Foreign Affairs reviews China and Africa: A Century of Engagement

Speech by AFPC Vice President Ilan Berman before Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa regarding Iran and U.S. policy.

Presentation by AFPC Vice President Ilan Berman at the Heritage Foundation on Israeli security and regional ballistic missile threats in the Middle East

On June 12, 2012 AFPC hosted a briefing on electromagnetic pulse and solar storm protection presented by Dr. George Baker, a leading consultant on the subject. The event, which was held on Capitol Hill, was attended by the House Science Committee staffers.

The AFPC hosted an informative briefing session on 4 June, 2012, on the potential for US-India cooperation in missile defense and space security. The briefing was delivered by prominent expert in the field Dr. Bharath Gopalaswamy for the benefit of Congressional Staffers, South Asia experts, AFPC fellows and a representative from NASA. 

Recent years have seen a steady expansion of Iran's interest and involvement in the Western Hemisphere. While this phenomenon has begun to capture the attention of policymakers in the United States, it remains poorly understood. In assessing Iran's regional outreach, however, it is possible to discern at least four distinct, and complimentary, strategic objectives.

On February 27, AFPC hosted Col. Paul Huxhold of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and Mr. James Farwell, an advisor to SOCOM, for a briefing on emerging threats in Asia.

On March 22. 2012, AFPC Senior Fellow for Europe and Eurasia spoke at an IFES-sponsored conference on the topic of the recent Russian elections and the effects on democracy across Eurasia. Click on the below link to listen to his remarks.

AFPC Kraemer Strategy Fellow Jeff M. Smith continues to serve as the chairman of the South Asia Discussion Group for the Young Professionals in Foreign Policy (YPFP) organization, a network over 5,000 foreign policy professionals in Washington, DC and New York City.

AFPC Kraemer Strategy Fellow Jeff M. Smith has received funding to produce a major study on Sino-Indian relations to be conducted over the next year.

On September 21, AFPC Kraemer Strategy Fellow Jeff M. Smith hosted the last mayor of Pakistan’s largest city and commercial capital, Karachi, at AFPC’s recently remodeled headquarters.

On September 14, in our new conference room, AFPC hosted a dinner with former Secretary of the Navy, Amb. J. William Middendorf.

Alexander Torshin, First Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Federation Council (the upper house of Russia’s parliament) visited DC in early March. While in Washington, AFPC hosted a University Club dinner in honor of the Chairman.

On Monday, October 4, 2010, AFPC hosted a dinner with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.  The Kremlin’s envoy to the U.S. since 2008, Kislyak previously served as deputy minister of foreign affairs, as well as Russia’s permanent representative to NATO in Brussels

On September 15, AFPC Kraemer Strategy Fellow Jeff M. Smith hosted a policy lunch for visiting Indian scholar Dr. P.R. Kumaraswamy at a prominent Capitol Hill venue.

On September 9, AFPC President Herman Pirchner, Jr. and Kraemer Strategy Fellow Jeff M. Smith gave a briefing at the Pentagon to the Marine Corps’ Strategic Initiatives Group.

On August 4, 2010, the American Foreign Policy Council hosted a luncheon featuring Zahid Jamil, a leading Pakistani lawyer and activist.

On July 28, AFPC Kraemer Strategy Fellow Jeff Smith, along with President Herman Pirchner, Jr.,  hosted a lunch for a visiting Indian official, Mr. Ram Madhav, member of the Central Executive of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

On Tuesday February 3, AFPC hosted a small working luncheon with Mr. Victor Suvorov. Suvorov, a former Soviet army officer who served in military intelligence, defected in 1978 to the United Kingdom. He is the author of eighteen books that have been translated into more than twenty languages. His better known works included: Inside the Aquarium: the Making of a Top Soviet Spy and Icebreaker: Who Started the Second World War?

The Fall 2008 issue of Demokratizatsiya, the scholarly journal of post-Soviet democratization, carried AFPC President Herman Pirchner”s 14 page article, “The Uncertain Future Sino-Russian Relations in the Twenty-First Century”.

On December 3rd, AFPC Vice President for Policy Ilan Berman spoke at a conference on "Missile Defense in Europe" convened by The Heritage Foundation. In his remarks, Mr. Berman focused on the current state of Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and their implications for international security.

On March 5-9, 2008, AFPC Vice President for Policy Ilan Berman visited London, England as a guest of the Henry Jackson Society, Ilan gave presentations before Members of Parliament in the British House of Commons and scholars at boh the London School of Economics and International Institute for Strategic Studies on the subject of Iran and evolving U.S. policy toward the Middle East.

AFPC President Herman Pirchner traveled to Moscow in February 2007 to witness and briefly speak before a meeting of Russia’s Public Chamber. The Public Chamber is a new institution in Russia - a national body created by statue which advises the legislature (State Duma) and President on relevant legislation and monitors the implementation of new laws. The Chamber, whose members serve for unpaid, two-year terms, is composed of respected Russian professionals and academics with no ties to political parties.

On February 28, AFPC hosted an intimate dinner for the Chairman of the Mexican Senate Committee on International Relations, Mr. Fernando Margain.  Senator Margain is an articulate advocate of close US-Mexican relations.  His visit occurred soon after President Bush and President Fox of Mexico met to discuss this important bilateral relationship.

Duma Defense Committee Chairman Andrei I. Nikolayev addressed an AFPC dinner of U.S. and Russian defense policy-makers on May 16, offering a look at the changed military thinking behind newly-inaugurated President Vladimir Putin.

Belarusian National Front co-founder and shadow candidate for president Zianon Pazniak was the guest at an AFPC luncheon for Congressional staff on February 22, 1999.

It was a rare sight: senior officials from the Soviet security services discussing the future of Russia with ey U.S. Congressional staff members and policy makers.

AFPC hosted the House International Relations Committee’s top Russia specialists to discuss their recent fact-finding trip in Russia.

AFPC hosted Central Asia Development Corporation President Charles Santos at a luncheon on September 18, 1998.

U.S. foreign policy officials recently had the occasion to hear about the strife in Bosnia-Herzegovina firsthand.  In January, two distinguished Bosnian leaders addressed congressional staffers about the ongoing struggles at an AFPC luncheon.

Last December, Mr. Andrei Kolosovsky, Charge d’Affaires of the Russian Embassy, was the guest of honor at an AFPC-sponsored dinner in Washington, D.C

Through the generous support of the Pew Charitable Trusts of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the American Foreign Policy Council has been able to conduct an in-depth study of the U.S. foreign aid program.  This study project has culminated in a book entitled Modernizing Foreign Assistance: Resource Management as an Instrument of Foreign Policy.  With the final manuscript now with the publisher, Praeger Publishing of New York, the book is scheduled to be released in Summer 1992.