Pacific University's Tom McCall Forum
John Bolton, Lee Hamilton Speakers at Tom McCall Forum"U.S. Foreign Policy Post '08"
November 7, 2007
"US Foreign Policy Post '08" is debate topic Nov. 7 at 25th annual Pacific University event
As the would-be presidential candidates line up for the Iowa Caucus, the New Hampshire Primary and the Super Tuesday primary in February, what will they have to say about the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and the war on terrorism? How will the number one issue in the minds of the voters frame the campaign? What are the options for a new administration? What will be the legacy of the Bush administration's foreign policy and how will it shape the new administration's options as we look past the campaign to the challenges of governing in the post 9/11 world?
The 2007 edition of Pacific University's Tom McCall Forum seeks to answer those questions. Following in its tradition of staging great liberal vs. conservative debates, the 25th annual public affairs forum will feature former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton and former U.S. Congressman Lee Hamilton discussing "U.S. Foreign Policy Post '08."
With Wells Fargo again the presenting sponsor, the Tom McCall Forum will be held Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2007, 8 p.m., at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland.
"The wisdom of an earlier era was that all politics is local and that partisan politics stops at the waters edge," said Russ Dondero, professor emeritus and founder of the Tom McCall Forum. "In a 24/7 news cycle this conventional wisdom clearly no longer holds as events of 9/11 proved. The attack on the U.S. that day was a 21st century 'shot heard round the world' and followed by 'shock and awe' in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"Our world has fundamentally changed. In a global geo-political economy, while we act locally we must think globally. What should be the foundational principles of American foreign policy as we respond to this brave new world? What lessons need to be learned from the longest war in American history?"
Should a new president adopt the Bush doctrine on missile defense or return to the protocols of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1996 and similar agreements on nuclear proliferation adopted in the 1960s, asks Dondero. "The battle of words between Vladimir Putin and President Bush over the administration's intent to erect a missile defense system in Europe is an echo of 'Cold War' rhetoric of the 1950s," said Dondero. "The question is this heightened tension between an increasingly authoritarian Russia and an embattled USA another casualty of 9/11?"
John R. Bolton was appointed as United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations in 2005, serving until his resignation in December 2006. Prior to his appointment, Ambassador Bolton served as Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. During his tenure at the United Nations, Bolton was an advocate for human rights and a tenacious and outspoken advocate of U.S. efforts to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, push Syria out of Lebanon and bring African peacekeepers into shaky Somalia. Bolton was very effective in North Korea, moving forward with a very strong sanction resolution through the U.N. Security Council within days of Pyongyang's Oct. 9, 2006 nuclear test. Previously, Ambassador Bolton was Senior Vice President of the American Enterprise Institute, a nonprofit public policy center dedicated to preserving and strengthening the foundations of freedom through research education, and open debate.
Ambassador Bolton has spent many years of his career in public service. Previous positions he has held include Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs at the Department of State, 1989-93; Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice, 1985-89; Assistant Administrator for Program and Policy Coordination, U.S. Agency for International Development, 1982-83; and General Counsel, U.S. Agency for International Development, 1981-82. Ambassador Bolton is also an attorney and the author of Surrender is Not an Option: Defending America at the U.N. and Abroad, published by Simon and Shuster (November 2007).
Lee H. Hamilton is President and Director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the nation's official memorial to President Woodrow Wilson where scholars, policymakers, and business leaders engage in non-partisan dialogue on public policy issues. Prior to that, Hamilton served for 34 years as a United States Congressman from Indiana. During his tenure, he served as Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs (now the Committee on International Relations), and chaired the Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East for 20 years. He also served as Chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran. Hamilton established himself as a leading congressional voice on foreign affairs, with particular interests in promoting democracy and market reform in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, promoting peace and stability in the Middle East, expanding U.S. markets and trade overseas, and overhauling U.S. export and foreign aid policies. Hamilton has also been a leading figure on economic policy and congressional organization.
Hamilton is currently a member of the United States Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council, and in December 2002 he was appointed Vice-Chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.
A former high school and college basketball star, he has been inducted into the Indiana basketball Hall of Fame. Before his election to Congress, he practiced law in Chicago and Columbus, Indiana.
Tickets for the Forum are on sale through the Pacific University box office at 503-352-2918 or through Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com. Prices are $20 or $25.
Created in 1982 by the students and faculty of Pacific University's Politics and Law Forum, the Tom McCall Forum has become the premier public affairs event in the Northwest, drawing national political figures each year to Portland for a spirited debate between a liberal and a conservative of national interest. Previous debaters have included Pat Buchanan, Tom Daschle, Howard Dean, Richard Perle, Molly Ivins, William Kristol, Bill Bradley, David Gergen, Ralph Nader, Newt Gingrich, Ralph Reed, Alan Dershowitz, James Carville, Mary Matalin, William Safire, John Sununu, Pierre Salinger, Robert Bork, Jesse Jackson, Mario Cuomo, and Dan Quayle.
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Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore., is one of the West's first chartered higher education institutions. Pacific annually ranks as one of America's Best Colleges by U.S. News & World Report and is ranked as one of the best tuition values in the West. With an enrollment of more than 2,500 students, Pacific University provides an excellent academic experience linking theory to practice in education.
