Wednesday, March 28th, 2018

“Yemen: The War the World Ignores At Its Peril”

Ambassador Stephen Seche

Former Ambassador to Yemen

Executive Vice President of the Arab Gulf States Institute

What started as a Yemeni power struggle between competing domestic competitors, has morphed into a situation where Yeminis are the unfortunate pawns in a regional power-struggle between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Even before war broke out between the Saudi backed government forces and Iranian backed Houthi rebels, Yemen was the poorest country in the Middle East.  Now the United Nations calls this the world’s worst current humanitarian crisis, with three quarters of its population in need of humanitarian aid.  With headlines being grabbed by Syria, Venezuela, and the threat of terrorist attacks, it is incredible to think that a country devastated by war, on the brink of famine, and experiencing the worst cholera outbreak in modern history would not get more attention.  Instead, in the shadows of these other global crises, Yemenis continue to be a victim of a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

What are the causes?  What are the solutions, if any?  Why should the world be concerned not just of the humanitarian tragedy, but of another failed state, a new Afghanistan or Somalia, that could foster the deadly combination of a proliferation of both weapons and global terrorism.

Ambassador Seche is uniquely positioned as a former US Ambassador to Yemen and still deeply engaged as the Executive Vice President of the Arab Gulf State Institute, to shine a spotlight on this true tragedy with no end in sight.

AMBASSADOR STEPHEN SECHE’S BIO

Stephen A. Seche is the executive vice president of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

He spent 35 years as a career U.S. Foreign Service officer. From 2011-13, Seche served as deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the Department of State, with responsibility for U.S. relations with the GCC states and Yemen. He served as the U.S. ambassador to Yemen from 2007-10.

During the 2006-07 academic year, Seche was a visiting fellow at the University of Southern California, where he taught public diplomacy in the master’s degree program. On his return from Yemen, he spent a year at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, leading a graduate seminar in the School of Foreign Service.

From February 2005 to August 2006, Seche served as charge d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, Syria; he was deputy of chief of mission for the six months prior. This was his second tour in Damascus. From 1999 to 2002, Seche was the counselor for public affairs and the director of the American Cultural Center. He spent the two years between his Damascus assignments as director of the Office for Egypt and Levant Affairs at the Department of State in Washington, DC.

Seche spent the first seven years of his Foreign Service career in public diplomacy positions in Guatemala, Peru, and Bolivia. Other overseas assignments have included Ottawa, Canada and New Delhi, India. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and spent four years as a journalist before entering the Foreign Service.

5:30 PM RECEPTION

6:45 PM DINNER

Venue:  The Pacific Club

(4110 MacArthur Blvd, Newport Beach, CA 92660)

WACOC Member $75

Non-member $90

Student $50

Dietary Restrictions: Please e-mail orangecounty@worldaffairscouncil.org or call our office (949)253-5751 by Wednesday, March 21^st, 2018. Accommodations cannot be made after this date.

Refund Policy: Refund requests will not be accepted after the registration deadline. Cancellations must be made no later than the registration deadline.

Paying by Check: If sending in a check, please call our office by Monday, March 19th, 2018

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2018

 WACOC’s 50th Anniversary

*Black tie optional*

“Middle East Meltdown: Causes & Consequences for the U.S.”

Ambassador Ryan Crocker

Former Ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Kuwait and Lebanon

Recipient of Presidential Medal of Freedom

The World Affairs Council of Orange County will be celebrating its 50^th Anniversary with one of the highest profile American diplomats of our generation, Ambassador Ryan Crocker.   Dubbed, “America’s Lawrence of Arabia” by former US President, George W. Bush, Ambassador Crocker has held our nation’s highest diplomatic positions throughout the Middle East, having served as US Ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Lebanon, and Kuwait.

