Speakers: Diverse, timely, expert perspectives

We participate in the ACFR National Speakers Program which provides prominent speakers at the ready edge of responsibility and expertise regarding timely foreign policy issues & events. We have hosted sitting Ambassadors, former Ambassadors, State Department officials, Officers of the military, policy experts & more from foreign relations organizations and consultancies in the nation.

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.

Upcoming Speaker: Tuesday February 11th, 5:30 at the Harkin Center – Dr. James Ketterer

Dr. James Ketterer, Senior Fellow for Civic Engagement at Bard College in New York will speak to the unique topic of Jazz Diplomacy: America’s Conversation With the World.  The discussion will focus on the important role jazz musicians and jazz music had during the Cold War.  Dr. Ketterer last spoke to our group in September of 2022; his topic during that presentation was on Egypt/US Relations during the time of the Egyptian revolution.  Additional information about Dr. Ketterer is found below.

Information about Dr. James Ketterer

Web Link – CURRENT: Linked-in profile for Dr. Ketterer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-ketterer-4025aa1

Web Link – from September 2022: GDMCFR web page about Dr. Ketterer https://gdmcfr.org/974-2

James Ketterer is Senior Fellow at the Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College in New York state.  At Bard, he previously served as Dean of International Studies and Director of the Bard Globalization and International Studies program in New York City. Ketterer also served as Dean of the School of Continuing Education at the American University in Cairo and as Egypt Country Director for AMIDEAST, a large educational NGO represented across the Middle East and North Africa. He was at the State University of New York for several years, serving as Vice Chancellor for Policy and Planning, Deputy Provost, and Director of the Center for International Development, where he implemented large capacity building projects supported by the US Agency for International Development. These projects worked with parliaments and other institutions in many countries across Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Europe. He has also worked in government, including at the National Security Council, the New York Senate, and the New York Commission on Higher Education.

James Ketterer moved to Egypt at the time of the Egyptian Revolution in early 2011 and was there through the regime change in 2013 and then returned in 2019-23.  He was director of an educational and cultural affairs NGO that strengthens ties between the U.S. and the Middle East and worked closely with the U.S. embassy and the Egyptian government and later served as a dean at the American University in Cairo. This gave him an up-close view of the turbulent events, misread circumstances, and missed opportunities that strained U.S.-Egyptian relations. 

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Past Speakers: