BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//The World Affairs Council of Greater Reading - ECPv6.15.20//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:The World Affairs Council of Greater Reading X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://wacreading.org X-WR-CALDESC:Events for The World Affairs Council of Greater Reading REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20240310T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20241103T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20250309T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20251102T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20260308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20261101T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251008T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251008T133000 DTSTAMP:20260424T071327 CREATED:20250521T191729Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250705T220526Z UID:8234-1759924800-1759930200@wacreading.org SUMMARY:Putin's War Against the West with John J. Sullivan DESCRIPTION:Ambassador John J. Sullivan\, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State and former U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation\, was recently named a Distinguished Senior Fellow in Columbia Law School’s National Security Law Program. He is a partner in Mayer Brown’s Washington DC and New York offices and co-leads the firm’s National Security practice. \nAmbassador Sullivan’s career spans four decades in public service in prominent diplomatic and legal positions under five U.S. presidents. His earlier positions included Deputy Secretary of Commerce under President George W. Bush\, following his service from 2005 to 2007 as the general counsel of the department. In President Bush’s first term\, he served as deputy general counsel of the Defense Department. In the George H.W. Bush Administration\, Ambassador Sullivan was counselor to Assistant Attorney General J. Michael Luttig in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. \nIn private practice at Mayer Brown\, which he first joined in 1993\, Ambassador Sullivan has been a member of the Supreme Court and Appellate practice and was a co-founder of the National Security practice. \nAmbassador Sullivan received his bachelor’s degree from Brown University and his law degree from the Columbia University School of Law\, where he was Book Reviews Editor of the Columbia Law Review. He was a law clerk for Associate Justice David H. Souter of the Supreme Court of the United States\, and for Judge John Minor Wisdom of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. His many professional honors include the Distinguished Alumnus Award of Columbia Law School’s DC Alumni Association. \nThis luncheon event is being held at the McGlinn Conference Center\, Alvernia University \nClick here to register for this live event now \nClick here to register for this webinar now URL:https://wacreading.org/event/midnight-in-moscow-with-ambassador-john-j-sullivan/ LOCATION:McGlinn Conference Center\, 460 Saint Bernardine Street\, Reading\, PA\, 19607\, United States CATEGORIES:Luncheon Meeting ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://wacreading.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/John_J_Sullivan.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251015T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251015T131500 DTSTAMP:20260424T071327 CREATED:20250810T181731Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251002T212129Z UID:8267-1760529600-1760534100@wacreading.org SUMMARY:The Promise and Peril of Trump's America First Statecraft - with Charles Kupchan DESCRIPTION:Charles Kupchan is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and professor of international affairs at Georgetown University in the Walsh School of Foreign Service and Department of Government.\nFrom 2014 to 2017\, Kupchan served as special assistant to the president and senior director for European affairs on the staff of the National Security Council (NSC) in the Barack Obama administration. He was also director for European affairs on the NSC during the first Bill Clinton administration.  Before joining the Clinton NSC\, he worked in the U.S. Department of State on the policy planning staff.  Previously\, he was an assistant professor of politics at Princeton University.\nKupchan is the author of Isolationism: A History of America’s Efforts to Shield Itself From the World (2020)\, No One’s World: The West\, the Rising Rest\, and the Coming Global Turn (2012)\, How Enemies Become Friends: The Sources of Stable Peace (2010)\, The End of the American Era: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Geopolitics of the Twenty-first Century (2002)\, Power in Transition: The Peaceful Change of International Order (2001)\, Civic Engagement in the Atlantic Community (1999)\, Atlantic Security: Contending Visions (1998)\, Nationalism and Nationalities in the New Europe (1995)\, The Vulnerability of Empire (1994)\, The Persian Gulf and the West (1987)\, and numerous articles on international and strategic affairs.\nKupchan has served as a visiting scholar at Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs\, Columbia University’s Institute for War and Peace Studies\, the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London\, the Centre d’Étude et de Recherches Internationales in Paris\, and the Institute for International Policy Studies in Tokyo. From 2006 to 2007\, he was the Henry A. Kissinger scholar at the Library of Congress and a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. From 2013 to 2014\, he was a senior fellow at the Transatlantic Academy.\nKupchan received his BA from Harvard University and MPhil and DPhil from Oxford University \nClick here to register for this webinar now URL:https://wacreading.org/event/the-promise-and-peril-of-trumps-america-first-statecraft-with-charles-kupchan/ LOCATION:Virtual Event\, PA\, United States CATEGORIES:Special Event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://wacreading.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/cfr_kupchan_195final.