The work of The Chicago Council on Global Affairs over the past two years (2007-2009), detailed in the fall 2009 issue of Communiqué, has been guided by strategic objectives approved by the Board in June 2005. As with any plan, the Council has made adjustments and dealt with setbacks, in particular the 2008-2009 financial crisis and recession. Overall, however, the Council has made excellent progress toward its long-term goals of broadening the reach of its Chicago forum, expanding its studies on policies relevant to the American heartland, enhancing its reputation beyond Chicago, and strengthening its annual and long-term finances.  

The Council’s historic mission is to inform and stimulate public discussion in Chicago of world affairs and the U.S. role in the world. Over the last two years, the Council has organized an average of 165 programs per year responding to current events, such as the 2008 presidential election, and exploring issues of lasting significance, such as the role of religion in international affairs. The Council’s Chicago audiences, including the public, the corporate community, civic leaders, educators, and young professionals, have steadily increased.

The Council also looks to Chicago’s future as a global city. Chicago Council senior fellow Michael Moskow leads a Global Economy Roundtable, formed in spring 2008, to facilitate exchanges between the city’s business, government, and thought leaders and prominent American and international experts. The Hart and Koldyke Fellowship programs bring social entrepreneurs from around the world here to interact with their Chicago counterparts. The Emerging Leaders Program, established in 2007, trains Chicago’s future leaders in the intricacies of a globalizing world. In 2008, the Council worked with AT Kearney and Foreign Policy Magazine to create a Global Cities Index, a ranking of 50 cities around the world. Chicago ranked 8th overall.

While Chicago may be thriving in a global era, much of the Midwest is struggling. In 2008, The Chicago Council launched its Global Midwest Initiative to examine the region’s response to global economic change. Inspired by senior fellow Richard Longworth’s book, Caught in the Middle, the Council sponsored two major conferences, published a series of Heartland Papers and Policy Briefs, and launched globalmidwest.org, as resources for decision-makers throughout the Midwest.

The Chicago Council’s contributions to national policy discussions focus on five broad areas where the interests of Chicago and the Midwest intersect most powerfully with national and international concerns: public opinion, the global economy, agriculture and food, migration and the migrant experience, and energy. Over the last two years, the Council’s public opinion studies, including a comparative study of soft power in East Asia and a study of American opinion on a range of international issues, broke new ground and continue to receive media and scholarly attention.

Building on its 2006 study of U.S. farm policy, the Council turned its attention in 2008 to a major examination of global food security and the role the United States should play in reducing hunger and poverty through agricultural development. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with the largest-ever Chicago Council project grant, the February 2009 report has been cited by Secretaries Clinton and Vilsack as the blueprint for the Obama administration’s global food security initiative. The Council also focused on the growing energy and climate change debate and implications for Midwestern economic competitiveness. The June 2009 report, Embracing the Future, provides a roadmap for the region to move to a new energy economy with or without federal legislation, and has been cited by The Economist and other media.

Finally, as The Chicago Council on Global Affairs has expanded its range and reach, it has remained financially sound. Thanks to the generous support of Board members, other major donors, members, and a number of foundations, the Council’s budget has grown steadily. As the 2008-2009 financial crisis unfolded, however, the Council moved quickly to reduce its expenses and ensure that its budget would remain balanced and its operations sound for the longer term. 

This all is possible because of the vision and wisdom of The Chicago Council’s chairman, Lester Crown. To him and the Council’s vice chairs, John Manley, Shirley Ryan, and Michael Moskow, as well as other Board members, I want to express my deepest appreciation. I am also profoundly grateful to the Council’s talented and dedicated staff members, who through these challenging times have kept the institution moving forward. 

With best regards,

 
Marshall M. Bouton
President                                                                                                                              

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