Global Dialogue+

Cuba Protests Examined: A Conversation with Lisset Diaz

Editor's Note: Welcome to the inaugural Global Dialogue+, a program that brings you insights and perspectives on important global developments, featuring brief conversations with newsmakers, officials and specialists. We're pleased to launch the feature with a conversation about the protests in Cuba, talking to Lisset Diaz, lead singer of the Sweet Lizzy Band. The group came to Nashville from Havanna to launch their musical journey in America. Watch Lisset's conversation and then check the CFR Backgrounder on Cuba to become familiar with developments there.

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"It’s been 62 years of dictatorship. I have not said this out loud. I never used this term before for many reasons. The first one is that I didn’t know that we had a dictatorship. When you are born and raised Cuba and you have very limited access to information. You don’t have the Internet, you don’t have any independent media.  The only information you get is from the official press, the government.

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"So you know what they want you to know. Which means that basically you don’t know what’s going on out there in the real world. So that was the reason I never called it a dictatorship. And more recently because I was afraid. Because I have friends and family there. Because I know that the more I say about this topic, they’re not going to let me back in. And if they do I could go to jail, which is what happens to a lot of other artists. You don’t have to be violent to go through the repression and the other things the Cuban regime does to those who speak up. So that is what has been happening for 62 years. And that is a very long time."

-- Lisset Diaz

The Sweet Lizzy Project band came to the United States from Havanna after being featured in a PBS TV special on Cuban bands. They chose Nashville as their home base in their coast-to-coast musical journey. TNWAC talked with lead singer Lisset Diaz about the band's migration for our "Global Tennessee" Podcast in December 2018. In this conversation Lisset talks with TNWAC President Patrick Ryan about the July protests that erupted in Cuba, as citizens risked violent crackdowns and prosecutions to share their rage and demands amidst nationwide economic distress and the Covid-19 health crisis. Join us for our brief talk about how Cubans endured decades of oppression and the situation on the island for friends and family of Lisset and the band.

Afghanistan's Collapse: Trouble for America's Enemies | Prof. Mark Katz by Tennessee World Affairs Council

A conversation about the Tennessee-Japan commercial relationship.

Let’s put the Tennessee-Japan commercial relationship in numbers.

Statewide FDI statistics

1,021 FDI establishments

156,439 employees

Approximately $40B in capital investment

Japan is the largest FDI nation

190 establishments in the state with a Japanese parent company

54,080 employees

Nearly $20B in capital investment

The 54,080 Tennesseans employed by Japanese-owned companies is more than the employment totals of the next four nations combined (Germany – 20,897; UK-11,600; France – 10,440; Canada – 8,807).

Japan’s investment includes pioneering companies like Nissan, Toshiba, Sharp and Denso along with new investment like Advanex Americas that recently announced a spring manufacturing facility in White House (Robertson County).

The new companies get the big press, but Japanese companies continue to reinvest in communities all across Tennessee … several for over 30 years.

Matt Kisber

Former Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, Chairman of the Board, Silicon Ranch

Matt is a co-founder of Silicon Ranch and served as CEO of the company until becoming Chairman in July 2019. As Chairman, Matt works closely with the company’s executive leadership to set and implement its ambitious growth strategy. Under his leadership, Silicon Ranch has become one of the fastest-growing developers, owners, and operators of solar energy plants in the U.S., with a portfolio that includes more than 1.6 Gigawatts of PV systems that are contracted, under construction, or operating coast to coast. Matt brings a unique background to Silicon Ranch having been a business owner and having served eight years as Tennessee Commissioner of Economic Development. He has also worked with industry leaders from across the U.S. and around the globe to bring investments and jobs to Tennessee. A graduate of Vanderbilt University, Matt served 10 terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives.

Philip Bredesen

48th Governor of Tennessee (2003-2011), Founding Chairman, Silicon Ranch

Philip Bredesen served as Tennessee’s Governor from 2003 until 2011 and Mayor of Nashville from 1991 until 1999. He is known for his bipartisan approach to problem-solving and his careful fiscal management. Among those who have served in senior elected positions, Governor Bredesen has a unique depth of healthcare experience in both the private and public sectors.

