Latin America Trending towards Beijing, Washington, or its Southern Star

Presented by Cynthia Watson, Ph.D.
Professor of Strategy at the National War College

Tuesday, December 5, 2017
5:30-6:15 p.m.- Reception 6:15 p.m. Dinner
7:00-8:30 p.m. – Presentation and Discussion

Schiff Conference Center, Cintas Center at Xavier University

According to Dr. Cynthia Watson “Latin America is much in the news because a number of leaders are under scrutiny for corruption, the Chinese are involved in a manner they have never been historically, and the United States is absorbed in issues elsewhere. The region is showing some evidence of achieving the conditions the U.S. has long hoped for – absorbing the rule of law, calling its international relationships to adhere to standards, and trying to create a genuinely Latin American path towards sustained development.”

Please join us to find out what is really going on in Latin America today.

Dr. Cynthia Watson

Dr. Cynthia Watson

Cynthia Watson grew up in Thailand and Colombia. She earned a M.A. in Economic History/Latin American Studies from the London School of Economics and a PhD in Government & International Studies from Notre Dame. She was 2011 Alumna of the Year at University of Missouri at Kansas City. Author of nine books on security issues, including Combatant Commands: Origins, Structure and Engagements (2011), Stability, Security, Reconstruction and Transition Operations (2012), and Military Education (2007), she focuses on military education as an instrument of statecraft as well as China’s modernizing and its effect on security relations, having worked on China in Latin America for the past fifteen years. Her most recent manuscript is Asia First: Reflecting or Refracting Strategy?, assessing the use of strategy to achieve the rebalance to Asia and the future of the United States around the world.

Dr. Watson joined the National War College faculty in 1992. She was Assistant Dean for Social Sciences at Loyola University of Chicago where she also taught Political Science. Dr. Watson worked for the House Subcommittee on Government Information & Individual Rights as well as the U.S. General Accounting Office. She is a member of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Event sponsored by:

Xavier University - Edward B. Brueggeman Center for Dialogue

World Affairs Council

The Middle East – A Diplomat’s View

A Wide Ranging Conversation with
Ambassador Dani Dayan
Consul General of Israel in New York

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Schiff Conference Center
Cintas Center at Xavier University

Dani DayanWe have seen critical shifts in the Middle East, from Western rapprochement with Iran, to the rise of ISIS, and the increasingly complex question of Syria. This dynamic has prompted some of Israel’s neighbors to open important channels on strategic issues. Ambassador Dani Dayan will speak to the opportunities of these circumstances and offer his analysis on future security challenges.

Consul General Dani Dayan represents Israel in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Delaware. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he is the first Hispanic Consul General of Israel in New York. Ambassador Dayan has a long reputation as an Israeli public figure, lecturer and entrepreneur enjoying wide support and appreciation from all sides of the Israeli political spectrum.

Event Sponsored by:

Jewish Community Relations Council American Jewish Council

Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy

Monday, June 26, 2017
5:30-6:15 p.m. – Reception
6:15 p.m. Dinner 7:00-8:30 p.m. Presentation and Discussion

Schiff Conference Center, Cintas Center at Xavier University

Join us for a lively discussion about Iran, its relationship with the West, and how the fate of the Iranian nuclear deal might impact U.S. relations with our European partners in the Joint Comprensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Trita ParsiTrita Parsi is the founder and president of the National Iranian American Council and an expert on US-Iranian relations, Iranian foreign politics, and the geopolitics of the Middle East.

His two previous books on U.S. Iran relations Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the United States (Yale University Press 2007) and A Single Roll of the Dice – Obama’s Diplomacy with Iran (Yale University Press 2012) have been widely praised for their scholarship and insight. His latest book – Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy (Yale University Press, 2017) – reveals the behind the scenes story to the historic nuclear deal with Iran. Copies of the new book will be available for sale and the author will sign copies after his presentation.

Parsi was born in Iran but moved with his family at the age of four to Sweden in order to escape political repression in Iran. His father was an outspoken academic who was jailed by the Shah and then by the Ayatollah. He moved to the United States as an adult and studied foreign policy at Johns Hopkins’ School for Advanced International Studies where he received his Ph.D. He founded NIAC to provide a non-partisan, non-profit organization through which Iranian-Americans could participate in American civic life. NIAC is a vocal proponent of dialogue and engagement between the US and Iran.

Event sponsored by:

Xavier University - Edward B. Brueggeman Center for Dialogue

World Affairs Council