Meet our Next Speaker
Mohamed Bouabdallah and Carla Canales
Sunday, September 7 at 3PM (at the Camden Opera House)
Topic: SOFT POWER — An Essential Element of Foreign Relations
Soft power, a term coined by Joseph Nye in the 1980s, is the ability to influence others through appeal and attraction instead of by resorting to coercive pressure through military or economic threats or actions. Cultural exchanges are a significant tool in projecting soft power. French Cultural Counselor, Mohamed Bouabdallah and American classical singer and cultural diplomat Carla Canales both have decades of experience in organizing and participating in cultural exchange events.
The two panelists will share their experiences and insights into the impact and value of these events in the conduct of foreign relations. Forum member, Mica Schweitzer-Bluhm will moderate. Mica is a retired US Senior Foreign Service Officer who organized soft power events as part of her duties at US embassies abroad.
Meetings open to members and members’ guests only. Unless otherwise noted, all meetings take place at Elk Hall, 210 Rankin Street in Rockland. The speaker begins promptly at noon and lunch is served from 1 PM.
Audios of Past Presentations
Listed below are links to recent presentations. Click to listen:
- Sherri Goodman: Arctic Security in a Changing Environment and Sherri’s Slides: Threat Multiplier
- Kenneth Frankel: How Current US Policies Create Uncertainty in Western Hemisphere Relations
- Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman: Adrift: The UN, Multilateralism, and US Disengagement
- Joshua Landis: Syria and the Middle East
- Martin Mühleisen on The IMF and World Bank in the New Geopolitical Environment
- Admiral Michael Rogers on Current Hot Spots of the World
- Henry Haggard on The US-Korea Relationship in Transition
- Ambassador Douglas Lute on The Future of NATO
- James Bosworth on Mapping Latin America’s Current Politics
- Clark Adams on Defense Diplomacy in Central Asia and Clark’s slides: Defense Diplomacy
- John Lee on China and Indo-Pacific Security
- Dr. Steven Koonin on The Realities of Climate and Energy. and Steve’s slides: Realities slides
- Dr. Elizabeth Cameron on National Security in an Age of Pandemic Threats
- Ambassador Lawrence Butler: NATO at 75—Relevant, Obsolete, or Dangerous?
- Jack Goldsmith on The Decline of Congress in the Conduct of Foreign Affairs, and accompanying slides
- Robert Einhorn on Nuclear Non-proliferation
- Matthew Goodwin on Brexit, Trump, Le Pen, and National Populism
- Ambassador Anne Hall: The Baltic Nations — Profiles in Courage
- Ambassador Jake Walles: The Israel-Gaza Conflict
- Heather Cox Richardson: Democracy Awakening
- John Deutch: Challenges to Future Climate Policy
- Thomas Blanton: The Downsides of Government Secrecy
- Shanthi Kalathil: Challenges to Democracy in the Age of Misinformation
- Ambassador Charles Ray: Why Africa Matters
- Tom Ricks: First Principles: What America’s Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How That Shaped Our Country
- Amna Nawaz: On the Frontlines: Reporting Overseas and Here at Home
- Christopher Costa: Counterterrorism and the Future Terrorism Threat
- Susan Landau: The Reality of Cyberwar — In Ukraine and Elsewhere
- Jon Wolfsthal: Is a New Era of Nuclear Danger Upon Us?
- Amb. Derek Mitchell: Democracy and International Security
- Admiral Michael Rogers: Russia and Ukraine
For Would-be New Members:
It’s pretty simple: just click here to fill out a membership form.
How to Contact Us
We can be contacted by email, mail, or phone:
The Mid-Coast Forum on Foreign Relations
PO Box 41
Rockport, ME 04856
207-332-6567