US Presidential Elections: The Campaign!

10 Septembre, 2008

U.S.2008 Presidential Election Conference:The CAMPAIGN!

sorbonne panel

C'est devant un public nombreux (260 personnes) qu'un panel de spécialistes français et américains s'est exprimé à La Sorbonne le 10 septembre dernier. Le débat fut tour à tour passionné et réfléchi et a donné lieu à de nombreux échanges passionnants entre le public et les débatteurs. Le panel comprenait entre autres Louis Giscard d’Estaing, Norman Ornstein et André Kaspi.

Obama et mac cain

Université de Paris I – Panthéon - Sorbonne

Amphithéâtre Richelieu ; Paris, France

Download the registration form here

September 10, 2008

14h15 Welcome / Registration

14h30 Opening Remarks:

Craig R. Stapleton, U.S. Ambassador

Craig Roberts Stapleton was nominated by President Bush as Ambassador to France and took the oath of office from Secretary of State Rice on June 27, 2005. Previously, he served as Ambassador to the Czech Republic from 2001-2004.

In addition to his government service, Ambassador Stapleton has had an extensive business career. He has served as President of Marsh and McLennan Real Estate Advisors of New York since 1982. He was also a partner of President Bush in the ownership of the Texas Rangers baseball team from 1989-1998. In 2004, he served as Connecticut State Chairman for the re-election campaign of President Bush and in 2005 he served on the Board of Directors of the Allegheny Properties, Metro PCS, TB Woods and Winston Partners.

Ambassador Stapleton has many civic interests. He is President of the Vaclav Havel Foundation in the United States. He was awarded the Jan Masaryk Medal for service to the Czech Republic. He also served on the Board of the Peace Corps under President George H. W. Bush. His charitable involvement has focused on education. He has served as Trustee of the Brunswick School in Greenwich, Connecticut, and numerous committees at Harvard.

Ambassador Stapleton was born in Kansas City, Missouri. He received his secondary school education at Phillips Exeter Academy and a B.A. (magna cum laude) from Harvard University. He received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Senator Paul Girod, Sénateur de l'Aisne (Picardie)

Membre de la commission des finances, du contrôle budgétaire et des comptes économiques de la Nation, Membre de la Délégation pour l'Union européenne, Membre du Groupe Union pour un Mouvement Populaire,

Pierre-Yves Hénin,President of the Sorbonne

Professor Pierre-Yves Hénin has been the President of Paris I University (Panthéon-Sorbonne) since 2004. He has taught there since 1975, giving courses on general economics, macroeconomics, dynamics, fluctuation and growth. He took his PhD in Economics from Paris I, after which he taught at the University of Orléans from 1972-75.

Professor Hénin has been head of different economics degree programmes at Paris I from 1985-2000 and director of CEPREMAP (Centre pour la recherche economique et ses applications). He was Vice-President of the Paris I Scientific Council for many years, as well as member and president of various French and international economics associations. (europaeum)

14h45 – 15h45 Panel I – POLITICS: The Campaign – Methods, Analysis & Projections

Norman Ornstein, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute

Norman J. Ornstein is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. He also serves as an election analyst for CBS News and writes a weekly column called "Congress Inside Out" for Roll Call newspaper. He has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, and other major publications, and regularly appears on television programs like The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Nightline, and Charlie Rose. (copyright:aei.org)

Kyle Wingfield, Editorial Page Writer, Wall Street Journal Europe

Mr. Wingfield is an editorial page writer for The Wall Street Journal Europe. Before joining the Journal in October 2004, he spent three years with the Associated Press in Atlanta and Montgomery, Alabama, covering ousted Chief Justice Roy Moore and his Ten Commandments monument, civil and criminal court cases, and higher education. A native of Dalton, Ga ., he holds an ABJ in publication management from the University of Georgia. (Copyright © Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Connie Borde, Vice-President, Democrats Abroad France, Super Delegate to the Democratic National Convention

George Yates, Chairman Republicans Abroad Europe

Louis Giscard d’Estaing, Deputy and Chairman of the French-US I Caucus / attended DNCC

François Durpaire – Université de Paris

Né à Poitiers le 14 août 1971, François Durpaire a fait ses études secondaires au lycée Carnot à Dijon. Après un double cursus de Philosophie et d'Histoire à l'université Paris 1-Panthéon-Sorbonne, il obtient l'agrégation d'histoire en 1996. Sa thèse de doctorat - soutenue en 2004 sous la direction d'André Kaspi (président du jury : Pierre Boilley) - porte sur le rôle des Etats-Unis dans la décolonisation de l'Afrique noire francophone. Il est cofondateur en 2005 de l'Institut des Diasporas Noires Francophones (idnf.org) et directeur de publication de la Revue des Diasporas Noires (diasporasnoires.com). Chercheur associé au centre de recherche Nord-Américaine, il est actuellement enseignant à l'IUFM de Versailles. (copyright:puf.com)

Moderator – Christian Malar, France 3

16h00 – 17h00 Panel II – ISSUES: The Economy & the Domestic Front

Denis Lacorne, CERI, Sciences Po

Holds a degree from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (IEP) and a Ph.D. in political science from Yale University. Joined CERI in 1982 after spending 12 years in the United States and 2 years in Canada. Has been a visiting professor at the University of California Irvine, the School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC, New York University, the Institut Universitaire des Hautes Etudes in Geneva, and a visiting fellow at Stanford University, the University of California Berkeley, the Remarque Institute at New York University, and the Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life at Columbia University.
Specializes in the political history of the United States. His research is part of the CERI Transversal Projects “Transatlantic Relations and Comparisons” and “Historical Trajectories of the State.” (copyright: SciencesPo.)

