Worldview Institute | Spring 2025
The Worldview Institute | Spring 2025 Semester
Note: the schedule for all Worldview seminars are: Dinners 6:30 – 7 p.m. | Seminars 7 – 9 p.m. A hosting venue will be added for each seminar as confirmed.
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SEMINAR 1 : February 26, 2025
The UN at 80: Everything You Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask
Want to know what happens behind the scenes at the UN? Stéphane Dujarric, the Spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General, will open our Worldview 2025 semester with an informal discussion about the organization's future direction and its role in addressing global challenges.
Guest lecturer: Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson, United Nations
Venue: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Conference Room 44A, One Bryant Park, New York, NY
SEMINAR 2 : March 5, 2025
Syria's Civil War: Transition, But to What?
Syria's 2011 Civil War has left an indelible mark on the nation and its people. The complex dynamics of the conflict, the humanitarian crisis it precipitated, and the geopolitical ramifications have permanently impacted the country and shaped the region. The aftermath of the war presents challenges and opportunities as Syria hopefully embarks on a path toward political transition and reconstruction. Many challenges remain including ongoing internal conflict and territorial division, the role of international actors and their impact on Syrian society, a fractured political landscape and a traumatized population, and the risks that come from improvising a transitional roadmap.
Guest lecturer: Zaid Al-Ali, Princeton University, constitutional scholar, specialising in Arab/Middle East constitutional reform
Venue: McCarter & English LLP, 250 West 55th Street, 13th Floor, New York, NY 10019
SEMINAR 3 : March 12, 2025
Unlocking the Power of Earth: Minerals for a Greener Tomorrow
Critical energy transition minerals (CETM) such as copper, lithium, cobalt are essential components in many of today’s rapidly growing clean energy technologies — from wind turbines and solar panels to electric vehicles and battery storage. Demand for CETM is set to grow three and a half times by 2030 as the world transitions from fossil fuels to renewable energy in order to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050. This presentation highlights the challenges and opportunities these minerals present particularly in landlocked developing counties (LLDCs) rich in these resources. Learn about the UN’s new global principles aimed at ensuring equitable, sustainable and transparent management of these vital minerals as outlined in the recent report “Resourcing the Energy Transition” and the latest thinking to foster effective global collaboration on Critical Energy Transition Minerals.
Guest lecturer: Maria Jose Baptista, Interagency and Intergovernmental Affairs Officer, UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) New York Office
Venue: Hungarian Mission to the UN, 227 East 52nd Street, New York, NY
SEMINAR 4 : March 19, 2025
Stolen Gods: The Global Fight to Save Cultural Heritage
Sacred artifacts, irreplaceable historical documents, and even human remains illegally removed from their countries of origin still have place of pride in private collections and museums in New York City. Professor Thompson, a specialist in art crime, will discuss the efforts of UNESCO and others to combat this trade, presenting case histories from Nepal, Cambodia, and elsewhere.
Guest lecturer: Erin L. Thompson, Associate Professor of Art Crime, John Jay College (CUNY)
Venue: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Conference Room 44A, One Bryant Park, New York, NY
SEMINAR 5 : March 26, 2025
Where is China Headed and What Does it Portend for the Western World?
With China becoming more deeply committed to one-party and one leader rule, and with the U.S. having just undergone a tectonic change in its own leadership, the U.S.- China relations has many question marks hanging over it. How this relationship will evolved and how it will effect other nations around the world will have a profound impact on the next few years of global history. Join us in a discussion of what we are confronting and how the best to understand the challenges.
Guest lecturer: Orville Schell, Arthur Ross Director, Asia Society Center on U.S.-China Relations
Venue: Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue, 6th Floor Conference Room, New York, NY 10021
SEMINAR 6 : April 2, 2025
Walk Toward the Rising Sun: The Refugee Experience
In his amazing autobiography, Walk Toward the Rising Sun, Ger Duany drew a portrait of his youth as a young Sudanese boy, who went from a child soldier and struggling refugee to international peace activist and Hollywood actor. He has advocated for the refugee cause through field visits to refugee camps, high level meetings, public events and online initiatives. In his Worldview presentation, Ger will offer multi-layered views of the refugee experience, including a history of Sudan and its war years, how to distinguish good from bad refugees, and what happens when refugees are not intelligently integrated into the societies of their destinations. Mr. Duany will also sign copies of his book (which can be purchased here.)
Guest lecturer: Ger Duany is a Sudanese-born actor, model, and former refugee, and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador
Venue: Phillips Nizer LLP, 485 Lexington Avenue (bet. 46th and 47th Streets), 14th Floor, New York, NY
SEMINAR 7 : April 9, 2025
Inside the Security Council
A look back at Switzerland’s first term on the United Nations Security Council 2023-24, sharing a perspective on the daily business, political dynamics and what a small state can contribute in a polarized world.
Guest lecturer: Ambassador Adrian Hauri, Deputy Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the UN
Venue: TBA
SEMINAR 8 : April 16, 2025
A Private Tour of the United Nations
A private tour of the United Nations with fellow Worldview participants, with an opportunity to discuss your impressions at dinner in a nearby restaurant following the tour.
SEMINAR 9 : May 7, 2025
The Central America Immigration Crisis: Beyond the Debate
The debate over immigration in the US is not, in fact, a debate about immigration — the costs, benefits, history, and future of the issue. Rather, it has become a political fight over the country's southern border with Mexico. How has the situation at the border hijacked the broader conversation? And how seriously should people take the fact that large numbers of people from all over the world have overwhelmed federal authorities by seeking asylum here? We will discuss the history of asylum in the US, from the 1980s to the present, focusing on how US foreign policy created a series of ongoing, decades-long border emergencies that have come to dominate our politics. Our perspective will be historical, with the aim of understanding our current situation in the broader context of how we got here.
Jonathan’s book Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here was named one of The New York Times' 10 Best Books of 2024.
Guest lecturer: Jonathan Blitzer, staff writer at The New Yorker
Venue: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Conference Room 44A, One Bryant Park, New York, NY
SEMINAR 10 : May 14, 2025
NATO in a Time of World Crisis
NATO was established in 1949 to safeguard Allies’ freedom by political & military means. By any standards it has succeeded. Then the threat was the Soviet Union. Now in a multi-polar world there are different challenges from state and non-state actors, and differences within the Alliance on burden-sharing and other issues. Where does NATO fit into the current network of international institutions at a time when respect for international order is in decline? What are its prospects for success?
Guest lecturer: Sir Stewart Eldon KCMG OBE
Venue: Permanent Mission of Belgium to the United Nations, 885 Second Avenue, 41st Floor
May 16, 2025
Worldview Spring 2025 Graduation Dinner
Dinner speaker: TBA
Location: The National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, New York
