Tag Archive for: virtual

All the Presidents’ Wars with Peter Bergen | WorldNow

How did 9/11 reshape America – and the world?

Peter Bergen, the journalist who conducted the first televised interview with Osama bin Laden in 1997 and author of All the Presidents’ Wars, joins WorldNow with Jim Falk to examine the decisions of four U.S. presidents over 25 years of conflict and their lasting consequences: from the rise of ISIS and the Taliban’s return to Afghanistan to today’s war with Iran.

The details:

When: Thursday, October 8 | 7:00pm-8:00pm EDT
Where: Zoom Webinar
Tickets: No charge, RSVP Required


Global Security Forum 2026 Series: Fault Lines.

The international system is under pressure. Alliances are fracturing and new rivalries emerging, creating new fault lines in the world.

Join us for GSF2026, where leaders, policymakers, strategists, and experts reveal the pressures reshaping global security – and the choices that will define what comes next.

GSF2026 All-Access Pass (CTWAC Members Only)
Your ticket to all in-person and virtual GSF2026 events for just $75, including your name listed as a supporter and an invitation to a private reception with David Sanger. Click here to unlock this member-exclusive offer.

Meet the Guest

Peter Bergen is a journalist, documentary producer, professor, and one of the nation’s leading experts on terrorism and national security. A CNN national security analyst, he produced Osama bin Laden’s first television interview in 1997 and has spent decades reporting on al-Qaeda, Afghanistan, counterterrorism, and U.S. national security policy.

Bergen is the author of seven books, including three New York Times bestsellers. His newest book, All the Presidents’ Wars: Twenty-Five Years of America’s War on Terror, examines the consequential decisions of four U.S. presidents—George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden—and how 25 years of the war on terror reshaped American foreign policy and the world.

Bergen is a vice president at New America, a professor at Arizona State University, and co-director of its Future Security Initiative. His work has also included numerous documentaries for CNN, HBO, National Geographic, Discovery, and Showtime.

Meet the Host

Jim Falk is Vice Chairman of the Board of Global Santa Fe, a member organization of the World Affairs Councils of America. He is the host of WorldNow with Jim Falk and the producer and host of The Forum, the weekly public affairs program on KSFR-FM, Santa Fe Community Radio (KSFR.org). A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Falk led the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth as President and CEO from 2001 to 2021, helping expand the organization's role as one of the nation's leading forums for international affairs and public policy. His guests have included diplomats, senior intelligence officials, policymakers, military leaders, scholars, journalists, and bestselling authors from around the world. Through WorldNow and The Forum, he continues his commitment to fostering informed, civil dialogue on the international, political, social, and cultural issues shaping our world.

About the Book

All the Presidents' Wars: Twenty-Five Years of America's War on Terror by Peter Bergen

From the New York Times best-selling author, an eye-opening history of the United States’ war on terror across four presidential administrations.

2026 is the twenty-fifth anniversary of 9/11, the most devastating attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor. Within days, the United States began to declare its war on terror: “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists,” President George W. Bush proclaimed. The resulting war on terror cost trillions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of lives, a series of misguided wars, and the damaged perception of American power. And yet despite its blunders, this campaign has kept America safe from large-scale foreign attack.

Based on hundreds of interviews, All the Presidents’ Wars focuses on critical decisions of four successive presidents—Bush, Obama, Biden, and Trump—and their global consequences. One of the few journalists to interview Osama bin Laden and have unparalleled access to the US intelligence community, Peter Bergen covers the history that might have been avoided: the many terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda and its affiliated groups around the world; the rise of al-Qaeda in Iraq, largely responsible for the Iraqi civil war in the mid-2000s; the birth of ISIS; the resurrection of Afghanistan’s Taliban; and Trump’s war with Iran. From the failure to capture and the eventual killing of Osama bin Laden to the disastrous rise of sectarian violence in the Middle East, Bergen traces the profound ramifications of this epoch in American life.

All the Presidents’ Wars also explores the innovations and unintended consequences of each presidency’s military and political decisions, including debates over military intervention and withdrawal; the tactics of special operations units, armed drones, and armies of counterterrorism partners; and whether the idea of war ever properly captured the defining conflict of recent American foreign policy. All the Presidents’ Wars is essential reading to understand America’s devastating war on terror and to avoid the mistakes of the past.

Pre-order a copy of All the Presidents’ Wars on Bookshop.org and support your local bookstore.

Presented by

WorldNow with Jim Falk is hosted by the World Affairs Council of Connecticut in partnership with Councils nationwide:

GSF2026 Sponsors

Become a GSF2026 Sponsor by contacting Council CEO Megan Torrey at mctorrey@ctwac.org. Unlock exclusive access, increased visibility, and shape the future of global security.

Sponsor the GSF2026 Series

Mission Partners


Support global engagement in Connecticut by contacting CEO Megan Torrey about sponsorship opportunities. Learn more on our website about available opportunities.

Stay Globally Involved

Renew your membership or become a member on our website. Council members gain exclusive, lower-cost access to global events and travel opportunities, while engaging with top international leaders. Join our community of global citizens and let us bring the world to you.

The World Affairs Council of Connecticut provides a platform for open dialogue and the exchange of ideas on global issues. The views expressed by speakers and contributors to this organization’s public programs—in person, online, and through affiliated social media sites— are solely their own and do not necessarily represent the official policies or positions of CTWAC, its individual staff, board members, members, or sponsors. As a nonpartisan and nonpolitical organization, CTWAC’s purpose is to foster informed discussion and greater understanding of the world, without endorsing any particular viewpoint.

Brink: Inside the Race to Free the October 7th Hostages with Brett McGurk | WorldNow

Brett McGurk, former White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa and author of Brink (available Oct. 6, 2026), takes us inside the high-stakes negotiations to free the October 7 hostages and secure a ceasefire in Gaza.

McGurk led U.S. diplomacy on some of the region’s most consequential challenges, offering a rare firsthand look at the negotiations and decisions that continue to shape the Middle East today.

The details:

When: Thursday, October 15 | 7:00pm-8:00pm EDT
Where: Zoom Webinar
Tickets: No charge, RSVP Required


Global Security Forum 2026 Series: Fault Lines.

The international system is under pressure. Alliances are fracturing and new rivalries emerging, creating new fault lines in the world.

Join us for GSF2026, where leaders, policymakers, strategists, and experts reveal the pressures reshaping global security – and the choices that will define what comes next.

GSF2026 All-Access Pass (CTWAC Members Only)
Your ticket to all in-person and virtual GSF2026 events for just $75, including your name listed as a supporter and an invitation to a private reception with David Sanger. Click here to unlock this member-exclusive offer.

Meet the Guest

Brett McGurk served at the highest levels of American national security across four presidential administrations, most recently as deputy assistant for National Security Affairs to President Joe Biden, where he coordinated policy for the Middle East and North Africa. He earlier served as special presidential envoy to presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, where he led the global coalition against ISIS. Under President Obama he also led secret talks with Iran to free several American hostages held in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison, later receiving the James Foley Freedom Award for hostage diplomacy. He is currently a global affairs analyst for CNN and a distinguished fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center and the Atlantic Council. He earned a bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Connecticut and a JD from Columbia Law School, after which he clerked for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist on the U.S. Supreme Court.

He is the author of the forthcoming book Brink: Inside the Race to Free the October 7 Hostages, available October 6th, 2026. 

Meet the Host

Jim Falk is Vice Chairman of the Board of Global Santa Fe, a member organization of the World Affairs Councils of America. He is the host of WorldNow with Jim Falk and the producer and host of The Forum, the weekly public affairs program on KSFR-FM, Santa Fe Community Radio (KSFR.org). A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Falk led the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth as President and CEO from 2001 to 2021, helping expand the organization's role as one of the nation's leading forums for international affairs and public policy. His guests have included diplomats, senior intelligence officials, policymakers, military leaders, scholars, journalists, and bestselling authors from around the world. Through WorldNow and The Forum, he continues his commitment to fostering informed, civil dialogue on the international, political, social, and cultural issues shaping our world.