Karlyn Bowman, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute / Columnist for Roll Call

Bowman's research areas include public opinion and polls, U.S. politics, and the media. She writes a weekly column, "POLLitics," for Roll Call. (copyright: AEI)

Raphael Sonenshein, University of California, Fullerton / 2008 Fulbright Tocqueville Distinguished Chair in American Studies

Political scientist Raphael J. Sonenshein is juggling the busy life of being a college professor and a political commentator during the upcoming recall vote and election. The political activity is providing plenty to discuss in the classroom as well as before microphones and cameras. Sonenshein has made appearances on CNN and National Public Radio, as well as being quoted in the Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times and various Associated Press articles. (copyright: Dateline)

Tom Redburn, Assistant Managing Editor for Business News, International Herald Tribune

Nicole Bacharan, EuropeI

Spécialiste de la société américaine et des relations franco-américaines.

Chercheur associé à la Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques, Nicole Bacharan a enseigné à l'Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris un séminaire en Anglais consacré à la société américaine contemporaine, The New American Dream, de 1997 à 2002.

Elle est consultante pour les Etats-Unis auprès de Radio-France et de la Radio Suisse Romande. (copyright: SciencesPo.)

André Kaspi, CNRS

Moderator –Jim Bitterman, ParisBureau Chief, CNN

Jim Bittermann is CNN's senior European correspondent based in Paris. Since joining CNN in 1996, he has covered the death of Princess Diana in 1997, NATO air strikes on Kosovo in 1998, the earthquake in Turkey in 1999 and the World Cup soccer championships, among other stories. (copyright: CNN)

17h15 – 18h15 Panel III – INTERNATIONAL: Modernizing US Foreign Assistance in the Next Presidency

The Honorable Jim Kolbe, Senior Transatlantic Fellow and former US Congressman, the German Marshall Fund of the United States

Jim Kolbe joined The German Marshall Fund of the U.S. as a Senior Transatlantic Fellow to work on issues related to the international trade and development, and is spearheading GMF’s Transatlantic Taskforce on Development, examining the effectiveness of development assistance. Prior to GMF, Mr. Kolbe spent 22 years in Congress, where he served on the Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives, and for the last six years, chaired the Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Agencies subcommittee. Mr. Kolbe graduated from Northwestern University with a BA degree in Political Science and then from Stanford University with an MBA and a concentration in economics.

Alain Joyandet, Secrétaired d’Etat de la Coopération, MAEE (TBC)

French politician who was appointed Minister of State for Cooperation and Francophony in the government of François Fillon on March 18, 2008. Prior to that, he was CEO of the Société nouvelle des éditions comtoises (SNEC), a publisher of weekly newspapers and journals. He is a journalist by training.

Reuben Brigety, Director, Sustainable Security Program, The Center for American Progress

Reuben E. Brigety, II is Director of the Sustainable Security Program at American Progress. His work focuses on the role of development assistance in U.S. foreign policy. Dr. Brigety’s other areas of expertise are U.S. national security, human rights, and humanitarian affairs. Prior to joining CAP, he served as a Special Assistant in the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance at the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Brigety is also an Assistant Professor of Government and Politics at George Mason University. He is the author of Ethics, Technology and the American Way of War (Routledge, 2007) and a variety of other articles and book chapters. Before entering academia, Brigety was a researcher with the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch. He served on HRW research missions in Afghanistan in March 2002 and in Iraq in April and May of 2003. He also served as HRW's coordinator for crisis management during the Iraq war and as an HRW delegate to the Convention on Conventional Weapons negotiations in Geneva. Before joining HRW, Brigety was an active duty U.S. naval officer and held several staff positions in the Pentagon and in fleet support units.

Brigety is a Distinguished Midshipman Graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, where he earned a B.S. in political science (with merit), served as the Brigade Commander, and received the Thomas G. Pownall Scholarship. He also holds an M.Phil. and a Ph.D. in international relations from Cambridge University, England. He is a fellow of the Cambridge Overseas Society, a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a former Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a recipient of the Council’s prestigious International Affairs Fellowship. (copyright: American Progress)

Serge Michailof, Sciences Po, former Executive Director for Operations for the French Development Agency (AFD)

Jacques Audibert, Directeur des Affaires stratégiques et du Désarmement, MAEE (TBC)

Moderator – Bernard Guetta, France Inter

18h30 Closing remarks and exchange:

Connie Borde, VP Democrats Abroad / DNC member / Super Delegate to the Democratic Convention

George Yates, Chairman Republicans Abroad Europe

19h00 – 19h30 Closing Toast

*Simultaneous Translation will be provided.

(TBC) To be confirmed