Nearly 60 people gathered at the Myrtle Beach Education Center on the morning of Thursday, April 26, for the fourth Chanticleer Intelligence Brief Symposium. The event featured timely updates about some of the world’s most critical hot spots by a panel of CIB Analysts. It was held in conjunction with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Coastal Carolina University, and supported by the Edwards College of Humanities and Arts at CCU.

The audience was exposed to analytical briefs about several timely topics. The CIB’s China Analyst, Fabio, spoke about the current state of relations between China and the United States. Lauren Loverin, the CIB’s Russia Analyst, described the volatile state of relations between Washington and Moscow. Our Iran Analyst, Nathan Lake, discussed the possibility that the United States might leave the Iran Nuclear Agreement. Following the break, Rachel Panichella, our Mexico Analyst, explained recent findings that point to the state the drug cartels in North America and Mexico in particular. The two-hour event concluded with the CIB’s Africa specialist, Blake Gutberlet, who discussed the current situation in Somalia with reference to the Sunni Islamist group al-Shabaab.

During the event, the CIB raised funds for its activities by offering community subscriptions to The Intelligence Review, its peer-reviewed publication that is published twice a year in cooperation with the European Intelligence Academy. The Symposium was moderated by CIB Faculty Advisor Dr. Joseph Fitsanakis. The CIB wishes to express its gratitude to CCU Director of Community Outreach Dr. Carol Osborne, OLLI Senior Director of Operations Kelli Barker, OLLI Administrative Specialist Ellen Jumpole, and OLLI Board of Advisors member Samih Baalbaki for their help in coordinating this event. The fifth CIB Symposium will be held in December of this year.