Priya Guha: The Changing Face of the Diplomat

Traditionally, foreign representatives have fit a particular mold and seemingly come from similar backgrounds. This pattern is changing and opportunities for foreign service is widening as the face of the foreign diplomat diversifies. We heard about this last week, when Dr. Dino Patti Djalal, the Indonesian Ambassador to the U.S., shared his story with us. During his lecture, he told us  that his first job in the U.S. was as the janitor in the embassy where he would one day work as ambassador, but then he didn’t think it was possible. At that time, Indonesian ambassadors were required to have military rank, something Dr. Djalal lacked. However, because the opportunities and requirements changed, Dr. Djalal was able to rise to the position of ambassador.

Similarly, though perhaps less explicitly, the face of representation from the UK has conformed to a certain idea of the traditional diplomat. In an increasingly diverse world, however, this is changing. Priya Guha was appointed as the first woman Consul General of San Francisco in August 2011, changing the face of traditional British representation. Guha is also half Indian; she represents both the multi-generational British citizen as well as the second-generation daughter of an immigrant. Guha, on several different levels, knows what it means to be a diplomat representing a diverse society and personal background. 

From 2007 to 2011 Guha served as First Secretary for Political and Bilateral Affairs, leading on Indian politics and the UK-India bilateral relationship. As the Consul General in San Francisco, she represents the British government’s foreign policy interests in several states including northern California, Washington,Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska.

Priya Guha will be speaking on Friday, September 7th at noon at the Anchorage Hilton Hotel. Price for lunch if paid in advance is $23 for members, $26 for non-members. If paid at the door, lunch is $26 for members, $30 for non-members. You can register through our website: http://www.alaskaworldaffairs.org/September72012PriyaGuha/tabid/467/Default.aspx

A 2010 Senatorial Debate!

On the 26th of October, the AWAC and Rotary hosted a senatorial debate at the Dena'ina Center between candidates Joe Miller, Lisa Murkowski, and Scott McAdams. In total, 480 people attended the debate, including 105 students who came from APU, AVAIL, Chugiak, Service, South, UAA, and West. It was $23.oo for adults, and free for students thanks to B.P. This debate was moderated by the President of APTI, Steve Lindbeck, and the Executive Director of AWAC, Lise Falskow. To the left are some pictures from the debate.

Lecture and a Discussion!

Hello AWAC friends!

Here is an upcoming event that may be of interest to you folks. It is hosted by the UAA Bookstore, so go on and check it out!


Gypsy Theaters in the Soviet Union

On September 25, 2009, Professor Brigid O'Keeffe from Brooklyn College will host a lecture and discussion on the history of Gypsy theaters and entertainers in the Soviet Union. The paper is titled, "Pornography or Authenticity? Performing 'Gypsiness' on the Early Soviet Stage, 1921-1939." The event is open to the public and will take place at the UAA Campus Bookstore from 4-6PM.

So, to recap-

What: Lecture and Discussion

Topic: History of Gypsy Theaters in the Soviet Union

Location: UAA Bookstore (campus map)

Date&Time: September 25th, 4-6p.m.

Hope to see you all there!

The World Trade Center of Alaska Presents Mark Begich Monday, June 1!

The World Trade Center of Alaska in Cooperation with the Alaska World Affairs Council
and the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation,
the Associated General Contractors of Alaska,
the Northern Forum, the Resource Development Council,
and the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce
present
a Major Address by the Honorable Mark Begich

Topic: A Report from the Battlefield:

Progress in the Middle East and Washington

Just back from a week-long tour of Afghanistan and Pakistan, U.S. Senator Mark Begich will provide his perspective on progress in the world's most

dangerous region and give an update on current developments in Washington, D.C. As the first Alaskan on the Senate Armed Services

Committee since 1968, Senator Begich will report on his meetings with top military commanders and some of the thousands of Alaskan soldiers serving in the Middle East. In his first major speech in Alaska since his swearing-in, the Senator also will discuss congressional efforts to address the major issues facing the nation, including the economy, health care and international trade.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Hotel Captain Cook Ballroom

12:00 - 1:30 PM

(doors open at 11:30)

The cost is $45 per seat or $500 for a table of 10.

