​​​​​​​2019-2020 Speaker Series

"Human Trafficking and Human Rights"

with Marianna Kosharovsky

​​​​​​​09/04/2019

Marianna Kosharovsky, J.D. is the Founder and Executive Director of ALIGHT (Alliance to Lead Impact in Global Human Trafficking), a Denver-based nonprofit organization with a mission to unlock a fresh start for human trafficking survivors. ALIGHT fights international human trafficking as well as provides services and legal representation for victims of human trafficking found in Colorado. ALIGHT rapidly delivers access to justice to the most vulnerable in our society by using an innovative technology platform that leverages the network effect to match survivor needs with untapped legal expertise.

Ms. Kosharovsky’s expertise is rooted in over 10 years of experience in human trafficking, law and professional collaboration in the U.S. and Eastern Europe/Russia. As an attorney, Ms. Kosharovsky represented survivors of sex and labor exploitation at the domestic violence agency Sanctuary for Families, as well as global corporate clients at the international law firm Milbank in New York. In Eastern Europe/Russia, she worked on human trafficking and human rights development with PILnet: Global Network for Public Interest Law, and was a Visiting Professor at the Pericles Center for International Legal Education. She is a contributing author of the American Bar Association book Lawyers as Changemakers (2016). Ms. Kosharovsky holds a law degree from N.Y.U. Law School.

"The Israeli Elections: A Pivotal Moment in World Politics"

with Professor Ved Nanda

09/16/2019

Ved Nanda is John Evans Distinguished University Professor and Thompson G. Marsh Professor of Law, the Founding Director and Director Emeritus of the International Legal Studies Program, and Director of the Ved Nanda Center for International and Comparative Law at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.

He serves as an elected member of the American Law Institute, is on the executive board of the American Bar Association Human Rights Center, and is a council member of the American Bar Association Section of International Law. Professor Nanda has been a Distinguished Visiting Professor and Scholar at numerous of universities in the United States and abroad.

Professor Nanda has been honored with numerous international and national awards, including the 2018 Louis B. Sohn Award for Public International Law from the ABA Section of International Law, the Gandhi, King, Ikeda Award for Community Peace Building from Soka Gakkai International and Morehouse College, the World Jurist Association World Legal Scholar award, the United Nations Association Human Rights Award, and the Hiroshima Peace Award. Professor Nanda was honored in 2017 in the U.S. House of Representatives.

"Is American Diplomacy Dead?"

with Ambassador Christopher Hill

​​​​​​​10/03/2019

​​​​​​​Ambassador Christopher Hill served as a peace corps volunteer in the Republic of Cameroon from 1974 – 1976 before joining the State Department in 1977.  Throughout his diplomatic career, he served as Ambassador of the United States to the Former Yugoslav Repbulic of Macedonia from 1996 – 1999, Special Envoy to Kosovo from 1998-1999, Ambassador to Poland from 2000 – 2004, and Ambassador to the Republic of Korea from 2004 – 2005.  Ambassador Hill went on to be appointed Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and the head of delegation for the ‘six-party talks’ that aimed to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis of 2005. 

 President Barrack Obama nominated him for the post of US Ambassador to Iraq in 2009.  After retiring from the State Department, Ambassador Hill is currently the Chief Advisor to the Chancellor for Global Engagement and Professor of the Practice in Diplomacy at the University of Denver. Prior to this position, he was the Dean of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, a position he held from September 2010 to December 2017. He is also the author of Outpost: A Diplomat at Work.

"Cyber Strategy and U.S. National Security"

with Dr. Emily Goldman

10/17/2019

Dr. Emily Goldman is Director of the U.S. Cyber Command / National Security Agency Combined Action Group. She previously served as Deputy Director for Interagency Coordination, Office of Communication, USCENTCOM; Strategic Communication Advisor to the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, U.S. Department of State; Associate Director, Support to Public Diplomacy, U.S. Department of Defense. She received her Ph.D. from Stanford University and was Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Davis from 1989 to 2008.

