When: February 10, 2012

From: 11:30 AM - 01:30 PM

Presenter:  Bill Stewart

Topic: Foreign Policy in an Election Year: Republican Candidates Grapple with President Barack Obama and the President’s Reduction in the Armed Forces

Location: Bishop’s Lodge Ranch Resort & Spa
1297 Bishop’s Lodge Rd.

Cost: $26 CIR Members; $32 Non-members and Guests

Reservation Deadline: Tuesday, February 7

Bill Stewart writes a weekly column on politics and foreign affairs for the Santa Fe New Mexican. In the 1960s, he was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer serving in India, Washington and Vietnam. He joined Time Magazine in 1971 as a correspondent and writer. For the next 20 years, he was Bureau Chief or correspondent in India, Japan, the Middle East (based in Beirut) and Southeast Asia (based in Hong Kong).

You may purchase tickets here by clicking on the title of this posting to bring up the ticketing feature that will appear below or by calling the office at 982-4931.  When purchasing tickets, be sure to give us the names of attendees.  Your name(s) will be added to the list of attendees; no tickets will be issued.  Note that through CIR’s Student Outreach Support program, interested students and teachers are invited to attend World Affairs Discussion events for free.  You can donate to the fund that pays for these guests by ordering Student Outreach Support at the bottom of the Shopping Cart.

When: February 17, 2012

From: 05:45 PM - 09:00 PM

A College Bowl-style Game of International Trivia
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Registration Time: 5:45
Dinner Program: 6:15—9:00

Join us for an evening of WorldQuest 2012, dinner accompanied by a College Bowl-style game of international trivia, played in teams of eight.  Answers are submitted by teams, not individuals.  It’s a fun way to test your knowledge of international issues.

Who can play? Anyone can play WorldQuest. Teams of eight may be formed by businesses, schools, clubs or groups of friends.  If you want to play but don’t have a team, we will find a team for you.

How is WorldQuest played? The game is played in four rounds of 25 questions each.  Your team has 30 seconds to answer each question.  Answer sheets are submitted at the end of each round.  In the event of a tie, a sudden death round will be played.  The winners’ trophy goes to the team with the highest number of points at the end of the four rounds.

What kind of questions will be asked? The questions will be timely and relevant, covering topics such as international politics, current events, economics, geography and culture.  Questions will cover all parts of the globe, so teams with a geographic balance of expertise will have an advantage.

When: February 25, 2012 - April 20, 2012

Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are critical to United States’ diplomatic efforts, global business interests and the general public for many different reasons.  Some of these countries are already a source of concern and in others troubles may lie just over the horizon.  If something goes awry in any one of them, consequences for the U.S. can be very serious —even disastrous.  The better informed we are about the politics, economics and problems of these countries, the better able we will be to address the challenges these states continue to pose.  Four lectures were planned; three are upcoming.

The four lectures of the series are:

1.  The New Ottomans - Turkey’s Muslim Nationalists
Speaker: Professor Jenny White, Boston University
Occurred on January 21

2.  Pakistan – Four Futures for a Troubled Relationship
Speaker:  Professor Timothy Hoyt of the U.S. Naval War College
Saturday, February 25, 3:00 p.m.

3.  Saudi Arabia -  A Problematic Ally?
Speaker:  Toby Jones
Saturday, March 24, 3:00 p.m.

4.  Egypt in Revolution
Speaker: Professor Nathan Brown of George Washington University
Thursday, April 19, 5:30 p.m.

You may purchase tickets using Paypal by clicking on the title of the postings or by calling the office at 982-4931.

When: February 25, 2012

From: 03:00 PM - 05:00 PM

Location:  The Forum, Santa Fe University of Art & Design, 1600 St. Michael’s Drive

Lecture Title:  Pakistan – Four Futures for a Troubled Relationship

Speaker:   Professor Timothy Hoyt of the U.S. Naval War College

Pakistan is considered to be one of the most dangerous countries in the world.  Instability, complex relations with India, terrorism, and nuclear weapons create a potentially explosive mix.  U.S.-Pakistani relations are difficult and at their lowest point since the death of Osama Bin Laden. Can this marriage be saved?

Dr. Timothy D. Hoyt has been a Professor of Strategy and Policy at the US Naval War College since 2002. He lectures and teaches there on a range of topics including strategy, terrorism, insurgency, warfare in the maritime domain, weapons of mass destruction, and contemporary conflict, and also teaches an elective course on South Asian security.

Dr. Hoyt received his Ph.D. in International Relations and Strategic Studies from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in 1997. From 1998-2002 he taught graduate courses on security in the developing world, South Asian security, technology and international security, and military strategy at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. In October 2003, he testified before two subcommittees of the House Committee on International Relations regarding terrorism in South and Southwest Asia.

