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.
Next Program
Fulbright, Peace Corps and Higher Education: America’s Global Smart Power Under Assault, How Best to Respond
Wednesday, October 15, 2025 from 12:00 noon – 2 pm
Kevin Quigley
Kevin Quigley is former college president of Marlboro College where he led its merger with Emerson College. As president of the National Peace Corps Association, he led the national campaign resulting in the Peace Corps’ largest appropriation increase in history. He has been a three-time Fulbright Senior Specialist and a Fulbright Association board member and was the first executive director of the Global Alliance for Workers and Communities, where he pioneered a tri-sectoral partnership among global corporations, governments, and civil society organizations designed to improve global workplace conditions.
He is co-founding editor of Fulbright Chronicles, a global, independent, peer- reviewed journal by and for Fulbrighters (www.fulbright-chronicles.com); and with his wife, Susan Flaherty, founded the Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation www.peacecorpscommemorative.org), now a Peace Corps community effort to build the Peace Corps Park near the National Mall as a testament to the historic and enduring importance of service and international understanding in the United States’ engagement with the world.
He has extensive teaching and publishing experience on international service, democratization, and higher education issues. Quigley has served on various university boards, including the New England Board of Education, American University of Nigeria, American University of Afghanistan, Parami University (Myanmar), and Swarthmore College. He has degrees from Georgetown University, Columbia University, University College Dublin, and Swarthmore College.
Registration: This SFWAF lunch is $26 for members and $36 for nonmembers. You may pay by check made out to SFWAF and mailed to The Santa Fe World Affairs Forum, Santa Fe, PO Box 31965, NM 87594 or with a credit card using our Paypal account. Please indicate on your check or if using Paypal please note in “add special instructions to the seller” that your payment is for the Thursday, October 16, 2025 program.
Members: if you have not yet paid your 2025-26 membership dues, you may include the $50 per person annual dues in your payment for this program, but please also note in special instructions that dues are included. Because we are a 501(c)(3) organization, dues and contributions are tax deductible in accordance with IRS regulations.
If you are not a member or plan to bring a guest who is not a member, please include your best contact information and your guest’s name. We use nametags. If you are interested in membership, please email us:
Annual Symposium 2025
Democracy in the Time of Autocrats
Jemez Rooms at Santa Fe Community College (SFCC)
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Dates: 10 & 11 April 2025
We live in stormy times. The heyday following Communism’s end in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe is a faded memory. History has not ended as once prophesized – it has instead moved on to the rise of populist leaders and their autocratic control domestically and internationally. The democratic model which promised so much is under challenge throughout the globe from the Black Sea to the Pacific.
One of the most important questions we face is whether democracy can survive the onslaught of autocrats. Many are now turning to civil society institutions in the hope they will prove to be democracy’s underlying strength. But will that be the case, or will they too falter? There is deepening concern that autocrats, often initially elected democratically, have used the levers of raw power to dominate mainstream and social media, subvert education, and control elections first to hobble and then effectively destroy democracy also sweeping away progress on desperately needed reforms – from action on climate change to gender and income inequality.
Moreover, do autocracies now see the opportunity to attack their neighbors, as Russia has done in Ukraine, threaten nuclear holocaust unless it gets its way, and destabilize the international order that kept the peace throughout much of the world since the end of WWII?
How significant is the ripple effect of the seemingly sudden demise of the 40 year old Assad dynasty not just for Syria itself but also for the greater Middle East, Russia, Ukraine, Europe, Africa, Latin America, Asia and beyond? How can a seemingly small pebble tossed into a sea turn into a tsunami of global proportions within a single week?
This symposium will analyze what such political changes, including those in this country, portend for democracy and the future of our world.
Upcoming Programs
September 2024 – December 2024
- 26 Sep 2024 @ 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Russia in Africa by Mark Asquino (Ambassador (rtd)) at SFCC Board Room, Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, NM.
- 18 Oct 2024 @ 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Far Rt Extremism by Michaela Millender | Soufan Center at SFCC Board Room, Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, NM.
- 6 Nov 2024 @ 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm
LANL Spies by Alan Carr, LANL Historian at SFCC Board Room, Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, NM.
- 21 Nov 2024 @ 11:30 am to 3:00 pm
North Asian Security – Jenny Town | Panel | Stimson Center | at Jemez Room, Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, NM.
January 2025 – June 2025
- February & March
History of History by James West – Web Only.
- 10 & 11 April 2025
Annual Symposium 2025 at Jemez Room in Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, NM.
Additional events will be first announced to our email recipients.
For future program information, please email sfwaforum@outlook.com to request to be added to SFWAF’s email list.
If interested in membership, membership and nonmember prices, please visit the following webpages:
Register for an event or make other payments on the Payments page.