2022 World Affairs Council of the Year
Network of Independent World Affairs Councils of America
Special Edition | Global Dialogue – International Affairs Speakers Program
Part of CxC Amplify: Putting the World Back Together
Iran: U.S. Maximum Pressure Campaign, American and European Perspectives
LIVE INTERACTIVE WEBINAR – REGISTER NOW
Wednesday, May 6, 2020 at 4:00pm CT/5:00pm ET
Moderator, Ambassador William Luers, US Foreign Service (Retired), Director, The Iran Project
Dr. Gary Sick, Senior Research Scholar, Columbia University’s Middle East Institute and Adjunct Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs
Ellie Geranmayeh, Senior Policy Fellow and Deputy Program Head, Middle East and North Africa Program at the European Council on Foreign Relations
Host, LCDR Patrick Ryan, USN (Retired), President, Tennessee World Affairs Council
You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
Wednesday, May 6, 2020 at 4:00pm CT/5:00pm ET
This special edition of the TNWAC Global Dialogue: International Speakers series presents a conversation about current developments in relations with Iran. Ambassador Bill Luers will moderate a conversation with Professor Gary Sick of Columbia University and Ellie Geranmayeh of the European Council on Foreign Relations. Iran remains at the center of U.S. decision makers attention in the Middle East as Tehran grapples with the effects of Washington’s “Maximum Pressure” campaign and the catastrophic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile Tehran continues its “Maximum Resistance” response through maritime provocations, space vehicle (potential ICBM) launches and backing Iraqi militias that are in conflict with U.S. forces.
This Tennessee World Affairs Council Webinar is part of the “CxC Amplified: Ideas Summit – Putting the World Back Together Again” — a weeklong series of virtual events organized by the 90+ councils of the World Affairs Councils of America. Visit CxC Amplified for the calendar and registration info.
William H. Luers
Ambassador, U.S. Foreign Service (Retired), Director of The Iran Project and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University
Ambassador Luers is the Director of The Iran Project and an adjunct professor at Columbia University. He was President of the United Nations Association of the USA (1999-2009) and President of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC (1986-1999). Prior to his move to New York, Luers had a 31 year career in the Foreign Service. He served as US Ambassador to Czechoslovakia (1983-1986) and Venezuela (1978-1982), and held numerous posts in Italy, Germany, the Soviet Union, and in the Department of State. Luers has been an adjunct at several universities in addition to Columbia. He was also the Director’s Visitor at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Studies in 1982-1983. Born in Springfield, Illinois, Luers received his B.A. from Hamilton College and his M.A. from Columbia University following four years in the United States Navy. He is an active member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He speaks Spanish, Russian and Italian.
Dr. Gary Sick
Gary Sick is a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Middle East Institute and an adjunct professor at the School of International and Public Affairs. He served on the National Security Council under Presidents Ford, Carter, and Reagan. He was the principal White House aide for Iran during the Iranian Revolution and the hostage crisis. Sick is a captain (ret.) in the U.S. Navy, with service in the Persian Gulf, North Africa, and the Mediterranean.
From 1982 to 1987, Sick served as deputy director for international affairs at the Ford Foundation, where he was responsible for programs relating to U.S. foreign policy. He is a member (emeritus) of the board of Human Rights Watch in New York and founding chair of its advisory committee on the Middle East and North Africa. He is the executive director of Gulf/2000, an international online research project on political, economic and security developments in the Persian Gulf, being conducted at Columbia University since 1993 with support from a number of major foundations.
Sick was voted one of the top five teachers in 2009 at the School of International and Public Affairs. He is the author of All Fall Down: America’s Tragic Encounter With Iran (Random House 1985) and October Surprise: America’s Hostages in Iran and the Election of Ronald Reagan (Random House 1991).
Ms. Ellie Geranmayeh
Ellie Geranmayeh is a senior policy fellow and deputy head of the Middle East and North Africa program at the European Council on Foreign Relations. She specializes in European foreign policy in relation to Iran, particularly on the nuclear and regional dossiers and sanctions policy.
Geranmayeh advised European governments and companies on the nuclear negotiations between Iran and world powers from 2013-2015 and continues to brief senior policy makers on how to effectively safeguard the implementation of the nuclear agreement. Her research focus also covers wider regional dynamics including post-ISIS stabilization and geopolitical trends in the Middle East.
She is regularly quoted by international media outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, and appears on CNN, Al-Jazeera and the BBC to provide commentary on regional developments. Prior to joining ECFR, Geranmayeh worked at Herbert Smith Freehills law firm. She graduated in Law from the University of Cambridge.
LCDR Patrick Ryan, USN (Ret)
Patrick Ryan is a native of New York City. He enlisted in the Navy at age 17 and volunteered for submarine duty. He served aboard nuclear fast attack and ballistic missile boats during the Cold War, rising to the rank of Chief Petty Officer. In 1982 he was commissioned and served aboard a cruiser in the Western Pacific before becoming a Navy Intelligence Officer. Ryan served aboard the carrier Constellation in the Pacific, the Joint Staff Intelligence Directorate in the Pentagon, the Center for Naval Analysis, and the Intelligence Directorate of U.S. Central Command. Ryan retired from the Navy in 1998 and worked as a consultant on Intelligence Community projects and as the VP/COO of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations. Ryan ran a newsletter publishing business on international affairs from 1999-2016. He founded the Tennessee World Affairs Council in 2007.
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PROGRAM PARTNERS
THANKS TO BELMONT UNIVERSITY’S CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
THANKS TO THE NASHVILLE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COUNCIL
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