2025 U.S. Foreign Policy Update

This event is being held in-person and virtually. Save the Date! Registration coming soon.

ATTEND FOR FREE!

Become a new member at the $75 membership level or upgrade your existing membership and receive TWO FREE TICKETS! Please email Alex Albrecht, Membership and Gala Manager with any questions.

The premier foreign policy event of the year is back! Join us for the insightful and popular U.S. Foreign Policy Update with Diplomat in Residence and career Foreign Service Officer, Tom Hanson. We’ll explore foreign policy developments, trends, and challenges facing the U.S. in the year ahead including the impacts of the 2024 presidential election, the continued conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, the expanding influence of the BRICS consortium, and the ongoing struggle towards global peace and security.

Registration will open soon  to Global Minnesota members, their guests, and students. Public registration will open later.

Global Minnesota members are encouraged to bring a guest at the member rate to experience one of our most popular programs. Don’t miss your chance to stay up-to-date on the year’s most impactful developments in international relations!

About Tom Hanson

Thomas Hanson is a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer with the Department of State whose diplomatic postings included East Germany, France, Norway, the Soviet Union, Sweden, and the former Soviet Republic of Georgia.  He also participated in the opening of new U.S. embassies in Mongolia and Estonia, worked on the Foreign Relations Committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and served as Director for NATO and European Affairs at the Atlantic Council of the United States in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Hanson currently is Diplomat in Residence at the Alworth Institute for International Affairs at the University of Minnesota – Duluth and has taught diplomacy at Carleton College.  He also serves as Chair of the Minnesota Committee on Foreign Relations and as Co-Chair of the Minnesota China Business Council. He is a past board member of the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights and Director at the Institute for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (IEECA). He is also a member of the U.S. Foreign Policy Working Group of the British International Studies Association (BISA) as well as the Council of Advisers at the Museum of Russian Art and the Minnesota Peace Initiative (MPI) at Norway House.

As a member of the Great Decisions advisory committee of Global Minnesota, Mr. Hanson speaks frequently on international issues and contributes to local and international media. He delivers an annual US Foreign Policy Update under the auspices of Global Minnesota and the Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

Mr. Hanson holds a BA degree from the University of Minnesota and graduate degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy; the Institute of Advanced International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland; and the National School of Administration (ENA) in Paris, France.

If you require an accessibility accommodation, please contact Events Manager Katie Kelley at [email protected] two weeks ahead of the event.

The University of Minnesota is not endorsing or sponsoring the activities conducted by Global Minnesota on the University of Minnesota campus. The relationship between the University of Minnesota and Global Minnesota is solely that of licensor and licensee.