Prior to entering public service, Bredesen worked in the healthcare industry. Between research trips to the public library, he drafted a business plan at his kitchen table that led to the creation of HealthAmerica Corp. in 1980, a Nashville-based healthcare management company. The company eventually grew to more than 6,000 employees and was traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The company was sold in 1986. Additionally, Gov. Bredesen is considered a serial entrepreneur, having helped start and mentor several successful companies, many of which subsequently became publicly traded on various stock exchanges.

Consul General of Mexico Javier Díaz de León, based in Atlanta, talked with TNWAC's Patrick Ryan about the economic impact of US-Mexico trade and investment on Tennessee; the USMCA accord on its one-year anniversary and other aspects of commercial relations. They talked about other aspects of the relationship such as the US-Mexico border and migration issues and the shared values and interests of Mexicans and Americans.

Javier Díaz de León

Consul General of Mexico in Atlanta

Consul General, Javier Díaz de León, holds a Bachelors degree in International Relations from the Universidad Iberoamericana. He has a Masters in International Conflict Analysis granted by the University of Kent, in England.

Diaz has been a member of the Mexican Foreign Service since 1991 and has held the rank of Ambassador since April 28, 2017. During his diplomatic career he has held various positions, including: Deputy Consul General in San Diego; Deputy Consul General in New York, Head of the Office of Migratory and Hispanic Affairs in the Embassy of Mexico in the United States and Executive Director of the Institute of Mexicans Abroad of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Mexico City.

From June 2013 to May 2016 he served as Consul General of Mexico in Raleigh, North Carolina. In May 2016, he was appointed Consul General of Mexico in Atlanta, which oversees affairs in the states of Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama.

U.S.-Russia Conflict: Post Biden-Putin Summit with Dr. Andrei Korobkov, Professor, Political Science and International Relations, Middle Tennessee State University and Dr. Mark Katz, Professor, Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University With Host LCDR Patrick Ryan, USN (Ret), Founding President, Tennessee World Affairs Council

July 13, 2021 @ 7 pm

What’s Ahead in the U.S.-Russia Relationship After the Biden-Putin Summit

When United States President Joe Biden and Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin met in Geneva on June 16th there was an icy cast on prospects for positive results. Yet, Biden said he did what he came to do. That seemed to have been to put Putin on notice concerning: cyber-attacks on American systems; human rights and suppression of Russian opposition; provocative military moves against neighbors like Ukraine; and observance of international norms of behavior.

Going into the summit, the U.S. and Russia were deeply at odds over these and other sources of conflict. Beyond the leaders’ press conferences and officials’ talk show appearances there’s much more to dissect and understand on what the Washington-Moscow relationship is going to look like.

To better understand this important foreign policy challenge for the United States, the Tennessee World Affairs Council is convening a Global Dialogue Webinar on the topic, “U.S.-Russia Conflict: Post Biden-Putin Summit,” featuring Dr. Andrei Korobkov and Dr. Mark Katz on Tuesday, July 13, 2021 at 7pm CT.

Dr. Andrei Korobkov

Dr. Korobkov is Professor and Director of Russian Studies in the Department of Political Science and International Relations, Middle Tennessee State University. He focuses his scholarship on post-Soviet Russia and Eastern Europe. Dr. Katz is a Professor in the Schor School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. He has lectured and written extensively on Moscow’s foreign policy. Korobkov and Katz will drill down into the summit outcomes and discuss the path ahead for the conflict-ridden relationship. And they will welcome you into the conversation.

The Global Dialogue on U.S.-Russia relations will be moderated by LCDR Patrick Ryan, USN(Ret), founding President of the Tennessee World Affairs Council and a former intelligence officer.

Dr. Mark Katz

The TNWAC Global Dialogue is free and open to the public. Registration is available at the TNWAC.org web site and at the link here

The Tennessee World Affairs Council is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational association that promotes international awareness, understanding and connections to enhance the region’s global stature and to prepare Tennesseans to thrive in our increasingly complex and connected world. To join, make a gift or for more information visit www.TNWAC.org or call: (931)261-2353 or email: [email protected]

Legendary travel guru Rick Steves talks with Tennessee World Affairs Council's Amanda Knarr. He's a legendary Europe tour leader, tour book author, television producer and personality and champion of "getting out there." You'll enjoy this candid conversation about the impact of Covid on travel and his business, the importance of travel to build bridges and break out of cultural "ethnocentricity," and Rick's adventures around the globe.

