Naval Academy Foreign Affairs Conference (NAFAC)
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The Naval Academy Foreign Affairs Conference (NAFAC) is the largest undergraduate foreign affairs conference in the United States. Providing a forum for addressing pressing international concerns since 1961, NAFAC seeks to explore current, demanding issues from both a civilian and military perspective. Held at the picturesque and prestigious United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, NAFAC brings together future Navy and Marine Corps officers and their civilian counterparts to share ideas and concerns relating to international affairs.
One of the nation's premier forums for promising young leaders to interact and grow, NAFAC boasts an impressive list of recent high-profile speakers, to include: President George H.W. Bush, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, and General Wesley Clark.
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[edit] Structure
Each year a unique theme is chosen for NAFAC; noteworthy individuals with expertise in relevant fields are then invited to address the conference delegates. These scores of delegates represent colleges from across the United States and around the globe; conference attendees bring with them unique attitudes and approaches that, through discussion and interaction, come to enlighten the thinking of others.
A rich variety of lectures provides delegates access to prominent leaders and thinkers; meanwhile, small-group roundtable discussions offer students the opportunity to explore specific areas more in-depth. In this way, NAFAC fulfils its mission of creating an atmosphere open to rich discussion and intellectual thought on significant international problems.
It is worth noting that the entire conference is organized and run by United States Naval Academy students--known as "midshipmen"--in a highly professional and efficient manner. These future officers of the Navy and Marine Corps also serve as delegates and moderators during the event.
[edit] NAFAC Today
On April 19, 2007, delegates will arrive in Annapolis for the commencement of the 47th annual Naval Academy Foreign Affairs Conference. The topic to be addressed this year is "Asia at the Crossroads." In addition to attending several lecture presentations, delegates will form fourteen roundtable groups to analyze the most urgent and controversial issues facing Asia today.
[edit] Roundtable Topics
- Proliferation: North Korea Nuclear Crisis
- Is there a Beijing Consensus? China, India, and the East AsianModel
- Human Insecurities: Poverty and Epidemics
- Energy Competition: China, India, and Japan
- The Environmental Challenge: India and China
- East Asia's Underworld: Transnational Crime
- The Future of the US - Japan Alliance
- Sino-Japanese Rivalry
- Financial Crisis: 1997-1998 and Beyond
- The Taiwan Issue
- The War on Terror: The Second Front in Southeast Asia
- Democratic Transition in Southeast Asia
- Challenges of Statebuilding in Southeast Asia
- Demographic Turbulence and Regional Security
Further information and a schedule of events can be accessed at: www.usna.edu/nafac [1].
[edit] Recent NAFAC Topics
1996 - A New Multilaterlism
1997 - The Struggle for Democracy
1998 - Asia Rising?
1999 - Keeping Peace
2000 - Civil-Military Relations
2001 - Terrorism
2002 - Central and Southwest Asia
2003 - Strangers in a Common Land: Preserving Isreal and Palestine
2004 - Post-War Reconstruction: Iraq
2005 - Power and Purpose: Defining America's Role in the World
2006 - Africa: Turning Attention into Action
