Global Tennessee

The Nashville Edge: How Global Thinking and Enterprise Innovation Are Building a Local Legacy (Webinar) by Tennessee World Affairs Council

Navigating Geopolitical Risk: How Multinational Corporations Are Adapting to a More Fragmented World (Webinar) by Tennessee World Affairs Council

Georgetown University in Qatar: Adapting to Serve Students and Advancing Qatar’s Education and Research Vision (Webinar) by Tennessee World Affairs Council

GMT20251008-165825_Recording_640x360 - Trim crop by Tennessee World Affairs Council

What do the Olympics reveal about international influence, branding, and global power? Join TNWAC on Wednesday, August 27th, for a fascinating webinar moderated by Karl Dean featuring Terrence H. Burns (Chairman and Owner, T. Burns Sports Group, LLC).

Terrence will explore how the Olympic Games transcend sport to shape geopolitics, national identity, and global narratives.

What You’ll Learn:

– How the Olympic brand has become a tool of soft power

– The intersection of global sports, politics, and diplomacy

– Real-world insights into international branding and influence

Nashville at the Crossroads: Global Growth, Local Challenges, and Future Opportunities by Tennessee World Affairs Council

Geopolitical Divergences on the Korean Peninsula by Tennessee World Affairs Council

Reshaping of the Middle East by Tennessee World Affairs Council

After an unprecedented year of elections, new leaders around the globe who have promised change will be expected to deliver in 2025. The world will also be coming to terms with the outcome of America’s elections in November and the implications for global security, trade, and climate policy. New alliances are forming, and old ones are fraying in an increasingly tense and dangerous world. But the adoption of green tech continues to outpace the most optimistic forecasts, even as concerns grow over artificial intelligence and its voracious appetite for chips, energy, water, and data. Tom Standage, Deputy Editor of The Economist and editor of The World Ahead 2025, will consider these and other trends and their implications for geopolitics, business, and culture in the coming year.

Mark Reese began his thirty-year career in Central Asia as the first Peace Corps volunteer to serve in Kokand, Uzbekistan, from 1994-1996. Through the University of Washington, he subsequently established and managed a Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs program centered around Islamic studies and curricula reform in Uzbekistan through the Department of State’s Uzbekistan Partnership Program in Islamic Studies. Mr. Reese managed translation and cultural advisement task orders for a broad spectrum of government and private industry clients.

Over seven years, he conducted groundbreaking work through dynamic educational program development as Founding Director for the Center for Regional Studies at the United States Naval Academy. His flagship work surrounds his translation of Abdullah Qodiriy’s O’tkan Kunlar, the first full-length novel in the Uzbek language. For his efforts, the Republic of Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev awarded Mr. Reese the Presidential Order of Do’stlik for furthering awareness of the Uzbek language and culture.

In 2023, he was awarded the Tourism Fo’ydasi for developing tourism content in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. As CEO of Suhbat LLC, Mark is currently engaged in strategic communications and cultural program development for a variety of clients in Central Asia.