The World Affairs Councils of America is a network of 93
autonomous
In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ow ...
The World Affairs Councils of America was founded in 1918. It is the largest nonprofit
international affairs
International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...
organization in the United States.
In mid-February 2011, Chairman of the Board Ambassador Marc Grossman stepped down to become the United States Special Envoy to
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
and
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
, replacing
Richard Holbrooke
Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke (April 24, 1941 – December 13, 2010) was an American diplomat and author. He was the only person to have held the position of Assistant Secretary of State for two different regions of the world (Asia from 1977 ...
. In June 2011, Ambassador Paula Dobriansky filled the position of Chair of the National Board. In June 2015, WACA announced that Ambassador
Roman Popadiuk
Roman Popadiuk ( uk, Рома́н Попадю́к) (born May 30, 1950) is an American diplomat of Ukrainian descent. Popadiuk served as the first United States Ambassador to Ukraine under George H. W. Bush, from 1992 to 1993.George H. W. Bush, from 1992 to 1993, has been elected the new chairman of the national Board of Directors. Following a three month co-chair period, Glenn Creamer succeeded Popadiuk as chairman in November 2020, chosen for his work as chairman of the Catholic Relief Services Foundation.
In 2014, the World Affairs Councils of America won the Diversity and Inclusion (DANDI) Award in the international category.
Programs
The World Affairs Councils of America supports a group of 93 councils who present programs annually. The Councils sponsor international exchanges, school programs, teachers workshops, foreign policy discussions, national
opinion poll
An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinion ...
s, travel programs, young professionals’ programs, conferences, and corporate programs.
The national association organizes an annual conference, leadership missions to other nations, a speaker referral system, international speaker exchanges, people-to-people diplomacy missions, educational workshops, book tours, subscription discounts, operations workshops, and video-conferences. It has also run national program series such as
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...
Town Meeting
Town meeting is a form of local government in which most or all of the members of a community are eligible to legislate policy and budgets for local government. It is a town- or city-level meeting in which decisions are made, in contrast with ...
s, Two
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
s, Future of Russia,
Western Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the te ...
,
Human Rights
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
Anti-Americanism
Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment) is prejudice, fear, or hatred of the United States, its government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general.
Political scientist Brendon O'Connor at the United States Studies Centr ...
UN Reform
Since the late 1990s there have been many calls for reforms of the United Nations (UN). However, there is little clarity or consensus about what reform might mean in practice. Both those who want the UN to play a greater role in world affairs and ...
, and
The People Speak
The People Speak is an online community of young people who want to get involved in global issues. The community engages people of all ages and backgrounds in thoughtful discussions about the value of international cooperation for the United State ...
.
WACA has four flagship programs: Academic WorldQuest, Leadership Missions, the annual National Conference, and the Engage America speaker series. The National Conference is an annual event that engages diplomats, experts, members from the business, civic, and education communities with leading policy. Academic WorldQuest is an annual team-based international affairs, geography, history, and culture competition for high school students sponsored by the World Affairs Councils of America. The WorldQuest has been held every year since 2003. WorldQuest was created in 1995 by Jennifer Watson Roberts of the World Affairs Council of
Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
.
In order to compete at the national WorldQuest competition, teams must first win at their regional council level (usually held from November to March). Every year, 4,000 high school students across the country participate in local competitions hosted by their World Affairs Council.
Leadership missions
For more than a decade, the WACA has been invited to bring small delegations of council leaders to learn about a host country. A leadership mission consists of an overseas fact-finding visit to a city, country, or organization by a delegation of the World Affairs Council.
Engage America Speakers Series
The Speakers Series includes partnerships between the National Office and think tanks, foundations, publishing companies, and government agencies to provide speakers to America's communities through our local councils on the critical global issues of our times.
Individual councils
Members councils are located in 40 states, as well as in D.C. and Puerto Rico.
Councils are funded through membership dues, corporate sponsorships, grants, in-kind donations, fundraising events, and fee-for-service activities. Over 2,000 corporations, foundations, and individuals help support council work.