Some 50 World Affairs Councils hold local AWQ competitions for high school students in their communities. Since 2003, winning teams have traveled to Washington, DC every April to vie for the national championship.
The Carlos and Malú Alvarez Academic WorldQuest National Competition is made possible by sponsors and sustained by our AWQ Endowment. To become a sponsor, please contact WACA by phone at 202-833-4557 or email waca@worldaffairscouncils.org.
2020 Academic WorldQuest National Competition
**Coronavirus Update: The in-person Carlos and Malú Alvarez 2020 Academic WorldQuest National Competition, originally scheduled for April 24-25, is canceled. This difficult decision comes after carefully monitoring the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., the World Health Organization's declaration of a pandemic, hearing about local restrictions on high school student travel, and conversations within the Network. WACA is exploring all options and congratulates the students on all their hard work.
Despite the cancellation of the in-person 2020 AWQ National Competition, we still ask that all participating Councils fill out the National Competition Registration Form with the winning team's information immediately following the completion of its local AWQ competition.
Click here to see a list of all participating Councils with information such as local competition dates, winning teams, and links for more details. Please see the 2020 AWQ Ops Paper, Teachers Guide, and Flyer for useful information. Thank you to those Councils that submitted the 2020 AWQ Pledge Form to register your local competition in this year's AWQ season. Click here to view the 2019-2020 AWQ Official Study Guide.
2019-2020 AWQ Topics
- U.S.-Russia Relations
- Country in Focus: South Korea
- Preventing Extremism in Fragile States
- Oceans: The World's Garbage Dump
- Great Decisions
- Refugees and Global Migration
- The Middle East: Regional Disorder
- Nuclear Negotiations: Back to the Future?
- The Rise of Populism in Europe
- Decoding U.S.-China Trade
- Cyber Conflict and Geopolitics
- The United States and Mexico: Partnership Tested
- State of the State Department and Diplomacy
- Brexit and the EU
- China's Belt & Road Initiative
- Germany: 30 Years After the Fall of the Berlin Wall
- Qatar and the Future of the Gulf Cooperation Council
- Current Events
2019 AWQ National Competition Photo Highlights
WACA President and CEO Bill Clifford, Fatema Al-Baker, and the First Place team, and the Friday Welcome Reception at the Qatar-America Institute
Academic WorldQuest Sponsors
Key Dates
AWQ Topics Announced
September 16, 2019
AWQ Official Study Guide Release
October 11, 2019
AWQ Pledge Form Due
November 15, 2019
Local Competition Questions Released
October 31, 2019
National Competition
Registration Opens
January 13, 2020
National Competition
Registration Closes
March 27, 2020
Hotel Block Deadline
April 2, 2020
National Competition in DC
Reception
April 24, 2020
CANCELED
2020 AWQ Championship at USIP
April 25, 2020
CANCELED
HOTEL BLOCK
The Westin D.C. City Center
April 23-25, 2020
1400 M St. NW
Washington, DC 20005
Reserve Here
Deadline: April 2, 2020