Great Decisions Returns Monthly March-September 2025

2025 Topics, Speakers, and Dates

For many years, UMSL Global and the World Affairs Council of St. Louis have teamed up to participate in the Foreign Policy Association’s Great Decisions program, America’s largest discussion program on world affairs. In this program, experts with the Foreign Policy Association choose a number of discussion topics related to the most critical global issues facing America. We invite subject matter experts in those topics to share their insights and opinions with us, which, in turn, engages our community in conversations about foreign policy issues facing the United States and the world.

U.S.-China Relations: March 5th, 2025

Our first topic of the 2025 Great Decisions Speaker Series will be “Competition, Cold War, or Conflict? Navigating U.S.-China Relations in Tense Times.” Regardless of political affiliation, there is one thing people in Washington D.C. can actually agree on: the United States is in a strategic competition with a rising China that poses a range of economic, political, and military security challenges.

We will be joined by Dr. Haitao Li, Professor, Department Chair, and Founding Director of the Laboratory of Advanced Supply Chain Analytics at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Dr. Li’s primary goal as an educator is two-fold: first, to disseminate knowledge in his domains of expertise, and second, to cultivate students’ interest and ability to acquire and apply knowledge.

Wednesday March 5th, 2025, 1:00- 2:00 PM  Central Online
Register Here

 

India: Between China, the West, and the Global South

India is an emerging major power in world affairs, occupying a pivotal position between China, the United States, and the Global South. Its population size, economy, and geopolitical location ensure that it will be an influential voice in debates and political struggles over global order. What are India’s choices and opportunities for regional and global leadership? How will it maneuver between China and the United States, and what is its role as a voice of the Global South? What opportunities exist for Washington to work with India?

 

International Cooperation on Climate Change

The 2015 Paris Agreement established a UN-sponsored framework for negotiations on climate change and global warming. In subsequent COP meetings, experts and political leaders have come together seeking common cause for this growing global crisis. What is the future of these efforts, and what have they yielded? What is the U.S. role in fostering cooperation on climate change? In a divided country, what are the possible futures for American policy leadership?

 

The Future of NATO and European Security

European security is more uncertain than it has been for decades. Putin’s Russia has launched a war with Ukraine on its doorstep, and America’s uncertain role as leader of NATO and security provider has been called into question with the failure of Congress to pass supplemental military support for Ukraine. What are Europe’s options, and how might developments on both sides of Western Europe – in Ukraine and across the Atlantic – impact its choices? What are America’s stakes in NATO and Europe’s strategic dilemmas?

 

AI and American National Security

The AI revolution is the leading edge of a larger high-tech revolution which promises to transform the world. Experts argue that international cooperation is needed to expand the opportunities these new technologies hold while protecting societies from their dangers. What are the key policy debates in this area, and what are the opportunities and limits on global AI rules of the road? How will the AI revolution impact American national security? What are its policy options to secure the benefits of AI and guard against its dangers?

 

U.S. Changing Leadership of the World Economy

 

Under President Biden, the U.S. has advanced new ideas about trade, technology, industrial policy, competition with China, and the organization of the world economy. For most of the postwar era, the U.S. has tied its global leadership to cooperative agendas aimed at creating a more open-world trading system, but that has apparently come to an end. What are America’s options and opportunities as a leader of the world economy? How will America’s “foreign policy for the middle class” and strategic competition with China impact its leadership role? How can the postwar rules and institutions of the world economy be made safe for economic nationalism and great power competition?

Sponsors

Great Decisions is sponsored by the Council and UMSL Global

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UMSL Global promotes understanding of peoples & cultures through international & multicultural programming, study abroad & exchange opportunities, as well as by providing international experiences for UMSL students and the community. UMSL Global is committed to supporting student, campus, & community learning through a wide range of initiatives designed to internationalize the campus and to ensure that students graduate with the international competence they will need to function in a world that is increasingly globalized.

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