 She has published on strategic, military, and arms control policy; military innovation; revolution in military affairs; organizational change; and defense resource allocation. She has received awards and fellowships from the MacArthur, Olin, Pew and Smith Richardson Foundations, and the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Woodrow Wilson Center and the U.S. Naval War College. Her book – Power in Uncertain Times: Strategy in the Fog of Peace – was published by Stanford University Press in 2011. In 2012, she launched the Cyber Analogies Project to develop analogies to improve understanding of the cyber environment. Cyber Analogies was co-edited by John Arquilla and published by the Naval Postgraduate School in 2014. 

"The Rise of Populism and Nationalism in Germany and Europe"

with Stefan Schlüter 

10/28/2019

Stefan Schlüter served in the German Foreign Office until the summer of 2017 and is now a Program Director at the Diplomatic Academy in Berlin. After studying political science at the University of Hamburg, Mr. Schlüter joined the German Foreign Office in 1979.
His first foreign assignments brought him to Buenos Aires and Algiers. From 1986 to 1990 he served as the spokesman of the German Embassy in Tel Aviv before returning to the Foreign Office in Bonn as desk officer for the Maghreb countries. From 1992 to 1995 he served as Deputy Consul Gerneral in Los Angeles before returning to Bonn as Deputy Director for the southern part of Latin America.
From 2000 to 2004 he was posted a second time in the US as Deputy Consul General in New York City before moving on to Buenos Aires as Deputy Ambassador. In 2007 he returned to the Foreign Office in Berlin to assume the position of Director for Conflict Prevention, Peace-Building, Democracy Promotion and State-Building, promoting German projects in this field world-wide. In 2010 he was appointed Ambassador to the Eastern Caribbean Region, residing in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago before moving on to his last assignment as Consul General in San Francisco in 2014.
Last October, Stefan Schlüter undertook a two-week, 12-city speaking tour in the southeastern and mid-western regions of the United States, engaging over 1,200 Americans in conversations about German-Jewish relations, Germany’s coming to terms with its past, and rising anti-Semitism and populism in Europe. Since his trip in 2018, populist trends have been on an upward trajectory in many European countries as evidenced by the continued issues surrounding Brexit in the United Kingdom and elections in Hungary, Italy, and the European Parliament. And, in early September the German populist party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), made significant gains in two eastern German state elections.

"The Arab Uprising, Human Rights, and the Future of the Middle East"

with Dr. Micheline Ishay

​​​​​​​11/13/2019

Dr. Micheline Ishay is a political scientist known for her work in political theory, international relations, human rights, foreign policy, and the Middle East. She is Distinguished Professor of International Studies and Human Rights at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, where she serves as Director of the International Human Rights Program. She is an affiliate faculty member with the Center for Middle East Studies, was Executive Director of the Center on Rights Development, and in 2008 was named University of Denver Distinguished Scholar.
Dr. Ishay received a Ph.D. in Political Science and International Studies from Rutgers University. She was a fellow at the Center for Critical Culture and Contemporary Analysis, Rutgers University; Assistant Professor at Hobart and William Smith College; Senior Fellow at the Center for Democracy Collaborative, University of Maryland (2004); Lady Davis Visiting Professor, Hebrew University (2006); and Visiting Professor, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (2010-2013). She was Resident Fellow at Bellagio Center, Rockefeller Foundation, Italy, Fall 2005. Often interviewed in the international press, Ishay frequently contributes to international forums in Europe and the Middle East and lectures on international issues in the U.S.  
Dr. Ishay’s books, The History of Human Rights and The Human Rights Reader have been translated into multiple languages. Her latest book, The Levant Express: The Arab Uprisings, Human Rights, and the Future of the Middle East, was published in 2019 by Yale University Press.  From 2010 to 2013, Ishay worked in the Gulf region from a unique vantage point, as female American scholar in human rights. She had the good fortune to teach one of the first human rights courses in the Arab world just before and throughout the tumultuous events starting in late 2010. The UAE was in the eye of a historical storm throughout her time there, and she met regularly with diplomats, world leaders, scholars and journalists from the U.S., the West, and the Arab world. As a professor at Khalifa University’s Institute for International and Civil Security, she taught courses in critical thinking at the graduate level, and had the privilege to learn from Emirati and Arab nationals about their hopes and fears as upheaval shook the region around them. 

