The Cosmopolitan Cowboy: Texas’s Emergence as a Global Gateway with the World Affairs Council of Austin

This post was created following a discussion with Ben Ramirez, the Vice President of the World Affairs Council of Austin in Austin, Texas. To learn more about the World Affairs Council of Austin, head to the bottom of the article!

*The information shared is only for context and does not constitute an official endorsement of Internatnotes Blog.

Introduction

The world wars, regardless of one's geographic background, were events that involved states worldwide. With over seventy million mobilized personnel from more than thirty states declaring war, international relations were becoming increasingly intertwined. However, outside of its effects on the legislature, such as with the development of the Treaty of Versailles and the European Recovery Program, or with alliances that include the United Nations and NATO, both world wars prompted an additional corridor to American communities: global interest. 

In fact, following the era of global warfare and engagement, interest in global policy and relations had been flourishing across the United States, promoting civil discourse over the notions of national security and global politics. At last, such discourse and attention led to the creation of the earliest forms of World Affairs Councils.

Emerging as early as 1922, the world councils across the United States have provided Americans with a space to engage in discussion about foreign relations and development, and once councils had been formed in cities that spanned from Cleveland to Los Angeles to Anchorage, the decision to unify themselves into a national organization was made by 1986. 

Today, the World Affairs Councils of America encompasses over ninety regional organizations across forty-three states and serves over half a million Americans and foreign citizens, whether through speaker programs and events, education initiatives, or professional development programs. Many of these organizations had decades of experience in distributing knowledge and best-practice skills, such as Chicago and Philadelphia. 

Nonetheless, out of these various councils across the nation lies an anomaly: Austin. 

The Role of WAC Austin in Stimulating Foreign Connections in Texas

Historically, Austin had never been labeled as a catalyst for international development. While the number of World Affairs Councils had rapidly increased during the 1980s, the city itself had fallen outside of the top forty U.S. cities by population, merely serving as a humble university town and a government center that was belittled among larger Texan cities such as Dallas or Houston.

Furthermore, being the Texan capital, many foreigners have come to acknowledge it for what the media has expressed for decades, which comprises old-timey images of western life, constant barbecue meals, and southern football. (Nevertheless, it should be recognized that Texas can represent many of these given things.)  For those who’ve never stepped on Texan soil, the state’s outwards appearence can be seen to be nothing but a mere cowboy. 

That is, at least, what Ben Ramirez, Vice President of the World Affairs Council of Austin, comes to recall. 

The World Affairs Council of Austin was founded in 2011, a time when the city’s metropolitan area was right outside the top ten in the nation, and as of today, roughly has a foreign-born resident out of every five citizens. Ramirez explains that the desire to start the Central Texas-based council was shared between him and Professor Mortada Mohamed, the Executive Director of the Texas International Business Council and a faculty member at St. Edward’s University, aiming to embrace Austin’s growing global influence through a collaborative WAC chapter. 

As of today, the organization collaborates with various groups in the Texan capital, emphasizing global trade, educational programs, and cultural programs. Since its founding, the organization has grown to serve thousands in the Central Texas community and beyond, benefiting from a reality in which 48% of Austin’s migration rates are international. “There is one huge benefit that enabled us to grow since 2011,” explained Ramirez in our discussion, “and that’s being the eighth largest economy in the world, which is the state of Texas.” According the Texas Economic Development Corporation has reported that with a GDP of 2.77 trillion USD, the state’s economy exceeds that of nations such as Italy, Russia, Brazil, and Canada. 

Therefore, given such market power, it becomes much easier for one to understand the appeal of Austin for development, combining its southern political dominance, exponential population growth, and global economic strength. Today, the council hosts a variety of business-centered initiatives for Texan citizens and external delegates alike. 

For instance, Texas’s engagement in the transatlantic market manifests in the Texas-Europe Business Summit, an event established with the assistance of the University of Texas Center of European Studies, U.S. Department of Commerce, and, of course, the World Affairs Council of Austin. 

Held annually each spring, Ramirez has described the summit as one of the council’s “signature events,” where EU trade representatives and European business representatives exchange ideas and learn about current transatlantic market trends.  Notably, the event has brought former EU ambassadors to the United States as guest speakers. Furthermore, the event has led to the creation of further European connections for the city, such as the Belarus Texas Business Council, which has collaborated on information exchange regarding smart city infrastructure and technology. 

