Idaho State University Frank Church Symposium Feb. 27-March 1 features Gen. Amos Jordan as keynote speaker

Idaho State University's International Affairs Council (IAC), housed in the College of Arts and Letters, is proud to present the 42nd Annual Frank Church Symposium, featuring the theme of "Leadership and Power Struggles in the Contemporary World," Feb. 27 – March 1.

This year's event is breaking a milestone because of the number of individuals, personalities, departments, units and sponsors that are working together to make the occasion a great success.

Gen. Amos "Joe" Jordan will deliver the keynote address "Global Deal Breakers: Eight Crucial Challenges Facing the United States" on Wednesday, Feb. 27, at 6 p.m. in the Bistline Family Theater in the ISU Stephens Performing Arts Center.

 Jordan is a Senior Fellow at the Wheatley Institution and served as president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and its Asia-focused sibling, the Pacific Forum CSIS. He has held the positions of principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, deputy under secretary of state, and acting under secretary of state for security assistance, among other positions in government.

A former U.S. army brigadier general and chair of the West Point Department of Social Sciences, Jordan also served as a member of President George H.W. Bush's Intelligence Oversight Board. He has been a consultant to the National Security Council, the Agency for International Development and other public and private organizations and has served on several presidential commissions and governmental study groups. He previously served as director of the Aspen Institute, as well as co-founded and co-chaired the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific, an international non-governmental organization.

The symposium's main panels will be held in the Pond Student Union Salmon River Suite on the Pocatello campus. This year's theme is especially relevant given the crisis of leadership around the globe in the face of challenges brought about by the rapid nature of change in human society particularly in the past two decades. The symposium's panels will cover a range of topics, including education, women and gender, medicine and health care, environment and economics, democracy, nuclear proliferation, Islamic insurgency, post-modernism and drones and cyber warfare.

The International Affairs Council, an ISU student organization funded by the Associated Students of ISU, will host the symposium. Admission is free to the public and the events run 8:45 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 27; 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Feb. 28; and from 9 a.m. until noon on March 2. In addition, the keynote speech will be offered in the evening on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 6 p.m.

For more information on the symposium and its speakers and panel members contact Walter Radovitch at iac@isu.edu or visit https://sites.google.com/a/isu.edu/isuiac/.

The symposium schedule follows. All events are n the Pond Student Union Salmon River Suites, unless otherwise noted:

Wednesday, Feb. 27:

• 8:15-8:45 a.m. – Registration, ISU PSUB, Third Floor Lobby;

• 8:45-9 a.m. – Welcome address to Frank Church Symposium by Zandra Higley, IAC president.

• 9-10 a.m. – Joseph Hearst Memorial Lecture, "Education, Power and Leadership," by Ron Scapp, professor of humanities and teacher education, College of Mount Saint Vincent.

• 10-10:30 a.m. – Break

• 10:30-noon – Panel, "Women, Education and Power," speakers include Scapp; Ramona Linville Higley, Weber State University; Chandra Silva, Boise State University; Robert Ostergard, University of Nevada–Reno.

• noon-1:30 p.m. – Lunch.

• 1:30-2:45 p.m. – Panel, "Environment/Science and Economics," moderator Robert Tokle, ISU Department of Economics, speakers include Ramona Higley, Silva; and Chima J. Korieh, Marquette University.

• 2:45-4:30 p.m. – Break

• 6-7 p.m. – Keynote Address "Global Deal Breakers: Eight Crucial Challenges Facing the United States," Gen. Amos J. Jordan, professor and senior fellow, Wheatley Institute, Bistline Family Theater, Stephens Performing Arts Center.

Thursday, Feb. 28:

• 9-10:15 a.m. – Panel "Health Care and Human Rights," speakers include Ramona Higley, Lybecker, Silva and Luis M. Fernandez, M.D.

• 10:15-10:45 a.m. – Break

• 10:45 a.m.-noon – Panel "Transitioning Democracies: Challenges," speakers include Roger Kangas, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, and Thomas E. Doyle, II, University of Texas-San Marcos.

• noon-1:30 p.m. – Lunch

• 1:30-3 p.m. – Panel "Global Security and Military Conflicts," speakers include Ostergard and Kangas.

• 3-3:30 p.m. – Break

• 3:30-4:30 – Panel "Roundtable Discussion: International Affairs Council Converse" with all delegates.

Friday, March 1:

• 9-10 a.m. – Richard H. Foster Lecture "Islamic Insurgency and the Future of Global Security," speakers include Korieh.

• 10-10:30 a.m. – Break

• 10:30-11:45 a.m. – Panel "Back to the Future: The Nature of Things to Come," speakers include Doyle, Fernandez and Ramona Higley.

• 11:45-noon – Closing Remarks, Zandra Higley, International Affairs Council President

About the IAC: The International Affairs Council (IAC) was first organized in the early 1970s with the goal of sponsoring an annual international affairs symposium on the Idaho State University campus. The Frank Church Symposium on International Affairs has allowed the IAC to continue its search for understanding. In the spring of each year since 1972, speakers have been brought to Pocatello for three days to discuss problems in the international arena. Representatives from more than 45 nations have participated in IAC forums to date.

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