Mariposa Museum to Launch Foreign Affairs Program

The Mariposa Museum and World Culture Center in Peterborough will launch a year-long Great Decisions program in February, exploring critical issues of foreign policy facing the United States. The first program, on Feb. 6, will focus on "U.S. Changing Leadership of the World Economy." Co-moderators for the series will be Bob Beck, a retired U.S. foreign policy official who writes a column for the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript and the Brattleboro Reformer, and Peter Henriques, whose Peace Corps experience in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) led to a career in international business. Both reside in Peterborough. Topics, background materials and videos for the series have been prepared by the national nonprofit, nonpartisan Foreign Policy Association. Besides the economy, other topics will include U.S-China relations, the rise of India, international cooperation on climate change, the future of NATO, artificial intelligence and national security, the Middle East and American foreign policy at a crossroads. Programs will begin at 7 p.m. at the Mariposa Museum, 26 Main St., Peterborough, on the first Thursday, February through May, and will resume September through December after a summer break. Each session will begin with a short video about the topic, followed by a presentation by one of the moderators and a group discussion. The Foreign Policy Association was founded in 1928 to develop awareness and understanding of U.S. foreign policy and informed opinion on global issues. A magazine with in-depth articles on each topic can be ordered from https://www.fpa.org. The Mariposa was founded in 2002 to bring international awareness to the Monadnock Region through the arts and multicultural programs. Great Decision programs are free. The Mariposa welcomes donations. If you would like to attend, please email: admin@mariposamuseum.org. The Moderators: Robert Beck Robert "Bob" Beck served overseas between 1990 and 2020 with the United States government in embassies in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. He has a bachelor's degree in Soviet and Eastern European studies from the University of Maryland and a master's degree in international relations from Boston University. Since moving to the Monadnock Region, Bob has taught foreign policy courses at Keene State College's Cheshire Academy for Lifelong Learning (CALL) and Rivier College's Rivier Institute for Senior Education (RISE). In addition to his column on foreign policy for both the Ledger-Transcript and the Brattleboro Reformer, he contributes analysis on Central Europe to the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a Philadelphia-based think tank Bob and his wife of 39 years, Meg, retired to Peterborough in August of 2020. Peter Henriques Peter Henriques, a dual U.S. and Australian citizen, spent 40 years working in businesses across six continents while living on five. His service in the Peace Corps in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) cemented his desire to live and work globally. Henriques has held senior corporate roles across Australasia, Latin America, Asia and the United Kingdom, including board positions in India, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam and China. From 2012 until his retirement in 2020, Peter led joint ventures with Government State Owned Enterprises in Vietnam and China. Henriques has a bachelor's degree in history from Syracuse University and a master's in international affairs from Columbia University. In 2020, he joined Syracuse University's boards of Hendricks Chapel and the Alumni Rowing Association. In 2023, Henriques began lecturing at Keene State University's Cheshire Academy for Lifelong Learning (CALL) and will lecture at Rivier University's Rivier Institute for Senior Education (RISE) in the spring of 2025. Henriques and his wife Jeanne reside in Peterborough.