2026 College and University Educators Workshop

FROMAN: All right. Hello, everybody. Welcome. Welcome to the Council. Welcome to New York, for those who’ve traveled from far and wide. We’re delighted to have you here for this—for this workshop. I’m told we have ninety-seven educators from forty-eight states and Washington DC. So, who’s from Washington, DC? There we go. (Laughter.) All right. Nobody from the Marshall Islands? Nobody from Puerto Rico? OK, but great to have you here. And I really hope this day and a half or so, that you get as much as you possibly can out of us, and our resources, and the relationships that you make here, and that we can be a source of support for you going forward when you get back home to your colleges and universities.

I’m Mike Froman. I’m president of the Council. Which means basically I’m the caterer. (Laughter.) So, any complaints about the food, you can bring them to me. We’re delighted to have this session on the United States in Focus, which is just a general discussion of a whole range of issues. Give you a feel for the range of expertise that our fellows have. And you’ll be seeing it over the course...

NINAN: Good morning, everybody. Bright and early on a rainy day in New York City. I guess it’s better than the snow.

Thank you all for joining us for our conversation today where there is so much to talk about—the World in Turmoil: Navigating Complex Conflicts—we’re excited to have all of you here.

I just want to introduce my panel quickly. You’ve got some information on their bios, but to my left right here I’ve got Carolina, who is an expert in Latin America who’s going to give us her take on the situation there.

Next to Carolina, I’ve got Thomas Graham, who’s going to talk about Russia, and then I have Michelle Gavin and Ray Takeyh. So, they’re all going to join us here in a vast conversation about where we’re headed globally.

Ray, I want to kick it off with you first because we are hearing the drumbeat of war out in the Gulf, U.S. assets positioned. I guess my question to you, which I’m not sure if you can answer, how far away are we from war with Iran?

TAKEYH: You’re right. I can’t answer that question. (Laughter.)

So, but here’s—well, here’s what I think. I think...

FASKIANOS: All right. So this next session we’re going to explore CFR Education with my colleagues Caroline Netchvolodoff and Ian Gilchrist, and so I’m going to invite them onto the stage.

(Pause.)

Everybody, let’s—grabbing your attention—we love—we love all the conversations that are happening. I’m going to turn the stage over to Caroline Netchvolodoff.

NETCHVOLODOFF: Good morning, everyone. I’m not sure if my mic is on yet—

STAFF: It’s on.

NETCHVOLODOFF: Is it? OK, great.

Good morning, everyone. Louder? I don’t think it’s on. Is it on? OK, great. OK, everybody, I feel like a teacher here.

It’s great to see everyone. I think when I spoke yesterday, I glanced around the room, and I thought I’d probably met and spoken, briefly at least, to about 30 percent of you, and I think I’m up to about 70 (percent), so if I haven’t spoken to you, I’m really eager to do so. Just find me, and I look forward to meeting you. But, again, welcome. Thank you for making the trip to this rainy day in New York. You’ve already shared so much with us, and we’ve learned already from you.

But we want to dig a little bit deeper...

SENGUPTA: Hi, everyone. We are very pleased to be here. Sorry to be interrupting your lunch, snack break. As the mom of a soon-to-go-to-college teenager, thank you, I am very happy that you all are here. Thank you for your service, in advance. What an extraordinary time to be an educator. We hope to be of some service to you as you go back from here to your classrooms. I am very pleased to be here with these very illustrious experts and scholars. I am going to let them more or less introduce themselves, because their bios are extensive.

Kat Duffy, on the very end, is a senior fellow for cyberspace policy and digital stuff at CFR, so she’s an expert on AI, the world of AI that we all live in. Alice Hill is a senior fellow for energy and environment here at CFR. And David Michel is the senior fellow for water security with the Global Food and Water Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. There, I’ve introduced you all, contradicting myself.

I want to start by asking really a lightning rod question that it would be great if you could just...