The Los Angeles World Affairs Council promotes greater understanding

of current global issues and their impact on the people of Southern California

by inviting authoritative, influential figures in world affairs to Los Angeles

and providing them an open forum

 Home About Us Membership The International Circle High School Program Internships Young Associates Travel Program Directors

 

 

Speeches 2007-08

All available transcripts of addresses presented

to the Council in the 2007-08 season


Text versions open in adobe .pdf format

  A transcript is normally available online within a week after the speech is given.  Speeches are edited for readability and grammar, not content.

The views expressed by speakers are not endorsed by the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.  The Council is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that pays neither honoraria nor expenses to its speakers.

Video versions open in Windows Media Player

 

 

August 2008

An Energy Plan to End America's Dependence on Foreign Oil

T. Boone Pickens

Chairman and CEO

BP Capital

 

August 5

  read      watch

The Order of the Phoenix Visits Mars

Dr. Charles Elachi

Director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,

Vice President, California Institute of Technology

 

August 7

   read      watch

Democracy, Good Government and Development - Mexico and Latin America

His Excellency Vicente Fox

Former President of Mexico

 

August 19

     read      watch
   

July 2008

The Future of Iraq: Cause for Cautious Optimism

His Excellency

Samir Sumaida'ie

Ambassador of Iraq to the United States

 

July 1

   read      watch

Peace Between Arabs and Israelis: Wanted and Possible

His Excellency

Marwan Muasher

Former Deputy Prime Minister, former Foreign Minister, and former Ambassador to the United States for the

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Author The Arab Center

 

July 10

  read       watch

The Progress of the

Annapolis Peace Process

The Honorable

Richard H. Jones

United States'

Ambassador to Israel

 

July 15

      read     watch
   

May - June 2008

Presenting an Alternative to Hezbollah Lebanon

Ahmed El Assaad

Head, Kafa'at Party

of Lebanon,

Chairman, Lebanese Option Gathering

 

May 13

    read       watch

Diplomat of the Year Award Dinner

Ireland Today:

A New Beginning

His Excellency

Michael Collins

Ambassador of Ireland to the United States

 

May 20

   read   

The United States' Role in the World

The Honorable

George Mitchell

Former Senate

Majority Leader,

Former U.S. Special Envoy to Northern Ireland

 

May 29

    read      watch

A New Realism

for the Next Administration

The Honorable

Bill Richardson

Governor of New Mexico

 

June 3

     read   

Reversing the Failure of Strategy in Pakistan and Afghanistan

Ahmed Rashid

Pakistani journalist and best-selling author,

Author, Descent Into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia

 

June 13

    read       watch

April 2008

Why Peace is Possible, and Why America Should Care

Aaron David Miller

Foreign Policy Fellow, Woodrow Wilson International Center,

Author, The Much Too Promised Land

 

April 7

   read     watch

Peace in the Middle East: A Jordanian Perspective

His Royal Highness

Prince Zeid bin Ra'ad

Ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to the United States

 

April 11

    read     watch

People on the Move in the 21st Century: Refugees and the New Trends of Displacement

His Excellency

António Guterres

UN High Commissioner

for Refugees,

Former Prime Minister

of Portugal

 

April 25

     read      watch

Ladies of Liberty: Women Who

Shaped our Nation

Cokie Roberts

Contributing Senior

News Analyst,

National Public Radio;

Author, Ladies of Liberty:

The Women Who

Shaped our Nation

 

April 30

       read      watch
 

March 2008

Behind the Israel Lobby Controversy

J. J. Goldberg

Editor-in-Chief

 The Forward

 

March 10

     read   

Los Angeles: A Portal to the World for the United States

The Honorable

Antonio Villaraigosa

Mayor of the

City of Los Angeles

 

March 14

   read      watch

U.S. Foreign Policy: Where We Go

From Here

The Honorable John McCain

United States Senator

from Arizona,

Candidate for the Republican Party Nomination for President

 

March 26

    read        watch

The Threats

From Terrorism and Proliferation: Toward a Coherent Strategy

The Honorable

Brad Sherman

Chairman, Subcommittee on Terrorism,

Nonproliferation and Trade,

Committee on Foreign Affairs,

U.S. House of Representatives

 

March 27

    read        watch
 

January - February 2008

Climate Change: Natural Phenomenon or Human Legacy?

Dr. Richard Somerville

Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Research Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography;

Coordinating Lead Author, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

 

January 14

read      watch

Investing in the Global Economy

discussion moderated by

John F. Hotchkis

Chairman and CEO, Ramajal LLC;

Chairman of the Board, Los Angeles World Affairs Council

Stephen Bollenbach

Chairman of the Board,

KB Home

 

Donald Tang

Vice Chairman and Member of the Board of Directors,

Bear, Stearns and Co., Inc.

 

 

Dr. Komal Sri-Kumar

Managing Director and Chief Global Strategist

for Trust Company West

 

      February 13                         watch

Democracy in Southeast Asia

His Excellency

Kishore Mahbubani

Dean, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore

 

February 20

      read       watch

U.S. Middle East Policy: The Stakes Have Never Been Higher

James Zogby

President,

Arab American Institute

 

February 29

   read      watch

November - December 2007

A Time To Lead:

America's Need for International Strategy

General Wesley K. Clark

Author: A Time To Lead,

Senior Fellow,

Burkle Center, UCLA;

Former Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, NATO

 

November 20

read      watch

Iran: The Grand Bargain

Dr. Ted Galen Carpenter

Vice President for Defense and Foreign Policy Studies,

Cato Institute

 

Justin Logan

Associate Director of Foreign Policy,

Cato Institute

 

December 3

read     watch

The United States and the UN 

A Discussion with

The Honorable

Zalmay Khalilzad

United States Ambassador to the United Nations,

Former U.S.

Ambassador to Iraq

 

A Conversation

Moderated by
Michael Parks
Director of the School of Journalism, USC

 

December 6

read      watch

An Update on the

Israeli-Palestinian Peace Talks

Richard Boudreaux

Jerusalem Bureau Chief, Los Angeles Times

 

December 10

read      watch

 

September - October 2007

The Future of Arab-U.S. Relations: Problems and Prospects

His Excellency

Clovis Maksoud
Director, Center for the Global South,

American University,
Former Arab League Ambassador to the

United Nations

 

September 20

read      watch

Persistent Conflict:

The New Strategic Environment 

General George

W. Casey, Jr.
Chief of Staff,

United States Army

 

September 27

read      watch

Sri Lanka: From Ancient Past

to Dynamic Future 

His Excellency

Mahinda Rajapaksa
President of the Democratic Socialist Republic

of Sri Lanka

 

September 28

read      watch

The Role and Reality of the University in the Middle East

David D. Arnold

President, The American University in Cairo

 

October 17

read      watch

The OAS and the Advance of Democracy

His Excellency

Jose Miguel Insulza

Secretary General of the Organization of

American States

 

October 31

read     watch

These speeches are edited for readability not content.  The views expressed herein are solely those of the individual authors. 

The Los Angeles World Affairs Council in non-partisan, non-profit organization that pays neither honoraria or expenses to its speakers.

 

Hit Counter