Similarly, outside of solely European relations, the council has since established a Texas-Japan business collaboration forum starting in 2018. To explain, the Austin World Affairs Council collaborates with J-GoodTech, which operates under the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry of the Japanese state. Through the collaboration, Japanese business representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are matched with American representatives in an effort to facilitate information exchange and international cooperation.  

These efforts made by the council compliment additional recent efforts to foster international forums in the Texan state, such as Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s recent support of an Economic Statement of Intent with Taiwan, the state’s sixth largest trade partner, to continue boosting investment in energy products, such as semiconductors and the Texas Medical Center’s engagement with the UK Department of Business and Trade to initiative an incubator for innovative medical devices. 

In the future, Ramirez explains that he hopes that the council can “expand once more” to the Latin Americans they’ve interacted with in the past, including El Salvador, Mexico, and Argentina, through the business domain, notably by hosting a Latin American-centered business summit. 

However, outside the field of pure business and trade development, the council has invested in a great extent of youth education initiatives and programs as well, aiming to connect younger generations with skillsets in international involvement and awareness. 

For the World Affairs Council of Austin, one of their many pathways to increasing this domain is through one competition: The Academic WorldQuest. The Academic WorldQuest, a competition hosted by the roughly ninety national world affairs councils, serves to connect four-thousand high school students in teams with knowledge in international culture, economics, and policy through a trivia-style competition that features over ten rounds and hosts the competition finalists in Washington, D.C. 

In past years, Texas teams have dominated as national champions, particularly from the Keystone School in San Antonio, Texas, and Plano Senior West High School and Plano Senior High School, located in Plano, Texas. As for teams supported by the Austin World Affairs Council, Ramirez notes that they have reached as high as fourth in the national competition. 

Outside of competitive environments, there lies a desire among many students to be directly involved in international collaboration in practice. To provide those sets of students with opportunity, the World Affairs Council has worked with Amigos De Las Americas, an independent organization that transforms adolescents' lives by organizing Latin American immersion programs where students live with host families and engage in traditional cultural and language experiences. 

For many, such an experience could be incredibly daunting, especially for those who’ve rarely left their home country, but the organization has reportedly worked with roughly 30,000 teens in recent decades, aligning with current UNESCO trends that report a triple in international mobile students since 2000.  For Ramirez, the partnership means strengthening an additional pipeline for students to engage with those “who could be their future colleagues and business partners” in the foreign environment.  

At last, the council has established its own model for virtual international collaboration through Global Scholar Diploma programs. Collaborating with various partner programs across the globe, such as in Iran, Afghanistan, and Canada, the program requires demonstrated skill in foreign languages and knowledge in NGO affairs, international culture, and political development, serving to further connect Texan students with global opportunities. 

Ultimately, the Texan capital’s role as a growing hub for foreign affairs will continue to complement the city’s ever-changing demographics, as future predictions highlight that its metropolitan region will grow to up to five million by 2060, with much of this rapid increase including the current patterns of international migration. Further, with the region’s expected growth in population and infrastructure, it is the role of leadership, such as the World Affairs Council, to continue utilizing Texas’s unique economic dominance to facilitate foreign trade and engagement, whether starting from collaboration with local youth initiatives or business professionals abroad.  

Bibliography

"Projections of the Total Population of Texas and Counties in Texas." Texas Demographics Center, 2022, demographics.texas.gov/Projections/.

"Record Number of Higher Education Students Highlights Global Need for Recognition of Qualifications." UNESCO, 23 June 2025, www.unesco.org/en/articles/record-number-higher-education-students-highlights-global-need-recognition-qualifications#:~:text=Academic%20mobility%20is%20also%20on,2023%29%20%E2%80%94%20large%20disparities%20persist.

"Texas' Economic Strength and Growth." Texas Economic Development Corporation, businessintexas.com/why-texas/economic-strength/.

Valencia, Lila. "Population Change and Demographic Trends in Austin." City of Austin, 18 Nov. 2025, services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=462946.

What is the World Affairs Council of Austin?

The World Affairs Council of Austin is one of ninety regional chapters of the World Affairs Councils of America, the United States's largest organization dedicated to educating the American public on global affairs and engagement. As of the present day, the World Affairs Councils of America can be found across forty-three states and serve over 250,000 citizens through professional speaker presentations, business development, and education initiatives.