Great Decisions: Organized Crime in the Americas with Robert Scarlett
Thank you for your interest in our Great Decisions programming. We have 3 Great Decisions opportunities for you to finish out the 2026 year.
1. To kickstart the Great Decisions 2027 series, we will be hosting a kickoff Great Decisions event on Monday, November 9 from 4pm to 5:30pm in room 348 at the Edina Community Center. This is the course you are registering for here. We have been given a sneak peek at the topics and can confirm that Robert Scarlett will be presenting on the topic of Organized Crime in the Americas. The official topic list will be released in the fall, but we have been assured that this is one of the topics for 2027. You can follow the FPA here: The Foreign Policy Association
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Robert Scarlett's areas of expertise are:
- America & the World: Trump 2.0 Foreign Policy
- Trump Tariffs & the Future of the World Economy
- US China Relations
- Latin America
- The Future of Human Rights and International Law
Rob Scarlett currently serves as Senior Advisor to Clearwater Biologic, LLC, a bio-remediation business located in Babbitt, Minnesota, and has served as a senior executive in a few smaller manufacturing companies over the years.
In 1999, after co-authoring “Global Business: 308 Tips to Take Your Company Worldwide”, he started Hunter Scarlett Consulting and serves as a director for start-ups in the US and Latin America. Rob is fluent in English, German, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese.
He graduated from Carleton College in 1966 and spent much of the past 50 years working and living in various countries in Latin America. While working in Latin America, he observed the emergence of China as the primary trading partner for most of the countries in the region – and this led him to follow China’s emergence more closely.
In the community, he is a 45-year volunteer and former Chair of Global Minnesota and until recently served as Founding Director for the Venn Foundation. Currently, Rob serves as President of the Board of the Brazil-Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, and as a director of the 100% employee-owned AVEKA Group, Inc., in Woodbury, Minnesota."
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2. Great Decisions Coffee Hour at Brim Cafe and Coffee Space is limited.
As we impatiently await the release of the Foreign Policy Association's Great Decisions topics for 2027, we would like to encourage you to sign up for our Great Decisions Coffee Hour events that will take place at Brim Cafe and Coffee in Edina. You can register for these more intimate foreign policy gatherings lead by our Global Minnesota speakers here:
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3. Lastly, what better way to round out the year 2026 than to have Anne Linnee present the year in review. On December 7 from 4pm to 5:30pm you will have the distinct opportunity of attending Foreign Policy: A Year in Review with Anne Linnee. This FREE event is a great way to understand what just happened as we prepare for 2027.
You can register here: Foreign Policy: A Year in Review with Anne Linnee
This is a great opportunity for youth who are involved in World Quest or Model UN. 16+ may attend alone.
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The Great Decisions
program provides background information and policy options for the eight most critical issues facing America each year and serves as the focal text for discussion groups across the country. The Great Decisions program was created by The Foreign Policy Association. The mission of the Foreign Policy Association today, as it has been for over 100 years, is to serve as a catalyst for developing awareness, understanding, and informed opinion on U.S. foreign policy and global issues. Through its balanced, nonpartisan programs and publications, the FPA encourages citizens to participate in the foreign policy process.
Edina Community Ed's Great Decisions programming is co-sponsored by Global Minnesota and Edina Community Ed and funded by the Edina Friends of the Library.