"International Trade and Business: Tomorrow...is Today!"

with Ms. Susan Morrice

​​​​​​​01/15/2020

Grounded by her love of nature and community, Denver-based Susan Morrice lives to create positive change in the world. As an experienced geologist, explorer, entrepenuer and dealmaker, Susan is renowned for her down to earth approach to all aspects of business. She has a passion for the protection of the environment and a vision of uncovering the true potential of everyone with whom she meets. It is this New Educo Business Model at the core of her Companies that has attracted leaders of the UAE to partner with the Country of Belize in an unprecedented global partnership throughout the entire region.

Ms. Morrice was born and raised in Belfast, Ireland and holds an MoD degree in Geology from Trinity College Dublin. She is a founding member of Belize Natural Energy (BNE), International Natural Energy (INE), CHx Capital, and XJet Worldwide. BNE has become a global oil industry beacon that has made a real difference in the country of Belize. It was through Susan’s gift of exploration, and derstanding of the power of untapped human potential that she was able to find oil where it was believe by all of the Majors in the oil industry that there was none. Not only did Susan and her BNE team find oil in Belize, they found it on the first well which is unheard of. BNE just celebrated ten years of production and over ten-million barrels of oil, and is the #1 revenue generator in the country.
Susan has applied this same Holistic Educo Business Model to her investment in XJet in Denver, a 7-star service private jet company that is continually ranked among the best and most elite in Private Aviation services. XJet has also granted the coveted license in New Dubai Airport beating all the long established industry players and XJet is rapidly expanding into Europe, including London, and into the Middle East, including the UAE.
She was most recently awarded the “AAPG Presidential Award for Exemplary Service” in recognition of her exceptional service to the geoscience profession and AAPG. She is continually recognized for her contributions including just this year the Denver Business Journal’s “Top Women in Energy” and the CoBiz Magazine’s “Top Women Owned Companies”. These are just two of the numerous acknowledgements and awards that she has recieved in recognition of her contributions world-wide.
Most recently, Susan and the BNE team were awarded the highly competitive and prestigious 2017 Global “GetEnergy” Educational Award for the educational model that is at the core of the company. It is with great pride that Susan and the BNE team received this award, as this holstic educational system is the keystone of the company’s success.

"The Power of Narrative - At Home and Abroad"

with Dr. Fritz Mayer

02/12/2020

Dr. Fritz Mayer is the new Dean of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. Previously, he was Professor of Public Policy at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy and a Professor of Political Science and Environment. He teaches courses on the political economy of public policy, globalization and governance, political analysis, and leadership. In addition, Professor Mayer is the director of POLIS: The Center for Political Leadership, Innovation and Service. Mayer’s research concerns the role of stories in politics.

His book Narrative Politics: Stories and Collective Action (Oxford University Press, 2014) argues that shared stories are essential tools for enabling communities to overcome free riding and other obstacles to collective action. He is particularly interested in the role of narrative in global environmental politics. Mayer’s second line of research addresses globalization and its effects, with particular emphasis on the labor and environmental impacts of economic integration. His book Interpreting NAFTA: The Art and Science of Political Analysis (Columbia University Press, 1998) chronicled the history of NAFTA and explores the nature of the political processes that created NAFTA. Recent work has involved exploring the policy implications of a world in which most international trade is conducted within “global value chains,” and in which a relatively few large firms enjoy considerable power in defining the terms of trade.
In addition to his academic experience, Mayer served as senior international trade and foreign policy advisor to former U. S. Sen. Bill Bradley from 1992 to 1993. In previous stints in Washington, Mayer served as an aide to Congressman Sander Levin, as a policy analyst at the U.S. Environment Protection Agency, and as editor at the Close Up Foundation, an educational non-profit organization. From 1997 to 2000, he was director of Duke’s Center for North American Studies. Mayer received an A.B. in history and literature from Harvard College, and an M.P.P. and a Ph.D. in public policy, both from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

