Time: 5:45 PM Registration/Reception
6:30 PM Dinner/Speaker
$75 Member/ $60 Student/ $90 Non-Member
Location: Westin Hotel (South Coast Plaza, 686 Anton Blvd, Costa Mesa, CA 92626)
United States Air Force General, ret.
Former Director of National Security Agency (NSA) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Our Council is pleased to announce its very special guest speaker this month, Gen. Michael Hayden, retired United States Air Force four-star general and former Director of the National Security Agency, Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He is currently a principal at the Chertoff Group, a security consultancy founded by former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. Hayden also serves as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at George Mason University School of Public Policy. Under President George W. Bush, his tenure as Director of the NSA and CIA involved sweeping changes and modernization to our Nation’s intelligence gathering methods and organizations. In the face of terrorist threats while addressing domestic critics on privacy & civil rights, he navigated a precarious path during a critical time of this nation’s security history. His involvement at the highest levels of our country’s security and his personal account of those years including where we stand today with our nation’s “state of intelligence” in view of the ongoing terrorist threats, will be the subject of his speech and in more depth his recommended book.
General 
Michael Hayden’s book, Playing to the Edge, was published on February 27th, 2017.
PLAYING TO THE EDGE chronicles Hayden’s tenure (1999-2009) when American intelligence had to respond to terrorism, a major war, and the most sweeping technological revolution in the last five hundred years. For ten years, he participate in every major event in American national security, the fallout and consequences of which are still unfolding today.
Location: Westin Hotel (South Coast Plaza, 686 Anton Blvd, Costa Mesa, CA 92626)
Time: 11:30 AM Registration
If you would like to purchase a table, please call our office at (949)253-5751
World Affairs Council of Orange County
Invites you to participate in our
10th Annual Academic WorldQuest
March 4th, 2017
Register Your OC High School Team Today!
Academic WorldQuest is a team competition, held among Orange County high school students, testing students’ knowledge of global affairs. This year the local winning team from Orange County will have the opportunity to participate in the National Academic WorldQuest in Washington DC on April 29th, 2017! Recruit your team of trivia all-stars and join us for an afternoon of fun, food, and friendly competition!
Who: One team of 4 students per high school
Cost: There is no fee to participate
What: Academic WorldQuest competition is to be held on Saturday, February 25th, 2017 in Orange County. Teams respond to a combination of multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, true/false, and open-ended questions in the following categories:
Current Events
Great Decisions
Peace and Conflict in Today’s World (USIP)
Combating Infectious Disease
European Union
Countering Violent Extremism
Turkey
Global Megacities
China
Women in Technology
When: Saturday, March 4th, 2017
Time: 12:00 PM – 4:30 PM
Location: Chapman University
Registration: – A teacher registers the team by emailing us at orangecounty@worldaffairscouncil.org
How: Preparation – A study guide will be mailed to you when your team is confirmed.
Why it is Important: Academic WorldQuest is a great way for students to learn and engage in international affairs through fun and challenging activities along with being able to include their experience on their resume or college applications. This year the local winning team from Orange County will have the opportunity to participate in the National Academic WorldQuest in Washington.
OR
Be an Academic WorldQuest 2017 Underwriter
WINNING TEAM LODGING SPONSOR $900
1 Student Lodging Sponsor $180
2 Student Lodging Sponsors $360
3 Student Lodging Sponsors $540
4 Students Lodging Sponsor $720
WINNING TEAM FLIGHT SPONSOR $2500
1 Student Flight Sponsor $500
2 Students Flight Sponsor $1000
3 Students Flight Sponsor $1500
4 Students Flight Sponsor $2000
Please send your checks to World Affairs Council of Orange County, 2102 Business Center Dr., Irvine, CA 92612 or call our office at (949)-253-5751
Thank you to our Sponsors!
Hon. James Gray – Future Leader Awards Sponsor – $300
Norman Tanber – 2 Students Flight Sponsor – $1000
Jeff Hobert – 1 Student Flight Sponsor – $500
John Lafare – Future Leader Awards Sponsor – $300
Congressman Adam Schiff represents California’s 28th Congressional District, and throughout his tenure in Congress, he has focused on growing the economy, bolstering national security, strengthening our communities, helping small businesses and improving education, safety and healthcare for our children. In his eighth term in the House of Representatives, Schiff currently serves as the Ranking Member, or top Democrat, of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (which oversees all of the nation’s intelligence agencies) and as a Member of the Benghazi Select Committee.
Before he was elected to Congress, Schiff served as State Senator for California’s 21st State Senate District, chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Senate Select Committee on Juvenile Justice and the Joint Committee on the Arts. He also worked at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles for six years, most notably prosecuting the first FBI agent ever to be indicted for espionage.
Time: 5:45 PM Registration/Reception
Building Our Global Community
{Wednesday, March 1st, 2017}
with
Senior Director for the National Security Council under President George W. Bush
Senior Fellow at Hudson Institute
Location: The Westin Hotel South Coast Plaza
(South Coast Plaza, 686 Anton Blvd., Costa Mesa, CA 92626)
Time: 5:45 PM Registration/Reception
SAVE THE DATE : Wednesday January 25th, 2017
“Muslim Reform Movement: Is This Necessary and Why?”
Panel Discussion
with
Salam Al-Marayati
&
Zuhdi Jasser, M.D.
The primary issue that confronts the Muslim community both here in the US and other Western Countries is the possible reconciliation and integration of Islamic teachings with Western Liberal Democratic Values. Does Islam need to be reformed from the teachings at some of the Islamic centers in order to conform to Western Democracies or is it simply a misapplication of those teachings by individuals or groups who use Islam as a tool of terrorism for violent political action in the West? In any case, the questions of whether Islam as currently preached in the West, leads naturally to conflict and whether its need to be harmonized with Democratic Values is possible, will be addressed by our two very dynamic and knowledgeable speakers.
Salam Al Marayati is nationally recognized for his commitment to improving the public understanding of Islam and policies impacting American Muslims, Salam is president and co-founder of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. He is also a board member of the Muslim Reform Institute. He oversees MPAC’s groundbreaking civic engagement, public policy, and advocacy work.
He is an expert on Islam in the West, Muslim reform movements, human rights, democracy, national security, and Middle East politics. He has spoken at the White House, Capitol Hill and represented the U.S. at international human rights and religious freedom conferences.
His writings have appeared in every major national news publication (including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times), and his interviews have been featured on national and international news outlets (including CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and C-SPAN).
A devout Muslim, Dr. Jasser founded AIFD (American Islamic Forum for Democracy) in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the United States as an effort to provide an American Muslim voice advocating for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, through the separation of mosque and state. Dr. Jasser is a first generation American Muslim whose parents fled the oppressive Baath regime of Syria in the mid-1960’s for American freedom. He is leading the fight to shake the hold that the Muslim Brotherhood and their network of American Islamist organizations and mosques seek to exert on organized Islam in America.
Venue: The Fairmont Hotel Newport Beach
{4500 MacArthur Blvd, Newport Beach, CA 92660}
Wednesday January 25th, 2017
Time: 5:45 PM Registration/Reception
January Special Event
Dedicated
To the memory of our beloved
Dr. Esmael Adibi
2017 Economic Forecast
U.S., California & Orange County
Economic Forecast by: Dr. James L. Doti
President Emeritus and Donald Bren Distinguished Chair of Business and Economics
Chapman University
Thursday, January 19, 2017, 6pm-9pm
Hotel Irvine – 17900 Jamboree Road, Irvine, CA
Admission & Dinner:
NIPOC & SBG Members: $80
Affiliated Members (IAWF, WAC, ISCC) $80
Non-Members: $95
Corporate Tables (10 seats & dinner) $750
Business Display Table: $250 (Includes Logo on Screen)
Business Logo on Big Screens: $200
If you would like to attend the event, please call World Affairs Council of Orange County at (949)-253-5751 or e-mail us at orangecounty@worldaffairscouncil.org
Save the Date: January 12, 2017
Dean C. Alexander is Director, Homeland Security Research Program and Professor, Homeland Security at the School of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration at Western Illinois University. Prof. Alexander’s teaching, research, and speaking activities encompass terrorism, security, and legal issues. He has lectured in ten countries, including to law enforcement and military officials at North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), U.S. State Department, fusion centers, as well as state and municipal police events. Prof. Alexander’s professional experience includes executive, business development, and legal positions in the United States and abroad, including Chile, Israel, and the United Kingdom. Since publishing on terrorism in 1991, Prof. Alexander has written several books on the subject, most recently, co-authoring The Islamic State: Combating the Caliphate Without Borders (Lexington Books, 2015). He is on the Advisory Board of Security Magazine and founding Advisory Council member of the Marsh Center for Risk Insights, research fellow at the Chesapeake Innovation Center (the first homeland security-focused business incubator), and served on the Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council executive board for the Central District of Illinois. He earned law degrees from Georgetown University Law Center (LL.M.) and American University (J.D.). He received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and studied at the Graduate Institute of International Studies (Geneva).
Location: TBA
Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman is the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Representative to the United States of America.
Key to her role are strengthening ties between Kurdistan and the United States, advocating her government’s position on a wide array of political, security, humanitarian, economic, and cultural matters and promoting coordination and partnership. Prior to her US appointment in 2015, Ms. Abdul Rahman was the High Representative to the United Kingdom. She was elected to the Leadership Council of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in 2010.
Before her career in public service, Ms. Abdul Rahman worked as a journalist for 17 years in Britain and Tokyo. Her late father, Sami Abdul Rahman, was a veteran of the Kurdish freedom movement, joining the Kurdistan Democratic Party in 1963 and playing a critical leadership role in the Kurdish and Iraqi opposition to Saddam Hussein’s regime. He held the post of Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government and General Secretary of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). Sami Abdul Rahman was killed alongside his elder son Salah and 96 others in a twin suicide bombing in 2004.
Venue: Darya Restaurant at SOUTH COAST PLAZA
South Coast Plaza, 3800 S Plaza Dr, Santa Ana, CA 92704
Date: Wednesday January 11th, 2017
Time: 11:30 AM Registration
$50 Student/ $55 Premium Member/ $70 Guests of Premium Member / $105 Non-Premium Member
The World Affairs Councils of America is an independent, nonpartisan organization dedicated to engaging the public and leading global voices to better understand the world, America’s international role, and the policy choices that impact our daily lives and our future.
