The International Affairs Forum advances the understanding of critical global issues through education and public dialogue. IAF is a community-supported program of Northwestern Michigan College. Learn how you can support IAF here.
UPCOMING EVENTS
RECENT EVENTS
SPECIAL EVENT
AUSTRALIA - U.S. RELATIONS:
SUBMARINES, CLIMATE CHANGE, & TRADE IN THE INDO-PACIFIC
October 3, 2024
CONSUL GENERAL CHRIS ELSTOFT
Consul General of Australia in Chicago
Senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with previous service in India, Indonesia, Iraq and Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands.
Presented in partnership with the Old Art Building
Event to be held at 111 S. Main Street, Leland, MI
Tickets required for all attendees.
Senior Fellow, Center on the United States and Europe, Foreign Policy Program, Brookings Institution
Former deputy assistant to the president and senior director for European and Russian affairs on the U.S. National Security Council
Author of
There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the 21st Century
Event sponsor | Mercantile Bank
On Press Freedom:
Reaction to The Release of Journalist Evan Gershkovich
By Joyce Barnathan | August 2024
It was hard to imagine a more touching moment than when Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, freed after 16 months in a Russian prison, touched down in Austin, Texas and lifted his mother off her feet as they hugged one another. Gershkovich, looking pale and thin, was in good spirits. Ever the reporter, he even asked for an interview with his captor, Vladimir Putin, before he left Russia, though his bosses said they would never send him back–even if Putin agreed.
I wouldn’t go either. It wasn’t easy reporting in Russia when I worked there in the mid- to late- 1980s. The KGB did arrest an American journalist then, Nick Daniloff of U.S. News and World Report, but he was released for a Russian spy after only 21 days in custody. We were not surprised by such tit-for-tat exchanges in my era. But I never thought my life was in jeopardy.
Under Putin, journalists have been murdered. American hostages like Gershkovich and Brittney Griner before him face lengthy stays in prison and show trials before being traded for convicted prisoners in the West. No self-respecting American news agency would send reporters to Moscow in those dangerous conditions. That leaves a huge news void in a vitally important capital, one that U.S. news organizations must try to fill in nontraditional ways...
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Joyce Barnathan is the former president of the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ). Previously, Barnathan served as the executive editor, Global Franchise, for BusinessWeek. Prior to that, Barnathan completed a seven-year assignment as the Asia regional editor and Hong Kong bureau manager for BusinessWeek. In addition to her reporting and editing duties, she helped launch the magazine’s Asian edition and managed its growing network of correspondents and stringers throughout the region. Barnathan came to BusinessWeek from Newsweek, where she served as State Department correspondent, Moscow Bureau Chief and Special Projects Correspondent covering presidential elections.
IAF is committed to education on press freedom. In May 2023, Joyce Barnathan spoke to IAF audiences at Northwestern Michigan College and students at Traverse City Central High School, alongside Gene Gibbons, a career journalist and White House correspondent for 6 presidents. Click here to watch the program from May 2023.
WHO WE ARE
Creating a Community of Global Citizens
Since its founding in 1994, the International Affairs Forum at NMC has brought season after season of diplomats, ambassadors, economists, military leaders, journalists, educators and other great minds to Traverse City to challenge us to think critically about issues of local and global significance.
This has included Ambassador Thomas Pickering, the 5-star general of America’s diplomatic corps, former Secretary of State and White House Chief of Staff James A. Baker, leading international voices such as Rajmohan Gandhi and Iraqi Ambassador Faisal al-Istrabadi, top journalists and authors such as Dexter Filkins and Alfredo Corchado, and countless outstanding experts.
Through the years, thousands of IAF donors, students, and community members have participated in and benefitted from these programs. This is unique for a community of this size and a reason to celebrate!
We want you to be involved in IAF's exciting future. Support IAF by joining as a member. Make the most impact by becoming a Leadership Circle member -- at the Ambassador, Envoy, or Diplomat level -- to ensure that IAF continues to grow for future generations.
*IAF is a proud member of the World Affairs Councils of America, the largest independent, non-partisan organization dedicated to engaging the public and leading global voices to better understand the world, America's international role, and the policy choices that impact our daily lives and our future. The national network is comprised of more than 90 councils in more than 40 states.
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