The nation's leading political and international affairs scholars will join current and former diplomats on Friday, Feb. 20, at Princeton University to discuss the legacy of the pre-eminent diplomat George F. Kennan and his lasting impact on U.S. foreign policy from the Cold War to the Iraq conflict.
The University is hosting the daylong George F. Kennan Centennial Conference in honor of Kennan's 100th birthday. Kennan, a member of Princeton's class of 1925, was a diplomat who crafted what for many years was the nation's most significant and defining foreign policy tenet. Kennan developed the U.S. strategy known as "containment," which became the foundation of American policy toward the U.S.S.R during the Cold War.
The conference will include presentations and panel discussions on Kennan's legacy, the Cold War, 20th-century diplomatic history, diplomacy after the fall of the Soviet Union, current U.S. foreign policy and the future of American diplomacy. U.S. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell is scheduled to deliver opening remarks for the conference. John Lewis Gaddis, the Robert A. Lovett Professor of History and Political Science at Yale University and Kennan's official biographer, is expected to deliver a keynote speech at a dinner honoring Kennan.
Registration for the conference is required. Seating for the scheduled Secretary Powell lecture in Richardson Auditorium is limited. A lottery will be held for students, alumni, faculty and staff. Seating also will be available for the press. Others will be invited to view the lecture at a simulcast in McCosh 50. The conference schedule, registration materials and program information are available on the Mudd Library Web site .
More details are available in a news release.
Contact: Eric Quinones (609) 258-3601