NEW YORK, July 21, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Twenty-five NYC youth from neighborhoods such as Bedford-Stuyvesant, the Bronx, and Crown Heights, are engaging in an intensive institute on U.S. foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), the nation's premier foreign policy think tank. Global Kids' (GK) U.S. in the World: International Law and Foreign Policy program, now in its sixth year, provides youth from some of the City's most under-resourced neighborhoods, many of whom attend challenged public schools, with a rigorous and dynamic program that builds learning and action on issues at the forefront of U.S. foreign policy today.
This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity fuses interactive workshops and discussions with experts in the field as youth examine such topics as War in Iraq and Afghanistan, Energy Security and Climate Change, Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century, the Politics of Oil Dependency, the Challenges of Development, and more. Students in the program develop their own peer education projects, including workshops, film screenings and discussions, conferences, and other activities, to educate hundreds of youth about these critical issues during the following school year.
This year's impressive list of speakers includes Leslie H. Gelb, President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations; Richard Haass, current President of the CFR; Theodore Roosevelt IV, an environmentalist and the great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt; Theodore C. Sorensen, international lawyer and former Special Counsel to President John F. Kennedy; and George Stephanopoulos of ABC news. Guest speakers share their professional experiences and personal stories with participants, and then engage them in lively discussions that draw on students' own investigations of current issues.
The U.S. in the World program has proven results, with all of its alumni either already in college or on track to attend. Over the years, the program has motivated many participants to pursue studies in international relations, foreign policy, and multicultural studies. Andreas Koudellou, a program alumnus, recently graduated from the Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University, with Bachelor's and Master's degrees in international law and economics. Speaking about how his participation in U.S. in the World inspired his academic and career endeavors, he said: "Global Kids set me on the path I am currently on … I met more international affairs luminaries in high school through GK than I did in all my years at college and graduate school."
The complete list of speakers for this year's program is as follows:
| Monday, July 19 | 3:00 PM -- Richard Haass, President, CFR |
| Tuesday, July 20 | 11:30 AM -- Adam Segal, Senior Fellow Counterterrorism & National Security, CFR |
| 3:00 PM -- James Lindsay, Senior Vice President, CFR | |
| Wednesday, July 21 | 11:30 AM -- Brian Palmer, journalist and filmmaker (film screening and Q&A) |
| 3:00 PM -- Max Boot, Senior Fellow, CFR | |
| Thursday, July 22 | 11:30 AM -- Micah Zenko, Center for Preventive Action, CFR |
| 3:00 PM -- Cora Weiss, Hague Appeal for International Peace | |
| Monday, July 26 | 11:30 AM -- Sebastian Spio-Garbrah, Managing Director & Chief Analyst, Frontier |
| Markets, DaMina Advisors | |
| 3:00 PM -- Bill Rigler, Director, Advocacy & Outreach, Millenium Promise | |
| Tuesday, July 27 | 11:30 AM -- Carol Smolenski, Executive Director, End Child Prostitution and Trafficking |
| Wednesday, July 28 | 11:30 AM -- Kambale Msavuli, Friends of the Congo |
| Thursday, July 29 | 11:30 AM -- Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow, U.S. Foreign Policy, CFR |
| 3:00 PM -- Leslie H. Gelb, President Emeritus, CFR | |
| Monday, August 2 | 9:30 AM – Keziah Jean, youth activist from Haiti, Cine Institute (film screening and Q&A) |
| 11:30 AM -- Rania Hadra, U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs | |
| 3:00 PM -- Ambassador John Campbell, Fellow for Africa Policy Studies, CFR | |
| Tuesday, August 3 | 11:30 AM -- Gideon Rose, Managing Editor, Foreign Affairs Magazine |
| 2:00 PM -- Theodore Roosevelt IV, Managing Director, Barclays Capital | |
| Wednesday, August 4 | 11:30 AM -- Germot Wagner, Environmental Defense Fund |
| 3:00 PM -- Theodore C. Sorensen, former Special Counsel, President John F. Kennedy | |
| Thursday, August 5 | 12:30 PM -- George Stephanopoulos, ABC Television |
Global Kids' U.S. in the World: International Law and Foreign Policy program will take place at the Council on Foreign Relations, located at 58 East 68th Street (at Park Avenue). Any press interested in attending should contact Sofia Oviedo at 212-226-2116.
Global Kids, Inc. – www.globalkids.org
Founded in 1989, Global Kids' mission is to inspire urban youth to become successful students and global and community leaders by engaging them in socially dynamic, content-rich learning experiences. Through our leadership development and academic enrichment programs, we educate youth about critical international and domestic issues and promote their engagement in civic life and the democratic process. Through professional development initiatives, we provide educators with strategies for integrating experiential learning methods and international issues into urban classrooms. Over ninety percent of the high school seniors who participate in Global Kids' programs graduate from high school, and the vast majority go on to college.
The Global Kids, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=4850