with Leslee Udwin
10/04/2018
A DCFR Associates Event
Leslee Udwin, Founder and President\CEO of THINK EQUAL. Leslee was named the Number 2 Most Impactful Woman of 2015 (behind Hillary Clinton), and has been awarded the prestigious Swedish Anna Lindh Human Rights Prize. THINK EQUAL seeks to achieve equal opportunity and empowerment, irrespective of gender, race, religion, sexual orientation or disability by starting the process of imparting social and emotional learning to children at an early age.
with Dr. Stephen McCaffrey
10/25/2018
Co-Sponsored with the Nanda Center for International and Comparative Law
Distinguished Professor of Law Stephen McCaffrey is one of the world’s foremost authorities on international water law. He was named 2017 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate for his unparalleled contribution to the evolution and progressive realization of international water law.
Professor McCaffrey served two terms as a member of the United Nations International Law Commission (ILC), from 1981-1991, and chaired that prestigious body’s 1987-1988 session, only the third American to do so. From 1985-1991 he served as special rapporteur for the ILC’s work on the law of the non-navigational uses of international watercourses.
with Dr. Rachel Epstein
11/15/2018
Co-Sponsored with the Denver Chapter of the American Council on Germany
Dr. Rachel Epstein is Professor of International Political Economy and European Politics at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. where she currently serves as Associate Dean for Faculty, co-Director of the Ph.D program and served as the co-Director of the School’s Europe Center.
She has served as a Transatlantic Research Fellow, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute and Expert Advisor on the Review of the Framework for Relations between the European Union and the United States.
with Barbara Smith
12/04/2018
Barbara Smith has over 20 years of experience in international development and is a subject matter expert in democracy, human rights, and governance. Ms. Smith has held positions with the U.S. Agency for International Development, including deputy assistant to the administrator for policy, planning and learning; senior policy analyst; deputy coordinator for Middle East transition response; and senior field adviser for democracy and governance.
In addition, she served on the National Security Staff at the White House as a director for Afghanistant and Pakistan affairs and at the Asia Foundation as senior director for governance and law.
with Ricklef Beutin
01/22/2019
Ricklef Beutin is a visiting fellow in the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Prior to joining CSIS, he served as chief of staff to German Federal Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel. Between 2011 and 2015, he served as chief of staff to several state secretaries of the German Federal Foreign Office. From 2015 to 2016, he headed the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) division and served as deputy head of the Task Force for the German OSCE Chairmanship in 2016.
with Dr. Pardis Mahdavi
02/13/2019
Pardi Mahdavi is currently the acting dean of the Josef Korbel School for International Studies at the University of Denver. Mahdavi received her Ph.D in Sociomedical Science and Anthropology, MPhil. in Anthropology and Master’s in International Affairs from Columbia University and a bachelor’s in Diplomacy and World Affairs from Occidental College. Her research interests include gendered labor, human trafficking, migration, sexuality, human rights, youth culture, transnational feminism, and public health in the context of changing global and political structures.
She is the author of “Passionate Uprisings: Iran’s Sexual Revolution” (Standford University Press, 2008); “Gridlock: Labor, Migration and ‘Human Trafficking’ in Dubai” (Stanford University Press, 2011); “From Trafficking to Terror: Constructing a Global Social Problem” (Routledge, 2013); and “Crossing the Gulf: Love and Family in Migrant’s Lives” (Stanford University Press, 2016). Links to her work can be found on the DCFR Bookshelf.
with Sarah Safari
02/21/2019
A DCFR Associates Event
TED Talks presenter Sara Safari will speak about her work with women’s empowerment and recent trip to her homeland, Iran. Sarah has dedicated her life to empowering women and girls to break the glass ceiling and live as fully as they deserve.
with Dr. Julia Macdonald
03/06/2019
Dr. Julia Macdonald is an Assistant Professor in International Relations at the University of Denver’s Korbel School of International Studies where her research focuses on state threat assessments, use of force decisions, and U.S. military strategy and effectiveness. Her most recent book project lies at the intersection of coercive diplomacy and foreign policy decision making and investigates the importance of leadership beliefs in assessments of threat credibility during international crises.
with Constanze Stelzenmüller
Co-Sponsored with the Denver Chapter of the American Council on Germany
Constanze Stelzenmüller, an expert on German, European, and transatlantic foreign and security policy and strategy, is the inaugural Robert Bosch senior fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings. Prior to working at Brookings, she was a senior transatlantic fellow with the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), where she directed the influential Transatlantic Trends survey program. Her areas of expertise include: transatlantic relations; German foreign policy; NATO; the European Union’s foreign, security, and defense policy; international law; and human rights.
with General George Casey (ret.)
04/04/2019
General George W. Casey, Jr. is one of the most accomplished soldiers in U.S. history and an authority on strategic and transformational leadership. As the 36th Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army from April 2007 to 2011, General Casey led what is arguably the world’s largest and most complex organization, 1.1 million people strong, with a $200+ billion annual budget, during one of the most extraordinary periods in military and global political history. He is widely credited with restoring balance to the war-weary U.S. Army and leading the transformation necessary to ensure the Army remained relevant in current conflicts.
with Daisy Khan
04/10/2019
Daisy Khan is an award-winning speaker, author, activist, commentator, and the founder of Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE), the largest global network of Muslim women committed to peacebuilding, gender equality, and human dignity.
he has been involved in grassroots efforts combating anti-Muslim bias for over twenty years and is renowned as a thought leader on Muslim women’s rights, Islam in America. As a bridge builder she has been hailed for producing interfaith programs like Same Difference, the Cordoba Bread Fest and the “Today, I am a Muslim Too” rally.
She believes that women’s leadership is essential to solving societal issues. “we need to remove structural barriers to Muslim women’s leadership, to enable them to use their resolve, passion and humility to bring societies into greatness.” She founded the first global Muslim women’s Shura (advisory) Council to amplify Muslim women’s scholarship. The Council uses an egalitarian interpretation of scripture to publish position papers against issues such as child marriage, domestic violence, female genital mutilation and many others.
She published WISE UP in collaboration with 72 authors to create a counter-momentum to the rise in hateful rhetoric and violent extremism. Her memoir, Born with Wings: The Spiritual Journey of a Modern Muslim Woman, published in 2018 by Random House, depicts her spiritual journey as a modern Muslim woman and her circuitous path to leadership. Publishers Weekly gave the book a starred review.
with Dr. Patrick Quirk
04/16/2019
Dr. Patrick Quirk covers fragile states, conflict and stabilization, and foreign assistance on the U.S. Department of State’s Policy Planning Staff. He previously served as Senior Advisor for Policy and Strategy in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO) as well as Senior Policy Advisor and Team Lead for Political Transitions. Concurrent to serving in CSO, he is an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, teaching courses on stabilization and political violence.
Leadership in Global Engagement Award presented to Ms. Kim Day
05/13/2019
The mission of the Denver Council on Foreign Relations is to build awareness of international issues and to promote the understanding of American foreign policy and world affairs.
P.O. Box 101654 Denver, CO 80250-1654