TNWAC News | Week of September 12, 2016

If you like what your World Affairs Council is doing for your community it’s time to join and donate to keep it going.

Welcome
Special Speaker Program | The Iran Nuclear Deal – Monday
In the News | Why Global Affairs Awareness and Education?
Program | China-US Relations | National Webcast-Local Panel
Fun(draiser) | WorldQuest Adult Championship Match at Yazoo
“What in the World?” Weekly Quiz
World Affairs National Conference in Washington | Nov 16-18
Education Resource | Discovery Inside the State Department – Ocean Protection
Travel The World
On the Map
Book of the Week

THESE THINGS WE DO ARE POSSIBLY ONLY THROUGH YOUR SUPPORT. THANKS!

TNWAC WEEKLY NEWS

To Know the World.  That’s the purpose of the Tennessee World Affairs Council.  We are one of 95 similarly organized nonpartisan councils around the country — all independent — that form the largest grassroots global awareness affairs effort in the world. We share the same goals of delivering public and school programs that help people, especially students, develop a better understanding of the important international issues that affect their lives and futures.  We welcome you as a member and as a contributor to our work.

Did you know you can keep up with current international affairs news by following @TNWAC #TNWACquiz

SPECIAL SPEAKER PROGRAM | THE IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL | MONDAY NIGHT | RSVP NOW!

“After many months of principled diplomacy, the P5+1 — the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China, Russia and Germany — along with the European Union, have achieved a long-term comprehensive nuclear deal with Iran that will verifiably prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and ensure that Iran’s nuclear program will be exclusively peaceful going forward.” — Barack Obama, Aug 5, 2015.

Join the Tennessee World Affairs Council and Belmont University, in association with the Iran Project, at town hall conversation MONDAY (SEP 19) with distinguished American Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering and David Plazas, The Tennessean’s Opinion Engagement Editor and remarks from former Nashville Mayor Karl F. Dean, one year after the agreement to talk about: “The Iran Nuclear Deal: Propsects for Cooperation, Competition and Confrontation.” Free, open to the public. Information and registration at the link.  [Details & RSVP]

Did you know if you click on the Amazon link on the TNWAC.org web site when you go shopping at Amazon your World Affairs Council earns a percentage of the sale — no added expense to you. 

IN THE NEWS | WHY GLOBAL AFFAIRS AWARENESS AND EDUCATION?  IMPORTANT

We hope you’ve seen the news reports this week about an important survey conducted by National Geographic and the Council on Foreign Relations that found “significant gaps in what college-aged students understand about the world and what they need to know in order to contend with a world that is more interconnected than ever.”

“The Global Literacy Survey, conducted in May by ARC Research among 1,203 students aged 18 to 26 and educated at U.S. colleges and universities, reveals that few students possess important knowledge about the world and the United States’ role in it, including which countries are U.S. allies and where U.S. troops are stationed overseas.”

Your World Affairs Council will be talking about this alarming report and will remind you that only with your support (join/donate/volunteer) is this organization dedicated to global affairs awareness and education be successful.  [Details]

PROGRAM | CHINA-US RELATIONS | NATIONAL WEBCAST-LOCAL PANEL

China’s rapid development and Sino-American relations have a direct impact on the lives of just about everyone in the United States. “CHINA Town Hall: Local Connections, National Reflections,” is a national day of programming designed to provide Americans across the United States and beyond the opportunity to discuss issues in the relationship with leading experts. Join us at Belmont University on Oct 18, 2016 for a national webcast with former Secretary of State Dr. Henry A. Kissinger followed by an in-house panel of specialists including John Scannapieco of Baker Donelson and Elizabeth Rowland, Director TN-China Network.  [Details]

If you like what your World Affairs Council is doing for your community it’s time to join and donate to keep it going.

FUN(DRAISER) | INAUGURAL WORLDQUEST ADULT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH AT YAZOO

The World Affairs Council is pleased to announce the First Annual Championship of WorldQuest-Corporate Level is set for Sunday, November 6, 2016 at the Yazoo Brewing Company taproom in Nashville.  Ten four-person teams representing their companies, associations or cobbled together groups (21+) will vie for the prestigious WorldQuest-Yazoo cup. The match is a fundraiser for the Academic WorldQuest program, a year-round educational outreach to encourage students to “know the world.”  Team slots are expected to fill quickly.   [Details]

