U.N. Global Compact, Globalization Post-9/11 Examined in Latest Installments in Lawrence University Lecture Series

APPLETON, WIS. -- Two of the nation's pre-eminent scholars on international relations will share the podium in a pair of addresses in Lawrence University's ongoing lecture series, "Debating Globalization: Politics, Economics and Culture."

Michael Doyle, special adviser to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and assistant secretary-general of the United Nations, presents "The U.N. Global Compact: Developing Social Foundations for Globalization" Monday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m.

On Tuesday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m., Robert Gilpin, the Eisenhower Professor of Public and International Affairs emeritus at Princeton University, delivers the address "Globalization and Its Discontents."

Both lectures, free and open to the public, will be held on the Lawrence campus in Science Hall, Room 102.

Doyle will discuss how the U.N.'s Global Compact -- a corporate social responsibility initiative -- is working to produce globalization with "a human face." He will examine the motivation behind businesses and the United Nations in developing the Compact and explore the challenges the initiative faces in extending the United Nations' corporate world partnership.

Doyle is at the United Nations on public service leave from Princeton, where he is the Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Politics and International Affairs. His areas of responsibility in the U.N. Executive Office include strategic planning, outreach to the global corporate sector and improving relations between the United Nations and the United States.

He is the author of eight books on international issues, including "Peacemaking and Peacekeeping for the New Century." He serves on the board of directors of the International Peace Academy, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2001.

Gilpin, widely regarded as one of the country's leading scholars on international political economy, will discuss how globalization -- the principal focus in current international relations debates -- was altered by the September 11 terrorist attack.

Gilpin will argue that while the terrorist attack sent a clear message that important political and religious forces rejected "globalist's" vision of a united secular world based on capitalism, democracy and common values, the United States would make a serious mistake if it abandons its commitment to an open international economic and political system.

He also will discuss the importance of continued international flow of goods, investment and technology in eliminating the massive worldwide poverty that provides a breeding ground for global terrorism.

A member of the Princeton faculty from 1962-98, Gilpin is a former Congressional Fellow of the American Political Science Association, a Guggenheim Fellow, a Lehrman Fellow and was twice named a Rockefeller Fellow. He has written eight books, including "The Political Economy of International Relations," which won the Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award as the best book written by a political scientist, and 2001's "Global Political Economy: The New International Economic Order."

The "Debating Globalization: Politics, Economics and Culture" lecture series is sponsored by the Mojmir Povolny Lectureship in International Studies. Named in honor of long-time Lawrence government professor Mojmir Povolny, the lectureship promotes interest and discussion on issues of moral significance and ethical dimensions.