Tag Archives: great decisions

Reminder: Great Decisions at the Library – 9/21/26

Uncategorized 09/21/2026 Leave a comment

“Great Decisions” Meets Tonight in the Walpole Town Library

Just a quick reminder that “Great Decisions” meets tonight (Monday) at 6:00 p.m. in the Walpole Library with Adrian Basora as moderator of our discussion. We will examine the impacts of Trump’s “America First” foreign policy on our allies and rivals and within our country. Is the “Liberal International Order” forever demolished? How does the war in Iran contradict “America First” priorities? 

For the Zoom link, contact Jane Malmberg (jmalmberg@walpoletownlibrary.org) and please join at 6:30 p.m.

Great Decisions at the Library – 9/21/26

EVENTS 09/14/2026 Leave a comment

“GREAT DECISIONS”

Returns One Week from Today

“America First versus the Liberal International Order”

“Great Decisions” will resume on Monday, September 21, at 6:00 pm in the Walpole Town Library. Our topic of discussion will be U.S. foreign policy under the second Trump administration which has upended our international relations. Moderating the discussion will be Adrian Basora, former U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic. 

The suggested reading from the Foreign Policy Association is an article by renowned author and professor from Princeton University, G. John Ikenberry: “Debating America’s Global Role: America First versus Liberal Internationalism.” A copy of this article can be emailed to you upon request to Library Director Jane Malmberg: jmalmberg@walpoletownlibrary.org

All are welcome to join in person or via Zoom. You can click above to request the Zoom link from Jane Malmberg, but please join at 6:30 pm, following the “Master Class” video which cannot be shown on Zoom.

Reminder: Great Decisions at the Library – 6/15/26

Uncategorized 06/12/2026 Leave a comment

“Great Decisions” Meets on Monday, June 15, 6:00 p.m. in the library

“Ukraine and European Security”

The grim and grinding war in Ukraine is well into its fifth year, with no end in sight. The threat of further Russian aggression has forced European nations to confront their own vulnerability in view of America’s sharply decreased role in a frayed alliance.

Join our discussion of the challenges to European security and beyond. Adrian Basora, former U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic, will serve as moderator.

“Great Decisions” will meet on Monday, June 15, at 6:00 pm in the Walpole Town Library. The reading from the Foreign Policy Association is “Ukraine and the Future of European Security” by Thomas Wright, eminent scholar and practitioner who has served on the U.S. National Security Council. A copy of his article can be emailed to you upon request to Library Director Jane Malmberg: jmalmberg@walpoletownlibrary.org

All are welcome to join in person or via Zoom. You can click above to request the Zoom link from Jane Malmberg and instead join at 6:30 pm, following the “Master Class” video which cannot be shown via Zoom.

Great Decisions at the Library – 5/11/26

EVENTS, Uncategorized 05/06/2026 Leave a comment

“Great Decisions” next Monday Evening

“The Future of Human Rights and International Law”

On Monday, May 11, at 6:00 pm, “Great Decisions” in the Walpole Town Library will explore the status of human rights and international law in the United States. It may surprise you to learn how very few international human rights treaties have been ratified by the U.S. Congress.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, is the most translated document in the world. While this is cause for optimism, the undermining of human rights in the U.S. – targeting women, immigrants, non-white racial and ethnic groups, LGBTQ+ individuals – has reached levels not seen since the UN’s establishment. Why has this happened?

The relevant reading is “The Future of Human Rights and International Law in a Divided World” by Jose E. Alvarez. A copy of this article, published by the Foreign Policy Association, is available at the library and can be emailed to you upon request to our Library Director: jmalmberg@walpoletownlibrary.org  If you are joining the discussion via Zoom, please request the Zoom link and join at 6:30 pm; in-person meeting begins at 6:00 pm with a Master Class video.

Reminder: Great Decisions at the Library – 4/20/26

Uncategorized 04/20/2026 Leave a comment

Reminder:

“Great Decisions” Meets Tonight

“The Third Nuclear Age”

Our “Great Decisions” public forum will resume on Monday, April 20, at 6:00 pm in the Walpole Town Library. All are welcome to join the discussion, which will focus on the dangerous new nuclear age that – with the expiration of the New START treaty between the U.S. and Russia – portends a renewed arms race to the finish.

Adrian Basora, former U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic, will moderate the discussion. Adrian is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and on the International Advisory Board of the Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities. 

The relevant reading from the Foreign Policy Association is “The Third Nuclear Age: Trump, the Order, and the Bomb” by Gideon Rose, adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and adjunct professor of political science at Columbia University. This article is available at the library and a copy can be emailed to you upon request to Library Director Jane Malmberg: jmalmberg@walpoletownlibrary.org  You may also request a Zoom link from Jane Malmberg, but please join at 6:30 pm, following the “Master Class” from the Foreign Policy Association which cannot be shown via Zoom.

Great Decisions at the Library – 4/20/26

EVENTS 04/13/2026 Leave a comment

“Great Decisions”

“The Third Nuclear Age”

Our “Great Decisions” public forum will resume next Monday, April 20, at 6:00 pm in the Walpole Town Library. All are welcome to join the discussion, which will focus on the dangerous new nuclear age that – with the expiration of the New START treaty between the U.S. and Russia – portends a renewed arms race to the finish.

Adrian Basora, former U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic, will moderate the discussion. Adrian is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and on the International Advisory Board of the Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities. 

The relevant reading from the Foreign Policy Association is “The Third Nuclear Age: Trump, the Order, and the Bomb” by Gideon Rose, adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and adjunct professor of political science at Columbia University. This article is available at the library and a copy can be emailed to you upon request to Library Director Jane Malmberg: jmalmberg@walpoletownlibrary.org  You may also request a Zoom link from Jane Malmberg, but please join at 6:30 pm, following the “Master Class” from the Foreign Policy Association, which cannot be shown via Zoom.

Great Decisions at the Library – 11/10/25

EVENTS, Uncategorized 11/08/2025 Leave a comment

Great Decisions meets this Monday at 6 pm, Main Library

Our next “Great Decisions” topic – “AI and our National Security” – elicits high anxiety among many of us as we consider the unprecedented risks and challenges of this rapidly developing technology. The threats to cybersecurity, national defense and personal privacy, the dangers of mass surveillance, use of unreliable AI technologies in law enforcement, social media bots and insufficient industry self-regulation are among many concerns. What is being done to address these risks? Is there enforceable global governance of artificial intelligence? So many questions surround these amazing developments that you would rather not think about it…but AI is a high tech tsunami that has already hit us.

We will meet in the Walpole Town Library on Monday, November 10, at 6:00 pm. The relevant reading from the Foreign Policy Association is “AI and American National Security,” by Julie George. A copy of this article can be emailed to you upon request sent to Library Director Jane Malmberg: jmalmberg@walpoletownlibrary.org If you are joining via Zoom, please request the Zoom link from Jane Malmberg prior to the meeting and join at 6:30 pm, after the “Master Class” video.

Great Decisions at the Library – 10/13/25

Uncategorized 10/09/2025 Leave a comment

Ambassador William Rugh will lead “Great Decisions” 

discussion of US Foreign Policy in the Middle East

Ambassador Rugh was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer for 31 years and had nine diplomatic assignments in the Arab world, including ambassador to Yemen (1984-87) and to the United Arab Emirates (1992-95), as well as Deputy Chief of Mission in Syria (1981-84), public affairs officer in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. He has taught diplomacy and foreign policy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and at Northeastern University. He is the author of five books on public diplomacy in the Arab and Islamic worlds, US soft power and Arab mass media. Rugh holds a PhD in international relations from Columbia University. He is a Board member of the Middle East Policy Council and formerly was a Trustee of the American University in Cairo and an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute.

Ambassador Rugh will be joining us via Zoom as we discuss “American Policy in the Middle East” on Monday, October 13, at 6:00 p.m. 

The Middle East suffers ceaseless conflicts, autocratic rulers, endemic social and economic disparity, unchecked population growth, and poor education systems. Peace between Israel and the Palestinians seems impossible. What are the options when the war in Gaza finally ends?

The relevant reading from the Foreign Policy Association is “American Policy in the Middle East: Taking Stock and Looking Ahead,” by Daniel C. Kurtzer, Professor of Middle East Policy Studies at Princeton and former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt and to Israel. A copy of this excellent article can be emailed to you upon request to Jane Malmberg, Library Director: jmalmberg@walpoletownlibrary.org

For those joining via Zoom, please request the Zoom link from the library prior to the meeting and join at 6:25 p.m., after the Foreign Policy video “Master Class.”

Great Decisions at the Library – 9/15/25

EVENTS 09/08/2025 Leave a comment

From Sue Kibbe:

GREAT DECISIONS

“The Future of NATO & European Security”

“Great Decisions” resumes on Monday, September 15, 6:00 p.m., in the Walpole Town Library. We will discuss “The Future of NATO and European Security” with former U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic Adrian Basora. A trustee of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, Adrian is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is on the international advisory board of the Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities. During his 33 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, Adrian served in former Soviet Bloc countries and helped develop America’s programs in support of their transition to democracy while working at the National Security Council.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine three years ago has threatened the NATO alliance in ways not seen since nuclear missiles were defensively deployed in Europe and the Soviet Union more than 50 years ago. Adding to European insecurity is the current U.S. administration’s dismissal of alliances and strange affinity for Russia’s Vladimir Putin. What are Europe’s options? Should NATO expand to include Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea?

The relevant reading from the Foreign Policy Association is “The Future of NATO and European Security” by Kori Schake and is available at the library or by request via email addressed to our Library Director, Jane Malmberg: jmalmberg@walpoletownlibrary.org

If you are joining the discussion via Zoom, please log on at 6:20 p.m., after the Foreign Policy Association’s Master Class video which we are not permitted to show on Zoom. For the Zoom link, email Jane Malmberg in advance of the meeting.

Great Decision at the Library – 6/16/25

EVENTS 06/09/2025 Leave a comment

“Great Decisions”

One Week from Today

to discuss:

“Climate Change: A Global Challenge”

The “Great Decisions” public forum will meet again on Monday, June 16, 6:00 p.m. in the Walpole Town Library. Our topic is “Climate Change: A Global Challenge amidst Geopolitical Tension.” Leading the discussion is science teacher, environmental activist, climate-change educator Tom Sintros of Alstead, NH. Along with his many environmental and educational projects, Tom was a Climate Reality presenter for Al Gore and speaker for Carbon Coalition. He has worked with The Climate Project, Climate Solutions University, and Clean Air Cool Planet, and was a founding board member of Keene Cities for Climate Protection.

The relevant reading from the Foreign Policy Association is “International Climate Cooperation in an Era of Geopolitical Turmoil” by Joshua Busby. This article is available at the library or can be emailed to you upon request by contacting Jane Malmberg, Library Director: jmalmberg@walpoletownlibrary.org

All are welcome at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, June 16, in the Hubbard Meeting Room, Walpole Town Library. We begin with a 20-minute Master Class video prepared by the Foreign Policy Association which cannot be shown over Zoom. For those joining via Zoom, please contact Jane Malmberg for the Zoom link in advance of the meeting and join at 6:20 p.m.

Sue Kibbe