Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ is the only institution in the state of Florida selected to address the U.S. Department of Education’s civil discourse priority as part of its Fund for Improvement of Postsecondary Education initiative.

The department from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). Following a record number of applicants, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ was among the honorees with a four-year $3.4 million grant for our proposal — Civil Interactions and Viewpoints for Interpersonal Competence (CIVIC): A Campuswide Model — which seeks to protect and promote civil discourse on campuses.

“The future demands graduates who can collaborate effectively, navigate complex conversations and lead with integrity within varied professional environments, even when they don’t always agree.â€� — Andrea Guzmán, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ vice president for access and community engagement

“The future demands graduates who can collaborate effectively, navigate complex conversations and lead with integrity within varied professional environments, even when they don’t always agree,â€� says Andrea Guzmán, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ vice president for access and community engagement and CIVIC principal investigator. “This grant allows us to prepare students not just academically, but to be thoughtful citizens and professionals. By integrating civil discourse skills throughout curricular and co-curricular experiences, we are helping students develop the communication and critical thinking skills that employers, communities and our democracy depend on.â€�

What is the Fund for Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE)?

FIPSE is a discretionary grant initiative that supports innovative projects to address urgent national needs in postsecondary education. The funds awarded from this specific program competition empower institutions to develop and scale solutions that improve educational outcomes, strengthen institutional capacity and align education with workforce demands.

In November, the Department of Education announced four FY 2025 competition priorities focused on expanding innovative teaching and student success initiatives, promoting civil discourse on campuses, advancing accreditation reform, and building capacity for high‑quality, workforce‑aligned short‑term academic programs eligible for Workforce Pell Grants.

While Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ was Florida’s lone representative selected for the civil discourse priority, the state saw Florida A&M, Florida Atlantic University, and its Commission for Public Higher Education, Inc. earn grants in accreditation. Hillsborough Community College earned funding for AI.

What is civil discourse?

±«°ä¹ó’s defines civil discourse as constructive conversation or dialogue which intends to enhance understanding, be productive and requires taking responsibility for truly listening and talking about important local, national and global topics/issues.

“Civil discourse is about understanding the other person’s viewpoint so you can come together to make thoughtful decisions in spite of having different viewpoints,� Guzmán says.

Guzmán says she often hears students today are hesitant to share their own perspectives. She hopes that through this intentional framework, students will begin to feel more confident engaging civilly with those around them.

“Whether students are in the classroom or just having a conversation with a peer, we want them to have the skillset and emotional intelligence needed for constructive conversations,� Guzmán says. “They should still be able to walk away and respectfully say, ‘I still don’t agree with you, but let’s go get a burger and fries afterward.’ Too often, we’ve seen relationships fracture because the skill of civil discourse has been lost.�

How will Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ use these funds?

±«°ä¹ó’s priority with this $3.4 million grant is to intentionally embed civil discourse and constructive communication skills into the everyday experience at the university through four main strategies.

Strategy 1: Faculty Learning Communities

The first strategy is geared toward . Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Director of Civil Discourse and Engagement Haley Winston ’17·¡»å¶Ù and a faculty fellow, yet to be named, will partner to create a curriculum to offer paid learning experiences via faculty learning communities each semester and a track at the Summer Faculty Development Institute. This curriculum will inform faculty on strategies and methodologies for building civil discourse opportunities into their classes. There are also plans to develop and implement civil discourse modules in new faculty orientation.

Eventually, ±«°ä¹ó’s course catalogue will recognize classes — much like it does now with service-learning courses — with a civil discourse designation.

Strategies 2 and 3: Student Orientation and Training

Two additional strategies are student-focused. One will collaborate with ±«°ä¹ó’s to include civil discourse modules at orientation.

“From the very start of a student’s journey at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, we set the expectation that we are an institution where people can express their views freely and constructively, in a respectful way,â€� Guzmán says.

