Want to expand your horizons in the year ahead? Then try the new foreign affairs class offered by International House: Great Decisions 2010.

The class starts Feb. 3 and the instructor is Rick Becker, a retired U.S. foreign service officer and Davis resident. It will be held at International House, 10 College Park, from 7 to 9 p.m. on eight consecutive Wednesdays: Feb. 3, 10, 17 and 24, and March 3, 10, 17 and 24.

Topics will include:

• role of special envoys
• global crime
• U.S.-China security relations
• global financial crisis
• Russia and its neighbors
• Persian Gulf issues
• peacebuilding and conflict resolution

Becker attended the University of Michigan and Georgetown University for post-graduate studies, and held faculty positions at the universities of New Mexico and Wisconsin before joining the State Department in 1974. During his 30-year foreign service career, Becker worked in political and economic affairs and served in senior management positions at U.S. embassies in Romania, Brazil, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Panama, as well as in Washington, D.C. 

The cost is $30 for I-House members and $50 for nonmembers. Enrollment is limited to 30 participants. Advance registration is required in person or by mail, 10 College Park, Davis 95616.

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