Discussions on global challenges for next generation begin Monday, June 12, at LBJ Library and Museum

June 9, 2006

AUSTIN, Texas—Scholars, policymakers and public and private sector leaders from around the country will meet at the LBJ Library and Museum in Austin Monday, June 12, to initiate discussions in a three-year process of evaluating whether or not our national and international organizations meet the global challenges of the 21st century.

“Next Generation Project: U.S. Global Policy and the Future of International Institutions" panelists and invited guests will meet from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the 10th floor of the LBJ Library and Museum. It is a project of the American Assembly at Columbia University in cooperation with the Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law at The University of Texas at Austin.

The Next Generation Project is based on the belief that new voices and fresh ideas are necessary to strengthen the nation’s discussion of U.S. global policy and the future of international institutions. The project is directed by Francis J. Gavin, professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin and a cofounder of the Strauss Center for International Security and Law.

Monday’s meeting will begin a three-year process for The Next Generation Project that will convene six assemblies throughout the country. Background papers will be commissioned for each assembly, and each will issue a report of findings and recommendations. The process will be concluded with a national assembly that will take place at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. It will coincide with the prelude to the 2008 presidential election.

The central question the project will address: can our national and international organizations meet the global challenges of the 21st century, or are new institutional responses required? During the meeting on Monday, panelists will present discussions on “Identifying the Global Challenges and Opportunities of the 21st Century” and “Crafting Innovative Solutions for the Future—The New Institutional Architecture for an Age of Globalization.” Each panel boasts a number leading academics, policymakers, and public and private sector leaders who will lead the discussions.

Panelists include:

• Lisa Anderson – dean of the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
• Peter F. Cowhey – dean of The Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California, San Diego
• Andrew P.N. Erdmann - consultant, McKinsey & Company
• Richard Fisher – president and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
• Tom J. Farer – dean of The Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver
• Colin Kahl - assistant professor of political science, University of Minnesota
• James M. Lindsay- vice president and director of studies, Council on Foreign Relations; director of Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law
• Elspeth Rostow – the Stiles Professor Emeritus in American Studies, The University of Texas at Austin
• James C. Langdon Jr. - partner, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP
• Aaron Lobel - president and chairman of the board, America Abroad Media
• Donald F. McHenry - distinguished professor in the practice of diplomacy, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
• Mark McKinnon - vice chairman, Public Strategies, Inc.
• Amy Zegart - associate professor of public policy, UCLA School of Public Affairs

The program will include a luncheon address by James B. Steinberg, dean of the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. Gavin, along with Andrew Erdmann, a private sector management consultant, will lead a discussion on “The Goals of the Next Generation Project—Identifying Talent, Generating Ideas, Influencing Policy.”

The event will conclude with the “Service to Democracy Award” presentation to Admiral B. R. Inman, holder of the Lyndon B. Johnson Centennial Chair at The University of Texas at Austin’s LBJ School of Public Affairs. Admiral Inman will receive the Dwight D. Eisenhower Medal for Public Service, named for the founder of the American Assembly.  The medal is presented to national leaders who exemplify the principle on which the American Assembly was founded: to reconcile divergent views in order to accomplish a common purpose.

More information about the American Assembly’s Next Generation Project is available online.

For more information contact: Anne Wheeler, LBJ Library and Museum, 512-721-0216, or Robert D. Meckel, Office of Public Affairs, 512-475-7847.