Affiliations and Strategic Relations

We are affiliated with the World Affairs Councils of America and GLOBAL TIES US.

We believe we have a strategic but not formal relationship with The Office of International Visitors, U.S. Department of State, Port of Corpus Christi Authority, the City of Corpus Christi, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi, and the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corporation.

The World Affairs Councils of America traces its earliest roots to 1918, when the League of Free Nations Association was formed by 141 distinguished Americans, including the social reformer Paul Kellogg, to support President Woodrow Wilson’s efforts to achieve a just peace. At the end of World War, I, the Association’s founders were concerned that Americans would choose isolationism over a foreign policy based on international engagement. They worked to promote and nurture public awareness of critical international issues affecting the U.S., and in 1923 reconstituted the organization as the Foreign Policy Association. John Foster Dulles and Eleanor Roosevelt were among the FPA’s incorporators.

Citizen discussion groups and FPA branches began to form and spread in the 1920s,1930s, and after World War II – forerunners of the independent World Affairs Councils of subsequent decades. In 1954, the Great Decisions program was launched in Oregon. Based on the annual briefing book prepared by FPA’s editors, Great Decisions has become the largest nonpartisan public education program on international affairs in the world. The FPA consolidated its operations into its New York City headquarters in the 1980s while the network of independent councils on world affairs continued to flourish.

In 1986, the National Council of World Affairs Organizations office was established in Washington, DC. The organization was renamed the World Affairs Councils of America, and today WACA serves more than 90 World Affairs Councils nationwide, in 40 states and the District of Columbia.

In an age of globalization and a rapidly shifting international order, we believe that our mission – engaging the public and leaders to better understand global affairs and America’s role in the world – is more vital than ever. They have a strong national Annual Meeting which our members are welcome to attend.

GLOBAL TIES US was founded in 1961.

It is a non-profit corporation in Washington DC, formed at the request of the US Department of State, to build and maintain a network of local organizations who were qualified to host Department of State international visors.

Global Ties U.S. provides our members—from large, national organizations to smaller, community-based ones across 45 states and 15 countries—with connections, leadership development, and professional resources, so that they are the strongest, most effective organizations they can be. We provide our members with programs and services that:

  • Develop their leadership and management capacities
  • Strengthen their abilities to design high-quality professional programs, cultural activities, and hospitality for exchange participants
  • Involve ordinary Americans in building mutual understanding between people and nations

They have a strong national Annual Meeting which our board members are welcome to attend.