Great Decisions at the Library - 2025

Great Decisions at the Library 2025

NOTE: DUE TO PARKING AND AND OTHER LOGISTICAL PROBLEMS AT THE LIBRARY, WE ARE MOVING TO BETHANY LUTHERAN CHURCH FOR THE REMAINING GREAT DECISIONS 2025 PROGRAMS.

Sundays from 2 - 3:30 p.m.
Bethany Lutheran Church
7968 Finch Road NE
Free! Refreshment provided.

To Subscribe or resubscribe to the Library U emails about programs such as Great Decisions, click here.

We've selected five of this year's eight Great Decisions topics for in-person discussions.

March 16, 2025 | 2PM - 3:30PM | Bethany Lutheran Church, 7968 Finch Road NE | Free. Light refreshments. Donations appreciated

India: Between China, the West, and the Global South

Moderator: Sunila Kale, professor of South Asia Studies and International Affairs at the U.W. Jackson School of International Studies

India is an emerging major power in world affairs, occupying a pivotal position between China, the United States, and the Global South. Its population size, economy, and geopolitical location ensure that it will be an influential voice in debates and political struggles over global order. What are India's choices and opportunities for regional and global leadership? How will it maneuver between China and the United States, and what is its role as a voice of the Global South? What opportunities exist for Washington to work with India?

Moderator: Sunila Kale, professor of South Asia Studies and International Affairs at the U.W. Jackson School of International Studies. Her research and writing cross the fields of Indian politics and political economy, yoga studies, political economy of development, energy studies, informal labor, and capitalism. Her books include Electrifying India (2014), Mapping Power (2018), and The Yoga of Power: Politcal Thought and Practice in India, which was published this past December by Columbia University Press.

Suggested Readings:
India vs. China: What's really behind their rivalry? A very informative 15-minutes video made in 2024 by DW News, a German public broadcast system (sorry about the annoying pop-up ads).
Five key takeaways from Modi-Trump talks. 14 February 2025, BBC News.
India has undermined a popular myth about development. Extreme poverty in the country has dropped to negligible levels. The Economist, Feb. 27, 2025.
U.S. - India Relations: 1947 - 2025. A pictorial timeline from the Council on Foreign Relations.

2PM - 3:30PM | Bethany Lutheran Church, 7968 Finch Road NE | Free. Light refreshments. Donations appreciated

International Cooperation on Climate Change

Date and Moderator TBA

The 2015 Paris Agreement established a UN-sponsored framework for negotiations on climate change and global warming. In subsequent COP meetings, experts and political leaders have come together seeking common cause for this growing global crisis. What is the future of these efforts, and what have they yielded? What is the U.S. role in fostering cooperation on climate change? In a divided country, what are the possible futures for American policy leadership?

More details soon!

Kathleen Thorne
Martha Bayley
Cindy Harrison
Ki Kilcher
Co-Coordinators
GREAT DECISIONS AT THE LIBRARY
Email:

Now in its eighteenth year, Great Decisions at the Library is part of a nation-wide, non-partisan program of the Foreign Policy Association intended to broaden public involvement in foreign affairs. While enjoying light refreshments, participants first view a 30-minute Foreign Policy Association film on the topic under consideration and then engage in a discussion lead by an informed moderator.

Copies of the Great Decisions Briefing Book can be purchased from the Foreign Policy Association. A copy is available for reading at the Bainbridge Public Library Information Desk.

Great Decisions at the Library is sponsored by the Bainbridge Public Library with funding support from the Bainbridge Island Friends of the Library and a generous donation in memory of Louise Brody Weissman.