Celebrating 90 Years - Foreign Policy Association

discipline, and optimism. It also requires
a commitment to excellence in education,
excellence in government, and excellence in
the private sector.
Much as the United States has advanced
the cause of globalization around the world,
it remains disturbingly parochial when contrasted,
for example, to the countries of the
European Union or to those of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations. What is troubling
about our online networking culture
is that, at this late date, so many people are
wired and yet disconnected from the greater
world beyond America’s shores. Global markets
now account for a larger percentage of
revenues for many American companies than
domestic markets. Knowledge of the world
and the values and aspirations of its inhabitants
is not a luxury but a necessity.
Investing in our young people has
never been more vital. Marilyn Carlson
Nelson, who recently joined our Board of
Directors, observes, “The contribution the
Foreign Policy Association makes to informing
debate on, and understanding of, global
issues and to providing a broad-based curriculum
for colleges is dramatic; one might
say it is essential if Americans are to be truly
informed and engaged in our nation’s role in
the world.”
At home and abroad there is change
afoot. The world cries for a New Deal on a
global scale. Make no mistake: the tectonic
plates of geopolitics are economic. A world
in which the few live supremely well and
the many in abject poverty is a world that is
bound to experience seismic upheaval.
The end of the Cold War has only served to
highlight the fragility of world peace. The
strengths and strains of multilateral institutions
are being tested in ways the creators of
our fraying international system could not
have imagined. The Internet is altering the
balance between participatory and representative
democracy. A dense mesh of civil
society is transforming global dialogue.
Against this backdrop, the Foreign
Policy Association enters its centennial
decade with a renewed commitment to
engagement, access, and inclusion.
We would like to take this opportunity
to recognize the Foreign Policy Association
chairmanship of Gonzalo de Las Heras. We
do not indulge in hyperbole when we say
that his visionary leadership over the last
five years launched the Association’s “Age
of Pericles.” He presided over our Board of
Directors with aplomb and was an unfailing
source of wisdom and encouragement.
While we are sorry to see him step down as
chairman, we are pleased that he will remain
engaged with the Association by staying on
our Board.
We deeply regret the passing of our Director
and Treasurer John Hatab. His fifteen
years of dedicated service on our Board, the
last five as treasurer, were exemplary. John
combined rectitude with humility in a most
disarming way. We regret that this year also
saw the passing of former Directors Leonard
Marks and Arthur Ross. We will long be
inspired by their strong commitment to our
mission.
MARY L. BELKNAP
ACTING CHAIRMAN
NOEL V. LATEEF
PRESIDENT AND CEO
FOREIGN POLICY ASSOCIATION | 5
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN AND THE PRESIDENT