International Symposium recognizes Larry Caldwell’s Career

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Author: Daniel Horowitz

 

The “Oxy in the World” symposium last weekend honored the retirement of Occidental politics professor Larry Caldwell by hosting alumni from all across the country to discuss issues in international affairs. The symposium was organized by Occidental alumni Roger George ’71 and Gloria Duffy ’75.
“In view of [Dr. Larry Caldwell’s] many contributions and his assistance to us and many of our Oxy friends who have gone into fields of international affairs, we felt it would be a tribute to him and also a positive experience for the college to convene a symposium of his former students to exchange views on how international affairs had been evolving since we left the college,” George said.
The Symposium began on Saturday, Feb. 19, with a series of panels headed by former Occidental alumni who now have careers in foreign affairs or other international relations-related fields. 
The panelists described the current state of international affairs and related their career experience to their experience at Occidental. The panels were attended by both Occidental students and faculty, as well as alumni who came to Los Angeles specifically for the event.
In one panel, “Diplomacy and Development: Softer Power,” William Mark Bellamy ’72, Jessie Evans ’06 and Erik Eckholm ’71 discussed their various perspectives on international relations and development.
Bellamy, Director of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, shared his experience working in government over the past three decades. He characterized the ’80s as dominated by the Cold War, the ’90s as a period of downsizing, demobilizing and disengagement and the most recent decade as defined by the events of September 11, 2001.
In response to an audience question, Bellamy said that the two most important areas for future development are local conflict resolution and small-scale economic interventions.
Evans, who works at the State Department as Special Coordinator for Stability and Reconstruction, discussed foreign relations and aid, drawing on her experience in international affairs.
Eckholm, a long-time reporter and editor for the New York Times, said that the governmental response to Wikileaks has been exaggerated and that the main focus should be on security and protecting information that compromises national security rather than that which is simply embarrassing.
“I think it’s a wonderful thing to honor [Dr. Caldwell],” Eckholm said on his feelings toward the symposium.
There were also panel discussions on “Wary Partners: The US and Russia,” “International Security: New Challenges, New Responses” and “The Dynamic Global Business Environment.”
To conclude Saturday, a dinner and reception was held in the lobby of the Hameetman Science Center for all alumni in attendance of the symposium. Robert Legvold of Columbia University gave the Keynote Address, and then the microphone was opened for all alumni to talk about their relationship with professor Caldwell.
Sunday’s events were geared more towards students. Each panelist from the previous day stood up and gave a biography of themselves and a summary of their work. Then students met with the panelists in order to discuss possible career paths.
“Being able to converse with past Oxy students was incredibly rewarding. The alumni all had such unique experiences and perspectives that the advice they gave was invaluable,” Esther Shears (first-year) said.

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