Great Discussions 2010:a community forum for debating global issues
For the second year, the Global Affairs Center at Shoreline Community College hosted a series of discussions on current foreign policy issues. The events occurred on seven consecutive Thursday evenings beginning April 14, 2010. Each week we began by watching a 30 minute video that provided additional background at 6:00 p.m., followed by a short presentation by the discussion leader and then a round table discussion involving all participants. This year 25 people signed up for the series and each week there were 2-3 walk-in participants.
The format was built around Great Decisions, a publication prepared annually by the Foreign Policy Association (FPA) of New York; and containing several pages of thoughtful briefing material on each issue.
The themes and facilitators were:
April 15
U.S.-China Security Relations
Joe Borich, President, Washington State China Relations Council
April 22
Global Financial Crisis
Bob Francis, Economics Professor, Shoreline Community College
April 29
Global Crime
Selby Smith, Special Agent, Drug Enforcement Agency
May 6
Russia and its Neighbors
Chip Dodd, Geography Professor, Shoreline Community College
May 13
Special Envoys
Lew Macfarlane, U.S. Foreign Service, Retired
May 20
The Persian Gulf
Abdi Sami, Former CEO of Dream Quest Images and Co-Producer of Rick Steves' Iran
May 27
R2P (Responsibility to Protect)
Bruce Kochis, Professor, University of Washington - Bothell