World Affairs Council of the Desert upcoming events

September Virtual Event - Steve Clemons - Tomorrow's Foreign Affairs Topography Will Need New Maps: Thoughts on the Shifting Geopolitical and Geoeconomic Scene around the World (09/24/2026)

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 22:00:00 GMT

Publisher of the popular political blog The Washington Note, Mr. Clemons is a long-term policy practitioner and entrepreneur in Washington, D.C. He has served as Executive Vice President of the Economic Strategy Institute, Senior Policy Advisor on Economic and International Affairs to Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and was the first Executive Director of the Nixon Center.

Prior to moving to Washington, Mr. Clemons served for seven years as Executive Director of the Japan America Society of Southern California and co-founded with Chalmers Johnson the Japan Policy Research Institute. He is a Member of the Board of the Clarke Center at Dickinson College, a liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pa., as well as an Advisory Board Member of the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience at Washington College in Chestertown, Md. He is also a Board Member of the Global Policy Innovations Program at the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs and on the advisory board of the Robert Bosch Foundation Alumni Association.

Mr. Clemons writes frequently on matters of foreign policy, defense, and international economic policy. His work has appeared in many of the major leading op-ed pages, journals, and magazines around the world.

Nov. 8, 2026 Dinner - Carrie Filipetti - Cuba, Venezuela, and US Policy toward Latin America (11/08/2026)

Mon, 09 Nov 2026 01:00:00 GMT

Carrie Filipetti currently serves as the Executive Director of the Vandenberg Coalition and as a Wilson Center Distinguished Fellow. Prior to this role, Carrie served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cuba and Venezuela in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs and the Deputy Special Representative for Venezuela at the U.S. Department of State, for which she received a Superior Honor Award. From 2019-2020, Carrie also served as the Senior Advisor to the Havana Incidents Task Force, where she was responsible for coordinating an inter-agency effort to address the causes of unexplained health incidents affecting U.S. personnel, and identifying proper long-term care mechanisms. Prior to these roles, Carrie served as a Senior Policy Advisor for the United States Mission to the United Nations (USUN), where she advised U.S. Ambassador Nikki R. Haley on issues related to counterterrorism, the Middle East, and the Western Hemisphere.

Carrie began her career spending five years at a private family foundation, where she served as Director of Portfolio Management. Also in her capacity as Director of the Foundation, Carrie served as a Senior Advisor and co-founder of Start-Up Nation Central, a Tel-Aviv based non-profit that seeks to connect the world with Israeli innovation.

Carrie graduated with a degree in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia as both a Jefferson and Echol’s scholar. She currently serves on the board of the National Endowment for Democracy and Fired Up to Help, a non-profit focused on feeding first responders during local and national emergencies. She previously served as a volunteer EMT for Montgomery County, Maryland.

December 13, 2026 Dinner - Dan Schnur - How the Results of the Mid-terms will Affect President Trump’s Foreign Policy (12/13/2026)

Mon, 14 Dec 2026 01:00:00 GMT

Dan is a Professor at the University of California – Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies, Pepperdine University’s Graduate School of Public Policy, and the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communications, where he teaches courses in politics, communications, and leadership.

He has been teaching courses in politics, communications, and leadership since 1996 and has also taught at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management.

Previously, Schnur worked on four presidential and three gubernatorial campaigns as one of California's leading political strategists and served as the national director of communications for the 2000 presidential campaign of US Senator John McCain and was the chief media spokesman for California Governor Pete Wilson.

Dan hosts a monthly live national webinar for the Los Angeles World Affairs Council Town Hall, called “The Dan Schnur Political Report”. He writes a weekly column for the AllSides political website, and for The Jewish Journal, where he is the U.S. Political Editor.

Dan is known for his unique ability to bring perspective and clarity to complex political issues.

January 10, 2027 Dinner - John Arquilla - The Troubled American Way of War (01/10/2027)

Mon, 11 Jan 2027 01:00:00 GMT

John Arquilla is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the United States Naval Postgraduate School, where he taught courses on international relations, irregular warfare and the impact of technology on military affairs from 1993-2021. He is best known for having co-developed the concepts of cyberwar, netwar, and swarm tactics with his RAND colleague David Ronfeldt.

Dr. Arquilla’s policy experience includes serving as an adviser to senior civilian and military leaders across a range of events, from Desert Storm to the Kosovo War, and in numerous post-9/11 matters. He has also been awarded the Special Operations Command Medal, one of a handful of recipients of this honor in the forty-year history of the Command.

His books include: Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime, and Militancy (2001); The Reagan Imprint (2006); Insurgents, Raiders, and Bandits (2011); Why the Axis Lost (2020); Bitskrieg: The New Challenge of Cyberwarfare (2021); and The Troubled American Way of War (2026).

February 7, 2027 Dinner - Admiral James Ellis (ret) - A Conversation with Admiral Ellis (02/07/2027)

Mon, 08 Feb 2027 01:00:00 GMT

Admiral James O. Ellis, Jr. USN (Ret.) is currently the Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where he directs both the Global Policy and Strategy Initiative and the George P. Shultz Energy Policy Working Group. He was elected to Chair of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in May of 2025.

Admiral Ellis retired from the United States Navy in 2004 after 39 years of service, including command roles such as Commander of the United States Strategic Command. Following his military career, he served as president and chief executive officer of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO), where he oversaw safety and reliability standards across the commercial nuclear energy industry.

His career includes extensive operational and leadership experience, including serving as commanding officer of the nuclear-powered USS Abraham Lincoln, leading contingency operations in the Taiwan Strait, and directing U.S. and NATO forces during the Kosovo crisis.

Admiral Ellis holds a Master of Science in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy.

March 14, 2027 Dinner - TBD (03/14/2027)

Mon, 15 Mar 2027 00:00:00 GMT

April 4, 2027 Dinner - Jim Jeffrey - What's Next In The Middle East (04/04/2027)

Mon, 05 Apr 2027 00:00:00 GMT

James Jeffrey is an American diplomat who served most recently as the United States Special Representative for Syria Engagement and the Special Envoy to the Global Coalition to defeat ISIS.

He has held senior assignments in Washington, D.C., and abroad, including as United States Ambassador to Iraq (2010–2012); United States Ambassador to Turkey (2008–2010); Deputy National Security Advisor (2007–2008); and United States Ambassador to Albania (2002–2004). In 2010 Jeffrey was appointed to the highest rank in the U.S. Foreign Service, Career Ambassador.

Jeffrey is a visiting fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a member of the CIA External Advisory Board, a member of the American Council on Germany, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.