exhibit in Fort Lauderdale.

Renewals and registration of new members for 2006 is going on now.  Please consider joining.

The 2006 Circle program will include the Patron's Reception and Chairman's Dinner honoring Amb. John Negroponte on January 18 at the National Conference.

In addition, we are hoping to arrange a special tour of the State Department and the Senate as well as Chairman's Circle dinner in mid year.  Other ideas include a possible visit to the Alaskan oil fields or participation in a special program of events with the national board in San Diego this summer.

For more on the Chairman's Circle, including a listing of current members, please see www.worldaffairscouncils.org/programs/chaircircle.

National Conference Momentum Building

There are still places!   Please join us January 18-20 in Washington for the national conference on "The World's Rising Powers: China, India, Russia, Brazil...and More."

There will be embassy receptions at the Indian, Chinese, European Union, Taiwanese, and possibly Brazilian embassies.

There will also be small-group luncheons with ambassadors from China, Britain, Sweden, Hungary, Ireland, Argentina, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Egypt, Taiwan, Morocco, and Tunisia...with more coming.

There will be a Rising Powers Banquet featuring foods from Brazil, Russia, India, and China as well as dances of the Silk Road and the winner of our national journalist poll.

Confirmed speakers include Amb. John Negroponte on 9/11 and intelligence reform, Susan Eisenhower on Putin's Russia, Ralph Begleiter on our media image, Clyde Prestowitz on three billion new capitalists, Richard Haass on America's historical opportunity, Kenneth Deffeyes on the world's oil supplies, Roderick MacFarquahar on the rise of China, Joel Cohen on how many people the earth can support, John Hatch on microenterprise, and many more. 

To see a full agenda, go to http://www.worldaffairscouncils.org/natconference/2006conference/agenda06.

Come meet your friends, be stimulated by the world authorities whom you will  hear, have a great time, and help us build this movement!

Chicago Receives Ford Grants

Congratulations to Marshall Bouton and the Chicago Council.  The council system hasn't had Ford grants for a very long time.  Chicago received not one, but two, large Ford grants this fall.

One will fund a task force on increasing American Muslim's participation in foreign policy dialogue.  It will help to bring 35 leaders from across the country together to discuss issues, hold focus groups, and publish a report in 2006 for domestic and international policy-makers.  The goal is to bring the marginalized American Muslim community into the discussion of US foreign policy.

The second grant will sponsor the Midwest Media Project whose purpose is to help midwestern papers report on the global aspects of local stories. There will be monthly seminars for editors and reporters giving them a chance to meet with experts.  The project will also give practical briefings for reporters going abroad and needing appointments and translators.

Featuring the North American Forum

Congratulations to Jane Wales and the Northern California Council for creating, in collaboration with Canadian and Mexican non-profits, an NGO parallel track to NAFTA.  The council hosted the inaugural North American Forum this year from October 19 - 21 in Sonoma County.

The NAF is a non-partisan, multi-disciplinary roundtable dedicated to bringing Canadian, Mexican, and American leaders together to explore how they may fashion a more resilient North America.

Former US Secretary of State George Shultz, former Mexican Finance Minister Pedro Aspe, and former Premier of Alberta Peter Lougheed co-chaired the event.

The theme was "A Resilient North America: Security, Prosperity, and Quality of Life in a Global Perspective" and it included discussions on domestic security, emergency preparedness, trade, labor issues, energy security, and  environmental stewardship.  Forum participants were high-level public and private officials from the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Password Section for National Website

E-mails with usernames and passwords were sent out Monday to access the password protected secion of the national website. If you are a staff member and did not recieve the e-mail or need help accessing the website, please e-mail waca@worldaffairscouncils.org.

Individuals listed in the National Staffing Directory, i.e. 460 staff and board members, will be receiving Usernames and Passwords from us on November 22.

The passworded section will contain:

* Recommended Speakers 2005 (entire book)
* Foreign Policy 500 (entire book)
* National Staffing Directory (contact information for whole council system)
* 20 Operations Papers (council management series)

In December we will add:

* Repository of WorldQuest Questions

This section should be a major step forward in communications and in making the national publications for accessible.

Please do not let these documents go outside the council system.  Many thanks.
 
NewsNotes

* Cori Welbourn Bassett left the national office on November 17 after six years of tremendous achievement as a staff member.  She will be sorely missed.  We wish her well at Volunteer Fairfax, where her commute goes down to almost nothing.

* Congratulations to the Dayton Council which cosponsored a symposium commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Dayton Accords evaulating the peace process and its progress.

* Sir Eldon Griffiths, WACA Patron, will launch the first annual Barbara Chisolm Memorial Lecture Series in Asheville, Charleston, Hilton Head, Savannah, Palm Beach, and Naples January 30th through February 13.

* Joe Melookaran, President-Elect of the Kansas City Council, has been appointed to the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.  He will chair the Sub-committee on Business Development. 
Congratulations, Joe!

* Jim Falk, National Treasurer and President of the Dallas Council, will lead a 10- person National Leadership Delegation to Tunisia February 4-12.

* An April Leadership Mission to Taiwan will be announced next month.
 
* WACA will sponsor a Michael Mandelbaum book tour based on "The Case for Goliath: How America Acts as the World's Government in the 21st Century" in May and June. 

* We have 48 pledges for Academic WorldQuest 2006 to date.  Please consider pledging if you haven't already.  Email melissa@worldaffairscouncils.org or call (202) 833-4557.

* Our warmest welcome to Maine's new President Matthew Ward.

* Congratulations as well to Mark Maestrone, newly appointed as the Executive Director of the San Diego Council.

" We learn from experience that men never learn anything from experience."
- George Bernard Shaw -