For decades, Ambassador Crocker has courageously and dutifully served our nation in leadership positions throughout the Middle East and South Asia.  In August 1990, Crocker served as Director of the Iraq-Kuwait Task Force following the Iraq invasion of Kuwait.  In 2002, he led a team that secretly worked with Iranian counterparts to capture Al Qaeda operatives in the days after 9/11.  Prior to the invasion of Iraq, he co-authored a memo for Secretary of State Colin Powell warning that overthrowing Saddam Hussein could unleash long-repressed ethnic and sectarian tensions in Iraq, potentially pulling in Iran and Syria, and warning that the US would be left to rebuild the country’s economic and political systems.  Most recently he was General David Petraeus’s civilian partner as US Ambassador to Iraq during the US troop surge in 2007.

Ambassador Crocker in his speech to our Council will address the causes and consequences of the current “meltdown” in the Middle East including the ongoing crisis in the various nations there.

Venue: Hotel Irvine

 (17900 JAMBOREE ROAD, IRVINE, CA 92614)

Time: 5:30 PM Registration/Reception

            6:45 PM Speaker/Dinner

$85 WACOC MEMBER & GUEST/ $100 NON-MEMBER/ $50 STUDENT/$1250 TABLE SPONSOR

WACOC 50TH ANNIVERSARY AD SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITY!

Please take out a personal or company AD to honor our Council and its members and receive recognition for your contribution!

Full Page $175

1/2 Page $100

1/4 Page $50

 

Please fill out the Ad Sponsorship form and follow the instructions for sending logos/business cards and messages and payment methods.

SPONSORSHIP AD PAYING BY CHECK

SPONSORSHIP AD PAYING BY CARD

(If you are paying for  the Ad via credit/debit card please e-mail your logo/business cards to orangecounty@worldaffairscouncil.org)

Tuesday, December 19th, 2017

Annual Holiday Party & Sir Eldon Griffith’s Around the World Talk

“Global Challenges for the US & The World in the Coming Year”

with

Nubar Hovsepian, PhD.

Chair & Associate Professor of Political Science at Chapman University

 &

Special Guest Performance by:

Cesar Sanchez

Francis Fukuyama declared that the end of the Cold War, was the triumph of liberal democracy. This triumph has fostered populist ideologies as evidenced by Brexit and Trump’s ascendance to the US presidency. The bi-polar international system enabled the emergence of unipolar world dominated by the US. However, this did not last. Instead, we have a new multipolar world that has weakened American hegemony. In view of these changes, will the US become more isolationist, and if so what are the implications for international trade, democracy, and major international conflicts?

Dr. Nubar Hovsepian is chair of Political Science at Chapman University. He teaches courses on Middle East politics, democracy and de-democratization, and globalization’s implications for democracy and peace. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the Graduate Center—City University of New York. He edited: The War on Lebanon (2007). His book: Palestinian State Formation: Education and the Construction of National Identity, was published in 2009. He is currently working on a book on Edward Said as a Oppositional Intellectual. In addition, he has written and edited four books (in Arabic), most notably on the Iranian revolution of 1979. He served as Political Affairs officer at the United Nations (1982-84), and has worked as publisher, journalist, and development specialist.

Venue:

The Pacific Club

         4110 MacArthur Blvd, Newport Beach, CA 92660

Time:

5:30 PM Registration/Hosted Champagne Reception

6:45 PM Dinner/Speaker Program

$72 WACOC Members/$87 Non-Members/$58 Student

Thursday, October 19th, 2017

REGISTER NOW!

“Global Disaster Relief & Responding to Humanitarian Crises”

with

Kerri Murray

President of ShelterBox USA

Currently, there are approximately 65 million people or close to 1% of the global population displaced due to the hurricanes in Puerto Rico, Caribbean, and US states bordering the Gulf of Mexico, the earthquakes in Mexico, and the millions of refugees in war-torn countries.  Since 2000 Shelterbox has been providing emergency shelter to people affected by disasters and humanitarian crises around the world.  Hear how they are reacting to the current crises closer to home, and how they have emerged as a major player in the field of international disaster relief.

$14 Student/ $30 WACOC Member/ $42 Non-Member

(20 % of YOUR ticket price will be donated directly to ShelterBox USA)

Location: Orange County Mining Company (10000 S Crawford Canyon Road, Santa Ana, CA 92705)

Time: 5:45 PM Registration/General Reception

7:00 PM  Lecture/ Q & A

Heavy hors d’oeuvres will be served

REGISTER HERE!