Weekly News | August 22, 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
Campaign 2016: The Candidates and the World
Film Screening: “America’s Diplomats”
Special Speaker Program | Iran Nuclear Deal
ICYMI | Implications of Brexit Panel
In the News |”What in the World?” Weekly Quiz to Make Tennessean Debut
Talk to the Author | America’s Role in the World
Program | China-US Relations
Save the Date | Inaugural WorldQuest Corporate Championship at Yazoo
World Affairs National Conference in Washington | Nov 16-18
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

PROGRAM | FILM SCREENING: AMERICA’S DIPLOMATS 

Join us Sep 7th for this special evening of viewing an insightful documentary about the men and women who are at the front of U.S. diplomacy around the world along with pre- and post-screening commentary and Q&A with two of those professionals who have done the tough work for America: Amb Charles Bowers and Amb Ron Schlicher. We’ll see you at Belmont University on Sep 7th. Information, film trailer and registration at the link. [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.

SPECIAL SPEAKER PROGRAM | THE IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL

“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 a Sep 19th town hall conversation with distinguished American Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering and David Plazas, The Tennessean’s Opinion Engagement Editor, one year after the agreement to talk about: “The Iran Nuclear Deal: Propsects for Cooperation, Competition and Confrontation.” Information and registration at the link.  [Details]

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. 

ICYMI | IMPLICATIONS OF BREXIT PANEL

“When voters in the United Kingdom shocked themselves and other Europeans this summer with the choice to exit their decades old political and economic union, the so-called “Brexit,” it caused a wave in currency and stock exchanges around the world as well as toppling the British prime minister. The markets have largely settled out after the surprising prospect of a looming tectonic shift in European Union (EU) dynamics but the implications are yet to be fully understood especially for the American economy.”

The World Affairs Council was pleased to collaborate with the International Business Council of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Belmont University Center for International Business to bring a timely and important panel on the implications of the United Kingdom’s impending exit from the European Union. We thank the panelists for their contribution of insights and perspectives on this issue. Here for your consideration is a summary of the panel.  [Details]

IN THE NEWS | “WHAT IN THE WORLD?” WEEKLY QUIZ  TENNESSEAN DEBUT

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. This week the WITW? Quiz will be picked up by “The Tennessean” as a regular feature on Sundays. Thanks to “The Tennessean” for its work to inform the community on global current events.

The World Affairs Council will continue to host the quiz on the TNWAC.org web site and in email.  The Council publication date will shift to Wednesdays. You can immediately see the answers so there will no longer be a second answers/winners email at the end of the week.  Each week’s winners will be announced in the following week’s quiz. At the end of each 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 current events shared on the @TNWAC Twitter feed marked by #TNWACquiz. [Details]

TALK TO THE AUTHOR | THE LONG GAME: AMERICA’S ROLE IN THE WORLD

“In this inside assessment of Barack Obama’s foreign policy legacy, Derek Chollet tackles the prevailing consensus to argue that Obama has profoundly altered the course of American foreign policy for the better and positioned the United States to lead in the future.” Amazon.com

September 2016 Cover to Cover The Long Game: How Obama Defied Washington and Redefined America’s Role in the World.  Author Derek Chollet is a counselor and senior advisor for security and defense policy at The German Marshall Fund of the United States. He will discuss his new book on Wednesday, September 7, at 1:00-1:30 PM CT.  Register for the call

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.  [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.

SAVE THE DATE | INAUGURAL WORLDQUEST CORPORATE 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 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.”  Watch for announcements of details and registration info as the team slots are expected to fill quickly.  Meanwhile check www.TNWAC.org/worldquest-yp for information about the WorldQuest competition series.  [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]

A NETWORK WITH BENEFITS – TRAVEL THE WORLD

[Details]

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

ON THE MAP

• Sep 7 – Talk to the Author – Teleconference – 1-1:30pm CT – “The Long Game: How Obama Defied Washington and Redefined America’s Role in the World,” by Derek Chollet. [Details]
• Sep 7 – Film Screening – “America’s Diplomats” with host Amb Dick Bowers – Belmont  [Details]
• Sep 19 – Town Hall – “The Iran Nuclear Deal: Prospects for Cooperation, Competition and Confrontation – Amb Thomas R. Pickering – Belmont  [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 TBD]
• 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