The other will partner with to offer civil discourse training for both student employee onboarding training as well as a supervisor-specific training via its , preparing students to carry on these skills into the workforce after graduation.

Strategy 4: Mini-grants for Learning Opportunities

The fourth strategy is geared toward expanding co-curricular opportunities through the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Ginsburg Center – Office of Civil Discourse and Engagement. Mini-grants will be offered to units and colleges who want to offer learning opportunities within their department or classrooms.

“This grant builds on work already underway at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and allows us to scale it intentionally.â€�
— Andrea Guzmán

“This grant builds on work already underway at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and allows us to scale it intentionally. It also enables the development of a pilot program designed to be replicated across the state university system,â€� Guzmán says. “The reason we are choosing to bolster programs like orientation and faculty learning communities are because these are existing infrastructures that almost every institution will have and can seamlessly incorporate.â€�

What happens next?

The funding takes effect immediately. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ will invite faculty applications for the faculty fellow position during the Spring 2026 semester, with the appointment beginning in August.

±«°ä¹ó’s will also organize an internal implementation team to confirm year-one priorities, which includes aligning timelines, refining deliverables and establishing the infrastructure needed to support the work.

“With every project we implement, we think about scale and long-term impact. The goal is always for meaningful, transformative work to live on beyond the grant,� says Cyndia Morales Muñiz ’13EdD, senior director of grant initiatives and partnerships, and CIVIC project director.

In addition to Muñiz, Guzmán and Winston, the project includes activity coordinators Joel Cramer, interim vice provost for Faculty Excellence; Chanda Torres ’98 ’00MA ’08EdD, assistant vice president of the Dixon Career Development Center; and Ryan Goodwin, assistant vice president for Strategic Initiatives.

In years three and four of the grant, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ will develop and host two symposiums for Florida’s State University System institutions and state colleges to share implementation strategies and lessons learned, providing a model that can be replicated at their own campuses.

“This is yet another example of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ leading the way to best serve our students and faculty and we look forward to getting started,â€� Muñiz says.

Note: 100% of ±«°ä¹ó’s Civil Interactions and Viewpoints for Interpersonal Competence (CIVIC): A Campuswide Model is being financed with this federal funding and 0% of the program is being financed with non-federal funding.

Dumke is director of , but from 1994 to 2003 he worked for several members of Congress — both Republican and Democrat. He was often on the House floor during the impeachment proceedings involving President Bill Clinton, a place and time that even now provides him a clear field of view for what is happening in our nation’s capital — with one caveat.

“Everyone thought the late 1990s was the most partisan era ever,� Dumke says. “But today we’re in an uber-partisan era. Let’s hope the politicians, and all of us, can agree to disagree with civility and with respect to facts.�

Specifically, these are the things he’d like to stress:

1. Congress still has a governing job to do. “When President Clinton was being investigated [for statements about his relationship with intern Monica Lewinski], the members of Congress still functioned as they were supposed to function. They worked on budgets, negotiated welfare reform and made sure taxpayers’ money was being spent correctly. That’s their primary job at all times.�
2. Impeachment is a vague concept. “Officially, an impeachable offense is for ‘treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors,’ but there’s no definition for what some of those are. So it becomes a political process. The bar is set in the minds of those bringing the case. Which is probably why we hear the word used so often.�
3. There are punitive tools other than impeachment. “Presidential impeachment should be considered a nuclear bomb in politics. Congress can use other forms of leverage before going there. They can freeze spending in certain areas, for example. In 1998, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich could have stopped the impeachment process by censuring President Clinton. A censure is an official reprimand for bad behavior. Perhaps there would have been some sense of unity rather than the gut-wrenching process of impeachment.�
4. Impeachment can be dangerous. “It’s easy to say we’re dealing with one president. But we have to be conscious of the precedent an impeachment creates. It is not meant to be a mechanism used just because you don’t like a president or his policies. We wouldn’t want it to become a routine process down the road.�
5. A president has never been convicted and removed from office. “Both Andrew Johnson [in 1868] and Bill Clinton [in 1998] were impeached by the House, but neither was convicted in the Senate. Richard Nixon most likely would have been impeached and convicted by both branches, but he resigned in 1974 before any votes could take place.�
6. No one knows who will ultimately win. “The court of public opinion will decide if impeachment is fair or unfair. After Bill Clinton’s impeachment, the Democrats actually gained a few seats in the House of Representatives. In fact, President Clinton enjoyed his highest approval rating during his final two years in office — as high as 73 percent.�
7. Impeachment can be really messy. “The case against President Clinton revolved around his sexual relationship with Monica Lewinski. Ironically, Gingrich initiated the impeachment … and then resigned because of his own affair before the vote even took place. Bob Livingston replaced Gingrich. I was there when Livingston also resigned because of an affair, about a month after he’d become speaker-designate. Like I said, you never know who will win in the end.�
8. Everyone has to keep moving forward. “I remember a surreal moment on the floor of Congress when the U.S. was involved in bombing strikes against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. This was during impeachment discussions. Impeachment proceedings did not put a stop to everything else.�
9. We live in a charged era. “People now see things through very partisan filters — it’s all or nothing. Yes, our government needs the checks and balances, but it’s also set up for everyone to work together, despite disagreements. This president, however, hasn’t necessarily set a unified tone. Everyone in D.C. needs to remember the responsibility they have to do what’s best for the people.�
10. Once the process starts, you can’t rein it back in. “The impeachment train has left the station. History will tell us where it’s about to take us — good or bad.�

Bersia started working at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ in 2001, later became a special assistant to the president for Global Perspectives, and was the executive producer and host of a weekly WÂ鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ TV show by the same name, covering diplomacy, world affairs, human trafficking and other issues.

He was viewed by many of his colleagues and students as a global citizen, always pushing education, fairness and international awareness with the goal of a peaceful world.

“John gave Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and Central Florida a wealth of opportunities to learn about the world and to tackle our toughest challenges, particularly human trafficking and modern slavery,â€� says interim President Thad Seymour Jr.

“He brought many distinguished world leaders to campus and also speakers who challenged us to actively help human trafficking victims and others who had no voice. We will forever be thankful that John has made us a stronger, more civic-minded and more compassionate campus community.�

Harriet L. Elam-Thomas, a former ambassador to Senegal and director of the university’s diplomacy program, says she came to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ as the State Department’s diplomat in residence for one year but remained 16 years because of Bersia, “who always demonstrated the human touchâ€� in his approach to community and world issues.

“John was the epitome of civility. Global Perspective staff, interns and fellows gained academic and life leadership skills throughout their affiliation with the Global Perspectives Office,â€� she says. “Thanks to John’s commitment to inform and expose the broader Central Florida community to international and domestic thought leaders, this community is well informed and able to make wise decisions on globally focused and culturally sensitive issues. The Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and the surrounding community present a comprehensive face of America, thanks to the insight, outreach and selflessness of John Bersia.â€�

Dean Michael Johnson of the College of Sciences, of which Global Perspectives is a part, says Bersia dedicated many years of providing students “an opportunity to be part of the world.�

“What John knew is that the world has become very small, and our students are going to live in a world where they’re going to work and compete with people from every part of the globe,� Johnson says. “John played a key role in opening doors for students and faculty to interact, learn and engage with different cultures.�

Bersia grew up in Winter Park and earned his bachelor’s degree in political science/international relations and French at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ in 1977. He went on to receive a master’s in government/foreign policy from Georgetown University, a master’s in public information administration at The American University, and a master’s in international relations from the University of London.

Before coming to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, Bersia worked in the global political-risk analysis and publishing business, was as an adjunct professor on international affairs at Rollins College, and served on the Orlando Sentinel’s editorial board for 16 years, when his series of editorials on predatory payday-loan practices, “Fleeced in Florida,â€� won a Pulitzer Prize in 2000 and prompted the Florida Legislature to make changes in regulations of loan companies.

