Global I.Q. Podcast

From Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen to Barbados’s Mia Amor Mottley to Estonia’s Kaja Kallas, a new generation of women leaders has stepped into some of the most consequential roles in global politics – and faced some of the most complex challenges of our time. Linda Robinson, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and award-winning foreign policy journalist, will draw on the vivid stories behind...

Part 3 of 4 in the 2026 International Perspectives Series. Sports have become a growing part of international diplomacy. Governments now use athletics to shape how the world sees them, build influence, and advance their political goals – raising key questions about where sports end and foreign policy begins. With the FIFA World Cup approaching and Dallas set to be part of the global spotlight, the...

This is part 2 of the 2025 CEO Series. Gary Wojtaszek has spent his career turning bold ideas into billion-dollar businesses. He led CyrusOne’s rise into a $12 billion global data center company. He then founded RecNation, now the largest institutional RV and boat storage platform in the U.S. Time and again, he has built and scaled companies that redefine their industries. In this conversation, Ga...

War is often described in impersonal ways – through moves and countermoves, land disputes, and troop movements. But as Jen Stout’s coverage of the war in Ukraine has shown, war is deeply personal; she’s reported from night trains and birthday parties, military hospitals and bunkers. She has compiled these stories into her debut book "Night Train to Odesa," which covers the human cost of Russia’s w...

Featuring Author and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation Edward F. O’Keefe; moderated by Presidential Historian Talmage Boston.

It’s a universal truth that U.S. presidents need businessmen and businessmen need U.S. presidents. But competing interests have long made their relationship fraught, as explored by Tevi Troy in his latest book The Power and the Money: The Epic Clashes Between Commanders in Chief and Titans of Industry. Join us for a discussion of presidents’ battles with famed leaders in business from John D. Rock...

Part 2 of 4 in the 2025 International Perspectives Series. From celebrating Halloween in Spain, Stanley Starbucks cups being released in Japan, and McDonald’s creating the “McBaguette” in France, the United States’s soft power and global influence is evident. But globalization and rapid social media connectivity has brought Korean skincare, the viral French butter bell, and Argentinian football to...

Debates over voucher programs, public school funding, and the government’s role in education have dominated headlines across Texas and the nation. At the same time, the recent NAEP test shows that less than half our kids are proficient in reading and math. Studies indicate that when the education system fails, far more is at risk than an individual student’s growth. Education shortcomings pose a r...

As both a European leader and a key U.S. ally, Germany stands at the epicenter of issues like the war in Ukraine and European energy and economic uncertainty. Axel Dittmann, the Germany Embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission, will join the Council to explore how transatlantic relations are evolving, what’s at stake for the future of NATO and the EU, and how Germany and the U.S. can work together to add...

Open to the public; complimentary for Global Forum Members. Join David Firestein, President and CEO of the Bush China Foundation, for an essential discussion on the world’s most consequential relationship. We’ll explore what’s really driving U.S.-China tensions: strategic rivalry, Taiwan, the global tech race, and the domestic forces shaping policy in both nations. The discussion will offer clear...

From AI-powered drones to battlefield-ready microsatellites, the future of warfare is being redefined – not just by governments, but by tech entrepreneurs and venture capital. Join us for a conversation with Christopher Kirchhoff, co-founder of the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit and former senior advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He’s the author of the new book Unit X: How...

Part 1 of 4 in the 2025 International Perspectives Series. In 2023, 110 million people around the world were forcibly displaced by conflicts, violence, and human rights abuses – a number that has tripled in this century. What role should the U.S. play in addressing this forced migration? The authors of a recent report suggest our role is one of “consistent response and effective leadership” but “b...

James (Jim) W. Keyes is a global business leader, best selling author, philanthropist, artist, musician, commercial pilot, and modern renaissance man. He is the former CEO of two internationally recognized Fortune 500 companies, 7-Eleven, Inc. and Blockbuster, Inc. His other business interests cover a broad range of industries from retail, consumer products, technology, healthcare, cyber security,...

