Thursday, January 17, 2013

Interested in the important global issues of our time?

The Great Decisions lecture series that was held at the library in past years has returned this year, but now with a new location.  The series is still sponsored by the University of North Georgia and will be held at their Forsyth Campus on Thursdays, starting January 17 and running through March 7.  A list of the eight discussion topics for 2013 and the complete schedule can be found here on the University of North Georgia’s web site:
http://ung.edu/news/_uploads/files/GreatDecisionsSchedule2013.pdf

I have attended these lectures for the past two years and plan to attend again this year.  If you are not already familiar with the series here is how it works.  Each year the Foreign Policy Association selects eight foreign policy challenges that are currently facing the United States and provides current information for national civic discussion on these eight global issues.  Great Decisions lectures are offered around the country.  Here in north Georgia the lectures have been offered by the University of North Georgia for four consecutive years.  Each of the eight lectures is given by a different professor with in-depth knowledge of the topic at hand.  The North Georgia professors do a wonderful job of providing an overview of the featured topic, current data and policy options.  There is then time at the end of each lecture for audience participation in the form of questions for the speaker, facilitated by a moderator.

There is a briefing book and a DVD produced by the Foreign Policy Association that goes along with the lecture series each year.  The briefing book contains one chapter devoted to each of the eight discussion topics in the lecture series.  You do not need to read the briefing book to attend the lectures but it gives you added insight and information and helps to make the lectures even more enjoyable.  The library has both the Great Decisions 2013 briefing book and Great Decisions 2013 DVD available for checkout or to place a hold.

If you enjoy the Great Decisions lecture series you may also enjoy reading some of these current titles on foreign affairs and global issues from the library’s collection.

American Foreign Policy Since World War II by Steven W. Hook (2013)

The Next Decade: Where We've Been -- and Where We're Going by George Friedman (2011)

Drift: the Unmooring of American Military Power by Rachel Maddow (2012)

Going to Tehran: Why the United States Must Come to Terms with the Islamic Republic of Iran by Flynt Lawrence Leverett (2013)

On China by Henry Kissinger (2011)

Pakistan on the Brink: the Future of America, Pakistan, and Afghanistan by Ahmed Rashid (2012)

The Post-American World: Release 2.0 by Fareed Zakaria (2011)

Restless Empire: China and the World Since 1750 by Odd Arne Westad (2012)

Strategic Vision: America and the Crisis of Global Power by Zbigniew Brzezinski (2012)

The Twilight War: the Secret History of America's Thirty-Year Conflict with Iran by David Crist (2012)

Winner Take All: China's Race for Resources and What It Means for the World by Dambisa Moyo (2012)

The World America Made by Robert Kagan (2012)

Kim Tomblin
Collection Development Librarian


 

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