Speakers: Diverse, timely, expert perspectives

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We also feature Iowa based speakers with special expertise and experiences in foreign relations from our congressional representatives, universities, and major news outlets.

At the Committee on Foreign Relations, our monthly meetings are dedicated to advancing discourse of relevant U.S. foreign relations issues and events while supporting our non-partisan, non-profit position.  We provide a high quality personal experience with a unique intimate forum for dialogue and discussion. We support diverse, timely, well-informed perspectives that contribute to understanding concerning foreign relations.

September: Mark Listes @ the Wakonda Club, Tuesday, September 8th

Event Details

• Date: Tuesday, September 8th

• Location: Wakonda Club, 3915 Fleur Drive, Des Moines

• 5:30 PM: Social (Hors d’oeuvres and Conversation)

• 6:00 PM: Presentation 

• Fee: $20 for members | $10 for students

• To confirm your attendance, please email: events@gdmcfr.org

The Talk: “The Age of AI Influence: A Digital War for Your Mind — Fueled by Foreign Adversaries, Corporate Agendas, and AI”

State-sponsored disinformation and corporate influence operations are converging into a single battlefield, exploiting AI to shape millions of minds, influence elections, and direct buying decisions every day. Our legal defense against it? The same framework currently deployed against Iranian cyber-attacks on American water systems.

Drawing on his experience at the intersection of national security, artificial intelligence, infrastructure defense, and elections, Mark will explore how AI is stretching the frameworks we use to understand the world — and what it means for our ability to maintain agency as citizens, individuals, and policymakers. The stories that shape our world are up for grabs, and with them, our individual and national agency.

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Mark Listes is the CEO of Pendulum Intelligence, the AI-native intelligence layer that powers many of the world’s largest
communications agencies, brands, and government agencies. Prior to Pendulum, he served within the U.S. Department of Defense as Chief Operating Officer and Chief of Staff of the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN), and as Director of Policy at the U.S. Election Assistance Commission during the 2016–18 foreign election interference crisis, where he led the agency’s national security and critical-infrastructure defense work.

Under his leadership, Pendulum was named one of Bloomberg’s “Most Innovative Startups in America,” with coverage in The Washington Post, The New York Times, and TechCrunch. He holds a JD from William & Mary Law School and a BA from the University of Tennessee, and is a published author on critical infrastructure, election law, and government policymaking.

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Past Speakers: