Member dinners are held the first Wednesday of each month, September through June.
They take place at:
Annapolis Doubletree Hotel
210 Holiday Court (where Forest Drive ends at Riva Road)
Annapolis MD
Meeting schedule:
6:00 pm Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres
7:00 pm Buffet Dinner
8:00 pm Guest Speaker, usually including a question-and-answer period
9:00 pm Closing Remarks
Each meeting has a single invited guest speaker who represents a specific foreign country or is a representative of a major U.S. government organization, U.S. Congress or international-multilateral organization. Most often the speakers are Ambassadors who present major issues of interest and concern to them and the United States. In its 50 years of existence, the Club has enjoyed presentations by Ambassadors from more than 115 countries and regions throughout the world.
The guest presentation starts at approximately 8:00 pm and allows 15 to 20 minutes for questions and answers, usually ending at 9:00 pm. The audience submits questions on cards at the end of the presentation and most speakers answer all questions, without “boundaries”, as time allows.
The emphasis is always on informality, and each meeting is oriented toward casual and interesting dinner conversation. To further that objective, the Club also welcomes the guest speaker’s spouse, companion or associate at each dinner meeting.
- Cost of dinner is $35 for members and $40 for non-members, not including a cash bar open before each dinner.
- If you would like to come as a guest for a “trial membership”, contact the Membership or Reservation Chair.
Make a Dinner Reservation
2022-2023 Speakers
Following a wonderful presentation by Ambassador Ursu of Moldova in March we will next hear from Ambassador Javlon Vakhabov of Uzbekistan on Wednesday, April 5, 2023.
Like Moldova, Uzbekistan was a part of the USSR until it broke up in 1991. Uzbekistan
is the geographic and population center of Central Asia surrounded by all of the other “stans” (Kazakhstan to the north and west, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south. It is one of only two doubly landlocked countries in the world.
The country has a diverse economy and a relatively young population. Uzbekistan is important to U.S. interests in ensuring stability, prosperity, and security in the broader Central Asian region.
Ambassador Vakhabov became Ambassador to the United States in October 2017. He also serves as Ambassador to Canada and Brazil. Prior to that, he was Deputy Minister in the Foreign Ministry. He holds a Master’s degree in International Law and Policy Analysis from the University of World Economy and Diplomacy.
We look forward to seeing you at the Double Tree Hotel, 210 Holiday Court, Annapolis, at 6:00 pm. Please have your reservations and payments in by Sunday, April 2.
Wednesday, March 8
This month we shifted from the philosophical debates around immigration to the realities of the current geopolitical situation and heard from Ambassador Ursu Viorel of the Republic of Moldova.
Ambassador Viorel gave us a first glimpse of Moldova, a small landlocked democracy Southwest of Ukraine. You can imagine they are carefully following events in their neighbor Ukraine. Moldova’s breakaway province of Transnistria already hosts 1,2000 Russian troops.
Ambassador Viorel became Ambassador to the United States in September 2022; prior to that he was Division Director Europe and Eurasia from January 2014 to August 2022. In earlier years he had served as Policy Analyst and Advisor to the Open Society Foundation in London and previously at the European Policy Institute in Brussels. Prior to his oversees appointments, he was the Program Manager of the Soros Foundation.
He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Law from the State University of Moldova and an MA in European studies from the Institute of Post Graduate European Studies in Bruges Belgium – Warsaw Poland.
Wednesday, February 1
We heard from Professor Nathan Pippenger of the U.S. Naval Academy, who discussed philosophical issues surrounding immigration and citizenship. Dr. Pippenger is a political theorist academically interested in democracy, citizenship, and nationalism, with a special focus on American politics. He received a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.
Wednesday, January 4
We heard from Ambassador Luisa Fajer, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Mexican Embassy.
Ambassador Fajer joined the Mexican Foreign Service in 1993 and was promoted to the rank of Ambassador in March 2018. She has a Degree in International Relations from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), as well as a Master’s degree in African Studies from El Colegio de Mexico. In the Secretariat of Foreign Relations, she served as Director General for Africa and the Middle East, and Director General for North America. She was Consul in Minnesota, and Ambassador of Mexico to South Africa, with concurrent jurisdiction inn 11 countries in Southern Africa. She also served as Coordinator of International and Interinstitutional Relations at the National Institute for Migration, and Director General of the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations. She has been a professor and lecturer at several institutions of higher education, including UNAM, ITAM, the Ibero-American University in Mexico, as well as the University of California, Santa Cruz. She coordinated the first edition on Africa of the Mexican Journal of Foreign Policy. She has published numerous articles about foreign policy, the Middle East and women in Africa.
