Foreign Policy Association (FPA)

TL;DR -- This post is about the FPA which is 100 years old and which has a mission fostering discussion about the U.S. and its foreign policies. Their purpose is to inform, engage, and inspire. Timely discussion about the upcoming election is one goal for 2024. 

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Recently, we were reminded of the FPA and its offshoot discussion group. On reviewing their material, we had to write this post since it deals with U.S. policy, is over 100 years old, and has transitioned into the new age by having a web prescence. The reminder was via meetings held regularly at an educational institute. But, lots of organizations have sponsored meetings. As well, this is an open forum and relates to foreign policy of the U.S. 

The About FPA page of the Foreign Policy Association covers their mission plus it gives a brief history starting in the 1920s. The FPA was "founded in 1918 as the League of Free Nations Association" which was post WWI. Among the incorporators were John Foster Dulles and Eleanor Roosevelt. Both of these are of New England heritage. 

Before going further, let's stop and look at another group that was here and abroad: Lyceum Movement (post dated in May 2017). This started in the U.S. in New England and spread across the country. We read of small towns in the interior of the country being part of the movement. The focus was literature. Along that same line, there have been many attempts at magazines during the time of the U.S., some of which were literary in focus: Magazines and people. 

Getting back to the FPA, naturally, topics of interest have changed over the years. For 2023, the topics were quite contemporary. Some of these may have been in vogue longer than other. The image shows the topics being discussed in 2023. For all of the topics, there are resources which include recommended reading as well as a listing of discussion groups that might be near the reader. 

Over all of this time, the FPA has been doing "Opinion ballots" and reporting the results. We will do another post on these results. 

Let's close with the Mission Statement of the FPA: ... "serve as a catalyst for developing awareness, understanding, and informed opinion on U.S. foreign policy and global issues." 

So, their pseudo-motto might be: Inform; Engage; and Inspire.  

Remarks: Modified: 02/22/2024

02/22/2024 --