CENTRAL ASIA: AMERICA'S NEWEST FRONTIER ISLAM, HUMAN RIGHTS, DICTATORSHIP, AND DEMOCRATIC REFORM The Windham World Affairs Council of Vermont launches the 2006 Falk Lecture Series with a presentation by American Council of Learned Societies Foreign Area Fellow Glen W. Swanson, who will speak on "Central Asia: America´s Newest Frontier," on Friday, March 10, at 7:30 PM in the Brooks Memorial Library meeting room. Swanson considers Central Asia´s importance in world politics and America´s interests in the region because of its strategic position and rich oil reserves, all tempered by the issues of security, Islam, human rights, dictatorship, and democratic reform. As Foreign Area Fellow, American Council of Learned Societies/Social Science Research Council, Swanson received his Ph.D. in History at Indiana University, and completed advanced studies on the Middle East, Islam, and the Balkans in Istanbul and at the University of London under the guidance of Professor Bernard Lewis. He has participated in U.S. Department of State´s "Scholar-Diplomat Seminars" and has lectured extensively at the college and university level. At the request of U.S. military authority Swanson helped create as Executive Editor IRAQ: Nation at a Crossroads (2004), an educational CD-ROM for use by U.S. military and other governmental agencies. He is author of Oil and Water, A Look at the Middle East and Storm Clouds over Iraq (2003) as well as professional articles relating to international business, military missions, the social and economic consequences of war, foreign policy and security matters in the Middle East and the Balkans. A Fellow of the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society, he has served as a U.S. military officer, as consultant to the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding "International Factors Relating to the Defense-Industrial Base of the United States," as liaison and coordinator for international projects, and as "Fortune 500" Corporate Liaison for Earth Day USA. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: |
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