Savannah Council on World Affairs Lecture Series Announces Speaker
Tuesday, February 13th, 2024
The SCWA is excited to offer our next program on Thursday, February 22 at 7:30pm ET. Social Time Starts at 7:00pm
Caitlin Welsh, Director of the Global Food and Water Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C. will present:
"Russia, Ukraine, and Global Food Security"
Global food insecurity is a major international challenge. The Ukraine crisis added significantly to already existing food supply problems. Ukraine’s agriculture sector has been a major front in Russia’s war since February 2022, as Russia reaps benefits from Ukraine’s reduced agricultural output, Ukraine’s economy suffers, and global food security declines. Global food security expert Caitlin Welsh of the Center for Strategic and International Studies will speak to Council members on: the nature of Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s agriculture sector; how these attacks have affected Ukraine’s output and global food security; and how this helped or hindered Russia’s war efforts. She will be providing us with recommendations, based on a new article that will be released the day of her presentation to the Council, on what the United States can do to improve global food security in this context.
We will meet at the Skidaway Community Church
(Previously known as the Skidaway Island Presbyterian Church)
50 Diamond Causeway, Savannah 3141
Caitlin Welsh is the director of the Global Food and Water Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where she analyzes the drivers and consequences of food and water insecurity around the world, including for U.S. national security. Her specific areas of focus include the impacts of Russia’s war in Ukraine on global food security and nutrition, food insecurity in the U.S. military, and the coherence between U.S. global water security policy and U.S. global food security policy. Prior to joining CSIS, Ms. Welsh served for over 12 years in the U.S. government, including at the National Security Council and National Economic Council as director for global economic engagement with responsibility for the G7 and G20, and at the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global Food Security, where she served as acting director. Ms. Welsh was a presidential management fellow at the U.S. African Development Foundation and a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco. She has testified before Congress on global food security on multiple occasions, and her analysis has been featured in the New York Times, CNN, NPR, PBS, the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Financial Times, Foreign Policy, BBC, Newsweek, and other outlets.
Ms. Welsh received her BA from the University of Virginia and MPA from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.
