The Worcester Committee on Foreign Relations is a Massachusetts chartered non-profit corporation formed in 1958 under the auspices of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.  Its purpose is to provide a forum for learning and discussion of current issues and events pertaining to international relations, and to foster dialogue between local civic leaders and invited experts in the field.

The Worcester Committee is one of 33 such committees, which are spread across the United States.  These committees maintain a national umbrella organization, the American Committees on Foreign Relations, (www.acfr.org) based in Washington DC. Neither the WCFR nor the ACFR have any political affinity.  They are not PAC-groups, and members have widely varying points of view in the political spectrum.  Members include academics, professionals and business people, all of whom share a desire to gain a greater understanding of global issues, and to discuss international relations with well informed individuals.

The committee meets monthly (except July and August) at the Worcester Club where members meet a speaker who is usually a US or foreign government official, academic, policy maker, author, journalist, or other professional. Each meeting includes a social period and dinner, followed by the presentation, and a Question and Answer period in which members ask questions or debate issues with the speaker.