For more information or to make reservations,
please call the Alaska World Trade Center at 278-7233
or send an email to info@akwtc.org.

Susan Martin on Friday, May 29th

On Friday, May 29, the Alaska World Affairs Council will feature Susan Martin, of the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University, speaking on the topic "US Immigration Policy: Challenges for the Future" as our last event of the 2008-2009 program year!

Susan Martin holds the Donald G. Herzberg Chair in International Migration and serves as the Director of the Institute for the Study of International Migration in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Dr. Martin is also Co-Director of the Certificate Program on Refugees and Humanitarian Emergencies. Previously Dr. Martin served as the Executive Director of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, established by legislation to advise Congress and the President on U.S. immigration and refugee policy, and Director of Research and Programs at the Refugee Policy Group.

Her publications include Refugee Women, The Uprooted: Improving Humanitarian Responses to Forced Migration, Beyond the Gateway: Immigrants in a Changing America (ed.), and Managing Migration: The Promise of Cooperation. Dr. Martin earned her MA and Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Pennsylvania and her BA in History from Douglass College, Rutgers University. She is the President of the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration and serves on the U.S. Comptroller General’s Advisory Board, the Academic Advisory Board of the International Organization for Migration, and the Board of the Advocacy Project.

On Friday, May 22nd, the Alaska World Affairs Council will feature Joe Montville,
Director of Toward the Abrahamic Family Reunion and Founder of Preventive Diplomacy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Joseph Montville is director of Toward the Abrahamic Family Reunion, the Esalen Institute project to promote Muslim-Christian-Jewish reconciliation. He is also Senior Adviser on Interfaith Relations at Washington National Cathedral, and has appointments at American and George Mason Universities. Montville founded the preventive diplomacy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in 1994 and directed it until 2003. Before that he spent 23 years as a diplomat with posts in the Middle East and North Africa. He also worked in the State Department's Bureaus of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs and Intelligence and Research, where he was chief of the Near East Division and director of the Office of Global Issues. Montville has held faculty appointments at the Harvard and University of Virginia Medical Schools. He defined the concept of “Track Two,” nonofficial diplomacy. Educated at Lehigh, Harvard, and Columbia Universities, Montville is the editor of Conflict and Peacemaking in Multiethnic Societies (Lexington Books, 1990) and editor (with Vamik Volkan and Demetrios Julius) of The Psychodynamics of International Relationships (Lexington Books, 1990 [vol. I], 1991 [vol. II]).

As always, you can find more information about our programs on our web site, www.alaskaworldaffairs.org.

On Friday, May 15th, we hosted Dr. Paul Dunscomb, Associate Professor of East Asian History at UAA, who spoke on the topic "Whatever Happened To Japan: The Economic Superpower That Never Was"

Paul Dunscomb is Associate Professor of East Asian History at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and Director of UAA’s Confucius Institute. He has graduate degrees from the State University of New York at Albany and the University of Kansas. He is a specialist in modern Japanese history focusing on the domestic political aspects of the Japanese intervention and occupation of Siberia, 1918-1922. His book manuscript on this topic, the first ever complete narrative of Japan’s Siberian Intervention in English or Japanese, is currently under consideration by the University of Hawaii Press. His work has appeared in the Military Review, the Journal of Japanese Studies, and East-West Connections. He is the recipient of a Fulbright Research Fellowship for study in Japan and co-recipient of a Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad grant to lead a study tour of the Russian Far East. Prof. Dunscomb teaches East Asian Civilization, Modern China, Modern Japan as well as specialty courses in the evolution of the Samurai and the history of the Chinese Communist Party.