About the Book

Brink: Inside the Race to Free the October 7th Hostages by Brett McGurk

The first major insider account of the high-stakes negotiations to free the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7—written in gripping detail by the American mediator who was in the room through it all.

Having served four American presidents on matters of war and peace, Brett McGurk was no stranger to high-stakes diplomacy, but this was different. With American citizens missing, the hostages’ release critical to ending the war in Gaza, and the desperate situation for civilians, McGurk and his team faced impossible tradeoffs at every turn. Caught between Hamas’s maximalist demands and Israel’s determination that Hamas could not maintain power in Gaza, McGurk and his colleagues worked relentlessly over fifteen months to get a deal that most increasingly thought impossible.

Taking readers inside McGurk’s discussions and negotiations with President Joe Biden, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, and presidents, generals, spies, and diplomats in Qatar, Egypt, Oman, and more, Brink paints a portrait of a region one wrong choice away from tipping into total war, as Iran and its proxy militias seized upon the chaos to open fire on Israeli and American targets. With the 2024 election reshaping the political landscape and time running out on the hostages, McGurk found himself working hand in hand with an unlikely partner—Trump’s emissary from the New York real estate world, Steve Witkoff. They forged a bipartisan front when it mattered most—to secure a ceasefire and save lives.

A gripping account of diplomacy under fire, Brink takes readers from the Oval Office to the seats of power in the Middle East and offers a remarkable look inside a crisis that reshaped the world, the consequences of which are still unfolding today.

Pre-order a copy of Brink, available October 6, on Bookshop.org and support your local bookstore.

Presented by

WorldNow with Jim Falk is hosted by the World Affairs Council of Connecticut in partnership with Councils nationwide:

Mission Partners


Support global engagement in Connecticut by contacting CEO Megan Torrey about sponsorship opportunities. Learn more on our website about available opportunities.

Stay Globally Involved

Renew your membership or become a member on our website. Council members gain exclusive, lower-cost access to global events and travel opportunities, while engaging with top international leaders. Join our community of global citizens and let us bring the world to you.

The World Affairs Council of Connecticut provides a platform for open dialogue and the exchange of ideas on global issues. The views expressed by speakers and contributors to this organization’s public programs—in person, online, and through affiliated social media sites— are solely their own and do not necessarily represent the official policies or positions of CTWAC, its individual staff, board members, members, or sponsors. As a nonpartisan and nonpolitical organization, CTWAC’s purpose is to foster informed discussion and greater understanding of the world, without endorsing any particular viewpoint.

The Global Race for Critical Minerals | GSF2026

China. Defense. AI. Energy. The resources powering global competition.

Critical minerals are becoming a defining fault line in global security. From advanced weapons and defense systems to AI, energy, and emerging technologies, access to these resources is increasingly tied to national power and security.

Gracelin Baskaran, Director of the CSIS Critical Minerals Security Program, and Michael Winter, RTX Chief Scientist, join the Global Security Forum: Fault Lines to explore China’s role in global mineral supply chains, the global competition to secure critical resources, and what it means for U.S. security, industry, and technological leadership.

Tuesday, October 20 | 12:00pm ET
Zoom Webinar
Tickets: No charge, RSVP Required


Global Security Forum 2026: Fault Lines.

The international system is under pressure. As alliances fracture and new rivalries emerge, new fault lines are forming across the world – with new technology, energy, and critical minerals becoming key pillars of national security.

Join us for GSF2026, as leaders, policymakers, strategists, and experts reveal the pressures reshaping global security and the choices that will define our future.

GSF2026 All-Access Pass (CTWAC Members Only)
Your ticket to all in-person and virtual GSF2026 events for just $75, including your name listed as a supporter and an invitation to a private reception with David Sanger. Click here to unlock this member-exclusive offer.

Featuring

Dr. Gracelin Baskaran
Director, Critical Minerals Security Program, CSIS

Dr. Gracelin Baskaran is director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She is a mining economist and has spent over a decade working on critical minerals globally.

