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Perspectives on War and Peace at #ScholarFest

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Over the past fifteen years the Kluge Center has been fortunate to host several distinguished foreign policy scholars and practitioners through our Kissinger Program. Fifteen scholars have held the Henry A. Kissinger Chair in Foreign Policy and International Relations, conducting research in the Library’s collections and engaging in dialogue with policymakers and the public. Several will return to the Kluge Center this week for #ScholarFest. Five former Kissinger Chairs will participate in a session titled “War/Peace: Perspectives on the Concept of World Order.” Their five “lighting conversations” promise to be enlightening; here are a few words about the participating scholars:

  • Alexander Evans has been a member of the British diplomatic service since 2003. He served as a senior advisor to the late Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke and then to Ambassador Marc Grossman. In 2013, Evans was appointed coordinator of an United Nations Security Council expert team. He was the eleventh holder of the Kissinger Chair, from 2011-2012.
  • Klaus Larres is the Richard M. Krasno Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Larres is an expert on contemporary transatlantic relations, European integration and 20th century American, German and British foreign policies in comparative perspective. He was the second holder of the Kissinger Chair, from 2002-2003.
  • Melvyn Leffler is the Edward R. Stettinius professor of history in the department of history at the University of Virginia. Leffler has served as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the university and as president of the Society of Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR). He was the fourth holder of the Kissinger Chair, in 2005.
  • Benjamin Fordham is currently a Professor of Political Science at Binghamton University where he teaches international relations and comparative foreign policy. Fordham’s research focuses on how America’s domestic interests shape its foreign policy choices. He was the tenth holder of the Kissinger Chair, from 2010-2011.
  • James Goldgeier is the current Dean of the School of International Service at American University. Goldgeier is also the director of the “Bridging the Gap” initiative, which encourages and trains scholars and doctoral students to produce policy-relevant scholarship and theoretically-grounded policy work. He was the fifth holder of the Kissinger Chair, in 2006.

The “War/Peace” session will occur on Thursday, June 11th at 11:00 am in the Members Room of the Library’s Thomas Jefferson building. We encourage all who can attend to join us; click here for more details.

For a complete list of Kissinger Chairs at the Kluge Center, visit our website.

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