Great Decisions
Discussion Group
Great Decisions discussion group that meets from April through November.
When: Second Wednesday of each month, at 2pm
Location: Pioneer Bank Community Room, Second Floor, 1450 Adams Street, Mankato
2026 Topics and Dates
- July 8
- US and China Relationships
- Speaker: Andrew Latham
- August 12
- Multilateral Institutions
- Speaker: Tanisha Fazak
- September 9
- Ruptured Alliances and the Threat of Proliferation
- Speaker: Alan Carlson
- October 14
- The Future of Human Rights and International Law
- Speaker: Jay Shahidi
- November 11
- Ukraine and European Security
- Speaker: Todd Lefko
Speakers Biographies
Andrew Latham - Andrew Latham, MA, PhD. Andrew Latham is Professor of International Relations and Political Theory at Macalester College, Saint Paul, MN; Non-Resident Fellow, Defense Priorities,Washington, DC; Senior Fellow, Institute for Peace and Diplomacy, Ottawa, CDA; and Opinion Contributor, The Hill, Washington, DC. Professor Latham’s primary scholarly interests are in the areas of international relations and political thought. He regularly teaches courses on international security, Chinese foreign policy, regional conflict in the Middle East, regional conflict in the Asia-Pacific, medieval political thought, US foreign policy, and conservative political theory. His most recent publication is Theorizing Medieval Geopolitics: War and World Order in the Age of the Crusades. He has also published a novel about the Third Crusade entitled The Holy Lance.
Tanisha Fazal - Tanisha Fazal is Arleen C. Carlson Professor of Political Science at the University of Minnesota. Her scholarship focuses on sovereignty, international law, armed conflict, and the global politics of climate change. She is the author of two award-winning books: State Death: The Politics and Geography of Conquest, Occupation, and Annexation (Princeton University Press, 2007), and Wars of Law: Unintended Consequences in the Regulation of Armed Conflict (Cornell University Press, 2018), in addition to (most recently) Military Medicine and the Hidden Costs of War (Oxford University Press, 2024). Her work has also appeared in numerous scholarly journals and she is a frequent commentator on international security issues in the media. Fazal has held fellowships at Harvard, Stanford, and the Carnegie Council on International Ethics. From 2021-2023, she was an Andrew Carnegie Fellow.
Alan Carlson - Alan Carlson was a US Foreign Service Officer from 1987 until his retirement in 2012. In 1991, he was the State representative to the US delegation to the LTBT (PTBT) Amendment Conference with the aim of reaching an agreement on a CTBT. He drafted the initial White House Reports to Congress On Progress Toward Regional Nonproliferation in South Asia in 1993-1994 (Second Report). He was Senior Advisor to the US Delegation to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva from 2007 to 2010. In that role, he served with the US negotiating team that concluded the New Start Treaty between the US and Russia. He was also with the international team of experts that inspected the closure and dismantlement of France’s nuclear weapons material production installation at Marcoule. In addition, Alan was an Advisor to the US Delegation to the 2008 Second Session of the Preparatory Committee of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Fees
- The fee for 8 sessions of Great Decisions 2026 is $55 and does not include Briefing Book.
- Briefing Books are available at the discounted price of $28 until January 28th, 2026.
