SPRINGFIELD — The World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts will present an Instant Issues lunchtime discussion with Kristen Rupert — a consultant and former senior vice president and executive director of Associated Industries of Massachusetts’ (AIM) International Business Council — on “Global Trade Turmoil: Challenges, Implications, & Opportunities.” The program will take place on Wednesday, May 28 from noon to 1 p.m. at 1350 Main St., ninth-floor gallery, in downtown Springfield.

The cost is $5 for World Affairs Council members without lunch provided, $20 for members with a lunch, $10 for non-members without a lunch, and $25 for non-members with a lunch. Registration deadline for a lunch provided is Friday, May 23. To register or for more information, visit wacwestma.org or call (413) 733-0110.

Rupert served nearly 20 years as senior vice president and executive director of AIM’s International Business Council. Since 2024, she has been providing strategy consulting to nonprofit organizations. She has helped Massachusetts companies navigate international business challenges, including supply chain issues, tariffs, and new regulations. She also assisted employers in their efforts to identify and enter new overseas markets. She produced a biweekly international newsletter, organized symposia and conferences, spoke on corporate panels, authored op-eds and blogs, lectured at universities, and served on advisory boards for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Assoc. of Manufacturers in Washington, D.C.

Rupert also traveled with Massachusetts Govs. Deval Patrick and Charlie Baker on trade missions to Europe, Central America, South America, the Middle East, Canada, and the Caribbean, advocating for further international business relationships for companies in the Commonwealth.

The Instant Issues series is sponsored by Wilbraham & Monson Academy and Sir Speedy, with special thanks to NAI Plotkin.

SPRINGFIELD — The World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts will present an Instant Issues lunchtime discussion event featuring Alberto Fierro Garza, Mexican consul general in Boston, on Wednesday, Dec. 11 at noon, in the ninth-floor gallery at 1350 Main St. in downtown Springfield. He will speak on “Challenges for the U.S./Mexico Bilateral Relationship with the Two New Administrations.”

Fierro Garza has been a member of Mexico’s Diplomatic Corps since 1993. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he has also served as director general for Educational and Cultural Cooperation and deputy director general for North America. He previously served as the consul of Mexico in Orlando, Fla. and in St. Paul, Minn.

The cost is $5 for World Affairs Council members without lunch provided, $20 for members with a lunch, $10 for non-members without a lunch, and $25 for non-members with a lunch. Registration deadline for a lunch provided is Wednesday, Dec. 4. To register or for more information, visit wacwestma.org or call (413) 733-0110.

The Instant Issues series is sponsored by M&T Bank, Wilbraham & Monson Academy, and Sir Speedy, with special thanks to NAI Plotkin.

SPRINGFIELD — On Wednesday, March 9 at noon, the World Affairs Council will present author Constantine Pleshakov at an Instant Issues webinar on Russia’s Foreign Policy in the 21st Century.

A former foreign-policy analyst at the Institute of U.S. and Canada Studies in Moscow, Pleshakov emigrated to America in 1998. He has published six books on geopolitics, war, and revolution, translated into 12 languages. His most recent book is The Crimean Nexus: Putin’s War and the Clash of Civilizations. Other titles include The Tsar’s Last Armada: The Epic Voyage to the Battle of Tsushima, Stalin’s Folly: The Tragic First Ten Days of World War II on the Eastern Front, and There Is No Freedom Without Bread! 1989 and the Civil War That Brought Down Communism. A native of Yalta in Crimea, he is currently a visiting professor at Amherst College.

The program will be moderated by a longtime member and friend of the council, Stephen Jones, professor of Russian Studies at Mount Holyoke College and co-author of Georgia: From Autocracy to Democracy.

This event is free and open to the public. Click here to register.

SPRINGFIELD — Today, Dec. 13, at noon, the World Affairs Council will present an Instant Issues Online webinar featuring Gedeon Werner, Novak Family Endowed Polish Chair at the School of Business at Quinnipiac University, on “Poland’s Quarrel With the EU: A Prelude to Polexit?”

Werner combines both academic teaching and leadership of the American Polish Business Leadership Scholarship program. Through this program, aspiring young Polish business professionals complete their MBA studies at Quinnipiac University and are provided with the opportunity to gain substantial working experience in American businesses. Werner also conceptualized and developed the Global Business Affairs Polish Certificate program to be offered at the School of Business. He serves on the board of directors of the the Polish Center of Discovery and Learning at Elms College.

World Affairs Council board member Michael Sweeney will moderate the program. The event is free and open to the public. To register, click here.