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251024T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251024T200000 DTSTAMP:20260424T071327 CREATED:20250818T174330Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251014T202516Z UID:8309-1761325200-1761336000@wacreading.org SUMMARY:Pub Global Trivia 2025 DESCRIPTION:Spotlight your business\, community organization\, school\, or circle of friends as a team in the Pub Global Trivia competition. \nSly Fox Taphouse on October 24th at 5pm* Parking and entrance at rear of building \n\nEnjoy an exciting\, fun-filled\, evening-and potentially major bragging rights- while the funds your team raise\, support the Alan Miller Scholarship Fund for Berks County students planning on majoring in International Relations\, Global affairs\, Political Science or Public Administration. \nMark the date in your calendar. Recruit your Team – four members. Plan to attend as a Cheerleader. \nAn evening of fun with the proceeds benefiting scholarships for outstanding Berks County High School Senior students interested in International Relations\, Political Science\, Public Administration\, and Global Studies. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Scholarships are in recognition of the late Alan Miller\, Esq.\, longtime World Affairs Board member and former Berks County Solicitor. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n October 24\, 2025 @ Sly Fox\n820 Knitting Mills Way\, Wyomissing\nBuffet begins at 5:30pm | Trivia begins at 6:30pm \nCheerleader Tickets: $35 includes food! \nJoin in an evening of enlightenment and fun. Audience guests are invited and encouraged to cheer on their favorite teams! \n \n \n \n \n \n Click here to register and pay at the door as a cheerleader! \n \n \n \n \n \n – or register and pay online with PayPal – \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n Powered by \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Event Sponsors\nYour contribution will fund the Alan Miller Scholarships awarded annually to Berks County High School Students planning to major in International Relations\, Global Studies\, Political Science or Public Administration. \nIndividual or company name /logo will be:– on Constant Contact email blasts– displayed on video screen during the event– placed on the WAC website– announced throughout the evening of the event \nPlatinum – $1\,000Gold – $750Silver – $500Bronze – $250 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Team Participants\nTeam up with 3 or 4 adult participants! \n* Teachers\, corporate execs\, college professors\, young professionals\, friends and family* Answer fun\, challenging\, and internationally-themed questions* full year of bragging rights as winner in Pub Global Trivia! \nRegister your team now for a night of food\, fun\, and friendship! \nClick here to register your team! \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n For registration\, sponsorship\, or general questions \nCall 610-375-7880 URL:https://wacreading.org/event/pub-global-trivia/ LOCATION:Sly Fox Taphouse\, 820 Knitting Mills Way (Parking/entry in rear)\, Wyomissing\, PA\, 19610\, United States END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251029T193000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251029T210000 DTSTAMP:20260424T071327 CREATED:20250904T203105Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250904T203105Z UID:8393-1761766200-1761771600@wacreading.org SUMMARY:Is the Midddle East at an Inflection Point? with Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer DESCRIPTION:Daniel Kurtzer is 45th annual Leo Camp Memorial Lecturer.\nKurtzer joined the United States Department of State and was serving as a junior officer at the American Embassy in Cairo when Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981. He served in Israel between the years of 1982 and 1986\, then became Deputy Director of the State Department’s Egypt desk in Washington\, D.C. He later served on the Policy Planning Staff\, as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs\, and as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research. When asked why he was drawn to the Middle East\, he later replied: “The work never seems to be finished in this region. It is not a place where tuxedos and cocktail parties characterize diplomacy.”\nKurtzer joined the staff of Secretary of State James Baker. He helped write Baker’s noteworthy speech to American Israel Public Affairs Committee in May 1989. The speech was originally drafted by Harvey Sicherman\, who used uncontroversial pro-Israel language in his text. Kurtzer’s revisions included an attention-getting line that encouraged Israel and its supporters to abandon the Greater Israel idea. According to Aaron David Miller\, he and Kurtzer wrote short memos for Baker on issues at hand\, rather than longer\, strategic papers.\nKurtzer was also part of the Clinton administration’s team of advisers on the Arab–Israeli peace process. According to Miller\, Kurtzer left in 1994 because he “felt shut out by” the Special Middle East Envoy\, Dennis Ross.\nIn 2006\, he retired from the State Department and the U.S. Foreign Service with the rank of Career-Minister and assumed a chair in Middle East policy studies at the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. He co-chaired\, with Scott Lasensky\, the Study Group on Arab-Israeli Peacemaking\, a project supported by the United States Institute of Peace. They published their recommendations in a 2008 book. \nKurtzer is the co-author of Negotiating Arab-Israeli Peace: American Leadership in the Middle East; co-author of The Peace Puzzle: America’s Quest for Arab Israeli Peace\, 1989–2011; and editor of Pathways to Peace: America and the Arab-Israeli Conflict. He is also a frequent contributor of academic articles and opinion pieces. \nThis is a free event and open to the public. URL:https://wacreading.org/event/is-the-midddle-east-at-an-inflection-point-with-ambassador-daniel-kurtzer/ LOCATION:Albright College\, McMillan Student Center South Lounge\, 13th and Bern Streets\, Reading\, PA\, 19612\, United States CATEGORIES:Special Event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://wacreading.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Daniel_C._Kurtzer.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR