Each summer the Foreign Policy Association conducts a four-day workshop for two dozen high school teachers from around the United States interested in using the Great Decisions program. Great Decisions is a program developed by the Foreign Policy Association 52 years ago to provide both accurate information and deep context for interested citizens on major global policy issues. From its inception the program has benefited from outstanding scholars and practitioners of international affairs. Past chairs of the Great Decisions Editorial Advisory Board have included Hans Morgenthau, Stanley Hoffman and Richard Ullman. The current chair is Dr. David B. H. Denoon. Dr. Denoon currently holds joint appointments in the political science and economics departments at New York University. He earned his Ph.D. at MIT and has held senior policy positions at both the State and Defense Departments.

The Great Decisions program is used primarily in discussion groups in major corporations, community organizations and various universities. The program is now being utilized in a small but growing number of high schools. Each year the Great Decisions Advisory Board selects a small number of critical issues. Background papers are then prepared by experts in each field. In recent years panels on each issue have also been assembled for a television series.

For 2006 the Advisory Board picked eight critical issues:

• The United Nations: post-summit outlook

• Dealing with Iran

• The energy policy conundrum

• Brazil: invented pasts and hoped-for futures

• Human rights in an age of terrorism

• India and China: competition and cooperation

• Turkey: on Europe's verge?

• Pandemics and national security

Last summer one Herricks High School teacher attended the four-day workshop. In June 2006 six high school teachers and one elementary teacher attended the session. In fact, the group would have been even larger had a couple of people not had to drop out at the last moment for personal reasons.

Both years I have been privileged to attend one of the four sessions. The quality of the presenters was extraordinary. Last year, for example, one of the presenters was a high-level official from an international health organization who talked about pandemics. As I listened to her it struck me that many of the topics she discussed would be of enormous interest to students in elementary and middle school social studies courses as well as high school social studies classes. It also struck me that many would be equally interesting for science classes.

Material from the Great Decisions program was infused into a few courses last year. Plans are under way to infuse them into many more this year.