Past Programs, 2018 and earlier
Past Programs
October 2018
Global Dimensions of Middle Eastern Conflicts
Speaker:
Dr. Sheila Carapico, University of Richmond
April 2018
US-Iran Relations
Speaker:
Trita Parsi, Founding President of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC)
March 2018
The State of Israel
Speaker:
Dr. Einat Wilf, past member of the Israeli Parliament
October 2017
Insurgent Warfare and Lessons to Counter the Islamic State
Speaker:
Dr. Seth Jones, Director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at the RAND Corporation
September 2017
Taiwan’s Challenges for three presidents: Trump, Tsai, and Xi Jinping
Speakers:
Dr. Harry Harding & Dr. Syarus Shirly Lin, University of Virginia
June 2017
An Evening with Cathy Scott Clark
Speaker:
Cathy Scott Clark, award-winning journalist, author and film-maker
May 2017
Trump & The Prospects for Israeli-Palestinian Peace
Speaker:
Dr. James J. Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute (AAI)
April 2017
Trump & Egypt
McGuire Woods Forum on Foreign Policy
Speaker:
Dr. Eric Trager, The Washington Institute
March 2017
Contemporary Russian Foreign Policy
McGuire Woods Forum on Foreign Policy
Speaker:
Allen Lynch, Professor at the University of Virginia
February 2017
21st Century Energy Policy
The Dominion 2017 Speaker Series
Speaker:
William L. “Bill” Murray, Senior Public Policy & Electric Policy Director for Dominion
January 2017
U.S. Relations in the Middle East
The Dominion 2017 Speaker Series
Speaker:
Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering, former U.S. ambassador to Israel, Russia, India, El Salvador, Nigeria, Jordan, and the United Nations.
December 2016
Trump Foreign Policy: A New Era?
Speaker:
Dr. William Newmann, Virginia Commonwealth University
November 2016
Essential Elements of a Solution in Syria
The Dominion 2016 Speaker Series
Speaker:
Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, Professor at William & Mary
October 2016
The Strategic Importance of Africa
The Dominion 2016 Speaker Series
Speaker:
Ambassador Herman J. Cohen, former U.S. Ambassador to Gambia and Senegal; Assistant Secretary of State under President George H. W. Bush
September 2016
Religious Minorities Under Attack: The Story of Pakistan 
The Dominion 2016 Speaker Series
Speaker:
Farahnaz Ispahani, author and former Member of the Pakistani Parliament
August 2016
Why did Britain vote for the Brexit? 
Speaker:
Chris Bischof, University of Richmond
May 2016
India at the Global High Table:
What Kind of Global Role is India Creating–and How
Speakers:
Ambassadors Howard and Teresita Schaffer
Howard B. Schaffer, Adjunct professor at Georgetown University, and former U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh
Teresita C. Schaffer, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and former U.S. Ambassador in Sri Lanka
April 2016
The China Effect
Speaker:
Vincent Wang, Professor at University of Richmond
March 2016
Turkey’s Role in the Shaping of a New Middle East
Speaker:
Dr. Sinan Ciddi, Director of the Institute for Turkish Studies at Georgetown University
February 2016
Russia – An Enigma
Speaker:
Allen Lynch, University of Virginia
December 2015
Al Qaeda and ISIS: Which is the Greater Danger?
Speaker:
Dr. Mary Habeck, Visiting Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).
November 2015
Syria – an Analysis
Speaker:
Ribal al-Assad, Founder and Director of the Organisation for Democracy and Freedom in Syria.
November 2015
The Refugee Crisis and the Fear of the Other In Central Europe
Speaker:
Dr. Elżbieta M. Goździak, Research Professor at the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University.
October 2015
The Rise, Rule, and Future of the Islamic State
Speaker:
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
September 2015
The Never-ending Peace: How Bosnia Became Stuck in the Dayton Accords
Co-Sponsored Program at the University of Richmond
Speaker:
Dr. Florian Bieber, University of Graz & Central European University.
September 2015
The Iran Nuclear Deal: Boon or Bane? A Panel Discussion
Panelists:
Todd S. Sechser
Associate Professor, University of Virginia
Sheila Carapico
Professor, University of Richmond
Lawrence Wilkerson
Distinguished Adjunct Professor, College of William & Mary
Scott Harrop
Adjunct Professor, University of Virginia
Moderator:
Peter Smallwood, University of Richmond
May 2015
ISIS: Regional or Global Threat?
