Boston Global Forum (BGF) proudly presents the letter of our chairman, Governor Michael Dukakis, introducing new BGF’s initiatives of 2016. These include the BGF-G7 Summit Initiative, the BGF’s G7 Weekly, and the Global Citizenship Education for Peace, Security and Development program.
Read his letter below.
Gov. Michael Dukakis
Chairman, Boston Global Forum.
Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Northeastern University.
Three-term governor of Massachusetts, United States.
The 1988 Democratic Party nominee for president of the United States.
921 Renaissance Park 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115
Boston, Jan. 24, 2016
Dear friends:
I am writing as a co-founder and the chairman of Boston Global Forum, an action-oriented think tank based in Boston, which brings together thought leaders from around the world to discuss major international issues and to propose innovative solutions to improve human welfare around the world.
In 2016, we are introducing these new initiatives:
* The BGF-G7 Summit Initiative.
* The BGF’s G7 Weekly.
* A BGF program that we call Global Citizenship Education for Peace, Security and Development.
As you know, the annual G7 summit convenes the leaders of seven major industrial democracies to discuss major issues of peace, security and development.
As we approach this year’s G7 Summit, which will be held in Japan on May 26-27, the Boston Global Forum will cooperate with the Japanese government, as the host country of the summit, to convene leading scholars as well as political, business, technology and other leaders to generate solutions for the most pressing global peace, security and development issues.
Proposals will then be sent to the leaders of the seven nations at the summit. A similar program will be held every year before each G7 summit.
As part of this initiative, the BGF is launching this year what will be annual 60-minute-long online dialogues, at each of which an internationally known speaker – usually a scholar or government, business or technology leader — will present his/her perspective on an issue, followed by interactions among 100 discussants participating online from locations around the world.
There will be 12 of these online dialogues, with the first on Feb. 2
Discussants will include scholars and leaders from various fields, some from the younger generation.
A particular issue will be selected as the focus of these discussions each year. This year’s main topic will be “Strategies for Combating Cyberterrorism’’.
After the formal sessions, discussants will continue the conversation as they send questions and opinions to each other by email. Members of the Boston Global Forum’s Special Editorial Board will gather their insights and send them to the speaker.
A final conference, to be held May 9 at the Harvard University Faculty Club, will summarize ideas from these dialogues and report them to the national leaders meeting soon thereafter in Japan.
The BGF’s G7 Weekly is a weekly report with contributions from major scholars, business leaders, private- and public-sector policymakers and other thought leaders who will be involved in the above initiatives
BGF’s Global Citizenship Education for Peace, Security and Development program will collaborate with the Global Citizenship Education Program of the University of California at Los Angeles, under the leadership of Marcello Suarez-Orozco, dean of the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies (GSE&IS), and Prof. Carlos Torres, the UNESCO-UCLA Chair of the program.
We look forward to your participation in our new initiatives, especially the BGF-G7 Summit Initiative, to help build a safer international cyber-environment.
Please contact us at [email protected] with any questions.
Thank you very much for your time and consideration.
Michael S. Dukakis
Chairman