He helped establish the Center for the Study of Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery, was board chairman of the World Affairs Council of Central Florida, and served in various roles with numerous organizations and programs on and off campus to promote global peace and security.

“John was my friend for more than 30 years. In his hometown, and even in our university, few realize how greatly respected and admired he has long been throughout the world,â€� says Distinguished Professor of Global Affairs James Bacchus and director of ±«°ä¹ó’s Center for Global Economic & Environmental Opportunity. “John laid much of the foundation for the emergence of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ as a global institution – a foundation on which we will continue to build for many years to come.”

To highlight that foundation and the impact and legacy of the Global Perspectives interviews hosted by Bersia, WÂ鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ will broadcast a special retrospective at 9:30 a.m. March 31.

“John worked tirelessly to bring attention to important issues and to help bridge cultural divides,â€� says Phil Hoffman, WÂ鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ executive director. “He was able to combine his passion for education with a real depth of knowledge to bring an understanding of the world to Central Florida audiences.â€�

Bersia is survived by his wife, Renee Johnson, and a stepdaughter.

Services will be held at noon March 30, at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, 4001 Edgewater Drive, Orlando. 

Attendees will gain expert insights on various aspects of transatlantic relations, including military, economic, and human security. Guest speakers for the 2018 Florida International Summit include Jennifer Clinton, President and CEO of Cultural Vistas, Amb. Luis C.deBaca, former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Mark Hertling, former Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe, James Bacchus, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Distinguished University Professor of Global Affairs, and Amb. Harriet Elam-Thomas, Director of ±«°ä¹ó’s Diplomacy Program. The event will also feature the winners of a student poster competition.

This event will take place in the Cape Florida Ballroom, on the third floor of the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Student Union. Check-in for the event will open at 8:30 a.m., and the event will run from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Because a light breakfast and lunch are provided, advance registration is required. To register, please email global@ucf.edu. Registration is free, thanks to event sponsors, and all are welcome to attend.
More about FNGS
The Florida International Summit is the signature, annual event of the Florida Network for Global Studies (FNGS), a consortium of Florida universities that alternately host or co-host the Summit. This year, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, through the Global Perspectives Office, will serve as host. Each of the participating FNGS universities – FIU, FSU, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, UF, UNF and USF – has established programs that, in one form or another, seek to advance the exchange of information on change taking place in an increasingly globalized world. For more information about FNGS or the Florida International Summit, please email global@ucf.edu or visit .

Sorvino’s breakout acting role was in Woody Allen’s Mighty Aphrodite in 1995. Since, she has acted in multiple films and television series, including the 2005 Lifetime miniseries Human Trafficking. The show depicted the lives of young women and children forced into commercial sexual exploitation and labor trafficking. Her work with this series led to her 2007 appointment as Goodwill Ambassador to Combat Human Trafficking for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, a position she continues to hold. In this role, Sorvino has traveled extensively, met with survivors, raised awareness, testified before the U.S. Senate and addressed the UN General Assembly. She is an ardent supporter of survivor empowerment and women’s rights.

The event is at 3 p.m. in the Student Union’s Pegasus Ballroom, and is free and open to the public. It is being hosted by Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Global Perspectives Office as part of Women’s History Month. For more information about the event, please visit .

Representatives from the military, private sector and academia came together last week to address these questions for the 2017 Florida International Summit, “Cyber Strategy in a Globally Connected World.â€� The summit, hosted this year by USF World, is the signature annual event of the Florida Network for Global Studies (FNGS), an educational consortium consisting of FIU, FSU, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, UF, UNF and USF.

USF Vice President of USF World Dr. Roger Brindley welcomed attendees before showing opening remarks from USF President Dr. Judy Genshaft via a video message. Afterwards, he introduced USF Provost and Executive Vice President Dr. Ralph Wilcox, who thanked presenters and recognized esteemed guests. All welcoming and opening remarks underscored the importance of partnership in addressing complex issues, and highlighted the work of FNGS in helping leverage each university’s unique set of resources to contribute to these meaningful events.

