Welcome to the Baltimore Council on Foreign Affairs. The Council is Baltimore’s premier forum bringing many of the world's leading authorities of foreign affairs to address Council members and guests.  It is a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to citizen education in foreign affairs.

Year-End Appeal

Dear Member,

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Please allow me, on behalf of the Board of Trustees, to make a year-end appeal. The Council faces a deficit of approximately $20,000 for the 2019 year; and we do seek a balanced budget.

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We will have had fewer programs in 2019 than usual due in large part to having to adjust to the closing of the Constellation Room of the World Trade Center, our home meeting space for the first half of the year. However, the speakers we did have were firmly within the Council’s tradition of excellence. The ambassador of Poland, Piotr Wilczek, was brilliant in presenting the somewhat controversial matter of a “nationalist” approach to domestic and foreign affairs. Professor Robert Lieber of Georgetown articulated the need for American leadership in world affairs. Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution, addressed the dilemmas created by an assertive China in the East and South Chinese Seas. Professor Angela Stent, also of Georgetown, spoke on the themes of her acclaimed work on Vladimir Putin and Russia. The challenges of cyber warfare were discussed by the former Deputy Director of the National Security Agency General John Chris Inglis. Most recently, the extraordinarily informed and careful scholar of the Middle East and Russia, Professor Robert Freedman, now of Johns Hopkins, spoke on “U.S.-Israeli Relations After the U.S. Withdrawal from Syria”. Our last program of 2019 will be with Marc Polymeropoulos, most recently head of C.I.A. clandestine operations for all of Europe and Russia; and we look forward to a coherent and comprehensive treatment of American foreign policy in 2020 through an expected sixteen distinguished authorities.

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If you would be good enough to extend a year-end gift to help avoid a 2019 deficit and help prepare for 2020, all associated with the Council would be grateful. Gifts are fully tax-deductible. Year-end gift checks may be sent to the Council; or payments may be made via PayPal by clicking the "Donate" button below.

Sincerely,

Frank A Burd

President

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Since the Council's founding, audio and visual recordings of each speaker have been maintained. For more information about renting or purchasing a copy of a past address, follow the link on the left. For a full list of past events, follow the link on the right.

List of our Past Speakers