Name: Soft Power: How Does Foreign Policy Spending Abroad Help Americans?
Start: 2025-08-20T18:00:00-04:00
End: 2025-08-20T19:30:00-04:00
Location: 507 7th St, Laurel, MD 20707, USA

Part of A Foreign Policy Discussion Series at the Laurel Library, discussing the benefits of foreign aid and other foreign policy programs.
About this Event

Soft Power: How Does Foreign Policy Spending Abroad Help Americans? A Foreign Policy Discussion Series

Join us for a timely discussion, moving beyond traditional notions of military might and foreign policy, as we dive into how investments in diplomacy, development aid, cultural exchange programs, and international partnerships contribute to U.S. national interests. We will examine how these expenditures foster global stability, open new markets for American businesses, enhance national security by addressing root causes of conflict and terrorism, promote American values, and ultimately cultivate a more favorable international environment for American prosperity and well-being.

This thought-provoking discussion series will take place at 507 7th St, Laurel, MD 20707, USA.

About the presenter: Bear Afkhami has a distinctive combination of education, training and experience in homeland security, emergency management, foreign policy, intelligence, data analytics and AI systems. He has a BA in Intelligence, MS in Analytics and numerous other credentials. He is a homeland security consultant, a Professor of Uncrewed & Autonomous Systems, sits on numerous non-profit boards within the public safety sector and has received Gubernatorial and County Executive appointments to serve on executive bodies.

The confluence of this diverse experience has led him to be published and to become a regular speaker at national and state emergency management/homeland security conferences on the topics of risk mitigation, AI, disinformation and cybersecurity. It has also led to the creation of a grassroots foreign policy education program for local libraries, where Bear delivers programs on the impact of foreign policy, foreign/domestic extremist organizations, as well as the use of intelligence and disinformation campaigns.