“WHAT IN THE WORLD?” WEEKLY QUIZ

The World Affairs Council created the “What in the World?” Weekly Quiz to inspire interest in current affairs for our members and guests, and especially for students. Every Monday morning the quiz is posted on the Web site, on Facebook and distributed by email (to the “Quiz” sublist). Later in the week a followup is published to provide quiz answers and name the winners of the weekly quiz. At the end of the month a prize is given to one of the winners of the quizzes for the month. The quiz also serves as a resource for students and teacher-coaches participating in Academic WorldQuest and other educational endeavors. It provides a tool to keep students engaged in global affairs awareness and serves as a guide and source for the AWQ competition current event topic area. The questions on the quiz are drawn from the news reports shared on the @TNWAC Twitter feed marked by #TNWACquiz. Details

WORLD AFFAIRS NATIONAL CONFERENCE | WASHINGTON | NOV 16-18

You’re invited to the flagship conference for the network of America’s World Affairs Councils. Participate in conference panels, think tank visits and embassy receptions at the premier annual event of the world’s largest grassroots community devoted to education on world affairs. Special programs available for “1918 Society” members at the Pentagon and CIA. Save $100 by being a TN WAC member.  [Details]

EDUCATION RESOURCE | DISCOVERY INSIDE THE STATE DEPARTMENT – OCEAN PROTECTION

“The threat to the world’s ocean is an international concern, and the U.S. Department of State is bringing people together from across the globe on September 15th and 16th to find a solution. Secretary of State John Kerry will host the 2016 Our Ocean Conference in Washington, D.C. to spur actions to protect our ocean from these threats and to empower a new generation to lead the way toward a healthy and sustainable ocean. In this installment of the White House and Discovery Education’s “Of the People series, we’ll introduce you to the government experts and scientists who are working on the front lines to keep our ocean healthy and safe for future generations.” [Details]

A NETWORK WITH BENEFITS – TRAVEL THE WORLD

[Details]

THESE THINGS WE DO ARE POSSIBLY ONLY THROUGH YOUR SUPPORT. THANKS!

ON THE MAP

• Sep 19 – Town Hall – “The Iran Nuclear Deal: Prospects for Cooperation, Competition and Confrontation – Amb Thomas R. Pickering – Belmont  [Details]
• Oct 17 – International Careers & Jobs Night – Our very popular panel of diplomats, business people, scholars, NGO reps and more to talk about global jobs. – Lipscomb University [Details]
• Oct 18 – Town Hall – China: Local Connections, National Reflections – National webcast and local panel – Dr. Henry A. Kissinger – Belmont [Details]
• Nov 6 – 2016 WorldQuest Corporate Championship Match – Yazoo Taproom [Details]
• Nov 12 – Academic WorldQuest High Schools – Practice Match at Belmont University
• Nov 16-18 – National Conference – The World Affairs Councils of America National Conference in Washington DC.  Held annually for over two decades, the World Affairs Councils of America’s National Conference engages our regional leaders and members drawn from the business, civic, and education communities with leading policy-makers and experts. [Details]

BOOK OF THE WEEK

The Iran Wars: Spy Games, Bank Battles and the Secret Deals that Reshaped the Middle East

by Jay Solomon

Link for more information about this book.

For more than a decade, the United States has been engaged in a war with Iran as momentous as any other in the Middle East—a war all the more significant as it has largely been hidden from public view. Through a combination of economic sanctions, global diplomacy, and intelligence work, successive U.S. administrations have struggled to contain Iran’s aspirations to become a nuclear power and dominate the region—what many view as the most serious threat to peace in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Iran has used regional instability to its advantage to undermine America’s interests. The Iran Warsis an absorbing account of a battle waged on many levels—military, financial, and covert.

Jay Solomon’s book is the product of extensive in-depth reporting and interviews with all the key players in the conflict—from high-ranking Iranian officials to Secretary of State John Kerry and his negotiating team. With a reporter’s masterly investigative eye and the narrative dexterity of a great historian, Solomon shows how Iran’s nuclear development went unnoticed for years by the international community only to become its top security concern. He catalogs the blunders of both the Bush and Obama administrations as they grappled with how to engage Iran, producing a series of both carrots and sticks. And he takes us inside the hotel suites where the 2015 nuclear agreement was negotiated, offering a frank assessment of the uncertain future of the U.S.-Iran relationship.

This is a book rife with revelations, from the secret communications between the Obama administration and the Iranian government to dispatches from the front lines of the new field of financial warfare. For readers of Steve Coll’s Ghost Wars and Lawrence Wright’s The Looming Tower, The Iran Wars exposes the hidden history of a conflict most Americans don’t even realize is being fought, but whose outcome could have far-reaching geopolitical implications.

About the Author

The Tennessee World Affairs Council is a nonprofit (501c3), nonpartisan educational charity based in Nashville that works to build understanding of global issues in our communities. Learn more about the Council and find how you can join, donate and volunteer at: www.TNWAC.org  — Join / Donate / Volunteer