After an introduction by Dr. Ted Reynolds, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Visiting Lecturer on Intelligence and Terrorism and Senior Research Fellow in Terrorism Studies, Brigadier General Ryan P. Heritage delivered the morning keynote. Heritage is the Deputy Director of Future Operations for the U.S. Cyber Command, or Cybercom for short. He jumped right into the topic of cybersecurity by giving a brief overview of his background, Cybercom’s structure and the challenges he felt the U.S. cybersecurity sector is facing. He stated that “we need a workforce as dynamic as the environment in which they work,â€� after stressing the volatile nature of the cyber environment. Heritage also emphasized the importance of normalization of that environment, creating cyber “rules of the road,â€� since so few currently exist.

Reynolds moderated the first panel, which addressed cybersecurity and policy within critical infrastructure. The panel featured Mark Clancy, who works extensively in technology risk management within the financial sector, most recently with the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation as managing director of Technology Risk Management; Hafid Elabdellaoui, Managing Director of Cybersecurity & IT Compliance for Duke Energy; and George Grachis, Senior Security Compliance Consultant for Maxis360, an auditing company that evaluates risks to cybersecurity for various companies. The panelists described the nature of cyber threats in their industries, how they operate and what actions could strengthen cybersecurity. All three agreed that “cyber is a team sport,” that starts with responsible players.

For the financial sector, Clancy emphasized the need to increase the cost of conducting cyber attacks. One attack method can be replicated a on a hundred different targets with the click of a button. Currently, he said, defending or recovering from such attacks is ten times more expensive than performing them. Elabdellaoui explained that in the energy sector, sharing information about attacks is one way to balance that asymmetry. He stressed the importance of establishing strong relationships with government and industry partners before cyber attacks happen. Grachis outlined cyber breach risks in the healthcare industry, including personnel files, patient records and even medical devices like insulin pumps and pacemakers. Increasing employee awareness, he said, and avoiding basic threats like clicking links from unknown email senders, can increase the number of conscientious “cybercitizens.� A hot topic for both the keynote speaker and the panelists was the issue of organized cyber attacks from state actors. “Let’s just say, you can see Russia from your router,� Clancy joked as he left the podium, to which Heritage gave a wry chuckle.

The second panel focused on workforce development, and was led by Sri Sridharan, Director of the Florida Center for Cybersecurity. The panel addressed the topic of the incredible shortage of cybersecurity personnel in the coming years. “A 1.5 million person shortage is expected by 2020,� Sridharan explained. The panel featured Dr. Eman El-Sheikh, Director of the Center for Cybersecurity and Professor of Computer Science at the University of West Florida; Admiral Mike McConnell, Senior Executive Advisor of Booz Allen Hamilton, and former Director of National Intelligence; and Mike Russo, Director of Information Security and Privacy for Florida State University, and former Chief Information Security Officer for the State of Florida. These individuals, because of their backgrounds, not only represented local, state and national perspectives on workforce development, but also perspectives on academic, governmental and private-sector workforce trends.

All panelists agreed that a shortage would not be “fixed” with government policy alone, because of the slow speed of the bureaucratic process. McConnell gave two examples. Educators, he said, “cannot agree on what a degree in cybersecurity looks like,” and that “the government does not have a plan to fill these jobs.” Russo voiced his belief the private sector will be the solution to the shortage. El-Sheikh offered some solutions such as internships and co-ops to increase cybersecurity graduates’ real-world experience. She stressed that educational institutions should view cybersecurity as multidisciplinary to increase new participants beyond computer science majors. A question from the audience about high school students participating in boot camps and obtaining certifications before entering university met with resounding enthusiasm from the panelists.