Please note: The audio is shaky in the beginning, but it steadies around five minutes in. The first member of the 101st Airborne to receive the Medal of Honor. A soldier who escaped the poverty and racism of Alabama only to face a new indignity. A teenager who falls in love with an American soldier. These and other long-overlooked stories are compiled by Robert M. Edsel in his latest book, Remembe...

Debt apologists argue that the U.S. has the leading reserve currency and the strongest geopolitical power. However, what happens when government spending exceeds GDP? Or when a great power fades? Historically, countries that spend too much flounder and fail, such as the Roman Empire, Imperial Spain, or China in the 1800s. But there are countries who have turned the tide and found prosperity, such...

The global nuclear landscape is shifting. The United States now faces a more complex set of challenges than at any point since the Cold War. Long-standing assumptions about deterrence and strategic stability are being tested – with serious implications for global security. We’ll examine the nuclear challenges posed by four key actors. Russia has used nuclear signaling during the war in Ukraine. Ch...

For more than a decade, Robert Costa has been one of the country’s most respected and deeply sourced political reporters, covering the shifting dynamics inside the White House, on Capitol Hill, and across the national security community. As chief Washington correspondent for CBS News – and previously at The Washington Post, NBC News, and Washington Week – Costa has had a front-row seat to the forc...

HONOREE – Julia Wilson Julia Wilson, an educator with 25 years in the profession, currently serves as the IB Coordinator at Trinity High School, where she has worked for seven years. Prior to this role, she was an IB and AP teacher and the Social Studies Department Chair at Trinity. Julia is the sponsor of the Trinity Junior World Affairs Council, the most active JWAC in the Dallas-Fort Worth metr...

Join us for a conversation with Congressman Seth Moulton (D-MA) who will share his perspective on today’s timeliest international topics ranging from strategic competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party to ongoing geopolitical events in the Middle East and beyond. Congressman Moulton will also discuss his work in promoting the next generation of bipartisan congressional...

This is part 3 of the AI Series. As artificial intelligence reshapes the social, legal, and ethical landscape, its impact on human rights is becoming one of the most urgent questions of our time. We will explore the evolving efforts to build meaningful guardrails – from emerging international frameworks like the Council of Europe’s new AI treaty to U.S. state-level action, with California leading...

Join us for an evening that looks beyond breaking news and political narratives to the people whose lives illuminate global change. Pulitzer Prize–winning author and longtime New Yorker staff writer Lawrence Wright has spent his career uncovering the human stories at the center of world events – from communities transformed by terrorism and authoritarianism to individuals navigating the cultural a...

When an American is taken hostage abroad, the crisis doesn’t end at the border – it ripples through families, institutions, and governments for months or years. Join us to explore how these cases unfold and how the U.S. government works to bring Americans home. Ambassador Roger D. Carstens, former U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, will draw on firsthand experience from some of t...

Part 1 of 4 in the 2026 International Perspectives Series. Once overshadowed by U.S. strategic focus on Europe and Asia, Latin America is now center stage in debates over American influence, economic opportunity, and supply-chain resilience. Join us to examine how recent developments have brought renewed attention to Latin America’s political, economic, and security significance. We’ll explore key...

Join us for breakfast and a timely and wide-ranging conversation with Glen Linder, Assistant Deputy Minister of Global Affairs Canada, as we explore the evolving relationship between the United States and its closest neighbor. Against the backdrop of a rapidly shifting global landscape, this discussion will address current issues shaping Canada’s role on the world stage, including trade dynamics,...

As artificial intelligence becomes embedded in global infrastructure, questions of data ownership, privacy, and control are emerging as defining issues of the 21st century. In this second program of our AI Series, we turn our focus to the new information order taking shape in a hyperconnected world. How will governments balance national security with individual rights? What responsibilities do tec...