The Mountain States Assembly, one of The American Assembly's Next Generation Project, took place at the University of Denver, on June 14-16, 2007, co-sponsored with the Graduate School of International Studies. Colorado Governor Bill Ritter and General James E. Cartwright, currently Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, addressed the group. Fellows agreed that challenges like the rise of China and climate change simultaneously presented fresh opportunities for international cooperation and mutual benefit.  Voicing a tension around exporting American values abroad, many Fellows intimated that those interests are best sustained through the extension of shared global ideas, such as democratic accountability and human rights. Collaboration was valued over autonomy, and Fellows noted a drop in favorable opinions about the United States abroad.