If you like this program please consider supporting the Tennessee World Affairs Council's global affairs awareness mission through a donation of a few bucks. Visit tnwac.org/donate.

Global Dialogue | The Power of Diplomacy | Marshall | Jun 1 by Tennessee World Affairs Council

The Tennessee World Affairs Council in association with Belmont University Center for International Business, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, the George Mason University Schar School Policy and Government and the Wilson Center Kennan Conversations Series presents

Global Dialogue | Russia & Iran

A Conversation with Dr. Mark Katz

Professor, Schar School of Policy and Government

With Host

Lt. Cmdr. Patrick W. Ryan, USN(Ret)

Mark N. Katz is a professor of government and politics at George Mason University. He earned a B.A. in international relations from the University of California at Riverside in 1976, an M.A. in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in 1978, and a Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1982.

He is the author of The Third World in Soviet Military Thought (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982), Russia and Arabia: Soviet Foreign Policy toward the Arabian Peninsula (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986), Gorbachev's Military Policy in the Third World (Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1989), Revolutions and Revolutionary Waves (St. Martin's Press, 1997), Reflections on Revolutions (St. Martin's Press, 1999), and Leaving without Losing: The War on Terror after Iraq and Afghanistan (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012).

During 2017, he was a visiting scholar first at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington (January-March), and then at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs in Helsinki (April-September). During 2018, he was a Fulbright Scholar at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London (January-March), and was then the 2018 Sir William Luce Fellow at Durham University in the UK (April-June). In February 2019, he was appointed a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council.

Links to his recent articles can be found on www.marknkatz.com

The Tennessee World Affairs Council in association with Belmont University Center for International Business, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, the Peoria Area World Affairs Council and the University of Tennessee Center for Global Engagement present:

Women at the Table: The Importance of Women's Voices in International Affairs

A Conversation On Political, Economic Issues

Wednesday, April 21, 2021

12:00-1:00 PM CT

The participation of women's organizations and other civil society groups makes a peace agreement 64% less likely to fail. Then why are women only 6% of signatories in major peace processes? This is one of the many questions that the Tennessee World Affairs Council will address this month at our event: Women at the Table: The Importance of Women's Voices in International Affairs.

The discussion will be moderated by TNWAC board member, Ms. Amanda Knarr, and will cover a range of political and economic topics, with a specific focus on the importance of including women in peace building initiatives.

Held on April 21st from 12-1 pm Central Time the panel will feature six distinguished women from around the world, including Ms. Sharon K. Roberson, President & CEO of YWCA Nashville & Middle Tennessee; Dr. Marlene Spoerri, Director of Inclusive Diplomacy and Systems Change at Independent Diplomat; Dr. Jennifer F. Klot, Partner, Policy & Praxis for Social Change; Ms. Mary Montague, European Representative for Mediators Beyond Borders International; Ms. Gwendolyn Myers, Founder & Executive Director of Messengers of Peace-Liberia Inc.; and Ms. Lorelei Higgins, Métis Canadian Cultural Mediator, a Rotary Peace Fellow, and Positive Peace Activator.

TNWAC thanks Dr. Gretchen Neisler, Vice Provost for International Affairs at the University of Tennessee for sharing opening remarks.

The Tennessee World Affairs Council

in association with

Belmont University Center for International Business and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce present

Global Nashville with Karl Dean

A Conversation with Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Leaders

Dr. Rolando Toyos, Chairman

Yuri Cunza, President and CEO

With Host Karl F. Dean, Former Nashville Mayor

April 13, 2021 @ 7 pm CT

About the Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce:

The Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (NAHCC) is the oldest, longest running Hispanic business association in Tennessee, promoting the economic growth and development of Hispanic entrepreneurs. With a membership of more than 300 businesses, the NAHCC represents their interests in Nashville and surrounding areas connecting entrepreneurs and micro-enterprises, facilitating strategic alliances, networking and sharing of business and financial best practices. The NAHCC is one of the first Hispanic chambers in the nation to receive the CTI Minority Chamber Certification Designation issued by the University of Notre Dame and co-signed by the USHCC, USBC, USPAACC. The CTI Certification highlights the achievements made by the chamber. The NAHCC is a recipient of the "Chamber of the Year Award" presented by the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. For more information visit www.nashvillehispanicchamber.com