Great Decisions returns with 8 new topics in 2024!
February 7, 2024
• U.S.-China Trade Rivalry
Speaker: Richard Rocamora – former VP and General Manager of Cooper Power Systems in Shanghai, China
China’s economic rise and its current policies of increasing the role of the state in the economy have led some U.S. policymakers to seek to deny China access to U.S. technology and investment. This is seen as a necessary corrective to decades of predatory Chinese economic policies. Is this a wise strategy, and how effective can it be?
February 14, 2024
• Science Across Borders (DVD/Roundtable Discussion)
Scientific advances benefit from collaboration between researchers, but what happens when material, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) is controversial and important to a nation’s national security? Is there a middle ground between sharing information and denying access? How can we regulate cooperation?
February 21, 2024
• Climate Technology and Competition
Speaker: Pablo Toral, Ph.D. – Professor of Environmental Studies and International Relations, Department Chair of Political Science, Beloit College
Will the United States and China, with other powerful countries following suit, approach current and future climate initiatives with an increased commitment to trade protectionism and nationalism, by various measures including trade restrictions? Or could a growing spirit of international accord develop to confront the “common enemy” of climate change?
February 28, 2024
• High Seas Treaty (DVD/Roundtable Discussion)
Areas of the seas beyond national jurisdiction comprise the high seas, which are facing a degradation of ecosystems due to climate change and the increase in human activities, such as shipping, overfishing, pollution, and deep-sea mining. The recently negotiated High Seas Treaty, also known as the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction treaty, will attempt to address these issues. How difficult will it be to convince nations to participate?
March 6, 2024
• NATO’s Future
Speaker: John Katzka – retired Senior Foreign Service Officer
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has come under increased scrutiny, not because NATO troops are involved in the conflict, but because of its role in relations between Russia and its neighbors. Will expanding membership in NATO protect countries, or will it further provoke Russia?
March 13, 2024
• Pandemic Preparedness (DVD/Roundtable Discussion)
Looking back at the covid-19 pandemic, there are many lessons to take away in terms of domestic and international policies. Although this pandemic seems to havewaned, how can we apply these lessons to future pandemics? Will countries cooperate, and will a consensus emerge on how to manage global health challenges?
March 20, 2024
• Mideast Realignment
Speaker: Beth Dougherty, Ph.D. – Manger Professor of International Relations, Beloit College
The United States and Middle East are at a crossroads. In spite of a reduced presence in the Middle East, the U.S. still has significant national interests there and the area is a key arena for global power politics. Can the U.S. continue to defend its interests in the Middle East and globally with a lower level of military and political involvement, or should it recommit to a leading role in the region?
March 27, 2024
• Understanding Indonesia
Speaker: Peter Kranstover – Retired Foreign Service Officer with USAID for nearly 30 years in Latin America, Africa, Washington, D.C., and Pakistan
Despite its large size, Indonesia remains virtually invisible to most Americans. But as one of the world’s largest democracies, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, and as an economic driver of ASEAN, why does it fly below the radar? What are current issues in U.S.-Indonesian relations, and what role can the country play in Asia?