Wednesday, December 7
We heard from Minister/Counselor Markus Teglas, who has served since August 2021 in the Political Department of the Embassy of Federal Republic of Germany in Washington, DC. His responsibilities include transatlantic relations and U.S. domestic policy.
Prior to that, he was Chief of Staff for the Minister of State for Europe in the Federal Foreign Office. He joined the German Federal Foreign Service in 2013. From 2008 to 2013 he worked as Chief of Staff in the German Bundestag.
Markus Teglas holds a M.A. degree in European Studies (M.E.S.) from the Viadrina-University in Frankfurt/Oder and a M.A. degree in Philosophy from the Free University, Berlin. He has also worked as an editor in various German publishing houses.
We heard from international journalist Terence Smith, whom many of us remember from the PBS Newshour. Terence Smith is an award-winning journalist who has been a political reporter, foreign correspondent, editor and television analyst over the course of a four-decade career.
He spent 20 years with The New York Times, including eight years abroad in the Middle East and Far east, covering four wars, peace negotiations and the day-to-day lives of people in more than 40 countries. Smith also served as Assistant Foreign Editor and Deputy Metropolitan Editor in New York. In the paper’s Washington bureau, he served as diplomatic correspondent before founding and editing the popular Washington Talk page.
In 1985, Smith joined CBS News in Washington, covering the Reagan White House and for nine years, reporting the cover stories for CBS Sunday Morning. He earned two Emmys for work on the broadcast “48 Hours” and shared in the George Foster Peabody Award for general excellence given to the staff of CBS Sunday Morning.
In 1998, Smith turned to public television, founding and leading the media unit at The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. In the course of seven years, Smith and his unit won 18 national awards and honors for media criticism and analysis. He is now a special correspondent for The NewsHour.
Smith is a 2013 inductee to the Society of Professional Journalists’ Hall of Fame.
He currently serves as chairman of the board of trustees of the Chesapeake Bay Trust. Previously, he was a member of the advisory board of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and the Board of Visitors of the Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Married with two grown children and three grandchildren, he lives with his wife, Susy, in Annapolis, writes a regular column for The Annapolis Capital and is World Affairs speaker aboard Crystal Cruise ships around the world.
Video of the presentation.
Tuesday, October 11
We welcomed Ambassador William Taylor, Vice-President for Russia and Europe at the US Institute of Peace. Since the Ambassador was unavailable for the date of our scheduled meeting at the Double Tree Hotel (5 October), we were obliged to move our meeting to Tuesday 11 October.
Ambassador Taylor is an American diplomat, government official and former military officer. He served as the 6th US Ambassador to Ukraine from 2006-2009 and as acting ambassador to Ukraine from June 2019-January 2020. He is currently VP for Russia and Europe at the US Institute for Peace.
Ambassador Taylor graduated in the top 1% of his class at West Point in 1969 and received his Master of Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government in 1977. After West Point he served in the infantry for six years at Fort Bragg and in Vietnam. Following five years as Legislative Assistant for Senator Bill Bradley, he served for five years as Special Deputy Defense Advisor to the US Ambassador to NATO.
From 1992 to 2002, Ambassador Taylor served as a US Diplomat, with the rank of ambassador, coordinating assistance to Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. In 2003 he served as Afghanistan Coordinator at the Department of State and in 2004 he was the Director of the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office. Ambassador Taylor served as Special Coordinator for Middle East Transitions from 2011 to 2013. He was appointed to the US Institute of Peace in 2015.
Video of the presentation.
Wednesday, September 7
We welcomed the Swedish Deputy Chief of Mission Ingrid Ask. We had originally only anticipated learning about Sweden’s successful governance and social support services. Now, we are welcoming Sweden as NATO’s newest member.
Ms. Ingrid Ask assumed her position as Minister Counselor and deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Sweden in Washington D.C. in September 2019.
Prior to her current position Ms. Ask served as Political Advisor to the Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces, General Micael Bydén. She started her diplomatic career in 1999 and has held positions at the Foreign Affairs Office, the Africa Department, and as Head of Consular Affairs at the Department for Consular Affairs and Civil Law.
From 2005 to 2010, Ms. Ask served as Political Counselor at the Embassy of Sweden Washington D.C. Between 2001 and 2005 she was posted to the Political Section of the Embassy of Sweden in Pretoria, South Africa.
Ms. Ask holds a Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in Political Science and Languages from Uppsala University, Sweden.
Sweden Info Sheet
Video of the presentation.
Previous Speakers
See History for previous years’ speakers.
International Club of Annapolis 