World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth

Red Sparrow is a novel. But how much of it is fiction? Therein lies the tale. Only author Jason Matthews knows. He spent 33 years as a covert operative with the CIA’s National Clandestine Service before creating this debut novel. Matthews, using a sturdy foundation of knowledge acquired on the job, writes of romance and spies, deceit and surprises.

Timothy Beardson is the Chairman of the China Oxford Scholarship Fund and is actively involved in the Chinese education system. He frequently speaks with governments, universities, boards and central banks on economic and strategic issues.

Texas Monthly Senior Writer Erica Grieder to the Council with a newly published book whose title promises a different perspective: Big, Hot, Cheap, and Right: What America Can Learn from the Strange Genius of Texas.

Mr. Tillerson is a member of the executive committee and is a former chairman of the American Petroleum Institute. He is also a trustee of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Tony Wagner has worked for more than thirty-five years in the field of school improvement. He recently accepted a position as the first Innovation Education Fellow at the Technology & Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard. He was the founder and co-director of the Change Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of education for more than a decade.

A recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Medal of Liberty, Dr. Henry A. Kissinger needs no introduction.

Co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market John Mackey is also the co-founder of the Conscious Capitalism Movement. The four key pillars of this movement are higher purpose, stakeholder integration, conscious leadership and conscious culture and management.

The World in… provides readers with a unique global perspective on the upcoming year, across the spheres of business, finance and economics, technology, sport, media, arts, culture and more.

The president-elect seems eager to strengthen international ties leaving behind the more insular policies of the past administration. He spent the past few months visiting neighbors, like economic powerhouses Brazil and Argentina, and has reached out to Spain, offering support in its financial crisis.

In the midst of another election season, the economy is on every American’s mind. Social security reform, universal healthcare, unemployment and the budget deficit are at the forefront of both national and kitchen table discourse.