2011 Conference

Download the Arab Spring Registration Form

Download the Arab Spring Program

Thursday, October 27

Student Union Simplot Ballroom

at Boise State University

The day-long conference will feature a number of speakers who will address the current political, economic and cultural challenges in the Arab world. Among the speakers will be former Assistant Secretary of State and Ambassador to Iraq, Christopher R. Hill; Ms. Daisy Khan, Executive Director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement; Dr. Nader Hashemi, professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver; and Dr. George Irani, professor at the American University of Kuwait.

While the conference is open and free to the public, advance registration will be required for the luncheon and reception. Please use the attached form. Note application pending for Continuing Legal Education and Professional Education credits.

Previous Conferences

2010 Conference: Eagle & Dragon: The U.S. and China in the 21st Century

2009 Conference: The Global Environment: From Kyoto to Copenhagen

2007 Conference: Tipping Points: Presidents, the Constitution and National Security

2007 Conference: Global Warming: Beyond the Inconvenient Truth

2005 Conference: Global Flash Points: Clash of Cultures

2004 Conference: The American Presidency: Principled Leadership in a Time of Turbulence

2003 Conference: Freedom and Secrecy: Trading Liberty for Security?

About the Institute Conferences

The Frank Church Institute, established in 1982 at the Frank Church Chair of Public Affairs at Boise State University, combines both an endowed professorship and an annual conference on the issues of the day. It brings together academic interests and practical politics by involving students, faculty, and the community with renowned leaders.

As stated at its founding, “Through the Chair, Boise State University will emphasize to its students those ideals which the Senator holds dear—a strong belief in the rule of law, eloquence firmly based on reason, and an unwavering faith in the American political system. The endowment will be used to fund lectures, symposia, and the Chair of Public Affairs.”

A long roster of distinguished participants include: former President Gerald Ford; former Vice Presidents Al Gore and Walter Mondale; former Senators Mark Hatfield, Slade Gorton, Edmund Muskie, and Gaylord Nelson; former White House Counsels Ted Sorensen, Leon Panetta, and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.; and former Ambassadors Joseph Sisco, Andrew Young, and Paul Warnke.

The widely ranging conference subjects include:

• War or Peace? The American Role
• International Issues in the Middle East
• Political Repression and Social Control
• Americanism: Activism or Apathy?
• Responding to Revolution: At Home and Abroad
• Who Decides? The Domestic Sources of American Foreign Policy
• Prospects for Peace
• Our Public Lands
• The New World: Changing U.S. – U.S.S.R. Relations
• Earth in the Balance
• The World After the Soviet Union
• The Impact of Global Arms Sales
• Troubled Waters: Preserving Life’s Most Precious Resource
• What is National Security?
• The Dragon Stirs: A New Dawn for China and the United States
• Juggling Pragmatism and Principle: Interventionism and the Balkan Experience
• The Presidency: Leadership and the Paradox of Power
• Lights Out in the American West!
• America’s Image Abroad
• Freedom & Secrecy: Trading Liberty for Security?

The Frank Church Institute seeks to complete the funding of the first endowed professor, the continued Church Conferences, and the proposed Church Scholarships at BSU.