DCFR Luncheon

"The Civilian-Military Relationship Today: Who's On First?"

with General George W. Casey

03/31/2020

**POSTPONED**

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. Prior to this post, General Casey commanded the MultiNational Force-Iraq, a coalition of more than 30 countries, where he guided the Iraq mission through its toughest days. He currently lectures on leadership at the Johnson School of Management, Cornell University, at other business schools, and to the leaders of national and multinational corporations. He also lectures on International Relations at the Korbel School, University of Denver. He has published a book, Strategic Reflections, Operation Iraqi Freedom, July 2004-2007 (October 2012), about his experiences in Iraq, and several articles on leadership, including “Leading in a VUCA World”, Fortune Magazine (March 20, 2014).

Topic: TBD

with Governor John Hickenlooper

04/07/2020

**POSTPONED**

Governor John Hickenlooper is a politician, businessman, and geologist who served as the 42nd Governor for the State of Colorado from 2011 to 2019 and has announced his candidacy for the United States Senate. Governor Hickenlooper worked as a geologist for Buckhorn Petroleum in the early 1980s and co-founded Wynkoop Brewing Company in 1988. As a successful small business owner, Hickenlooper became increasingly involved in civic engagement through the Denver community.

In 2003, Hickenlooper was elected the 43rd mayor of Denver. He held this position until 2011, when he was inaugurated as the 42nd governor of the State of Colorado. In 2012, he was elected to serve as vice chair of the Demoractic Governors Association. He also served on the Western Governors’ Association as well as chaired the National Governors’ Association from 2014 to 2015. 

DCFR Discussion: U.S. Foreign Policy

with Andrew Romanoff

05/27/2020

Andrew Romanoff – candidate for the U.S. Senate. As president and CEO of Mental Health Colorado, Andrew led the fight for the prevention and treatment of mental health and substance use disorders. Among the results: pathbreaking programs for children and families and $68 million per year in life-saving services for Coloradans in need.

Andrew won four terms in the Colorado House of Representatives – including two terms as speaker of the House – and led the Democrats to their first majority in 30 years. He earned recognition from more than 50 state and national organizations as one of the most effective legislative leaders in America.
 Andrew authored laws to protect the environment, expand the supply of affordable housing, and support the victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. He crafted an economic recovery plan to put thousands of Coloradans back to work, built a bipartisan coalition to pass it, and secured the largest investment in school construction in state history.
Andrew began his career at the Southern Poverty Law Center, joining the battle against Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups. His work there fueled a lifelong passion for justice – a cause he later championed at a state civil rights agency.
The same commitment took Andrew to Nicaragua in the wake of a brutal civil war. He taught English in rural high schools and continued teaching here in Colorado.
In 2012, Andrew founded the Posner Center for International Development – the first such initiative in the country. The Posner Center is now home to more than 60 Colorado-based organizations, all advancing sustainable solutions to global poverty.

"From the Pentagon to the Presidency: Lessons in Leadership"

with Dr. Janine Davidson

06/18/2020

Janine Davidson, Ph.D., is the president of Metropolitan State University of Denver, Colorado’s third-largest public university. Prior to her appointment in 2017, she served as the Undersecretary of the Navy and the president’s appointed “chief management officer” for the Navy and Marine Corps. Her appointment as Navy “under” followed nearly 30 years of academic, civilian, and military service. As an ROTC graduate of C.U. Boulder in Architectural Engineering, she began her career as an Air Force officer and cargo pilot, and was the first woman to fly the tactical C-130.

