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NCWA supports students exploring international issues
NCWA schedules 10 lectures on international issues every season
Small groups meet to dive deeper into international topics.
Lectures are delivered by internationally recognized scholars and statesmen.

Young People Bring Additional Meaning to NCWA Programs

Abigail Shaw of Gulf Coast High School received the Ralph Bunche Award
for a top senior and received a check for $6,500. Model UN Chair Alan Van Egmond presented the award.

Maria Rueda and Robert Daly give it
a thumbs up after his lecture.

Student Programs Highlight March

The impact of NCWA's programs for students hit full stride during March. This is the month when student involvement is showcased and when young people emerge with in-depth experiences that can shape lives and careers. Here is a summary of what NCWA does to enhance the future of the area's youth and perhaps to plant the seeds for contributions or careers in international affairs and diplomacy.

The 31st annual Southwest Florida Model United competition has just concluded at Florida Gulf Coast University. Winning teams and students are listed on our Model UN pages; click here for more information.

To hear a WGCU interview with Daniela Barrata Herrera, keynote speaker at this year's Model UN, click here.  

The Middle School Academic WorldQuest competition has concluded, and the High School Academic WorldQuest event is scheduled March 23. Click here to learn more about those middle school kids whose knowledge is inspiring.

Winners of 14 summer study scholarships in North America and abroad have been selected. Click here to download a PowerPoint presentation about who they are and where they are going. 

Alumni of Model UN and school programs will tell you by video what these experiences have meant to their personal and professional development. Click here to be inspired by their stories.

Maria Rueda, a senior at Immokalee High School and one of NCWA's Global Scholars, surprised distinguished lecturer Robert Daly, a leading authority on Chinese-U.S. relations, when she introduced him in Mandarin Chinese. Maria, who speaks Spanish and English, is adding a third language to her portfolio. For more information about Maria and other students and alumni of NCWA programs, click here.

Did you miss a lecture? Some of our lectures have been summarized for you by NCWA's high school interns. Click here to check it out!

Key Points from the 'All Eyes on China' Lecture

A new form of "Cold War" between the U.S. and China is heating up, according to Robert Daly, an expert on Chinese-U.S. relations and recent NCWA lecturer. The two superpowers are fragile -- China because its economic model is failing and the U.S. because of political division. But beyond power, the competition is for a global order that will determine how countries will behave, shaping new and evolving rules, and we must respond. China does not threaten our existence, but our values. It tolerates no criticism or dissent, while we value a vibrant, messy, free society. 

The goal of a Cold War is to keep it cold, a play for time to allow change to do its work. China needs to learn how to adapt to modernity, and the U.S. needs to learn to adapt to multilateralism, accepting that we do not have to be the only great power. "Change is hard for great nations," Daly said.

Renewals for Next Season

By now, you have received an email reminding you to renew your membership for next season.* We hope you continue to enjoy our robust Distinguished Lecture Series and other programs. Family and individual memberships are available. Please feel free to explore our website and then click here or reach our Call Center at 239-649-3942 to join us!

Great Decisions enrollment is open for current group members, who will get first choice of groups for next season. Enrollment for new Great Decisions members will begin April 1. Watch your email for details!

*Membership year runs July 1 through June 30 of each year.

Final Lecture

Monday,  April 1

"Taming America's 'Frenemies' and Disciplining its Enemies: Is All the Talk of a Tri-Polar World a Future Practicality?"

Daniel Alpert, Managing Partner
Westwood Capital

Mark Your Calendars!

Moss Hall, Moorings Presbyterian Church, 791 Harbour Drive, Naples FL
Also live-streamed and archived videos


NCWA Book Club

Our April book is The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-first Century’s Greatest Dilemma by Mustafa Suleyman and Michael Bhaskar  

We are approaching a critical threshold in the history of our species. Everything is about to change. Soon you will live surrounded by AIs. They will organize your life, operate your business, and run core government services. You will live in a world of DNA printers and quantum computers, engineered pathogens and autonomous weapons, robot assistants and abundant energy. None of us are prepared.

As co-founder of the pioneering AI company DeepMind, part of Google, Mustafa Suleyman has been at the center of this revolution. The coming decade, he argues, will be defined by this wave of powerful, fast-proliferating new technologies.

In The Coming Wave, Suleyman shows how these forces will create immense prosperity but also threaten the nation-state, the foundation of global order. As our fragile governments sleepwalk into disaster, we face an existential dilemma: unprecedented harms on one side, the threat of overbearing surveillance on the other.

The NCWA Book Club will meet via Zoom on April 2, 2024, between noon and 1:30 pm. The Zoom address is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88295847025


News and Announcements

Guests are Welcome
At Lectures

How to Bring Guests to Lectures

NCWA has announced a program in which members may bring up to two guests who may be potential members per lecture. Each guest is welcome to attend one lecture for the season. 

Please register your guests before the lecture by calling our Call Center at 239-649-3942. Have your guests' names and email addresses ready before you call. Phone numbers are welcome but optional.


2024 Model UN Competition
Was March 4-5 at FGCU

NCWA sponsor and administered the 2024 Model UN competition in partnership with Florida Gulf Coast University at the FGCU campus on March 4-5. 

Over two days, students from area high schools debated critical international issues and competed for prizes. Results are posted on the website. 

For an inspiring video about the difference the Model UN experience has made in former students' lives, please click here.



Travel with WACA Friends 

The Philadelphia Chapter organizes trips for chapters affiliated with the World Affairs Councils of America.


Classical Mediterranean Cruise
Malta, Sicily and Tunisia
May 7-15, 2024

Click here for information
about other WACA travel opportunities


Members: Sign up for DailyChatter

This informative daily newsletter on international events is a quick and non-partisan way to stay current and enhance your understanding of our lectures and Great Decisions discussions! It is a free benefit of your NCWA membership.  

Click here to subscribe.

What We Do: Our Mission

We educate, inspire and engage our community in international affairs and global issues.

Member Benefits

  • Lectures by experts in foreign affairs 
  • Small friendly, nonpartisan discussion groups
  • Highly popular Model UN program
  • Competitions in which middle and high school students learn about international affairs
  • Scholarships for U.S. and overseas summer study
  • Support for local students' careers in international affairs
  • Selection of Teacher of the Year
  • Foreign affairs Book Club
  • Opportunities for volunteers to make a difference in many NCWA activities!

NCWA has almost 1,800 members and is one of the largest chapters of the World Affairs Councils of America.
Founded in 1980.

Naples Council on World Affairs

3250 Bonita Beach Rd. #205, Bonita Springs, FL 34134
ncwaorg@gmail.com | 239-649-3942


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