April 8, 2008

Contact:
John Duffield, 404-413-6164

National security expert Michael O’Hanlon to discuss available options in Iraq

One of the most pressing issues that the next president will face is what to do about Iraq. Should the United States withdraw its forces or continue its military efforts to bring peace and stability to the war-torn country? Although the recent surge of American troops has contributed to a significant reduction in the level of violence, the prospects for political reconciliation among Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds remain uncertain.

At 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 15 at the Student Center Speaker’s Auditorium, Michael O’Hanlon, a noted national security policy expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C., will analyze the principal policy options available to the next administration in a discussion called “How Fast Can We Responsibly Leave Iraq?”

O’Hanlon is a Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy and the Sydney Stein Jr. Chair at the Brookings Institution.

A former defense budget analyst who advised members of Congress on military spending, O’Hanlon specializes in Iraq, North Korea, homeland security, the use of military force and other defense issues. He is also director of research for the 21st Century Defense Initiative, Director of Opportunity 08, and the senior author of the Iraq Index, a regularly updated statistical compilation of economic, public opinion, and security data covering the war in Iraq.

O’Hanlon’s visit is sponsored by the Middle East Institute, the departments of political science, history and sociology, the office of international affairs, the international studies program at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies and Pi Sigma Alpha. For more information, visit www.gsu.edu/mideast.

What: “How Fast Can we Responsibly Leave Iraq,” a talk by Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution

When: 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 15

Where: Student Center Speakers Auditorium