Each city, country and world continues to grow more interconnected. The globalization affects all businesses; large international companies, consisting of thousands of associates in every segment of industry, whether it is hospitality or natural resources, value strong international relations and cooperation.

The US World Affairs Council system plays a significant role in delivering knowledge and information to everyone interested in the international affairs. The concept of the World Affairs Council system is based on the participation of well-informed citizenry, the open exchange of ideas on global issues, as well as involvement of young people into world affairs discussions and forums.

The World Affairs Council system has four hundred and eighty four thousand participants and twenty eight affiliated organizations nationwide. It reaches over twenty million people each year through its two thousand and five hundred events, radio, TV, and school programs. The Councils offer international exchanges, school programs, teacher workshops, foreign policy discussions, national opinion polling, travel programs, journals, newspaper columns, and local radio and television programs.

Flagship programs of the World Affairs Councils of America include Great Decisions, World in Transition, WorldQuest, It's Your World and Travel the World. The aims of the programs are to educate all citizens about the importance of global and international affairs as well as to discuss the America's place in the world, its internal and external activities.

The World Quest is a national high school competition that takes place every year. The best and brightest high school students from around the country meet to compete in the area of international affairs and answer the questions on countries, people, current events, world religions and languages, treaties, flags and a lot more. The competitions are accompanied by river cruises, dance competitions, museum's touring and other entertainment and fun activities. In 2005, the event attracted over three hundred and forty students, teachers, chaperones and parents.

The Great Decisions are in-depth lecture series, whereas the aim of each lecture is to enhance the national awareness and critical analysis of current events. The lectures cover a wide range of topics, including human rights and terrorism, the relations of the US with other countries, security and public health. The Great Decisions, run by the Foreign Policy Association in New York, is the oldest and largest grassroots educational program on world affairs of its kind in the country with about three hundred and fifty thousand overall participants.

The World in Transition (WIT) is a series of multimedia educational materials, produced by the Southern Center for International Studies (SCIS) in Atlanta. The materials are distributed nationally through the World Affairs Councils of America/World in Transition Flagship Program. Each unit explores the geography, politics, economics, culture and foreign policy of a defined world region.

"It's Your World: a broadcast of the World Affairs Council" is a radio production of the World Affairs Council of Northern California and KQED 88.5FM in San Francisco, CA.

The World Affairs Council of Philadelphia organizes Travel the World, a program that offers educational trips to a diversity of world locations.