Global strategy adviser and author Khanna to open Thompson Forum

Global strategy adviser, world traveler and bestselling author Parag Khanna will present “A World on the Move: The Forces Uprooting Us” at 7 p.m. Sept. 18 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

The free event is the first lecture in the 2023-24 E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues. The event is sponsored by the College of Business and ALLO Communications.

Tickets can be reserved through the Lied Center here, by calling 402-472-4747 or by visiting the Lied’s box office, 301 N. 12th St. Forum events are general admission, with seating on a first-come, first-served basis.

Khanna is the founder and CEO of Climate Alpha, an AI-powered analytics platform that forecasts asset values to future-proof global real estate; and founder and managing partner of FutureMap, a data and scenario-based strategic advisory firm. He is the bestselling author of “MOVE: Where People are Going for a Better Future,” “The Future is Asian: Commerce, Conflict and Culture in the 21st Century” and five other books. He was named one of Esquire’s “75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century” and featured in WIRED magazine’s Smart List.

This year’s Thompson Forum series is organized around the theme “Uprooted: Migration, Displacement and Searching for Home.” The number of people displaced by conflicts, disasters and economic crises has risen to a new high of more than 89 million, including more than 30 million refugees and asylum seekers. “Uprooted” shares stories of displaced people in search of hope and home.

The series will continue with a youth panel, “Displacement and Reimagining the American Dream,” at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 14 in the Wick Alumni Center. Lynsey Addario, an American photojournalist who regularly shoots photographs for The New York Times, National Geographic and Time magazine, will present “Of Love and War: Stories of Tragedy and Resilience” at 7 p.m. March 5 at the Lied Center. Leilani Farha, former U.N. special rapporteur and global director of The Shift, will present “Back Home: Returning Human Rights to Housing” at 7 p.m. April 9 at the Lied.

All events are free and open to the public. Events are streamed on the Thompson Forum website and available on Nebraska Public Media, LNKTV City and LNKTV Education. All talks will have closed captioning for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

The E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues is a cooperative project of the Cooper Foundation, Lied Center and University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The series was established in 1988 with the purpose of bringing a diversity of viewpoints on international and public policy issues to the university and people of Nebraska to promote understanding and encourage discussion.

For more information and the link to livestream, click here.