Manitowoc Public Library is proud to present Great Decisions 2026, our twentieth year of hosting this preeminent eight-week grassroots lecture series that provides the citizens of the Lakeshore area with the opportunity to discover, discuss, and decide how to meet some of the world’s greatest challenges head-on. Increasingly, global events have become domestic concerns and Great Decisions takes you beyond the headlines with essential background information, relevant facts, ever-shifting policy options and impartial analysis.

PLEASE NOTE: Great Decisions 2026 will be presented in a hybrid format—offered in-person in MPL’s Balkansky Community Room on Mondays during February aNd March from 6-8 PM, as well as livestreamed simultaneously online on both our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/manitowoclibrary) and YouTube channel (unless otherwise indicated)

The lecture schedule is as follows:

February 2 Trump Tariffs and the Future of the World Economy, Pablo Toral, PhD, Beloit College
February 9 Ruptured Alliances and the Risk of Nuclear Proliferation, Martin Farrell, PhD, Ripon College (Retired)
February 16 U.S.-China Relations, Shale Horowitz, PhD, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
February 23 Ukraine and the Future of European Security, Yoshiko Herrera, PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison
March 2 Multilateral Institutions in a Changing World, Amitabh Pal, Journalist/former Editor of The Progressive, Adjunct Professor at Edgewood College, Madison
March 9 America and the World: Trump 2.0 Foreign Policy, Beth Dougherty, PhD, Beloit College
March 16 U.S. Engagement of Africa, Heinz Klug, S.J.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School
March 23 *ONLINE ONLY*: The Future of Human Rights and International Law, Alise Coen, PhD, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

The Great Decisions Series is FREE and open to the public. No registration is required. For a more detailed description for each of the above topics, please head to www.manitowoclibrary.org/events/great-decisions.