Founded in 1938 as a committee of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, the Denver Council on Foreign Relations (DCFR) is incorporated as an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organization. Since 1993 it has been located at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies (JKSIS), University of Denver.
Member of the American Committees on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C. (ACFR)
Our Mission
To conduct informed, non-partisan discussions on foreign policy between citizens, community leaders, and policy makers, to heighten public awareness and expand understanding of contemporary and emerging international issues, locally and regionally, and to generate inputs to policy makers, based on research and related activities, that reflect perspectives developed in Denver and the Rocky Mountain region.
Vision
Denver’s Council on Foreign Relations is primarily concerned with the new dimensions of foreign policy and security that are emerging in the early decades of the 21st century. The Council will define and address such issues as proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and other forms of weaponry, terrorism and homeland security, national sovereignty, ethnic nationalism, inter-communal strife, and failed states, peacemaking, North-South relations, global warming, and pandemics.
Tackling this 21st-century global agenda is facilitated by the Denver Council’s location in the center of the continental United States and its links to the Institute on Globalization and Security (IGLOS), which serves as DCFR’s point of contact for relations with the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies. Not only will the Council continue to expand its contribution to public education on policy aspects of these topics, but it will also become the Colorado and Rocky Mountain regional center for non-partisan analysis and input of this agenda to U.S. policymakers.
Ongoing Activities of the Council
The primary activity of the council is its dinner meetings, normally held in Denver at a venue such as the Denver Country Club. Nine or ten such meetings are held each year. Some meetings are held in collaboration with like-minded organizations, such as the Denver World Affairs Council.
The DCFR also periodically conducts research initiatives and produces analytical reports. The ongoing Global Colorado Initiative is one such endeavor.
The American Councils on Foreign Relations, of which DCFR is an institutional member, holds an annual conference of ACFR members in Washington.
The Council has three educational outreach programs: a travel grant to an undergraduate at Colorado State University for purposes of study abroad; a grant to a rural Colorado high or middle school for participation in the annual World Affairs Challenge at the University of Denver’s Center For Teaching International Relations; and, beginning in January 2012, a Media Rapporteur Internship for a local university student.
In Development
Planning is under way to increase our capability to prepare and present studies. We believe that the council, as a respected non-profit of long standing, is uniquely positioned to highlight, inform, and voice the foreign policy perspectives of the Rocky Mountain region. Beginning in January 2012, look for a new, more ambitious website, and the announcement of new programs!
Regional ACFR Meeting
The Denver CFR successfully organized the first ACFR meeting in the Rocky Mountain region, October 23-26, 2008, at Vail Cascade Resort & Spa in Colorado. The following presentations were given (Real Player - download):
Climate Policy Dilemma.rm
Foreign Policy Next Administration.rm
Petrostate Putin Power.rm
CIA Ethics and Intelligence.rm
Globalization and Security.rm
Penary Reflections On Iraq.rm
Present Future Nuclear Weapons.rm
