IT’S A MAD, WIERD, & INCREDIBLE WORLD!
By Arthur N. Popper and David Frager
Every day we wake up to another crisis in our foreign policy - we no longer believe, as Americans did in the 1930’s that we can exist behind our ocean barriers in safety. Instead we are constantly pummeled by the media with news that those supporting us are under siege and even our strongest allies are unreliable or are facing severe internal crises.
It’s helpful in these trying times to have some sense of perspective about events, and a basis on which to judge their impact on our nation. One way to address these concerns is to engage in a serious discussion of interested participants that analyzes the causes and potential outcomes. In order to help guide such discussions, the Foreign Policy Association (FPA – see ww.fpa.org), a 96-year old organization that seeks “to serve as a catalyst for developing awareness, understanding, and informed opinion on U.S. foreign policy and global issues,” has developed a program named “Great Decisions” that addresses this need. The program is part of a series that the FPA started in 1954 and which is now become international in scope and is the largest nonpartisan discussion of, and education on, foreign policy in the world.
The program developed by FPA is a series of eight discussion topics supported by a pamphlet with articles that was prepared by experts in each topic (see: http://goo.gl/k55SZZ). This pamphlet is used as a baseline to prepare each participant for classroom discussions. The topics developed by the FPA this year are: Russia and the Near Abroad; Privacy in the Digital Age; Sectarianism in the Middle East; India Changes Course; U.S. Policy Toward Africa; Syria's Refugee Crisis; Human Trafficking in the 21st Century; and Brazil's Metamorphosis.
In order to bring this important topic to Leisure World, the Center for Lifelong Learning (CLL) is proud to once again have LW resident David Frager lead the discussions. While this is obviously an immense amount of ground to cover in eight weeks, prior participants in the Great Decisions program offered at Leisure World have found it both challenging and rewarding.
For those readers who do not know David, he is a Creekside resident who serves as Chair of the Board of the Leisure World Community Corporation. David’s background includes an undergraduate degree in history from UCLA and a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins. Much of David’s professional career was with the Department of Defense where he worked in the office of the Secretary in information technology and program management. He has also taught Information Technology at the National Defense University. Besides being very active in his LW community and serving on the LW Board of Directors, David has taught a number of very popular and well received courses for CLL on American history and Great Decisions.
The class will be offered on eight consecutive Thursdays at 2:00 beginning on March 5, 2015 in Clubhouse 1. The fee of $35 includes the book (or $50 per couple using one book). Registrants will be notified when to pick up book. Register in Clubhouse I.