She began her career in South Africa’s platinum belt and later spent five years at the World Bank in South Africa, where she coauthored the book Africa’s Resource Future: Harnessing Natural Resources for Economic Transformation during the Low-Carbon Transition. She recently published a policy playbook, Critical Minerals and the Future of the United States Economy, and is now writing a book on an international strategy for critical minerals engagement for the United States.

Dr. Baskaran is also an adjunct associate professor at Georgetown University, where she teaches critical minerals in the Center for Security Studies. She was a Fulbright Scholar and has held positions at the University of Cambridge, the University of London, and the University of Cape Town.

Dr. Baskaran has been cited as an expert in The Economist, Financial Times, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Fox, CNN, Bloomberg, and BBC, and regularly appears on television. She has authored more than 200 policy reports, white papers, and op-eds.

In 2025, Mining Journal ranked Dr. Baskaran No. 8 on its “Top 50 Most Influential” list—the only woman in the top 12. She regularly speaks at international conferences and policymaker forums and has testified before the U.S. Congress. She holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge.

Moderated By

Michael Winter
Chief Scientist, RTX

Dr. Michael Winter, Ph.D., is the Chief Scientist at RTX. RTX is a major Aerospace and defense company providing advanced systems and services for commercial, military and government customers worldwide, comprised of three industry-leading businesses – Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney and Raytheon. In his role at RTX, he shapes the company’s cross-enterprise technology strategy and accelerates innovation across aerospace and defense. He leads efforts to advance next-generation propulsion, materials, electrification, hybrid-electric systems, and defense platforms, while strengthening the company’s global engineering tools, processes, and knowledge base. He also plays a central role in RTX’s external engagement strategy, representing its technology priorities with universities, startups, and government stakeholders. 

With 45 years of experience in aerospace, and 35 of them as part of RTX, Dr. Winter has held pivotal leadership roles across the corporation, including 14 years at the RTX Technology Research Center and, most recently, as a principal fellow at Pratt & Whitney. His work has helped enable major commercial and military propulsion platforms — including the Geared Turbofan and the F-35 Lightning II — and advanced technologies spanning fuel cells, lasers, combustion, and propulsion systems. 

A prolific innovator, Dr. Winter is the inventor or co-inventor on more than 40 patents and has published over 50 technical articles. He has served on multiple engineering school advisory boards and on the National Research Council Board of Assessment of the National Academies, and he currently serves on the NASA Advisory Council. He is a fellow of AIAA and the Royal Aeronautical Society, and a member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE). 

Widely respected for his deep technical insight and his ability to demystify complex aerospace challenges, Dr. Winter is known for combining a “lab-rat” curiosity with a strategic, enterprise wide perspective. He holds a Ph.D. and a Master of Philosophy, as well as a Master of Science from Yale University, and a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Drexel University. He is an avid cyclist, enjoys sea kayaking and recently received a 2nd-degree black belt in Tang Soo Do.

GSF2026 Sponsors

Become a GSF2026 Sponsor by contacting Council CEO Megan Torrey at mctorrey@ctwac.org. Unlock exclusive access, increased visibility, and shape the future of global security.

Sponsor the GSF2026 Series

Mission Partners


Support global engagement in Connecticut by contacting CEO Megan Torrey about sponsorship opportunities. Learn more on our website about available opportunities.

Stay Globally Involved

Renew your membership or become a member on our website. Council members gain exclusive, lower-cost access to global events and travel opportunities, while engaging with top international leaders. Join our community of global citizens and let us bring the world to you.

The World Affairs Council of Connecticut provides a platform for open dialogue and the exchange of ideas on global issues. The views expressed by speakers and contributors to this organization’s public programs—in person, online, and through affiliated social media sites— are solely their own and do not necessarily represent the official policies or positions of CTWAC, its individual staff, board members, members, or sponsors. As a nonpartisan and nonpolitical organization, CTWAC’s purpose is to foster informed discussion and greater understanding of the world, without endorsing any particular viewpoint.

