Each winter for the past 16 years, a Miles of Smiles team travels to conduct medical missions in the remote Western Highlands of Guatemala. In partnership with Rotary, Iowa MOST has been able to dramatically impact the health and quality of life of hundreds of families through cleft lip/palate and cataract surgeries.  Join Deb Dunkhase, Project Leader, to learn how Iowa MOST embodies Service Above Self to change the lives of some of the most vulnerable, poverty-stricken families in the world.
 
For over thirty years, Deb Dunkhase dedicated herself to education in the state of Iowa.  Her work has involved direct teaching with elementary level students and leadership roles working closely with parent and teacher groups to bridge the gap between formal and informal education.  In 2019, Deb retired from her role as the Executive Director for The Iowa Children’s Museum, a successful nonprofit organization in Coralville inspiring every child to imagine, create, discover, and explore through the power of play. Dunkhase is a strong advocate for the transformative power of play and it’s link to creativity and lifelong learning.
 
Since retirement, Deb created a new nonprofit called Open Heartland serving over 250 Central American and Mexican immigrant families in Johnson County as they navigate through poverty, lack of food, housing insecurity, and the daily threat of deportation and separation from their children – all compounded by Covid-19.  Dunkhase also leads the annual Rotary District 6000 Iowa MOST (Miles of Smiles) cleft palate and cataract medical mission to serve the indigenous Mayans of Guatemala.
 
Deb strongly believes in Service Above Self and changing the world one small act of kindness at a time.

Jerald Schnoor is the Allen S. Henry Chair in Engineering, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Co-director of the Center for Global & Regional Environmental Research. Schnoor’s research interests include phytoremediation, groundwater, and water sustainability with special fields of knowledge in water quality modeling, aquatic chemistry, and climate change.  Dr. Schnoor is a registered Professional Engineer and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

​A new report, the sixth in a series since 1990, Climate Change 2021:The Physical Science Basis was released this fall by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).  U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called the report a “code red for humanity.”  Among its many findings, “It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.”  Widespread and rapid changes have occurred in the atmosphere, ocean, biosphere and glaciers.  Furthermore, greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide are the highest concentration in at least 2 million years; methane and nitrous oxide are the most in more than 800,000 years; and our average temperature on earth is the warmest in at least 2,000 years.

Iowans face more frequent and severe storms, greater runoff and soil erosion, warmer nights, and more humidity, pollen and mold spores.  In California and the western US, climate change manifests as drought and wildfires; in the Northeast as flooding, and in Miami as blue-sky flooding.  If you live in coastal Louisiana, it means more intense hurricanes, power outages and floods.  Last year, thirty named storms set a US record, and 13 of those hurricanes made landfall, also a record.

A turning point could be the upcoming United Nations Glasgow Climate Conference, November 1-12, also known as COP26.  There, the world will try to agree on greater cuts in nationally-determined greenhouse gas emissions, more funding for the most vulnerable nations (The Green Climate Fund), ending oil exploration and production, constraints on international financial transactions, and limits on international travel.  Cuts in emissions of 50% by 2030 and net-zero by 2050 are deemed necessary to avoid catastrophic warming and dangerous interference with the climate system.

Global response to transitioning out of the fossil fuel age to renewable energy, electric vehicles, battery storage of wind and solar power, a smart grid, a rebuilt infrastructure, and a circular economy promises high quality jobs, resilience to climate change, and an engine for economic development in the 21st century.  In short, climate action promises healthier ecosystems and people, cleaner air, stable climate, a dynamic economy, and a sustainable future for our children.

For the last three years, the energy word has been fixated on the fits and starts of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline, as changes in  EU regulations and regulatory competencies, as well as pressure from key stakeholders, has kept the project under a big question mark. A July 2021 agreement between the US and Germany seemed to give green light to the project. In my presentation, I will discuss the following issues:

1. What makes Nord Stream so complex from a regulatory and governance perspective, and how is this related to the specific materiality characteristics of natural gas as related to other fossil fuels? 
2. What is the Russian context of the project, and how do Russian governance issues affect it? 
3. Up to which point do the July 2021 agreements really mean the pipeline will be put in use? 
4. What perspectives and challenges does the new “status quo” open for Ukraine? 

Margarita M. Balmaceda is a political scientist working at the intersection of international relations, the political economy of authoritarianism and democracy, and technology, with a special expertise in energy politics (oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear, renewables), and commodities -- especially steel and the metallurgical sector-- in Ukraine, the former USSR, and the EU. She has a PhD  in Politics from Princeton University and is Professor of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University. Concurrently, she heads the Study Group on “Energy materiality: Infrastructure, Spatiality and Power” at the Hanse Wissenschaftskolleg (Germany) and is an Associate at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard.  Capitalizing on her Ukrainian, Russian, Hungarian and German skills, in addition to her native Spanish, she has conducted extensive field research in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Lithuania, Moldova, Hungary, Germany and Finland. Her new book, Russian Energy Chains: the Remaking of  Technopolitics from Siberia to  Ukraine to the European Union (Columbia University Press, 2021) analyzes how differences in the material characteristics of different types of energy can affect how different types of energy may be “used” as sources of  foreign and domestic power. She is currently developing a project on metallurgy, conflict and political development and struggling through courses at the Word Steel Association’s Steel University ​

Dr. Marilyn Seiber will discuss what is happening today in Cuba, reviewing the “perfect storm” of the U.S. embargo, Cuban Government policies, and Covid 19.  She will describe U.S. policies toward Cuba through recent Administrations, as well as the actions of The Presbyterian Church (USA) and its ecumenical partners in Cuba to address the humanitarian crisis that Cubans are now suffering.
 
The Presbyterian Church (USA) has been a partner with the Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba since issuing a joint Mission Statement in 1986.  Since then, over 90 U.S. Presbyterian churches have joined with counterparts in Cuba forming strong, active bonds, working together in mission, sharing each other’s stories, becoming friends and family, participating in celebrations and holidays, learning of each other’s challenges and joys.  These U.S. church partners have been the eyes on the ground for 35 years, observing the impact of the U.S. embargo on Cuba and the results of Cuban Government policies that have affected how Cubans live and struggle daily—for food, medicines, toiletries, and equipment of everyday life.
 
Marilyn J. Seiber has been involved with Cuba since 2004, traveling there 21 times. She chairs the Cuba Partners Committee for The New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C.  that has a partnership with First Presbyterian-Reformed Church of Havana. Dr. Seiber has served on the Steering Committee of the Cuba Partners Network of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and currently is a member of the Network’s Advocacy Committee.  She has organized a similar Cuba network for National Capital Presbytery.
 
Dr. Seiber is an international economist retired from federal service on Capitol Hill and the Executive Branch.  Her expertise on international trade, finance, and monetary policy has enabled her to serve at the highest levels of government.  She was Senior Economist on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Financial Services and Chief Economist on the Committee on Small Business working for the Ranking Member and Chairman, respectively. In the Executive Branch, she served as Director of International Economics at the National Security Council; Special Assistant and Economic Advisor to the Under Secretary of State for Economic and Agricultural Affairs and to the Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade; advisor to the General Counsel at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; and Deputy Director of the Rent Advisory Board for the Cost of Living Council during federal wage and price controls.  She has served as an economic consultant to the World Environment Center, and has been an Adjunct Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Government and the University of Maryland University College.  She has written and published two books on developing-country debt. She received her Ph.D. in International Relations and International Economics from The American University in Washington, D.C.
 

Ambassador Ray will discuss the challenges of race, diplomacy and national security, including the challenges of being Black in the U.S. State Department.   
​
Ambassador Ray has over 50 years of experience in international affairs, with 20 years in the U.S. Army, and 30+ years in the U.S. Foreign Service.  His military experience included assignments in Unconventional Warfare Planning, Psychological Operations, Intelligence and Public Affairs. During his Foreign Service career, he managed troubled organizations in Asia and Africa, and was instrumental in reestablishing a mil-to-mil relationship with Cambodia after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. As deputy chief of mission in Sierra Leone, he managed the military training program and oversaw USAID’s humanitarian assistance effort. He was also instrumental in brokering democratic elections in Sierra Leone, which saw a peaceful transfer of power from the military junta that had taken over the country the year before his assignment; this election took place during an externally-supported rebel war. He encouraged the government of Cambodia to take a more active role in combatting human trafficking, and implemented a successful Muslim outreach program in that country, which reversed the negative views the small Islamic community had about the United States.
 
He has served as deputy chief of mission in Sierra Leone, was the first post-war consul general in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, served as ambassador to Cambodia and Zimbabwe, and was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs and Director of the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO), during which time, he oversaw development of the US government interagency policy on personnel recovery, working with the Department of State, FBI, DEA, and USAID to develop a comprehensive plan to provide proactive and reactive support to USG personnel working abroad.
 
Since retiring from government service in 2012, Ambassador Ray has consulted with DOD, participating in the development of a training continuum for Defense Attaches in support to chiefs of mission during personnel recovery operations, and provided training support to the US Army as an SME on interagency matters, preparing army units for deployment abroad in noncombat operations. He also conducts a workshop on professional writing for Rangel foreign affairs scholars.
 
A prolific writer, he has published more than 60 books of fiction and nonfiction, including works on ethics, leadership, and diplomacy. He works with the Potomac Institute for Public Policy, developing a program on the use of diplomacy as a tool to combat terrorism and violent extremism.
 
He has a B.S. in business administration from Benedictine College, an M.S. in systems management from the University of Southern California, and an M.S. in national security management from the National War College of the National Defense University. He speaks Thai, Vietnamese, and Mandarin, and is a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy and the Association of Black American Ambassadors. Ambassador Ray is chairman of the board of the Cold War Museum, at Vint Hill, VA, and chairs the board of advisors of the Institute of Science, Technology, and the Arts (ISSTA), an international boarding school, planned for construction in Orlando, Florida,

​The double crisis, political and sanitary, that Myanmar is currently undergoing, sheds new light on the political and social transformations that have affected the country over the last ten years. Whilst the February 1st military coup literally kidnapped the hopes of a whole generation of citizens thirsting for democracy, it also revealed a failed transition, where the ghosts of decolonization continue to haunt any effort at nation building. Based on fieldwork among “ordinary citizens” in Myanmar as well as discourses in social and news media, Dr. Boutry will discuss diverse notions such as "legitimacy", “clientelism” or "federalism", and how their different understandings may reveal the underlying causes of the current crisis. Finally, although the current period is definitely a dark episode, he will explore some possible positive outcomes. 

Dr. Maxime Boutry obtained a PhD in Social Anthropology and Ethnology in 2007 and has been living in Myanmar since then. His scholarly interests revolve around forms of continuity in the sociocultural changes affecting Burmese society through the study of “frontiers” (borderlands, transition spaces, interstices). Maxime is an associate researcher at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CASE - CNRS) and the laboratory on “Local heritage, environment and globalization” (PALOC – IRD/MNHN). He also works for several NGOs particularly in the field of land tenure security. His publications include “The backdoors of resistance. Identities in the Malay Peninsula’s maritime borderlands”, in A. Horstmann, M. Saxer and A. Rippa (eds), Routledge Handbook of Asian Borderlands (2018), and “How far from national identity? Dealing with the concealed diversity of Myanmar”, in Robinne, F. and Egreteau, R. (Eds.), Metamorphosis: Studies in Social and Political Change in Myanmar (2015).

Americans born since 1997 are known as Generation Z (Zoomers). They grew up as part of the most racially and ethnically diverse population in U.S. history and are the most digitally capable generation. They turned out to vote in in record numbers in 2020 and comprise 10% of the American electorate yet they often feel their views on critical issues such as global climate change are not taken seriously enough by political leaders. This panel comprised of different generations of experts, including two university students, will discuss how Gen Z differs from previous generations regarding their views on international issues and American foreign policy and how those differences will shape public policy in the future. 
​
Dr. Brian Lai is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Iowa. His research and teaching are on US foreign policy, public opinion on US foreign policy issues, military alliances, and terrorism. 

Dr. Michael D. Hais is retired as Vice President, Entertainment Research at communications research and consulting firm, Frank N. Magid Associates. While with Magid, Mike handled both quantitative and qualitative research in 48 states and a dozen foreign countries primarily, but not exclusively, focusing on television news and entertainment programming. 
​Prior to joining Magid in 1983, Mike was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Detroit, where he taught graduate and undergraduate courses in American government and political institutions, the legislative process, the U.S. presidency, and political behavior. He also conducted political polls for the Michigan Democratic Party, a number of candidates and office holders including Governor James Blanchard and U.S. Senator Carl Levin as well as media outlets such as the Detroit Free Press and the Booth newspaper chain.
Mike earned a B.A. with honors from the University of Iowa (1965), an M.A. from the University of Wisconsin—Madison (1967), and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland (1973), where he was the first student in the department’s history to pass his comprehensive exams with distinction. His doctoral dissertation focused on American political party realignments.
Since retiring from Magid in 2006, Mike has co-authored three books on American generational change and its impact on society and politics—Millennial Makeover (2008), named a New York Times favorite book, Millennial Momentum (2011), and Millennial Majority (2013) as well as Healing American Democracy (2018), that focused on defending and preserving the constitutional order in the United States.
Mike now resides with his wife, Reena, within walking distance of the Rose Bowl Parade route in Pasadena, California where he hopes to watch the University of Iowa marching band on a future New Year’s Day.

​Amelia Thoreson is a senior from Eden Prairie, Minnesota. She is pursuing bachelors degrees in Spanish and International Relations on the Conflict and Foreign Policy track with a minor in Latino/a/x Studies. Her research interests include civil conflict mediation, peace agreement implementation, and gender issues as related to civil conflict. Amelia interned virtually with the U.S. Department of State's Embassy in Quito, Ecuador during the summer of 2021 and she is currently a virtual intern with the U.S. Mission to the United Nations Human Rights Council. She plans to earn a graduate degree in International Affairs before pursuing a career in the Foreign Service. 

Amna Haider is a senior from Omaha, Nebraska. She is studying for B.A. degrees in Philosophy and International Relations (on the Conflict and Foreign Policy track), and a Certificate in Human Rights. Amna's involvements with the UI Department of Political Science spans from serving as a Resident Assistant for the Political Matters Living Learning Community, acting as a peer mentor for the department's first-year students, and working as a research assistant for Dr. Menninga's research on cooperation in civil wars. Amna also interns with ICFRC and is an undergraduate representative for both the UI Lecture Committee and Center for Human Rights Advisory Board. Other campus involvements include being an Honors Writing Fellow, President of the Walk It Out Multicultural Fashion Show, and the founder/President of the new global peace activism student organization called Peace by Peace. Upon graduation, Amna hopes to attend graduate school and later work for an international governmental organization focused on international law, security, and human rights.

Brendan Helm is a research assistant for the Lester Crown Center on US Foreign Policy and Public Opinion teams at the Council. After earning his undergraduate degree in international relations from the College of William and Mary, he worked at Teaching, Research, and International Policy—a survey project which examined the gap between academia and policymaking. ​

Craig Kafura is the assistant director for public opinion and foreign policy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, a Security Fellow with the Truman National Security Project, and a Pacific Forum Young Leader. At the Council, he coordinates work on public opinion and foreign policy and is a regular contributor to the public opinion and foreign policy blog Running Numbers. His writing has appeared in Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, and The Diplomat, among others. Kafura holds an MA in Political Science from Columbia University and a BA in Political Science from Yale University. ​