Muskie Fellow Assists with World Affairs Council Conferences

Yevgeniy Soltanov performed his community service while studying at Old Dominion University at the World Affairs Council of Greater Hampton Roads. Yevgeniy worked for the Council on their Great Decisions project, which is recognized as the largest grass roots input on foreign policy in the world. As one of the nation's leading think tanks on matters of international relations, the World Affairs Council selects eight topic titles each year that they project will be the most important foreign policy issues to watch in the coming year. The 86 World Affairs Councils across the United States develop and conduct these programs locally. The World Affairs Council of Greater Hampton Roads conducts one of the largest Great Decisions series of programs in the country and the eight topics covered were: 1. Brazil as regional power; 2. UN Reform; 3. Human rights in the age of terrorism; 4. The U.S and Iran; 5. Global health pandemics: avian flu; 6. Turkey; 7. Global energy security; 8. China and India - emerging global powers.

During these eight conferences Yevgeniy was responsible for developing background information on session topics for distribution at the Great Decisions resource table and conducting poster sessions on selected topics - with more extensive materials for display for those sessions. During the session on "The United States and Iran" and "Global Energy Security" Yevgeniy was invited to make a presentation with Ambassador Bruce Laingen, the president of the American Academy of Diplomacy, who was also the former head of the US diplomatic mission to Iran during the hostage crisis (1979-1981). Yevgeniy spoke about the role of the Caspian Region in Global Energy Security and the foreign policy choices of Iran.