Obama's Foreign Policy: A Panel Discussion at World Affairs Council of Philadelphia

Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign envisioned both enhanced international relationships and the restoration of America’s image abroad resulting from a greater reliance on diplomatic efforts, rather than military intervention, to address global threats and challenges. After three years in office, this approach has been tested on a number of fronts and the Administration’s emerging foreign and defense policy strategy—which has come to be referred to as "the Obama Doctrine"—now advocates using unilateral force, if necessary, against direct threats to the United States, while relying on multilateral responses, not necessarily by force, against indirect threats that have more of a global security impact.

As we approach the 2012 election, amidst Republican assertions of the failures of Barack Obama’s policies, World Affairs Council hosts a panel of experts to explore the President’s record with regard to crises and challenges in the Middle East, Asia and Europe. The panel will be moderated by Edward A. Turzanski, Resident Scholar of the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia; national security analyst, LaSalle University.

Panelists include:

• Fawaz Gerges, Professor of Middle Eastern Politics and International Relations, London School of Economics and Political Science; author of Obama and the Middle East
• Charles Kupchan, Professor of International Affairs in the School of Foreign Service and Government Department, Georgetown University; author of No One's World: The West, the Rising Rest, and The Coming Global Turn
• Michael Swaine, Senior Associate for the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; author of America's Challenge: Engaging a Rising China in the Twenty-First Century

The Evening's Schedule:

• 5:30 PM: Registration and wine reception
• 6:00 PM: Panel discussion
• 7:15 PM: Book Signing

Registration for WAC-Phila Members includes the program and a wine reception for only $18, or with a program pass.
Registration for the general public includes program and wine reception for only $28.
Full-time students with a valid ID are invited to take part in the panel discussion and book signing for only $10.