WORLDNOW Series: Virtual Program
Since September 2025, the World Affairs Council of Northwest Ohio has proudly served as a presenting partner of WorldNow with Jim Falk, a virtual book talk series that brings timely global conversations and outstanding authors directly to our community. As a small, all-volunteer nonprofit, we deeply value partnerships like this one, which help us offer high-quality foreign affairs programming at no cost to our audience.
WorldNow features engaging discussions with acclaimed authors, thought leaders, and experts on issues shaping our world, from international policy and history to current global challenges. Hosted/produced by Jim Falk, President Emeritus of the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth. Jim brings decades of expertise and a gift for engaging guests in insightful and dynamic conversations. The series is known for thoughtful interviews, strong guest insights, and conversations that are both accessible and deeply informative. The books connected to events also provide a wonderful invitation to keep learning and exploring these topics long after the program ends.
The series is hosted by the World Affairs Council of Connecticut with the World Affairs of America and World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth. Presented in partnerships with World Affairs Councils across The United States, incl. our World Affairs Council of Northwest Ohio.

2026 Program Series





January 14
The Architect of Espionage: The Man Who Built Israel’s Mossad
Samuel Katz joins WorldNow to introduce us to Meir Dagan, the former Mossad director who transformed modern espionage and the Middle East.
March 31
The Best & Worst: 250 Years of U.S. Foreign Policy with CFR’s Senior Fellow James Lindsay to unveil his ultimate rankings of the best and worst decisions in U.S. foreign policy in 250 years – from the Marshall Plan and the founding of the United Nations to the bombing of Nagasaki and the invasion of Iraq.
July 15
The Future of War with Elliot Ackerman, Author of 2084: a Novel of Future War.
January 21
The Trillion Dollar War Machine: The Cost of American Military Spending. Bill Hartung, author and senior fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, joins WorldNow to argue that not only is this spending not keeping America safe, but it is endangering both the U.S. and the world at large.
April 20
The Iran War: What We Know, What Comes Next
Featuring Steven Cook, senior Middle East expert at the Council on Foreign Relations; Amb. Deborah Jones, U.S. Ambassador (ret.) to Kuwait and Libya; and Beth Sanner, CNN National Security Contributor and former Deputy Director of National Intelligence.
Will continue!
For upcoming event calendar check on CTWAC/Event and event announcements on The World Affairs Council NW Ohio facebook page.
February 10
The Great Firewall: Surveillance, Censorship, & Connection on the Chinese Internet. Journalist Yi-Ling Liu takes us behind the Great Firewall of China to reveal the reality of 30 years of surveillance and censorship on the Chinese Internet.
May 20
The Global AI Race with Sebastian Mallaby, author of The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, & the Quest for Superintelligence and Senior Fellow for International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations
Up Next on WorldNow:
All the Presidents’ Wars with Peter Bergen
Thursday, October 8 at 7:00pm ET | Zoom
We sit down with Peter Bergen, one of the few journalists to interview Osama Bin Laden, to explore how the War on Terror reshaped the world.
The World Ahead: 2027
Thursday, December 3 at 7:00pm ET | Zoom
Tom Standage, Deputy Editor of The Economist & Editor of “The World Ahead,” predicts the top global trends of 2027 - from AI to China.
2025 Program Series



September 9
A Tale of Two Kings: Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the Future of Power in the Middle East featuring Karen Elliot House, Pulitzer Prize-winner and author of The Man Who Would be King: Mohammad Bin Salman and the Transformation of Saudi Arabia and Aaron Magid, author of The Most American King: Abdullah of Jordan.
November 12
The New Global Disorder with Ambassador Michael McFaul on his next book: Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder
December 8
The World Ahead 2026 with Tom Standage, Deputy Editor of The Economist