In addition to teaching at the Naval War College, Dr. Hoyt has worked for the U.S. Army, for the Library of Congress’ Congressional Research Service, and served as a lecturer or consultant at other U.S. military schools and government agencies. His recent publications include chapters and articles on the war on terrorism in South Asia, security and conflict in the developing world, the limits of military force in the global war on terrorism, the impact of culture on Iraqi military performance, the evolution of multi-generational terrorist organizations, Pakistani nuclear doctrine and strategic thought, the impact of nuclear weapons on recent crises in South Asia, case studies of the Irish Republican Army and its use of political violence, a multinational review of the Mumbai terrorist attack and its strategic impact, and the role of maritime cooperation in US-Indian relations. He was recently named co-chair of the Naval War College’s Indian Ocean Regional Studies Group, and is a participant in Track II discussions with both India and Pakistan.

Dr. Hoyt is the author of Military Industries and Regional Power (Routledge 2007), examining the role of military industry in the national security policies of India, Israel, and Iraq, as well as over 40 book chapters and articles. He is beginning work on American Military Strategy in the 21st Century (Polity Press, tentative publication 2011) and a history of the Irish Republican Army from 1909-2009.

You may purchase tickets using Paypal by clicking on the title of this posting to bring up the ticketing feature that will appear below or by calling the office at 982-4931.  When purchasing tickets, be sure to give us the names of attendees.  Your name(s) will be added to the list of attendees; no tickets will be issued.

When: March 10, 2012

From: 03:00 PM - 05:00 PM

Speaker: John Hearn

Topic: Limiting Drug Production in Colombia

Location: The Forum, Santa Fe University of Art and Design, 1600 St. Michael’s Drive

Although for years Colombia has been pushed off the front pages by Iraq, Afghanistan and war on terror, the country still plays a vital role in the stability and security of the Western hemisphere, not to mention its continuing status as the source of the substantial flow of cocaine and other drugs into this country and Europe through Mexico and other channels. For this reason, Colombia today is still one of the largest recipients of US foreign assistance in the world – dwarfing all other programs in Latin America.

The country represents a major priority for US Foreign Policy in terms of the war on drugs and terror and our mandate to export and strengthen democracies in the developing world. It is also our staunchest ally in the hemisphere and represents a model of cooperation with the United States and a bulwark of support for US policy in Latin America.

The US Embassy in Bogota is one of the biggest in the world and includes representatives from over 40 US Government Agencies.  The presentation will focus on the evolving state of the war on drug production in Colombia – what has worked and what has not – and offer lessons from experience on new directions for how to maximize the impact of our considerable military and economic investment in Plan Colombia I and II (well over $8 billion since the year 2000 with hundreds of millions more proposed over the next five years). It is important that the nature of the ongoing drug production phenomenon and how to address it be understood by US policy makers and the general public so that it, and the ongoing guerilla conflict that it feeds, can be mitigated. To date this understanding has been lacking, resulting in severe deterioration of needed program impact. How this can be turned around through the application of vital lessons from experience will be covered in the presentation.

John Heard is a former Senior Foreign Service Officer with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Peace Corps with tours in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Paraguay, El Salvador, Bosnia and the Philippines plus a number of years in Washington. No stranger to conflict and post-conflict settings, in El Salvador as Associate Mission Director for Operations he managed a major multi-sector portfolio that literally kept the country afloat during the most difficult years of that war (1987-1992). In Bosnia, following the Dayton Accords, he supervised a massive business development program instrumental in reactivating industry in the devastated economy of the time (1996-98). Later, in retirement, from January 2003 through mid 2007, he was Country Director for the Pan American Development Foundation program in Colombia where he supervised implementation of a $160 million USAID financed program dedicated to addressing the drug production problem at the farm level and the need to develop social and economic solutions for hundreds of thousands of people displaced by violence from the ongoing conflict. This involved directing a staff of 160 spread over 18 field offices throughout critical conflict and post conflict zones of the country. John has since remained in close touch with Colombia in a consulting status and has returned several times a year to the present time.

Purchase your tickets by calling the Office 982-4931 or click on the posting title to use the PayPal link available on this website.  (Note that, if purchasing tickets here, you will need to return to this page multiple times to add tickets with differing “Fee Types” to your shopping cart.)  When checking out using this website to purchase tickets, be sure to give us the names of attendees in the “Comments or special instructions” box.  Your name(s) will be added to the list of attendees and no tickets will be issued.  You should receive an email both from this website and PayPal confirming the purchase.