Political developments affecting American business and new challenges and directions in political risk analysis will be the focus of a public forum from 8 a.m.-noon March 23 in the May Auditorium of Simon Hall on the Danforth Campus of Washington University.
Sponsored by the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy, the forum is free and open to the public, but registration is required. A detailed agenda for the public forum, speaker background, registration forms, driving directions and parking information are available on the Weidenbaum Center Web site: wc.wustl.edu.
Doors open at 7:30 a.m. for a continental breakfast, followed at 8 p.m. with an introduction by Nathan Jensen, Ph.D., assistant professor of political science in Arts & Sciences, and a keynote on “What China means for the United States” by Geoffrey Garrett, president of the Pacific Council on International Policy and professor in the School of International Relations at the University of Southern California.
“Challenges to American Business Abroad” is the focus of the first panel discussion, which begins at 9 a.m. Participants include Charles G. Schott, deputy assistant secretary with the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Omar Garcia-Bolivar, president of BG Consulting and an expert on legal and regulatory issues influencing foreign investment and trade with Latin America. Focusing on exchange rate movements, trade disputes, economic nationalism and other global challenges, the discussion will be moderated by Murray L. Weidenbaum, the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor in Arts & Sciences and the honorary chair of the Weidenbaum Center.
The second panel, “Politics and Political Risk in the Developing World,” begins at 10:30 a.m. Participants include Witold Henisz, associate professor of management at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and expert on the political hazards of international investments; Paul Vaaler, associate professor of business administration, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and expert on risk and investment strategies in emerging-market countries; and Beth Simmons, professor of government at Harvard University and expert on the effects of international law and institutions on state behavior and policy choice.
A non-public academic workshop on these same topics will be held the afternoon of March 23 and on March 24. For more information, contact Melinda Warren at 935-5652; warren@wc.wustl.edu.