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On Aug. 24, Pretty Good Books will host Great Decisions, the oldest and largest non-partisan discussion group on world affairs, sponsored by the Foreign Policy Association. Great Decisions has a mission to inform, engage and inspire citizens. It seeks to serve as a way for developing awareness, understanding and informed opinion on U.S. foreign policy and global issues.

The moderator of the discussion will be Heather Honerkamp, a local who serves as research faculty at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

“Great Decisions started in the 1950s as a way to help educate citizens on US foreign policy. At the same time, its participants will be surveyed on their opinions which gets sent to the President and Congress,” Honerkamp said. “It gives citizens a way can communicate directly about their opinions on US foreign policy, but at the same time, be educated on it.”

The LaGrange kickoff of Great Decisions is set for Thursday, Aug. 24 at 6 p.m. The group will meet weekly at 6 p.m. at Pretty Good Books for nine weeks. Participants can pick up their briefing book at Pretty Good Books in advance or at the kickoff meeting.

Honerkamp said attending the discussion is free but participating in the conversation costs $28. She said the fee comes from the book participants are encouraged to purchase at $28, and copies will be available at the kickoff.

Honerkamp said it was a great way to get informed and be among like-minded individuals.

“Personally, I like surrounding myself with intelligent people that are concerned about world affairs, want to speak about those issues, work through complex problems and be around others who enjoy critical thinking and understanding the through line of how we got to where we are today in some very difficult situations around the world,” Honerkamp said.

“I recently moved to LaGrange in December and had participated in a Great Decisions in Atlanta years ago and really enjoyed it and the people that participated. I felt like we should have something like that here in LaGrange that would allow people who care deeply about complex problems to be able to get together and chat.”

Some of the 2023 Great Decisions topics will include, energy geopolitics, war crimes, China and the U.S., economic warfare, politics in Latin America, global famine, Iran and Crossroads and climate migration.

After the kickoff meeting, Great Decisions will launch into its first discussion topic, Energy Geopolitics.

Participants will be challenged to answer the following question: Access to oil and gas has long held an influence over the politics of individual nations and their relations with others. But as more countries move toward sustainable energy, and supply chain shortages affect the availability of oil and gas, how will this change the way in which the United States interacts with the outside world?

Honerkamp said she hopes the discussion will help people be more informed.

“I hope that people who come are able to make new friends, learn something new, and are better informed about issues that are affecting the US and the world today,” Honerkamp said.

For more information, call Pretty Good Books at 706-668-6427 or visit https://www.fpa.org/great_decisions/.