Ambassador John Price
& Marcia Price World Affairs Lecture Series

Each year, UCCD presents the Ambassador John Price and Marcia Price World Affairs Lecture Series in partnership with Westminster College's Weldon J. Taylor Executive Lecture Series. This Lecture Series is designed to inform our citizens about key foreign policy issues and to create a globally savvy community. Our speakers come from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds and are nationally recognized authors, academics and foreign affairs experts.

All lectures are free and open to the public, and held at the Vieve Gore Concert Hall, Westminster College, 1840 South 1300 East.

The views and opinions expressed in any lecture are solely those of the speaker and do not represent the position or opinion of the Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy, Westminster College, or our Sponsors.

Tuesday, Sept 14, 2010, 7:00pm
Mad About Trade:
Why Main Street America
Should Embrace Globalization
Daniel Griswold, Director,
Center for Trade Policy Studies,
Cato Institute

Not since colonial days have Americans earned or spent a higher share of their income in the global economy than they do now. In our current economic downturn, terms like "free trade" and "globalization" are often derided by politicians and commentators as a threat to middle-class "Main Street" Americans. Daniel Griswold makes a persuasive case against US protectionism and presents a clear view of America's changing place in the world economy, illustrating how low-income and middle-class Americans are the most likely to benefit from the global marketplace in the form of lower prices, greater variety, and better quality of goods.

Griswold is director of the Center for Trade Policy at the Cato Institute in Washington DC and the author of the book, Mad About Trade: Why Main Street America Should Embrace Globalization. He has authored major studies on globalization, trade, and immigration.

Tuesday, Oct 12, 2010, 7:00pm
Brazil on the Rise:
The Story of a Country Transformed
Larry Rohter, Culture Reporter,
The New York Times

Two decades ago, Brazil had a debt that made some Third World countries blush. But today, it has the world’s eighth largest economy, poised to overtake France. It has achieved energy independence and, with the discovery of the largest oil field in the last century, is becoming a major exporter of crude oil to the United States. With its successful bid for the 2016 Olympics, Brazil, at last, is ready to take its place on the world stage. In Brazil on the Rise: The Story of a Country Transformed, New York Times reporter Larry Rohter reveals with fresh perspective how, while no one was looking, Brazil has become an industrial and agricultural powerhouse.

Rohter served as a Newsweek correspondent and later as the New York Times bureau chief in Rio de Janeiro for 14 years. He is widely considered the leading expert on Brazil.

Tuesday, Nov 9, 2010, 7:00pm
The Iranian Enigma:
Nuclear Pariah or
Global Energy Resource?
Roxane Farmanfarmaian, PhD,
Affiliated Lecturer,
Faculty of Politics and International Relations,
Cambridge University

Iran’s vast oil and gas wealth, and unpredictable government, make it a wily and increasingly powerful force in a highly unsettled region. Can Iran trigger a nuclear arms race in the Middle East or affect the global balance of power through its energy-based friendships with China and its neighbors, Iraq and Afghanistan? Initially as a journalist, and then as an academic, Roxane Farmanfarmaian has watched and commented on Iran since the days of the revolution in 1979. She argues that the most important influence on how Iran directs its growing powers is still the United States.

Born in Salt Lake City, Farmanfarmaian grew up in Iran and the Netherlands. She is the author of Blood and Oil: Memoirs of a Persian Prince, which she wrote with her father. She earned a BA in Middle East Studies at Princeton University and a PhD in International Studies at Cambridge University.

Tue, Jan 11, 2011, 7:00pm
Polar Obsession:
Confronting a Melting Planet
Paul Nicklen,
National Geographic

Photographer Paul Nicklen manages to capture the intricate delicacy of polar wonderlands and provides what few others can: a first-hand account—in pictures and words—of a world melting away under global warming. Seeking to bridge the gap between science and the public through his photography, Nicklen enthralls audiences with the stories of his journeys throughout some of the most beautiful and remote corners of our planet and inspires audiences to share his passion for, and commitment to, our planet.

Nicklen enjoyed a unique childhood, observing wildlife and exploring the frozen tundra and seascape of Baffin Island, most of which lies above the Arctic Circle in Nunavut, Canada. He received a BS in marine biology from the University of Victoria and worked as a wildlife biologist in the Northwest Territories before deciding to follow his dream of becoming a wildlife photographer.

Mon, Feb 7, 2011, 7:00pm
Terrorist Financing:
The War Behind the War
on Terror
John Cassara,
Former CIA Case Officer &
Treasury Special Agent

Money is a necessary ingredient for terrorist organizations. Simply put, both the legal and illegal flow of funds strengthens terrorist organizations. Unfortunately, years after the September 11 attacks, despite a variety of initiatives, countermeasures, regulations, and reorganizations, there is no doubt that terrorist networks retain access to hidden financial sources and can move and transfer both money and value to finance the next terrorist plot. Former Federal Intelligence Officer, John Cassara, gives the concerned and curious citizen one public servant’s perspective on what “it is really like out there.”

Cassara retired after a 26-year career in the federal government intelligence and law enforcement communities. He is considered an expert in anti-money laundering and terrorist financing, particularly in the Middle East. He is the author of Hide and Seek: Intelligence, Law Enforcement, and the Stalled War on Terrorist Finance and On The Trail of Terror Finance: What Law Enforcement and Intelligence Officers Need to Know.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011, 7:00pm
Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization
Steven Solomon,
Economic Journalist and Author

The control of water wealth throughout history has been pivotal to the rise and fall of great powers, the achievements of civilization, the transformations of society’s vital habitats, and the quality of ordinary daily lives. Steven Solomon offers the first-ever narrative portrait of the power struggles, personalities, and breakthroughs that have shaped humanity from antiquity’s earliest civilizations to today's modern society: the Roman Empire, medieval China, and Islam’s golden age to Europe’s rise, the steam-powered Industrial Revolution, and America’s century. Freshwater scarcity is one of the twenty-first century’s decisive, looming challenges and is driving new political, economic, and environmental realities across the globe.

Solomon has written for the New York Times, BusinessWeek, the Economist, Forbes, and Esquire. He has been a commentator on NPR’s Marketplace and has appeared as a featured guest on the late Tim Russert’s CNBC show and NPR’s Talk of the Nation, among others.