On Thursday, October 23, at 8 am PT, the Pacific Council will host Qutaiba Idlbi, Director of American Affairs at the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, for a conversation with Dr. Jerrold D. Green, Interim President & CEO and Senior Fellow for the Middle East and South Asia at the Pacific Council. This discussion will address the future of U.S.–Syria relations and the broader regional implications following the collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024 and the establishment of an interim government led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and President Ahmed al‑Sharaa.

On October 21 at 9 AM, the Pacific Council will host a webinar featuring Dr. Larry Diamond, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Mosbacher Senior Fellow in Global Democracy at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) at Stanford University, and Dr. Jerrold D. Green, Interim President & CEO of the Pacific Council. A leading scholar of democracy and governance, Diamond will explore the resurgence of authoritarianism, democratic backsliding in established systems, and the erosion of trust in democratic institutions.

On Tuesday, October 7, at 8 am PT, the Pacific Council welcomes our membership to dial in for a discussion of the current relationship between the U.S. and Greenland, and implications for Greenland’s potential bid for independence from Denmark. Members will hear from Rufus Gifford, Former Chief of Protocol of the United States and Former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, Dr. Gabriella Gricius, a Senior Fellow at the Arctic Institute and Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Konstanz, and Allison Agsten the Inaugural Director of USC Annenberg’s Center for Climate Journalism and Communication and Affiliate of the Arctic Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center.