The Santa Fe World Affairs Forum aims to broaden and deepen understanding of world affairs through small, interactive, professionally led sessions on international issues for a membership of informed individuals.
SFWAF Fall 2026 Programs
25 September 2026:
Carmen J López, “Documenting Truth through Impartial Monitoring When It Matters Most,” is a Consultant for the Carter Center’s Democracy program. Since 1989, The Carter Center has stood as democracy’s guardian, conducting over 125 full and limited election observation missions in 40 countries and three Native American nations while pioneering the techniques that set today’s global standards. Currently, The Carter Center is building a U.S-based election observation network. Mrs. López supports the build-out and co-leads the Carter Center’s election monitoring effort in New Mexico beginning with the November mid-term elections. Read more
22 October 2026:
Siegfried Hecker served as a a former Los Alamos Lab Director. Siegfried’s presentation, “China and Nuclear Cooperation” …
18 November 2026:
Ambassador (rtd) Vicki Huddleston, in “1898 to 2026 U.S. vs Cuba – Who Loses and Who Wins?” questions whether the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign against the Cuban government will succeed – if the past 128 years are a guide – even if it achieves regime change. As a distinguished career US Foreign Service Officer Ambassador Huddleston served as the principal American diplomat in Ethiopia, Mali, Cuba, and Madagascar and also as Director and Deputy Director of Cuban Affairs at the Department of State. She is the author of Our Woman in Havana: A Diplomat’s Chronicle of America’s Long Struggle with Castro’s Cuba, which is based on her three years in Havana as the head of the American diplomatic mission.
10 December 2026:
Dr. Bette Korber, “Vaccines: Some Biology, Some History, and Vaccine Uses in Outbreaks and for Pandemic Response – Highlighting Ebola and SARS-CoV-2.” Virology expert, guest scientist and LANL Fellow Bette Kobler, works on projects related to viral evolution and vaccines through the New Mexico Consortium and as a scientific consultant for Duke, Harvard and University of Pennsylvania. She retired from LANL in 2023. In her presentation, she will focus on vaccines’ role in awakening our own immune defense mechanisms to protect us from disease, will discuss some incredible vaccine success stories, touch on the history of the anti-vax movement and conclude with the story of the effort that enabled the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine to be deployed the first year of the pandemic and its global impact, and the challenges and promise for vaccines that combat outbreaks of the Ebola virus.
All programs will be held in the SFCC Board Room at the Santa Fe Community College from 12-2. The Board Room (#223) is located in the main administration building. Programs include a buffet lunch, a talk followed by comments and Qs and As from attendees. For registration, payment and prices, please see our Payments page. Parking is free on campus. For additional information and to be added to our email list, please email: sfwaforum@outlook.com.
Programs and Webinars
Documenting Truth Through Impartial Monitoring When It Matters Most
Friday, September 25, 2026 from 12:00 noon – 2 pm
Carmen Lopez
Carmen J. López is a Consultant for the Carter Center’s Democracy program. Since 1989, The Carter Center has stood as democracy’s guardian, conducting over 125 full and limited election observation missions in 40 countries and three Native American nations while pioneering the techniques that set today’s global standards. Currently, The Carter Center is building a U.S-based election observation network. Mrs. Lopez is supporting the build-out and co-leading the effort in New Mexico. She is from Las Vegas, NM, resides in Santa Fe, NM and is the President of CL Strategies, a company that supports communities to build an engage, representative and accessible democracy. She previously served as the Senior Director of Democracy at the State Innovation Exchange, the Democracy Policy Officer at the Thornburg Foundation, the Deputy Cabinet Secretary of the New Mexico Higher Education Department, the Data and Policy Director at America Votes-NM, and the U.S. Congress and NM Legislature. Carmen earned a Master of Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and a BA in Political Science and Women’s Studies from Mount Holyoke College.
A growing number of countries have fragile democracies and are experiencing backsliding in core freedoms of opinion, expression, and speech. Since 1989, The Carter Center has stood as democracy’s guardian, conducting over 125 full and limited election observation missions in 40 countries and three Native American nations while pioneering the techniques that set today’s global standards. The Carter Center is leading the movement in the U.S. in 2026 to increase citizen engagement in election monitoring, document election practices and share findings publicly. Observation initiatives are currently underway in New Mexico, Montana, Nevada, Georgia and Michigan with plans to grow in 2028 that are working to increase transparency and public trust in elections. Observe New Mexico Elections is recruiting observers in all 33 counties to watch 5 different election processes, including early and Election Day voting. Observers will
UPCOMING SYMPOSIUM
April 29-30, 2027
PAST SYMPOSIUM
“Democracy in Danger”
Annual Symposium 2026: Democracy in Danger
April 30 – May 1, 2026
COSPONSORED BY THE SANTA FE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO
PARTNERS INCLUDE: AAUW-Santa Fe; Global Santa Fe; League of Women Voters – Santa Fe County; School for Advanced Research; St. John’s College, Santa Fe (America’s Great Books College); University of New Mexico – International Studies Institute; World Affairs Council-ABQ
To register for the 2026 Symposium, please email sfwaforum@outlook.com with names of registrants, days attending and whether paying by check to SFWAF and mailed to: The Santa Fe World Affairs Forum PO Box 31965, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87594. Or to by Paypal or credit card through our website at https://sfwaf.org/payment
April 30-May 01, 2026
Speakers and Panelists
Rebecca Black; Senior USAID Officer (rtd), Mission Director and Strategic Planning Specialist
Kelly Davis; Vice President for Voter Services, League of Women Voters of Santa Fe County
Dr. Gary Donato; Chair, Santa Fe Veterans Advisory Board
Walter Gaskin; US Marine Corps Lt. General (rtd)
Dr. Siegfried Hecker; LANL Director emeritus, former professor and nuclear weapons expert
Dr. Steve Martinez; History professor, Santa Fe Community College
Dr. Emile Nakhleh; Middle East and Senior National Security specialist
Brian Naranjo; US Senior Foreign Service Officer (rtd), Venezuelan Expert and Strategic Planner
Dr. Mark Peceny; University of New Mexico, Political Science Professor
Gregory Polk; Chair of the Coordinating Committee, New Mexico Peace Corps Association
Karl Stoltz; Public Diplomacy Council of America, Co-president, US Senior Foreign Service Officer (rtd) Public Diplomacy and Disinformation Specialist
Joanna Watkins; Senior Public Sector Specialist, Governance Department, World Bank Summary
Democracy is founded on the idea that the ultimate power of governance lies in its people. In essence, power to govern flows upwards from the bottom not down from the top as is characteristic in autocratic regimes.
Democracy is dynamic. It can adjust to ever-changing environments and societal differences. US democracy is one of the oldest in today’s world, but it is also just one of many forms that have been tried since democracy’s origins in 6th century BCE Athens. Some have succeeded and others failed. Ultimately, all democratic governments provide legal structures. Some do so through written constitutions. Others rely on a set of agreed-upon laws that are underpinned by the values of liberty, independence, free speech, justice and fair play for all and yes, even the pursuit of happiness.
US democracy has changed substantially since it was introduced in the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the US Constitution in 1789. Both are amazingly concise and revolutionary documents for their time that set out a framework designed to unite 13 disparate, quarreling, multiethnic, multilinguistic and multireligious British colonies governed by a king. This new framework was created to mitigate against the over concentration of power in a single individual or group by dispersing it through a system of checks and balances – from federalism, three branches of government, free media and speech, to regular elections run in the states.
But what if those 17th century guardrails are