Big Tech & the Future of War with Sharon Weinberger | WorldNow

Who will shape the future of war – the Pentagon or Silicon Valley?

Big Tech is transforming the battlefield. Artificial intelligence, autonomous weapons, drones, and private technology companies are changing not only how wars are fought, but who holds power over the technologies that define national security.

Sharon Weinberger, author of Valley of Death: How Big Tech is Fueling the Future of War and veteran national security correspondent, joins WorldNow for an inside look at Silicon Valley’s growing influence on the Pentagon – and the technologies that could determine the next era of warfare.

The details:

When: Thursday, November 12 | 7:00pm-8:00pm EDT
Where: Zoom Webinar
Tickets: No charge, RSVP Required


Global Security Forum 2026 Series: Fault Lines.

The international system is under pressure. Alliances are fracturing and new rivalries emerging, creating new fault lines in the world.

Join us for GSF2026, where leaders, policymakers, strategists, and experts reveal the pressures reshaping global security – and the choices that will define what comes next.

GSF2026 All-Access Pass (CTWAC Members Only)
Your ticket to all in-person and virtual GSF2026 events for just $75, including your name listed as a supporter and an invitation to a private reception with David Sanger. Click here to unlock this member-exclusive offer.

Meet the Guest

Sharon Weinberger
Editor-in-Chief of The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists

Sharon Weinberger has been writing on national security issues for more than 25 years, and was most recently the National Security Editor at The Wall Street Journal from 2022 to 2026. Previously, she was the Washington, D.C., bureau chief for Yahoo News, and before that, the executive editor for news at Foreign Policy magazine. She is the author of the forthcoming book Valley of Death: How Big Tech Is Fueling the Future of War. Her prior books include The Imagineers of War, A Nuclear Family Vacation and Imaginary Weapons.

Weinberger was a 2026 Omidyar Network reporter-in-residence and has also held fellowships at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, MIT’s Knight Science Journalism program, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the International Reporting Project at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Her writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, New York Magazine, Nature and WIRED, among many other publications. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and lives in Washington, D.C.

Meet the Host

Jim Falk is Vice Chairman of the Board of Global Santa Fe, a member organization of the World Affairs Councils of America. He is the host of WorldNow with Jim Falk and the producer and host of The Forum, the weekly public affairs program on KSFR-FM, Santa Fe Community Radio (KSFR.org). A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Falk led the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth as President and CEO from 2001 to 2021, helping expand the organization's role as one of the nation's leading forums for international affairs and public policy. His guests have included diplomats, senior intelligence officials, policymakers, military leaders, scholars, journalists, and bestselling authors from around the world. Through WorldNow and The Forum, he continues his commitment to fostering informed, civil dialogue on the international, political, social, and cultural issues shaping our world.

About the Book

Valley of Death: How Big Tech is Fueling the Future of War by Sharon Weinberger

“A knowledgeable account of Silicon Valley’s growing influence on Washington, a relationship with potentially huge pitfalls.” – Kirkus Reviews
A veteran national security correspondent reveals how a new military-industrial complex is arising from the cradle of Silicon Valley, with vast implications for American democracy and the global balance of power.

Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Alexander Karp. These tech titans are fast becoming some of the most powerful figures in the realm of national security, with enormous implications for us all. As Sharon Weinberger reveals in this gripping account, the American military and spy agencies helped to create Silicon Valley as we now know it, and some of its biggest and most valuable companies today owe much of their success to the Pentagon and CIA.

Beginning with the War on Terror and accelerating under Donald Trump, however, the old alliance between elected leaders in Washington and the unelected CEOs of Silicon Valley has grown increasingly uneasy as power shifts to the private sector and Big Tech exerts greater influence over its old patrons. Companies like SpaceX and Palantir are proudly supporting – and quietly shaping – US national defense, whether by providing spies and soldiers with AI and cloud-computing tools or actual military hardware such as microwave weapons, hypersonic missiles, and advanced drones.