Dr. Davidson was interviewed by ColoradoBiz magazine last year as one of its CEO of the Year finalists. She said, “the Pentagon is the headquarters of a $700 billion enterprise. It’s highly political and very buearucratic. To get something done is a darned art.” She will share how her Pentagon experience taught her valuable lessons that help her lead a major university with career-oriented academic programs that serve more than 20,000 students. “You’ve got to be squeaky clean and transparent,” she says. “In order to move a big buearucracy, it’s important to have an inclusive decision-making process. It’s about diversity of thought, but it’s also about stakeholder buy-in.”
 Janine’s various honors include: HillVets Top 100 Most Influential Veterans”; University of South Carolina Distinguished Alumna; Secretary of the Navy Medal for Distinguished Public Service; Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service; Girl Scouts of Colorado 2018 “Woman of Distinction”; and the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce 2019 “Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Business.”
 Currently, Janine serves as a presidentially-appointed commissioner for the National Commission on Military, National and Public Service. Locally, she serves on a number of nonprofit boards and is co-chair of Denver Mayor Michael Hancock’s “Complete Count” 2020 census committee.

"What Does the Coronavirus Pandemic Teach Us about Democracy and Authoritarianism?: A Response to Francis Fukuyama"

with Dr. Nader Hashemi

06/30/2020

Dr. Nader Hashemi is the Director of the Center for Middle East Sudies at the University of Denver Josef Korbel School of International Studies. He is also the co-director of the Religion and International Affairs certificate program and the co-director of the Political Theory Initiative.
Nader obtained his doctorate from the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto. Previously, he was an Andrew W Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University and a Visiting Professor at the UCLA Global Institute.
His intellectual research interests lie at the intersection of comparative politics and political theory, in particular debates on religion and democracy, secularism and its discontents, Middle East and Islamic politics, democratic and human rights struggles in non-Western societies and Islam-West relations.

A DCFR Discussion on U.S. Foreign Policy

with Senator Cory Gardner

07/29/2020

Senator Cory Gardner is a fifth-generation Coloradan who was born and raised in Yuma, a small town on the Eastern Plains of Colorado where his family has owned a farm implement dealership for over a century. He lives in the same house his great-grandparents lived in. Cory graduated summa cum laude from Colorado State University and received his law degree from the University of Colorado Boulder. After working at his family implement business and the National Corn Growers Association, Cory took a position as a Legislative Assistant for Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO) and quickly advanced to his Legislative Director.

He began serving in the Colorado House of Representatives in 2005 where he spent time as the Minority Whip and became known for his expertise in natural resource and agriculture policy. Cory was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. As a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Cory championed a true all-of-the-above energy strategy that promoted traditional resources as well as renewable energy. In addition, Cory is a national leader on energy efficiency initiatives and founded a bipartisan energy efficiency caucus in the House.

In the Senate, Cory continues to pursue common sense energy policy as a member of the Senate Energy & Natural Resource Committee. In addition, Cory serves on the Foreign Relations Committee,  and the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. He also serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy.

As Chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy, Cory led the effort to impose broad new sanctions against North Korea, as the regime continues to be a leading abuser of human rights and its reckless advancement of nuclear weapons threatens our national security.

In 2020, Cory was ranked the 3rd most bipartisan Senator by The Lugar Center for his work in the 116th Congress to build consensus, elevate the tenor of debate, practice civility, and advance legislation on pressing issues.

Cory is focused on expanding the economy, creating jobs, and making life better for all Coloradans.

He lives in Yuma with his wife Jaime and their three children: Alyson, Thatcher, and Caitlyn.

