For Immediate Release

Contact: Barbara K. Laskin or Doug Stone
October 4, 2004
(651) 696-6203

Macalester's Eleventh Annual International Roundtable Explores
"America and Global Power: Empire or . . . ?" October 14 - 16, 2004

St. Paul, Minn. - Macalester College presents its 11th annual International Roundtable titled, "America and Global Power: Empire or . . . ?" Thursday - Saturday, October 14 - 16, in Weyerhaeuser Memorial Chapel.
The 2004 International Roundtable will feature presentations about American power in the world from the perspectives of a Harvard professor who teaches international history, the longstanding editor of New Left Review, and a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and former Reagan administration consultant. Macalester faculty and students will deliver responses to the authors in panel discussions.
This year's participants include:
" Niall Ferguson, a professor of international history at Harvard University, will talk about "The American Empire: Between Caesar and Victoria." He has also held positions at New York University where he was named "Professor of the Year," the Hoover Institution, and Oxford University. He also serves as editor of the Journal of Contemporary History. Ferguson was educated at Oxford and the University of Hamburg.
(Presentation: 4:20 - 6:20 p.m., Thursday, October 14).

" Tariq Ali, the Pakistani-born editor of New Left Review who has written more than a dozen books on history and politics as well as a number of novels, will talk about "The American Empire and its Discontents." Ali was born in Lahore and educated in Pakistan and at Oxford. His opposition to the military dictatorship in Pakistan in the 1960s led to permanent exile in Britain.
(Presentation: 9:30 a.m. - 12:10 p.m., Friday, October 15).

" Michael Ledeen, resident scholar and holds the Freedom Chair at the American Enterprise Institute, will talk about "America's Mission." Ledeen earned his M.A and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. An expert in contemporary history and international affairs, he contributes frequently to the Wall Street Journal, Weekly Standard, National Review and Commentary, and he serves as foreign editor of the American Spectator. During the Reagan administration, Ledeen was a consultant to the National Security Adviser, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the State Department, and he was a special adviser to the Secretary of State.
(Presentation: 1:30 - 4:10 p.m., Friday, October 15).

Roundtable discussion featuring Niall Ferguson, Michael Ledeen, and Tariq Ali, will also entertain audience questions. (Presentation: 10 a.m. - 12:15 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 16).

The roundtable begins at 4:20 pm, Thursday, October 14, with opening statements from Macalester's Ahmed I. Samatar, James Wallace professor and dean, International Studies and Programming, and Macalester College President Brian C. Rosenberg.

The Macalester International Roundtable is held every October on campus. A community-wide intellectual forum, the roundtable explores crucial global issues with prominent international scholars who are also commissioned to write major papers that are presented at Macalester and published in the Macalester International journal. Previous roundtables have featured:

o 1994 The International Community and the Emerging World (Dis)Order
o 1995 Literature, the Creative Imagination, and Globalization
o 1996 The Divided Self: Ethnicity, Identity, and Globalization
o 1997 Nature, People, and Globalization
o 1998 Globalization and Economic Space
o 1999 Contending Gods: Religion and the Global Moment
o 2000 International Feminisms: Divergent Perspectives
o 2001 The Body: Meditations on Global Health
o 2002 Prometheus's Bequest: Technology and Change
o 2003 Complex Contradictions: African, American, and Middle Eastern Perspectives

Macalester is a private, national liberal arts college with a full-time enrollment of 1,845 students. Macalester is nationally recognized for its long-standing commitment to academic excellence, internationalism, diversity and civic engagement.

###