Events

Tuesday, October 2 at 6:30 in Hancock 2023, Marist College. Lecture with Dr. Benjamin Carter Hett, Professor of History, Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center. This event is co-sponsored by the World Affairs Council of the Mid-Hudson Valley and Marist College’s History Department

Tuesday, October 9th at 5:30 PM in the Villard Room, Vassar College. This event will be an interactive webcast with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with on-site facilitators and is co-sponsored by several academic departments of Vassar College and other community organizations.

The African National Congress (ANC) party has governed South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994. But the party today suffers from popular frustration over official corruption and economic stagnation. It faces growing threats from both left and right opposition parties, even as intraparty divisions surface. Given America’s history of opportunistic engagement with Africa, […]

Facilitator: Matthew Murray, Dutchess Community College Under President Vladimir Putin, Russia is projecting an autocratic model of governance abroad and working to undermine the influence of liberal democracies, namely along Russia’s historical borderlands. Russia caused an international uproar in 2016 when it interfered in the U.S. presidential contest. But Putin’s foreign policy toolkit includes other […]

Eighteen area high school teams compete in this international affairs quiz bowl. The winner will travel to Washington DC in April 2019 to participate in the World Affairs Council of America national AWQ championship event.  Thank you to our sponsors, including IBM. UPDATE -- Our 2019 regional winner - The Mount Academy team - traveled […]

Sponsored by The World Affairs Council of the Mid-Hudson Valley and the Richard Reitano Endowed Chair in Social Sciences (DCC) The Student World Affairs Conference (SWAC) is an annual academic event. It is an opportunity for undergraduate students to realize a research conference experience and meet student colleagues at colleges and universities across the Mid-Hudson region. […]

Facilitator: Martin Charwat.  Mass migration, and the problems associated with it, have directly abetted the rise of populist parties in Europe. Opposition to immigration was the prime driver of support for Brexit, it brought a far-right party to the German Bundestag for the first time since the 1950s and propelled Marine Le Pen to win […]

Facilitator: Michael O'Sullivan, Professor of History at Marist College Today, no countries have open borders. Every state in today’s global system has its laws and policies about who is permitted to cross its borders, and how they will do so. Who determines whether someone is a refugee or a migrant? How have different countries, including […]

Facilitator: Jean-Claude Fouere. Though arguably the most advanced economy in the world, the United States still uses centuries-old numbers to measure trade.  These antique numbers mangle understanding of the U.S.-China trade relationship, shrinking America’s true economic size and competitiveness, while swelling China’s.  Bad numbers give rise to bad policies that ultimately kill U.S. jobs and […]

October 30, 2019, at Marist College - HC2023 at 7 pm. Talk co-sponsored by Marist College and WAC-MHV. Dr. Gerasimos Tsourapas, Lecturer in Middle East Politics at the University of Birmingham in the Department of Political Science and International Studies will speak about Authoritarianism in the Middle East with a focus on the politics of […]