Neil Shah and Preeti Balakrishnan are among the four co-chairs bringing the 2005 Foreign Affairs Symposium to the Homewood campus. PHOTO BY HIPS/WILL KIRK

By Jessica Valdez
Special to The Gazette

When the co-chairs came together last year to choose the subject for the 2005 Foreign Affairs Symposium to be held at Homewood, they asked the question, What are people talking about? Iraq, India and Pakistan, the Balkans ... and, they realized, American involvement abroad.

And so evolved this year's theme: Enduring Responsibility — America and the Politics of Conflict Resolution, with events ranging from "Defining Genocide in Africa" to "The Third Revolution: Reforming China after Tiananmen."

The co-chairs — seniors Yonina Alexander and Neil Shah and juniors Preeti Balakrishnan and Gabriel Hopkins — said they wanted to develop a theme that would encourage dialogue among students, community members and guest speakers.

"The students that go here are born leaders," Alexander said. "It's really important that they have an understanding of what's going on in world affairs and have a real exchange."

The symposium will open Wednesday, Feb. 23, with "U.S.-Cuban Relations: What to Expect," a panel discussion including Adolfo A. Franco, assistant administrator for the Latin America Region at USAID; John S. Kavulich II, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council; and Wayne Smith, senior fellow at the Center for International Relations in Washington, D.C.

The event will showcase the symposium's new format of panel discussions and shorter speeches designed to encourage the audience to engage panelists with questions.

"We didn't want to have just one side," said Shah, who is majoring in international studies and computer science.

The co-chairs also redesigned the basic makeup of the symposium staff, recruiting more members than in past years and dividing them into committees responsible for finding speakers for a specific region of the world. The 11 committees included China, the Middle East and the India-Pakistan conflict.

By giving staff direct impact on speaker recruitment, the co-chairs believe they have become more motivated and involved.

"It was very tangible for each staff member," said Alexander, who is majoring in international studies and philosophy. "Everyone feels invested in it."

The co-chairs said they learned perseverance and teamwork from organizing the symposium, often contacting as many as five people for every speaker they scheduled.

"They may not be the biggest names, but they ... are at the heart of the issues," Shah said.

The symposium will continue on March 8, when Peter Takirambudde, the Africa director of Human Rights Watch, will speak about "Defining Genocide in Africa." On April 12, Gen. William Nash, of the Council on Foreign Relations, and Ivan Vujacic, Serbian ambassador to the United States, will address "The Balkans: Keeping the Peace." Nash has served as both military commander in Bosnia-Herzegovina and civilian administrator for the United Nations in Kosovo.

On April 19, Julia Preston of The New York Times will discuss "Mexico: Forgotten Neighbor, Forgotten Democracy." Preston was named deputy investigations editor for The New York Times in March 2003 and is recognized as an expert on Mexico.

Other speakers include Jean-David Levitte, French ambassador to the United States, and David Manning, British ambassador to the United States, speaking March 23 on "Bridging the Atlantic Divide."

The Foreign Affairs Symposium, founded in 1998, is a student-run lecture series designed to bring global speakers to engage the Hopkins and Baltimore community in discussion. For times and locations, see box below. For more information on symposium events, go to www.jhu.edu/~fas or e-mail fas@jhu.edu.

Jessica Valdez, a senior majoring in international studies, is an intern in the Office of News and Information.

 

'Enduring Responsibility — America and the Politics of Conflict Resolution'

'U.S.-Cuba Relations: What to Expect'
Wednesday, Feb. 23
8 p.m., Mudd Hall Auditorium
Adolfo A. Franco, assistant administrator for the Latin America region at USAID; John S. Kavulich II, president U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council; Wayne Smith, senior fellow at the Center for International Relations in Washington

'Defining Genocide in Africa'
Tuesday, March 8
8 p.m., Great Hall, Levering
Peter Takirambudde, director at Human Rights Watch's Africa division

'Bridging the Atlantic Divide'
Wednesday, March 23
8 p.m., Shriver Auditorium
Jean-David Levitte, French ambassador to the United States; David Manning, British ambassador to the United States

'Kashmir: Paradise Lost?'
Wednesday, March 30
8 p.m., Glass Pavilion, Levering
Ghulam Nabi Fai, executive director of the Kashmiri American Council; Bob Giuda, chairman of Americans for Resolution of Kashmir and deputy leader of the N.H. House of Representatives; Mohammad Sadiq, deputy chief of mission at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington

'The Third Revolution: Reforming China after Tiananmen'
Wednesday, April 6
8 p.m., Glass Pavilion
Gregory Chow, former chairman of the American Economic Association's Committee on Exchanges in Economics with the People's Republic of China; Merle Goldman, Council on Foreign Relations, former member of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights; Dan Wang, 1989 Tiananmen Square student leader

'The Balkans: Keeping the Peace'
Tuesday, April 12
8 p.m, Mudd Hall Auditorium
Gen. William Nash, Council on Foreign Relations; Ivan Vujacic, Serbian ambassador to the United States

'Mexico: Forgotten Neighbor, Forgotten Democracy'
Tuesday, April 19
8 p.m., Glass Pavilion, Levering
Julia Preston, deputy investigations editor at The New York Times

GO TO FEBRUARY 21, 2005 TABLE OF CONTENTS.
GO TO THE GAZETTE FRONT PAGE.