"Understanding Fast Changing Global Supply Chains"

with Dr. Joseph Szyliowicz

08/05/2020

Dr. Joseph Szyliowicz is a professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. He is the recipient of the University’s Distinguished Service Award, the International Award for Science and Ethics in Transportation Research (Alliance for Transportation Research), the Educator of the Year award from the Denver Transportation Community, and the Burlington Northern Foundation award for outstanding scholarship. He has served as a consultant and reviewer to many governmental agencies such as the Office of Technology Assessment, the National Science Foundation, and the Transportation Research Board.

Professor Joseph Szyliowicz is the Founder of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver and served as its Director from 1990-1999. He also founded and directed the Technology, Modernization and International

Studies Program, University of Denver (1975-1984). He has served as the General Rapporteur for the International Conference on Sustainable Transportation in Developing Countries (Abu Dhabi, 2005) and as the International Co-Chair of the Sustainable Transportation Task Force of the China Council for International Cooperation and Environmental Development (2003-2008). He has been a member of the U.S. delegation to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation’s Intermodal Transportation Working Group (2001-2007) and has participated in several NATO Advanced Research Workshops.

Prof. Joseph Szyliowicz has been a Senior Fellow at various academic institutions including St Antony’s College, Oxford University, the Harry S. Truman Institute and the Institute of Advanced Studies (both at Hebrew University, Jerusalem) and has taught and lectured at numerous universities in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Honoring: Dr. Doug Jackson

08/26/2020

Dr. Douglas Jackson serves as the President and CEO of Project C.U.R.E. Each week, Project C.U.R.E. delivers approximately four semi-truck loads of donated medical supplies and equipment to desperately needy people around the world. Since 1987, Project C.U.R.E. has delivered equipment and supplies to hospitals and clinics in over 135 countries. In addition to delivering approximately equipment and supplies, Project C.U.R.E. sends teams of medical professionals to assist partner hospitals and clinics. They also provide hundreds of hours of training through the Helping Babies Breathe and Helping Mothers Survive curriculum. More than 20,000 people volunteer with Project C.U.R.E. every year, making the organization one of the most efficient and effective grass-roots organizations in the country.

In conjunction with his work at Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson has taught at the university level in the disciplines of finance, investments, leadership development, legal and international issues. He is a frequent speaker and lecturer at colleges and universities, conferences such as TEDx, as well as civic, corporate and community organizations.

 

Dr. Jackson is a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow and is a past President of the Denver Rotary Club #31.

He serves on the Board of Directors for InterAction, the Partnership for Quality Medical Donations, WorldDenver, The Nanda Center for International and Comparative Law at the University of Denver, the World Trade Center Denver, and the Rueckert-Hartman College for Health Professionals at Regis University. Dr. Jackson received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Healthcare from the American Red Cross, the Civis Princeps recognition from Regis University, the 5280 Magazine Philanthropist of the Year, and accepted the CoBiz “Best Places to Work” and Colorado Ethics in Business Award on behalf of the team at Project C.U.R.E.
 
Douglas graduated magna cum laude from Northwest Nazarene University in 1982, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration. In 1985, he earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Colorado at Boulder, receiving the American Jurisprudence Award for Excellence in the study of law. In 1992, he was awarded a Ph.D. in Business Administration with an emphasis in finance and econometrics from the University of Colorado at Boulder, authoring a dissertation on leveraged buyouts and secondary public offerings.  Douglas is a member of the Alpha Delta Sigma and the Beta Gamma Sigma national honor societies, and recently completed Executive Education at the Stanford University School of Business. 
 
Following his admission to the bar, Douglas administered the legal affairs for the international agricultural firm of CTB, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company. Upon the completion of his Ph.D., Douglas opened the Fermanian Business Center at Point Loma University in San Diego, California. As Executive Director, Douglas developed and implemented numerous programs and seminars to advance business opportunities for college students and business professionals in the San Diego community and abroad. In 1995, Dr. Jackson assumed the role of Provost at Colorado Christian University. In this capacity, he oversaw the academic, financial, operational, advancement and student life functions of the university.