What happens when mercurial billionaires like Elon Musk control weapons and technologies that were once the preserve of the US government? How will this new military-industrial complex affect the way wars are fought, or even which wars are fought? That is the urgent question before us today—and as Weinberger reveals, it is one on which our collective future might well hinge.

Pre-order a copy of Valley of Death, available September 22, on Bookshop.org and support your local bookstore.

Presented by

WorldNow with Jim Falk is hosted by the World Affairs Council of Connecticut in partnership with Councils nationwide:

GSF2026 Sponsors

Become a GSF2026 Sponsor by contacting Council CEO Megan Torrey at mctorrey@ctwac.org. Unlock exclusive access, increased visibility, and shape the future of global security.

Sponsor the GSF2026 Series

Mission Partners


Support global engagement in Connecticut by contacting CEO Megan Torrey about sponsorship opportunities. Learn more on our website about available opportunities.

Stay Globally Involved

Renew your membership or become a member on our website. Council members gain exclusive, lower-cost access to global events and travel opportunities, while engaging with top international leaders. Join our community of global citizens and let us bring the world to you.

The World Affairs Council of Connecticut provides a platform for open dialogue and the exchange of ideas on global issues. The views expressed by speakers and contributors to this organization’s public programs—in person, online, and through affiliated social media sites— are solely their own and do not necessarily represent the official policies or positions of CTWAC, its individual staff, board members, members, or sponsors. As a nonpartisan and nonpolitical organization, CTWAC’s purpose is to foster informed discussion and greater understanding of the world, without endorsing any particular viewpoint.

The World Ahead: 2027 | WorldNow

Each year, The Economist‘s The World Ahead series examines the forces expected to shape the year ahead. Covering politics, technology, society, and beyond, this series edited by Tom Standage offers an ambitious and wide-ranging look at what’s next.

On December 3, Standage returns to WorldNow with Jim Falk to unpack his predictions for the trends that will define 2027.

The details:

When: Thursday, December 3 | 12:00PM – 1:00PM ET
Where: Zoom Webinar
Tickets: No charge, RSVP Required


Meet the Guest

Tom Standage is deputy editor of The Economist and editor of its future-gazing annual, “The World Ahead.” Standage directs the newspaper’s digital strategy and the development of new digital products and is the author of seven history books, including Writing on the Wall (2013), The Victorian Internet (1998), and A History of the World in 6 Glasses (2005). He studied engineering and computing at Oxford University and has written for other publications including the New York Times, Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and Wired.

 

Meet the Host

Jim Falk is Vice Chairman of the Board of Global Santa Fe, a member organization of the World Affairs Councils of America. He is the host of WorldNow with Jim Falk and the producer and host of The Forum, the weekly public affairs program on KSFR-FM, Santa Fe Community Radio (KSFR.org).

A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Falk led the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth as President and CEO from 2001 to 2021, helping expand the organization's role as one of the nation's leading forums for international affairs and public policy. His guests have included diplomats, senior intelligence officials, policymakers, military leaders, scholars, journalists, and bestselling authors from around the world.

Through WorldNow and The Forum, he continues his commitment to fostering informed, civil dialogue on the international, political, social, and cultural issues shaping our world.

Presented by

WorldNow with Jim Falk is hosted by the World Affairs Council of Connecticut and presented in partnership with Councils nationwide:

Mission Partners


Support global engagement in Connecticut by contacting CEO Megan Torrey about sponsorship opportunities. Learn more on our website about available opportunities.

Stay Globally Involved

Renew your membership or become a member on our website. Council members gain exclusive, lower-cost access to global events and travel opportunities, while engaging with top international leaders. Join our community of global citizens and let us bring the world to you.

The World Affairs Council of Connecticut provides a platform for open dialogue and the exchange of ideas on global issues. The views expressed by speakers and contributors to this organization’s public programs—in person, online, and through affiliated social media sites— are solely their own and do not necessarily represent the official policies or positions of CTWAC, its individual staff, board members, members, or sponsors. As a nonpartisan and nonpolitical organization, CTWAC’s purpose is to foster informed discussion and greater understanding of the world, without endorsing any particular viewpoint.