The new University of Texas Global Challenges Initiative (UT-GCI) has established a campus-wide speaker series to explore the trends, processes and threats that will dominate 21st century international relations. Throughout the 2004-05 academic year, the UT-GCI's International Security Speaker Series will feature presentations by historians, strategists, legal scholars and policymakers. Taking a multidisciplinary approach and focusing on the intersection of policy and theory, the program will expose the UT community to fresh approaches in international security studies. LBJ School Professor Francis J. Gavin and UT Austin Department of Government Professor Peter Trubowitz are directing the series.

Free and open to the public, the lectures will be held from 4-6 p.m. in the Brown Room on the 8th floor of the LBJ Library and Museum unless otherwise noted below. A map is available at http://www.utexas.edu/lbj/about/map.html. For additional information, call 512/236-8263.

As part of an effort to tailor next year's International Security Speakers Series, the UTGCI is asking participants to provide feedback on the 2004-2005 series by responding to a brief, two-page survey. Completed surveys will be collected at the March 29 speaking engagement.

August 31, 2004
"Winning the war on terror"
Philip Bobbitt
A.W. Walker Centennial Chair in Law, UT School of Law

September 21, 2004
"Same bed, different dreams? U.S.-Europe relations in the years ahead"
Justin Vaisse
Special Assistant at the Centre d'Analyse et de Prévision at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Affiliated Scholar, Foreign Policy Studies, Brookings Institution

October 26, 2004
"Using force"
John Yoo
Professor of Law, Boalt School of Law, University of California at Berkeley

November 18, 2004
"Paying the human costs of war: Public casualty sensitivity and the war in Iraq"
Peter D. Feaver
Professor of Political Science, Duke University
Gebauer Building, Room 3.312, UT Austin
(map available at http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/geb.html)

January 20, 2005
"Unipolarity and the future of multilateralism"
John Ikenberry
Albert G. Milbank Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University
Related article: "A liberal Leviathan: The world needs a liberal Leviathan. Can John Kerry provide?" (pdf)

February 10, 2005
"Al-Qaida as an adversary: How well is the War on Terror going?"
Daniel Byman
Professor of Government, Georgetown University

March 8, 2005
"Democracy and victory: Does regime-type explain Israel's military Effectiveness?"
Michael Desch
Robert M. Gates Professor of Intelligence and National Security Decision Making, Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A & M University
Background paper: "Democacy and Israel's Military Effectiveness" (pdf)

March 23, 2005
"Security and Justice in Mexico" followed by Q&A
Dr. Alejandro Gertz Manero
President of the Universidad de las Americas in Mexico City
12:00 p.m. - 1:15 p.m, UT School of Law, Eidman Courtroom

March 29, 2005
"Crossing the Gap Between Academia and Government: One Policymaker’s Perspective"
Drew Erdmann
Former director for Iran, Iraq, and Strategic Planning for the National Security Council; former Senior Advisor to the Iraqi Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research

April 12, 2005
"China's security strategy with a special focus on East Asia"
Qin Yaqing
Vice President and Professor of International Studies, China Foreign Affairs University

April 26, 2005
"Iraq, terrorism, and international justice at the United Nations"
Nicholas Rostow
General Counsel to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, U.S. Department of State

May 3
“The Implications of the Market for Force in IR Theory”
Deborah Avant
Associate Professor of Political Science; Director, Institute for Global and International Studies,
George Washington University