Before concluding the conference, Dr. Kiki Caruson, USF Assistant Vice President for Research, Innovation and Global Affairs, provided a summary of key takeaways. All presenters stressed the importance of cultivating a culture of cyber awareness. She noted the role of education, the need to start early and echoed the resounding lesson from all presenters about personal cybersecurity best practices: When it comes to emails, “don’t click the link!�

The summit was hosted by USF World in partnership with FNGS, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Global Perspectives, the Florida Center for Cybersecurity and the Global Connections Foundation.

Since 2001, Bersia has helped shape global initiatives at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½. A year ago, he was invited by Global Ties to participate in its work, including strategic planning. He described those duties as “opening the door more widely to international-exchange planning and programming, access that will benefit Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½.”

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ offices, departments, colleges and other units have been involved in hosting international, professional exchanges for years in cooperation with the local Global Ties affiliate, the World Affairs Council of Central Florida. Bersia has been chairman of the council since 2015.

Bersia, who is a Pulitzer laureate, has worked with international visitors more than 30 years – many of them from the fields of journalism and communication.

“Now that the Global Ties board has offered me the privilege of a seat at the national level, the opportunities are virtually unlimited – including for Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ as it strives to expand its international experience and affiliations. More potential partners will be introduced to us through Global Ties,â€� Bersia said.

The organization uses the international exchanges to take on the challenges of a rapidly changing, increasingly complex world environment. The goal of its exchanges is to build bridges across borders, diminish and eliminate stereotypes, and encourage connections that contribute to peace, security, stability and prosperity.

Global Ties maintains a network that coordinates international exchanges, and organizes visits to the United States by leaders from across the globe. Its partner organizations in 45 states and 13 countries, supported by 38,000 volunteers, facilitate these programs. The international visitors and the communities that host them learn from each other, develop mutual understanding and, ideally, forge enduring relationships.

At Global Ties, Bersia is joining a board of directors that is drawn from the senior ranks of business, academic and nonprofit organizations. His board term will begin in February.

In an effort to continue his grandfather’s legacy, Mandela is the co-founder and chairman of the Africa Rising Foundation, which is dedicated to promoting a positive image of Africa around the world and increasing its potential for growth in education, employment and international corporate alliances. Previously, Mandela served as a political consultant at Japan’s embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, and worked in business development.

In 2012, Mandela was instrumental in creating the United Nations’ International Day of Happiness. As a result of his work, he was named one of the “28 Men of Change� by Black Entertainment Television in 2014.

The Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ forum is open to the public.

Over the course of two days, Feb. 6-7, seven teams of students – each assisted by an experienced mentor – worked together to create negotiation strategies in order to ease tensions between Greek and Turkish Cypriots at a simulated U.N. peace conference. Teams represented the European Union, U.S., U.K., Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. A week before the exercise, participants received historical briefs on the regional stalemate as well as objectives specific to their assigned countries.

Retired Ambassador Harriet Elam-Thomas, who directs ±«°ä¹ó’s Diplomacy Program, served as the exercise’s U.N. Special Representative. Referencing her own experience working with Greece, Turkey and Cyprus, she encouraged students to pursue compromise without overlooking the positions and goals of their countries.

As rounds of structured meetings gave way to student-initiated negotiations, delegates learned that many countries had competing goals, though they were still charged with improving relations in the region and with participating countries. While the results of the exercise did not “solve� the situation in Cyprus, students experienced firsthand the interplay among diplomacy, the military, the economy and social welfare. The aim of the exercise was to help emerging leaders develop skills in teamwork, communication, and strategy formulation and execution.

The exercise was run by a team from the Army War College, including Clausen, Ritchie L. Dion (Clausen’s Strategic Communication Operations Specialist), Major Dennis C. Davis and Major Joseph C. Chretien.
At the end of the exercise, a final debriefing allowed students and facilitators to comment on the process and results. Bersia noted, “For two days, our students stepped from the academic world into the work world. They took on complicated, enduring challenges with seriousness and purpose – and came up with insightful and creative solutions. After observing their performance, I was more confident than ever about passing the baton to the next generation.â€� Dion echoed that sentiment by stating that what the Army War College found was “a group of well-motivated individuals who were more than ready to excel in this type of event.”