Speaker:
Dr. Stephen Long, University of Richmond
April 2015
Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin
Speaker:
Dr. Clifford G. Gaddy, Brookings Institution
March 2015
Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations: An Inside View from a Bit Player
Speaker:
Dr. Michael Fischbach, Randolph-Macon College
| November 2014 | America’s Global Leadership: Impact on Virginia | Speakers:
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| November 2014 | Who is Narendra Modi? Future Challenges of India’s New Prime Minister | Speaker:
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| October 2014 | China’s Expanding Military and the US Policy Response | Speaker:
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| October 2014 | Tensions in East Asia and Eastern Europe: A Global Strategic Perspective | Speaker:
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| October 2014 | The Tribunals at Guantanamo Bay | Speaker:
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| September 2014 | US-Pakistan Relations: A Critical Analysis | Speaker:
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| August 2014 | Making David into Goliath: How the World Turned Against Israel | Speaker:
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| June 2014 | Internal Political Standoff Within Ukraine | Speaker:
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| May 2014 | The Faithful Scribe | Speaker:
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| February 2014 | Relations between the United States and Iran | Speaker:
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| November 2013 | Distant Death: A Debate on Drones | Speaker:
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| September 2013 | The Situation in Turkey | Speaker:
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| April 2013 | China’s Future & Ours | Speaker:
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| February 2013 | The Syrian Conflict: What’s at Stake and What Should the U.S. Do? | Speaker:
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| January 2013 | Leaving without loosing | Speaker:
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| October 2012 | The Muslim Brotherhood: From Cave to Castle | Speakers:
Eric Trager: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy |
| September 2012 | Egypt- An Analysis | Dr. Sheila Carapico: University of Richmond |
| September 2012 | Freedom and Social Memory in Global Perspective | Speakers:
John Kneehone: Professor at Virginia Commonwealth |
| Madge Dresser: University of West of England | ||
| Javier Fernandez Galeano: Fulbright fellow at the New School of Social Research | ||
| Rozena Maart: University of KwaZulu-Natal | ||
| September 2012 | Fighting for Darfur | Speaker:
Rebecca Hamilton: University of Maryland and author |
| July 2012 | An Evening with Tim Kaine | Speaker: Tim Kaine: Lieutenant Governor of Virginia |
| April 2012 | An Evening with Governor George Allen | Speaker:
George Allen: Governor of Virginia |
| April 2012 | Annual International Business Forum: The Rise of India in the Global Arena: Shift Happens, So How Do We Shift With It? | Speakers:
Dave Ryan: Executive Vice President and America’s Regional Head of Tata Communications |
| Peter C. Durette: Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of MeadWestvaco Corporation | ||
| March 2012 | Saudi Arabia on the Edge: The Uncertai Future of An American Ally | |
| March 2012 | Postscripts from Japan: Stories that Endure After the Earthquake and Tsunami | Speaker:
Ichiro Fujisaki: Ambassador of Japan |
| February 2012 | Somalia: America’s Forgotten Battleground | Speaker:
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross: Senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies |
| January 2012 | Vladmir Putin & Russian Statecraft | Speaker:
Allen Lynch: Professor at University of Virginia |
| October 2011 | The Bin Laden Aftermath | Speakers:
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross: Senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Brian Katulis: Senior Fellow at American Progress |
| September 2011 | How Pakistan Negotiates With the U.S. | Speaker:
Howard Schaffer: Ambassador to Bangledesh and Senior Counselor of Georgetown University- The Study of Diplomacy |
| August 2011 | Finding a New Direction for America in the Middle East | Speaker:
David Makovsly: Director, Project on the Middle East Peace Process, and Washington Institute |
| May 2011 | Winter Gala Luncheon: A Foreign Policy Discussion | Speakers:
Evan Bayh: Senator of Indiana Thomas Lippman: Washington Post |
| May 2011 | Arab Voices: What They Are Saying, and Why it Matters | Speaker:
Dr. James Zogby: Author of Arab Voices and the founder and president of the Arab American Institute |
| April 2011 | The East Moves West: India, China, & Asia’s Growing Presence in the Middle East | Speaker:
Dr. Geoffrey Kemp: Director of Regional Strategic Programs at the Nixon Center |
| March 2011 | Egypt – An Analysis | Speakers:
Dia Guirguis: Washington Institute Fellow Chris Toensing: Editor of Middle East Report and Director of the Middle East Research and Information Project Brian Katulis: Senior Fellow at American Progress |
| February 2011 | Deadly Embrace: Pakistan, America, and the Future of the Global Jihad | Speaker:
Bruce Riedel: Brookings Institute |
| December 2010 | The Beijing Consensus: How the Chinese Model Will Dominate the 21st Century | Speaker:
Dr. Stefa Halper: Cambridge University |
| November 2010 | Crescent and Dove: The relationship between Islam and peacemaking | Speaker:
Dr. Qamar-ul Huda: Senior Program Officer and a Scholar of Islam at the United States Institute of Peace |
| October 2010 | The Changing Nature of American Interest in the Arab World: Implications for U.S. Policies | Speaker:
Dr. John Duke Anthony: Founding President & CEO of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations |
| May 2010 | Spring Gala Luncheon: A Foreign Policy Discussion | Speaker:
Bob McDonnell: Governor of Virginia |
| May 2010 | India: Rising Power | Speaker:
Dennis Kux: former Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire |
| April 2010 | The Tibetan Struggle for Survival | Speaker:
Dr. Joh Kenneth Knaus: Harvard Fairbank Associate |
| March 2010 | Afghanistan – the Other War | Speaker:
Ronald E. Neumann: Former Ambassador to Afghanistan, Bahrain, and Algeria |
| February 2010 | Iran | Speaker:
Michael Ledeen: Foundation For Defense of Democracies |
| December 2009 | Winter Gala Luncheon: A Foreign Policy Discussion | Speaker:
Jim Webb: Senator of United States |
| November 2009 | 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall | Speaker:
Romesh Ratnesar: TIME World Editor and Managing Director |
| October 2009 | Flirting with Failure in South Asia | S[eaker:
William Milam: Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan |
| September 2009 | A Fight to Save Democracy | Speaker:
Michael Siger: Political Theorist |
| May 2009 | Spring Gala Luncheon: A Foreign Policy Discussion | Speaker:
Eric Cantor: Congressman of Virginia |
| November 2008 | Annual Dinner | Honorees:
Former Sen. Charles S. Robb & John Adams Jr., chief executive officer of The Martin Agency |
| September 2008 | Event Co-Sponsors: Richmond Association for Business Economics; the Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce / Asian American Business Assistance CenterTopic: Harnessing the Power of Globalization: From Tobacco to Semiconductors |
Speaker:
Vivek Kundra, Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Trade, Commonwealth of Virginia |
| April 2008 | Global Ambassador Award Luncheon: Addressing Weaknesses in the Global Financial Markets | Speaker:
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke |
| March 2008 | Brutal Wars, Negotiated Peace, and the Pursuit of Justice: Liberia and Sierra Leone | Speaker:
Jacques Klein: Under Secretary General of the United Nations (ret.) |
| December 2007 | Speaker:
Charles W. Moorman, President and CEO of Norfolk Southern |
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| November 2007 | Annual Dinner | Honoree:
Eugene P. Trani, Virginia Commonwealth University President |
| November 2007 | Russia, the United States and the U.N. Security Council | Speaker:
John Mroz, president of the EastWest Institute in New York |
| May 2007 | How the U.S. Can Ensure Energy Supply for the Future | Speaker:
John Hoffmeister |
| April 2007 | Virginia Global Business Ambassador Awards | Speaker:
Mark Warner, former governor of Virginia |
| December 2006 | Program at St.Christoper’s School | |
| October 2006 | Annual Dinner | |
| June 2006 | American Diplomacy for the 21st Century: A New Profession for a New World | Speaker:
Marc Grossman: Ambassador to Turkey |
| June 2006 | Nuclear Terrorism: Prospects and Prevention | Speaker:
Robert L. Gallucci: Fr. Ambassador and Dean at Georgetown University |
| May 2006 | The Middle East: Challenges and Opportunities | Speaker:
Thomas Pickering: US Ambassador to United Nations |
| May 2006 | The United States, India, and Pakistan | Speaker:
Dr. Ashley J. Tellis: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |
| May 2006 | Trudging Toward a Receding Horizon: Trying to Make Peace in the Holy Land, Excerpts from a Diplomats Diary | Speaker:
Samuel Lewis: Ambassador to Israel |
| April 2006 | From Turin to Mogadishu: The Changing Face of American Diplomacy in 130 Years | Speaker:
Peter Bridges: Ambassador to Somalia |
| April 2006 | Islam and the West: Avoiding a War of Cultures | Yvonne Haddad: Professor at Georgetown University |
| March 2006 | Global Health Pandemics and Security | Speaker:
Judyth Twigg: Virginia Commonwealth University |
| March 2006 | Speaker:
Gary Sypolt: President of Transmission, Dominion Resources |
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| March 2006 | France, the U.S., and the Leadership in the Euro-Atlantic World | Speaker:
Dr. Simon Serfaty: Senior Adviser of Europe Program of Center for Strategic and International Studies Inc. |
| March 2006 | China and India: Partners or Competitors? | Speaker:
William Newman: Virginia Commonwealth University |
| March 2006 | Turkey and International Security | Speaker:
Ambassador Thomas Weston |
| February 2006 | The Struggle to Build Iraq | Speaker:
L. Paul Bremer: Chief Adminastrator of Iraq |
| February 2006 | The U.S. and Iran | Speaker:
Michael Fischbach: Randolph-Macon College |
| February 2006 | The Challenge of North Korea | Speaker:
James E. Goodby: Ambassador to Finland |
| February 2006 | Human Rights in the Age of Terrorism | Speaker:
Professor Deena Hurwitz: Director, International Human Rights Law Clinic, University of Virginia |
| February 2006 | Brazil Emerges | Speaker:
Paulo Sotero: Washington Correspondent for Brazilian Newspaper Estado de Sao Paulo & Commentator for BBC Brazil Radio |
| February 2006 | UN Reform | Speaker:
William Davis: Director, United Nations Information Center |
| January 2006 | Oil and Global Security | Speaker:
Anne Korin: Co-director, Institute for the Analysis of Global Security |
| December 2005 | Living with a Nuclear Iran | Speaker:
Dr. Patrick Clawson: Deputy Director of Washington Institute for Near East Policy |
| Program at Maggie Walker Governor’s School | ||
| November 2005 | Southern Africa Faces the Future | Speaker:
Dr. Chester A. Crocker: Georgetown University |
| October 2005 | Annual Dinner: Challenges of the Twenty-First Century | Speaker:
Richard Lee Armitage: Deputy Secretary of State |
| Redressing Looted Art: Museums and the Nazi Legacy | Speaker:
Nancy Yeide: Head of the Department of Curatorial Records |
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| Origin of Conflict: Saving Haiti | Speaker:
Raymod Pierre Hylton: Virginia Union University |
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| September 2005 | Origin of Conflict: Crisis in the Congo | Speaker:
Dr. Herbert Weiss: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars |
| Origin of Conflict: Kosovo: Still Unresolved | Speaker:
Eileen Malloy: US Ambassador to Krygzstan and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs in the Department of State |
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| Origin of Conflict: Lebanon: The Way Ahead | Speaker:
Dr. Michael R. Fischbach: Randolph-Macon College |
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| Putin’s Russia | Speaker:
Susan Eisenhower: Senior Fellow of the Eisenhower Institute |
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| The Special Relationship | Speaker:
Sir David Manning: British Ambassador to the United States |
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| April 2005 | Ties That Divide: A Conference on United States – German Relations | |
| Japan In Asia | Speaker:
Tom Foley: U.S. Ambassador to Japan |
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| March 2005 | Great Decisions Series: Global Poverty Gap | Speaker:
Rick Rowden: Center for Economic Policy Research |
| The U.S. and Foreign Trade | Speaker:
Stuart E. Eizenstat: Ambassador to the European Union & United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury |
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| Great Decisions Series: Intelligence Reform | Speaker:
Christopher Kojm: George Washington University, Chairman of the United States National Intelligence Council |
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| Great Decisions Series: Global Water Issues | Speaker:
Kenneth D. Reid: CAE Executive Vice President |
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| Great Decisions Series: Outsourcing Jobs | Speaker:
William Primosch: Director for International Business Policy |
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| February 2005 | Great Decisions Series: Sudan and Darfur | Speaker:
Bishop Francis Gray: Episcopal Diocese of Virginia |
| Great Decisions Series: China: Decisions Ahead | Speaker:
Vincent Wang: University of Richmond |
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| Great Decisions Series: Putin’s Russia | Speaker:
James F. Collins: Ambassador to Russia |
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| The Challenge for Ukraine | Speaker:
Steven K. Pifer: former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine & Director of the Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Initiative at the Brookings Institution |
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| Great Decisions Series: Middle East Roundup | Speaker:
Gerald M. Feierstein: Former Ambassador to Yemen & Director of the Office of Regional Affairs in the Near East Bureau |
