Laura Blanche Jackson Memorial Lectureship Will Host American Foreign Policy Expert

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Dr. Michael Mandelbaum, director of American foreign policy at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C., will present "The Frugal Superpower: American Foreign Policy in an Era of Deficit Reduction" at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 31, in Paul Powell Chapel of George W. Truett Theological Seminary on the Baylor University campus.

Mandelbaum will lecture on "the tension between America's role as a superpower in an increasingly dangerous world and the declining resources needed to support America's involvement in international affairs," said Dr. Thomas Hibbs, dean of the honors college at Baylor.

"Given our recent intervention in Libya, there is perhaps no more timely topic than the one on which Mandelbaum will speak," Hibbs said. "He is among the nation's most distinguished scholars and a public intellectual of some note."

The event, hosted by the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core and the Honors College, marks the 17th annual Laura Blanche Jackson Memorial Lectureship in World Issues. The event is free and open to the public.

Mandelbaum, also the Christian A. Herter Professor of American Foreign Policy at Johns Hopkins, has held teaching posts at Harvard, Columbia and the United States Naval Academy. He serves on the board of advisors of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a Washington-based organization sponsoring research and public discussion on American policy toward the Middle East.

A graduate of Yale College, Mandelbaum earned his master's degree at King's College, Cambridge University, and his doctorate at Harvard University.

Mandelbaum is the author or co-author of numerous articles and of twelve books. His most recent books are The Frugal Superpower: America's Global Leadership in a Cash-Strapped Era (2010); and Democracy's Good Name: The Rise and Risks of the World's Most Popular Form of Government (2007).

The Laura Blanche Jackson Lectureship in World Affairs was created by Laura Jackson's family and many friends in memory of her life. Jackson was involved on Baylor's campus as a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma and Student Foundation before her graduation in 1985. After Baylor, Jackson served on numerous campaign staffs for state and local political candidates. Later she became the director of marketing for the World Affairs Council of San Antonio.

Following her death in 1992, Jackson's family and friends created the lectureship dedicated to asking the questions and seeking the answers that she was committed to asking and finding in her life.

For more information on the lectureship, contact Paulette_Edwards@baylor.edu.

Truett Seminary is at 1100 S. Third St.

by Susie Typher, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805