Seminar: Præsidentvalget og USAs globale lederskab

TIME: Thursday, 19 April at 09.15 – 12.15 hours

VENUE: Danish Institute for International Studies, Main Auditorium, ground floor, Strandgade 71, Christianshavn, 1401 Copenhagen K

Background

As the world’s sole remaining superpower, America and American leadership is all-pervading in the international sphere, from foreign policy and economics, to trade and international law.

TIME: Thursday, 19 April at 09.15 – 12.15 hours

VENUE: Danish Institute for International Studies, Main Auditorium, ground floor, Strandgade 71, Christianshavn, 1401 Copenhagen K

Background

As the world’s sole remaining superpower, America and American leadership is all-pervading in the international sphere, from foreign policy and economics, to trade and international law.

At the same time, US domestic politics arouse enormous international interest, and especially in an election year, as presidential candidates seek to define the political agenda and turn political events to their advantage.

For Europeans, especially, it can be a challenge to understand to what extent the domestic US agenda affects US foreign policies, priorities, and concerns.

Does foreign policy really matter in a presidential election? Does polarization over domestic political issues make it harder for the US to lead internationally? And how does this dynamic affect other great powers in their hopes of international influence?

With an eye to this year’s American presidential election, this seminar investigates both the historical roots and the contemporary manifestations of an increasingly diversified American political landscape.

Some observers argue that divisive domestic politics make a coherent foreign policy impossible. Others say that the US has always been a pluralist society without this preventing active international leadership. This is the issue that this seminar seeks to address.

Speakers

* Laurie S. Fulton, U.S. Ambassador to Denmark
* John Avlon, Senior Columnist, Newsweek and the Daily Beast
* Vibeke Schou Tjalve, Senior Researcher, DIIS
* Niels Bjerre-Poulsen, Associate Professor, University of Southern Denmark
* Nanna Hvidt, Director, DIIS
* Andreas Bøje Forsby, PhD Candidate, DIIS

PROGRAMME

09.15-09.20
Welcome by Nanna Hvidt, Director, DIIS

09.20-09.40
US Leadership in the 21st Century by Laurie S. Fulton, US Ambassador to Denmark

09.40-10.20
The Quest for Presidency and the Problem of Polarization by John Avlon, Senior Columnist, Newsweek and the Daily Beast

10.20-11.00
Is US Leadership Possible – American Foreign Policy and the Challenge of Political Pluralism by Vibeke Schou Tjalve, Senior Researcher, DIIS

11.00-11.15
Coffee Break

11.15-11.35
The American Conservative Movement and the Notion of Ideological Purity as the Road to Electoral Success by Niels Bjerre-Poulsen, Associate Professor, University of Southern Denmark

11.35-12.15
Q & A

Chair: Andreas Bøje Forsby, PhD Candidate, DIIS

The seminar will be held in English.

Participation is free of charge, but registration is required. Please use our online registration form on http://www.diis.dk/sw117880.asp

And do so no later than Wednesday, 18 April 2012 at 12.00 noon.

Please await confirmation by e-mail from DIIS for participation.

Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
The Conference Section
tlf. 32 69 87 51 og e-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.diis.dk