News release 11/29/99, effective immediately.
For media inquiries, contact Caroline Booth Lara, Communications Specialist, (580) 224-6379.
  email: cblara@noble.org

Note: This event occurred in 1999. Please see the news release index for current events.

Foreign Policy Beyond 2000 Topic Of Profiles Speakers in Ardmore

ARDMORE, Okla. - Foreign policy appears to be an emerging issue in the current presidential campaign as the public appears to be weighing in with stronger opinions on the matter than possibly ever before. But foreign policy issues seem to be growing murkier rather than clearer.

Two internationally known experts will provide a presentation in Ardmore Dec. 10 on the future course of U.S. foreign policy. Two former U.S. ambassadors will be voicing opinions on the direction foreign policy should take in the sixth installment of the Profiles and Perspectives program, sponsored by the nonprofit Noble Foundation.

Admiral William Crowe, former head of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and Ambassador to the United Kingdom, and Ambassador Edward J. Perkins, involved in foreign service around the globe for almost four decades, will give a free public presentation, "U.S. Foreign Policy: The Next Millennium," at the Goddard Center for Visual and Performing Arts, D Street and 1st Avenue SW, at 7 p.m. Dec. 10.

Earlier in the afternoon at 1:30, the men will present a free program for area students and school faculty at the Goddard Center. Government, political and social sciences, and geography classes ranging from middle school through college are encouraged to attend the session and question the experts.

Foreign policy is an issue many find both globally intriguing and baffling. No question has an easy answer, creating a foreign policy nightmare for politicians.

How many human rights violations should be overlooked in negotiating trade deals with China? How can environmental standards be upheld while enacting NAFTA with Mexico? How will new ties with Beijing affect the nation's dealings with Taiwan? With Japan? How does a crumbled communist regime in Russia affect the lives of everyday U.S. residents? What future repercussions will Bosnia and Serbia provide? How about Haiti? What should we know while dealing with Middle East hotspots like Iraq and Iran? How closely should the country become involved with nuclear disputes between India and Pakistan?

Crowe will present his views in the main program, with Perkins providing introductory and closing remarks.

Admiral Crowe's illustrious 43-year Navy career included service as commander of U.S. Naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Commander in Chief of NATO forces in Southern Europe, and Commander in Chief of U.S. Pacific forces. As ambassador to the United Kingdom, he presided over the nation's foreign policy during changes following post-cold war Europe and peace negotiations for Northern Ireland.

Crowe currently serves as chairman of the Board of Visitors, International Programs Center at the University of Oklahoma (Norman), and chairman of the Advisory Board and managing director of International Affairs of Capitoline International Group and as the Shapiro Visiting Professor at George Washington University.

Perkins retired from his ambassador's post in Australia in August 1996 as Career Minister in the U.S. Foreign Service, bringing to a close almost 40 years of public service in such places as Taipei, Okinawa, Thailand, Ghana, and Liberia, and as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and representative in the UN Security Council from 1992-93. He has won numerous honorary awards and degrees and has authored many published articles on foreign policy.

The Noble Foundation, through the Profiles and Perspectives program, encourages the public to learn more about a variety of topics through experts and specialists brought to Southern Oklahoma for free presentations.

Past Profiles and Perspectives presentations have included an artist/sculptor, the former head of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, television political talk show hosts, an internationally known biologist, and a professor with the OU College of Engineering's Electric Vehicle Research Institute. The programs are all free and open to the public as part of the foundation's community enhancement efforts.

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