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| January 2005 | After Arafat and Palestinian Elections: The Way Ahead | Speaker:
Philip C. Wilcox: Ambassador at Large & President Founder for Middle East Peace David Makovsky: Senior Fellow for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy |
| Iran and the Middle East | Speaker:
Bruce Laingen: President of the America Academy of Diplomacy & former Ambassador to Malta |
| December 2004 | Program at Maggie Walker Governor’s School | Speaker:
Pamela Bridgewater: Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs |
| November 2004 | Nuclear Power | Speaker:
Dr. Sidney Drell: Stanford University’s Hoover Institution |
| Turkey and the European Union | Speaker:
Mark Parris: U.S. Ambassador to Turkey |
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| October 2004 | Speaker:
David Johnson: Douglas Southall Freeman, Internationalist |
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| Annual Dinner | Honoree:
A.E. Dick Howard, White Burkett Miller Professor at University of Virginia School of Law |
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| Origins of Conflict Series: Greece, Turkey, ad Cyprus | Speaker:
Douglas Hengal: Director of the Office of Southern European Affairs |
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| September 2004 | Origins of Conflict Series: Religious ad Tribal Conflict in Northern Nigeria | Speaker:
Leonard H. Robinson, Jr.: President and CEO of the Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa |
| The United States and International Trade | Speaker:
Stuart Eizenstat: Deputy Treasury Secretary |
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| Doing Business Abroad | Speaker:
Dorothy Erlanger: International Executive |
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| Origins of Conflict Series: Russia and its Post-Soviet Neighbors | Speaker:
Carey Cavanaugh: US Ambassador and a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State |
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| Origins of Conflict Series: Internal Conflict in Columbia | Speaker:
Dr. Herbert Tico Brow: University of Virginia |
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| The U.S. and Europe | Speaker:
Jean-David Levitte: French ambassador to the U.S. |
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| International Trade and the Economy | ||
| June 2004 | The U.S. and Europe: An American View | |
| May 2004 | Speaker:
Paulo Sotero: Washington Correspondent for Brazilian Newspaper Estado de Sao Paulo & Commentator for BBC Brazil Radio |
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| April 2004 | The US and UN: Can this Marriage Be Saved? | Speaker:
Gilliam Sorenson: Senior Adviser & National Advocate at the United Nations Foundation |
| March 2004 | China’s Emerging Role | Speaker:
James R. Lilley: Former Ambassador to China & Director of Asian Studies at the American Enterprise Institute |
| February 2004 | Israel from the Palestinian Perspective | Speaker:
Dr. Hasan Abdel Rahma: Chief Representative of the Palestine |
| January 2004 | Inside the Politics of Nation Building | Speaker:
Evan Gottesman: Author of “Cambodia: After the Khmer Rouge” |
| December 2003 | Annual Program at Maggie Walker Governor’s School | Samantha Power: Author of “Bystander to Genocide” and Lecturer at Harvard College |
| November 2003 | China & Tibet | Professor John Herman: Virginia Commonwealth University |
| Sri Lanka: Sinhulese and Tamil | ||
| Do We Have a Foreign Policy? | Stapleton Roy: Ambassador to China and Indonesia | |
| Origins of Conflict Series: Russia/Chechnya | Judyth L. Twigg: Virginia Commonwealth University | |
| October 2003 | Origins of Conflict Series: Kashmir/India and Pakistan | |
| Annual Dinner | Honoree: John Warner: Former United States Senator | |
| September 2003 | Global Economic Outlook | Dr. Gene Huang: Chief Ecoomist ad Moderator President of Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond |
| Brazil | Peter Hakim: Columnist Christian Science Monitor and Director of Inter-America Dialogue | |
| June 2003 | “Inside” the Middle East Negotiations | Ambassador Dennis Ross: Former Middle East Negotiator |
| May 2003 | India – A Powerhouse | Stephen Cohen: Senior fellow in The India Project and Part of the Foreign Policy program at Brookings Institution |
| April 2003 | Pakistan – Friend or Foe? | Dennis Kux: Former Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire & State Department South Asia specialist |
| March 2003 | South Africa’s Difficult Road from Apartheid to Democracy | Princeton Lyman: Ambassador to South Africa |
| February 2003 | Japan’s Role for Peace and Security in East Asia | Naoyuki Agawa: Japan’s Minister & Director of Information and Culture Center |
| January 2003 | Saudi Arabia’s Brand of Islam | Stephen Schwartz: Author, Journalist, and Senior Policy Analyst |