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Chicago Council on Global Affairs

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The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, founded in 1922 as The Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, is an independent, nonpartisan organization committed to influencing the discourse on global issues through contributions to opinion and policy formation, leadership dialogue, and public learning.

The Chicago Council hosts public programs and private events featuring world leaders and experts with views on global topics. The council runs task forces, conferences, studies, and leadership dialogue.

Activities

The council provides its members, policymakers, and the general public with a forum for the consideration of international issues and their bearing on American public policy. It organizes more than 150 meetings each year, including lectures, seminars, conferences, and a travel program, and hosts policymakers and foreign experts from around the world.

The council produces publications, including a biennial public opinion survey, and reports generated by task forces convened to study a specific issue. Recent task force topics have included:

  • "Engaging China and India: An Economic Agenda for Japan and the United States"
  • "Modernizing America's Farm and Food Policy: Vision for a New Direction"
  • "A Shared Future: The Economic Engagement of Greater Chicago and Its Mexican Community"
  • Global Cities Index: Foreign Policy magazine, global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney and The Chicago Council on Global Affairs published the inaugural Global Cities Index in October 2008. The index is a ranking of the ways in which cities are integrating with the rest of the world. The Global Cities Index ranks cities’ metro areas according to 24 parameters across five dimensions - business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience, and political engagement[7]

Michelle Obama was listed as a director on the Chicago Council website until her husband started gaining more attention during the 2008 Democratic nomination race.

History

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs was founded as the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations on February 20, 1922. At its inception, the council included 23 members with the purpose of opposing what they viewed as U.S. isolationism during the first World War.