To members and friends of the Providence Committee on Foreign Relations (thepcfr.org; pcfremail@gmail.com).

Happy New Year. Here’s our updated schedule through June.

Our next speaker comes on Wednesday, Jan. 11, with German General Consul Ralf Horlemann on the role of Germany in the post-Brexit world and facing a more aggressive Russia.
 

Internationalepidemiologist Rand Stoneburner,  M.D., had been scheduled for Jan. 18. He has asked to resked to the spring in order to, among other things, have  more information on Trump administration public-health policies and to be nearer to the start (in the Northern Hemisphere) of the Zika season. So we have reskedded him to Tuesday, May 2.
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On Thursday, Feb. 23, we’ll have international security and anti-terror expert Carl Maccario, who runs the Center for Nonverbal Communication.  (He’s a tough guy who will have some exciting visuals for us!) He replaces Indian Navy Admiral Nirmal Verma,  who was to be our February speaker but has had to resked because of an unexpected duty in Asia.
 

Dr. Stephen Coen, director of the Mystic Aquarium, will speak on the condition of the oceans, Wednesday, March 8.

Brazilian political economistand commentator Evodio Kaltenecker, who had been skedded for April, has been moved to Thursday, March 16, to talk about the crises facing that huge nation.

On  Wednesday, April 5, famed French journalist, novelist and broadcaster Jean Lesieur will speak on the global  order being turned upside down by the advances of dictators, the retreat of democracies and the presidency of Donald Trump, not tomention the existential crisis of the European Union.

As noted above. Dr. Rand Stoneburner, the international epidemiologist, is now scheduled to speak onTuesday, May 2.
 
James E. Griffin, an expert on ocean fishing and other aspects of the global food sector, will speak to us on Wednesday, May 17.
 
Joining us on Wednesday, June 14, will be Laura Freid, CEO of the Silk Road Project,  founded and chaired by famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma in 1998, promoting collaboration among artists and institutions and studying the ebb and flow of ideas across nations and time. The project was first inspired by the cultural traditions of the historical Silk Road.
 
Meanwhile, we’re trying to keep some flexibility to respond to events. Everything in human affairs is tentative. ”We make plans and God laughs….’’