The American Assembly
The Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law
THE NEXT GENERATION PROJECT:
U.S. GLOBAL POLICY AND THE FUTURE OF INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
Mon. June 12th, 2006
All events unless otherwise noted take place in the atrium of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS
9:00-9:30 a.m. Brown Room Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:00 a.m. Welcome
Betty Sue Flowers
Director, The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
9:05 a.m. The American Assembly – History and Process
David H. Mortimer
Chief Operating Officer, The American Assembly.
9:10 a.m. Perspective of Cosponsor and Introduction of Richard Fisher
James F. Hollifield
Director, John G. Tower Center for Political Studies, Southern
Methodist University
9:15 a.m. The Origins of the Next Generation Project
Richard W. Fisher
President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
9:45 a.m. The Next Generation Project – The Next Two Years
Francis J. Gavin
Director, The Next Generation Project
PANEL PRESENTATIONS
10:15-12:15 a.m. PANEL I
IDENTIFYING THE GLOBAL CHALLENGES AND THREATS OF THE 21ST CENTURY
Before assessing international institutions, it is important to try to understand the global environment that the world will face as the 21st century unfolds. Many analysts believe we are in a completely new era, in which the geopolitical struggles of the past have been replaced by more diffuse, elusive challenges brought about by rapid globalization. For these analysts, both the problems – environmental degradation and resource scarcity, the spread of disease, the vulnerability of the telecommunications based economy, catastrophic terrorism – and the key actors – weak states, international terrorist groups, corporations and non-governmental organizations – are dramatically different in this century than they were in the last.
Others, while acknowledging these new phenomena, warn that geopolitical conflict has not disappeared, and that the security challenges the United States will face in the future – rising powers challenging U.S. hegemony, energy scarcity, aggressive, ideologically driven regimes, nuclear proliferation – are scarcely different (though equally challenging) than the threats that dominated the last century. A rising China and India, a renascent Russia, or a complete fracture of the transatlantic relationship are the issues that worry these analysts most.
- What threats will the United States face in the years to come? What will be the challenges to the international order?
- Are the geopolitical struggles the United States faces dramatically different in this century than they were in the last?
Chair:
Tom J. Farer
Dean, The Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver
Panelists:
Lisa Anderson
Dean, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Andrew P.N. Erdmann
Consultant, McKinsey & Company
Colin Kahl
Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Minnesota; Councilon
Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow, Department of Defense
James M. Lindsay
Vice President and Director of Studies, Council on Foreign Relations; Director,
Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law
Elspeth Rostow
Stiles Professor Emeritus in American Studies, The University of Texas at Austin
12:15-1:45 p.m. Brown Room Luncheon
Introduction by Larry R. Faulkner
President, Houston Endowment
Address by James B. Steinberg
“Do We Need New Rules for the Use of Force in the 21st
Century?”
Dean, LBJ School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at
Austin
1:45-3:45 p.m. PANEL II
CRAFTING INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR THE FUTURE – THE NEW INSTITUTIONAL ARCHITECTURE FOR AN AGE OF GLOBALIZATION
The institutions created in the post World War II era to foster international stability and serve U.S. security and economic interests remain the instruments for carrying out U.S. global policy. Despite the tectonic shift in world affairs in the past fifteen years, since the fall of the Soviet Union, there has not been an effective systematic attempt to come to terms with these changes and craft a new institutional architecture that guarantees security and prosperity in the years ahead. Which institutions remain effective, which need reform, and which are not suited to meeting the challenges and opportunities that rapid globalization presents?
Particular attention will be paid to how creative organizations – both domestic and international – have dealt with complex problems, and how they are planning for the future. Success from the government, private, and non-profit sectors will be analyzed.
- What did the post-war international institutions do well, and where did they fail? What lessons can we learn from the 1940s generation as we move forward?
- How effective are current American and international/multilateral organizations, and are they suitable to meet the challenges that globalization will present in the years to come?
- How have creative organizations – both domestic and international – dealt with complex problems, and how they are planning for the future?
Chair:
Peter F. Cowhey
Dean, The Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies,
University of California, San Diego
Panelists:
James C. Langdon, Jr.
Partner, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP
Donald F. McHenry
Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy, Edmund A. Walsh
School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University; Trustee, The American Assembly
Mark McKinnon
Vice Chairman, Public Strategies, Inc.
Amy Zegart
Associate Professor of Public Policy, UCLA School of Public Affairs
3:45-4:00 p.m. Brown Room Coffee Break
4:00-4:45 p.m. DISCUSSION, MODERATED BY ANDREW P.N. ERDMANN AND FRANCIS J. GAVIN
ACHIEVING THE GOALS OF THE NEXT GENERATION PROJECT – IDENTIFYING TALENT, GENERATING IDEAS, INFLUENCING POLICY
The Next Generation Project is premised on the belief that new voices and fresh ideas will strengthen the nation’s discussion of U.S. global policy and the future of international institutions. The Next Generation Project’s steering committee chairman, Andrew P.N. Erdmann, and director, Francis J. Gavin, will lead a discussion over how we are proceeding to:
- Identify New Talent and Create New Policy Networks
- Generate New Ideas about U.S. Global Policy and the Future of International Institutions
- Influence Policy Discussions about the Future of America’s Role in the World