In addition to the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Global Perspectives Office and the Army War College, sponsors and partners included the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Political Science Department, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Global Peace and Security Studies Program, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Terrorism Studies Program, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Diplomacy Program, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd Program for Strategic Research and Studies and the Global Connections Foundation.

More information about this exercise, including participant names and feedback, can be found here.

The Feb. 26 event included two addresses and three panel discussions. Each presentation provided insights into opportunities and challenges for society and development in different areas of the world. Presenters included academics, practitioners and government officials.

Summit co-hosts John C. Bersia, Special Assistant to the President for Global Perspectives at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, and John Mayo, Professor and Dean Emeritus of the College of Communication and Information at FSU, opened the conference. They acknowledged the special international-education role played by FNGS – which, in addition to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and FSU includes FIU, UF, UNF and USF – and provided an overview of the day’s program.

David M. Luna, who serves as Senior Director for Anti-Crime Programs in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs at the U.S. Department of State (DOS), gave the opening address. He offered a global assessment on the nature of and U.S. response to organized crime, corruption, money laundering, terrorist financing, cybercrime, drug smuggling, human trafficking and environmental crime. Echoing sentiments of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, Luna noted “the world is a mess� but urged the audience to find ways to “fix it together.� He underscored the importance of collaborative partnerships across communities and borders. The transcript of his address can be found here at the DOS website.

A panel discussion was next, with an outlook for Europe. Emek Uçarer, an international relations professor at Bucknell University, discussed human trafficking and institutional responses. Tim Cullen, Commissioner for the Financial Services Commission, Isle of Man, spoke about battling financial corruption. Senior Research Fellow in Terrorism Studies Ted Reynolds, of the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Global Perspectives Office, discussed terrorism and politically extreme parties that have emerged and strengthened as a result. He also moderated the panel. Reynolds concluded by indicating that many of the interrelated issues of human trafficking, financial corruption and political violence have created a “pressure-cookerâ€� environment in Europe.

The following panel, moderated by Steve McDowell, John H. Phipps Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at FSU’s College of Communication and Information, focused on South Asia. Persis Khambatta, BowerGroupAsia Senior Director for South Asia, compared the progress of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, noting that “Sri Lanka is in the news for all the right reasons, and Bangladesh is in the news for all of the wrong reasons.� Govind Mohan, Economic Minister for the Embassy of India, discussed the potential for greater economic cooperation between the United States and India. Convergence Center for Policy Resolution co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Aakif Ahmad ended by talking about prospects for Pakistan, underscoring the favorable possibilities for human and economic development during the long term.

Serhii Plokhy, who directs Harvard University’s Ukrainian Research Institute, delivered the luncheon address. Freshly arrived from Ukraine, he offered first-person perspectives on the situation there, and bridged discussions on Europe and South Asia by highlighting Russia’s geographic, military and historical ties to both regions. Drawing lessons from his recent book, “The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union,� Plokhy advised that understanding the histories of Ukraine, Russia and the Crimea region is the key to unraveling the current difficulties.

The final panel, moderated by Jessica Gagnon, Public Affairs Coordinator for the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Global Perspectives Office, addressed Latin America and the Caribbean. Janice P. Holness, Executive Director of the Financial Services Commission in Jamaica, shared her experiences collaborating across borders to root out money laundering and drug trafficking. UF anthropology professor Ieva Jusionyte discussed the importance of better understanding the origins of human-trafficking activity. Bruce Wilson, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ professor of political science, shared his research on corruption and anti-corruption measures in Latin America.

All presenters stressed the need for transparency, accountability, on-going dialogue and cross-border collaboration to respond to the challenges presented to human society and development covered at the summit.

More information about the summit, including presenter biographies and event sponsors, is available here.