Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta CONV. WITH HISTORY. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta CONV. WITH HISTORY. Mostrar todas las entradas

lunes, 8 de julio de 2013

ANDREW SCOTT COOPER

CONVERSATIONS WITH HISTORY 21

U.S., Iran and Saudi Arabia
Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes author Andrew Scott Cooper to discuss his new book "The Oil Kings." Focusing on the geopolitics of the Middle East in the 1970's, the study centers on the complex relationship between Nixon, Kissinger and the Shah of Iran. Relying on recently declassified documents, Cooper describes the international environment of the period and the implications of the Nixon doctrine for the Shah's foreign policy.

Revealing the contradiction between the Shah's dependence on the rise of oil prices and the need to fund his new military role, Cooper explains how this contradiction resulted in the Shah's downfall and the implosion of Iran. He demonstrates the interplay between the collapse of the relationship between Iran and the U.S. and the emergence of Saudi Arabia as the guarantor of price and supply in the oil market and America's most important ally in the Persian Gulf.

lunes, 27 de mayo de 2013

HARRY KREISLEY

CONVERSATIONS WITH HISTORY 20

My Forty Years at Berkeley
Guest hosts Professor Jack Citrin and Robert Price interview Harry Kreisler, host and creator of Conversations with History, for a discussion of his career and intellectual journey. Kreisler talks about his formative experiences, his education at Brandeis and Berkeley, and his work at the Institute of International Studies as executive director. 

He explains the origins of Conversations, the development of his craft as an interviewer, and recalls some of the highlights of the 555 interviews he has done for the series. He concludes with his observation about how the university is changing.

lunes, 8 de abril de 2013

VICENTE FOX

CONVERSATIONS WITH HISTORY 19 
Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Vicente Fox, former President of Mexico, for a discussion of the challenges facing Mexico and the future of U.S. Mexican relations. President Fox discusses his formative experiences including the influence of his ancestors and teachers, his work as a businessman, and the factors that led him to enter politics.
Discussing his Presidency, he analyzes the problems of governing in a country simultaneously riding a democratic revolution and the transformations brought about by the new wave of globalization. He also discusses the issues of immigration and drugs and how both impact the future of U.S.-Mexican relations.

lunes, 14 de enero de 2013

JAMES GUSTAVE SPETH

CONVERSATIONS WITH HISTORY 18 
Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes environmentalist James Gustave Speth for a discussion of his new book, America the Possible: Manifesto for a New Economy. Speth discusses the systemic failure at the heart of the American crisis highlighting the inadequacy of a motivational system that focuses on economic growth, profits, and power to the detriment of people and the environment. In his view, the American system is broken.

He criticizes progressives for not focusing on the big picture and thereby not recognizing the way issues like poverty, education, and environment are linked to the failure of political economy to deliver a quality of life that takes account of human need and values such as equity and justice. Describing a plan of action that combines reform and transformation and emphasizing the lessons to be learned from the civil rights movement, Speth argues for building a political movement that focuses on all the elements of the American crisis.

lunes, 13 de agosto de 2012

STEVEN A. COOK

CONVERSATIONS WITH HISTORY 17 
Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Steven A. Cook, Sabbagh Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, for a discussion of his new book, "The Struggle for Egypt." Cook discusses the major actors in modern Egyptian history focusing on the military, the Muslim Brotherhood and the student movements.
He identifies recurring patterns—the failure of the military to achieve equity and social justice under Nasser, Sadat, and Mubarak; the continuing resilience of the Muslim Brotherhood in providing a meaningful national narrative while developing organizations that could meet the social welfare and religious needs of the Egyptian people; and the periodic emergence of student movements. Cook then identifies the flawed assumptions of U.S. policy in the thirty years following the Camp David Accords. He concludes with the key issues in the next stages: the writing of a new constitution, the military; and the deteriorating economic situation.

lunes, 2 de julio de 2012

ROYA HAKAKIAN

CONVERSATIONS WITH HISTORY 16
Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Roya Hakakian whose book "Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran," chronicles her intellectual odyssey from teenage rebel to Iranian-American writer. 
In the conversation, Roya Hakakian reflects on the craft of writing, the importance of poetry in Iranian culture, the betrayal of the revolution by the Ayatollahs and the impact of the revolution on the Jewish community in Iran. She also compares the struggle within both Islam and Judaism as young people reconcile modernity with religious identity.

lunes, 7 de mayo de 2012

BARRY EICHENGREEN

CONVERSATIONS WITH HISTORY 15
Pardee Professor of Economics and History University of California, Berkeley 
The Rise and Fall of the Dollar

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Berkeley economic historian Barry Eichengreen for a discussion of his new book, Exorbitant Privilege. Outlining the history of the dollar's role in the international monetary system, Eichengreen begins with the function and characteristics of a reserve currency. The conversation then moves to an analysis of the institutional prerequisites for the rise of the dollar as an international currency. After describing the dollar's rise and sterling's fall, Eichengreen focuses on the factors that accounted for the dollar's preeminence after World War II. 

Throughout the conversation, he touches on the personalities who forged America's dominant role. He then chronicles the slow erosion of the dollar as other centers of economic power emerged. The discussion moves on to examine the causes and consequences of the 2008 economic collapse. In light of the fiscal crisis confronting the United States today, Eichengreen speculates on the future of the dollar and on the challenges posed by the euro and the yuan. He concludes with reflections on the role of history in explicating policy choices.