The Pacific Council is “committed to building the vast potential of the West Coast for impact on global issues, discourse, and policy.” The council connects a network of people from different industries to engage in foreign policy discourse and effect change on international issues. The council convenes events, teleconferences, and international delegations, and provides thoughtful foreign policy analysis and commentary in its online Newsroom.
Leadership
currently serves as the Pacific Council's president and CEO. Rockwell Schnabel, former U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, U.S. Ambassador to Finland, and Acting Secretary of Commerce, and Marc Nathanson, chairman of Mapleton Investments, are co-chairmen of the Board of Directors, which also includes Susan McCaw, Antonia Hernández, Mel Levine, and Mickey Kantor, among others. Abraham F. Lowenthal was the founding president of the Pacific Council. Prominent members of the Pacific Council Board of Directors have included Robert F. Erburu, former chairman of the Times Mirror Co. and founding board chairman of the Pacific Council; former Secretary of StateWarren Christopher, who followed Erburu as board co-chair; John Bryson, who served as co-chair with Christopher and later chair of the Pacific Council Board before his appointment as U.S. Secretary of Commerce; and former Utah governor and U.S. Ambassador to China Jon M. Huntsman.
The Pacific Council encourages thoughtful dialogue on a wide variety of international issues, but focuses on four main initiatives: the Global Water Scarcity Project, Global Los Angeles, the Mexico Initiative, and the Guantánamo Bay Observer Program.
Trips
Members often travel abroad on Pacific Council delegations, during which members meet with government officials and business leaders. Previous destinations include Mexico, North Korea, Cuba, Iraq, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Guatemala, China, and France, among many others. The Pacific Council also organizes task forces to address international policy issues and make policy recommendations. Its U.S.-Mexico Border Security Task Force, led by former DEA Administrator and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert C. Bonner, recommended that the U.S. Congress and the Obama administration renew a ban on assault weapons, and the task force released a "report card" assessing progress made on previous recommendations. The Council's Climate Change Adaptation Task Force recommended that the state of California create a Climate Risk Council and reported the potential effects of climate change on the California coast. The Council's most recent task force is a part of the Guantánamo Bay Observer Program. Since 2013, the Pacific Council has held official NGOobserver status at GTMO, allowing Pacific Council member experts to observe proceedings at GTMO and report back to the Council. Recommendations made by the Council's GTMO Task Force were included in the FY2018 Defense Bill by Rep. Adam Schiff.
Reports
The Pacific Council has released numerous reports surrounding issues in foreign affairs and public diplomacy. Some of the Council's most recent reports include:
