Arab democracy expert Maksoud to speak Sept. 28

Washington State University’s International Students’ Council will welcome lawyer, journalist and diplomat Clovis Maksoud (mahk-SOOD) to campus, Wednesday, Sept. 28, to discuss Arab democracy as part of International Education Week.

Maksoud, a faculty member at American University in Washington, D.C., will discuss “Prospects and Problems, Democracy in the Arab Countries” from 7-8 p.m. in Bryan Hall Auditorium. Admission is free.

Maksoud was the Arab League ambassador to India and Southeast Asia from1961-66 and was chief representative of the Arab League States to the United States and United Nations. His expertise in Arab democracy is extensive. He is a professor of global South studies and international relations and is director of the Center for the Global South at American University.

The Center for Global South seeks to address some of the greatest challenges that face the international community in the next millennium, including poverty, environmental degradation, human and civil rights abuses, ethnic and regional conflicts, mass displacements of refugees, hunger and disease. The urgency of these issues – and the potential for growth and change – led American University to create the center.

“I am doing my part in correcting the misconceptions that people have about the Arabs as a people and as a culture,” said Ali Zbib, event coordinator and WSU senior studying mechanical engineering.

“Being a former ambassador of the Arab League, a diplomat and having authored many books about the Arabs, Dr. Clovis Maksoud is a great source of knowledge. And as a professor of international relations, he would know how to reach his audience. These are the main reasons for choosing Dr. Maksoud as our keynote speaker this year,” Zbib said.

Maksoud has authored a number of articles and books on the Middle East and the global South, including “The Meaning of Non-Alignment,” “The Crisis of the Arab Left,” “Reflections on Afro-Asianism” and “The Arab Image.”

He has been chair and convener of many conferences on environment and development, human rights, population and disarmament.

Maksoud graduated from American University of Beirut, received a juris doctor degree from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and did postgraduate work at Oxford University in Britain.

The International Students’ Council, The Foley Institute and the Asia Program will sponsor Maksoud’s talk.

For more information on International Education Week, visit the International Programs Web site at www.ip.wsu.edu.