Northern Michigan University will continue the 2016 Great Decisions Global Discussion Series in March. Great Decisions is a series of critical examinations of foreign policy presented by a roster of nationally known experts. NMU’s political science department and international programs office are partnering with the World Affairs Council of Western Michigan to share these presentations on campus. 

Discussions will take place from 9-10:30 a.m. in Jamrich 3319 on the following Tuesdays. The public is invited.  

March 8: “Our Allies in the Middle East: The Future of Kurdistan” will be presented by Jessie Clark, a geographer at the University of Nevada-Reno. Kurdistan, a mountainous area made up of parts of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria, is home to one of the largest ethnic groups in the region: the Kurds. Most in the West know them as a close U.S. ally in the Middle East and a bulwark against the expansion of the so-called Islamic State.  Dr. Clark will discuss what current regional and internal state conflicts in the greater Kurdish region mean for the future of Kurdistan.

March 15: “Is Korea's Reunification Possible?” will be presented by James Person of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He will discuss whether North and South Korea might ever be able to reconcile differences and emerge once more as a unified country. 

March 22: “ISIS: What Don’t We Know?” will be presented by Patrick Skinner, a former CIA case officer. He will bring a fresh perspective to address the dangers ISIS poses to U.S. interests. He will discuss the group’s newest type of terrorism, which he calls “the new terror spectacular.” 

March 29: “Cuba and the U.S.: What Does the Future Hold?” will be presented by Ambassador Charles Shapiro, the president of the World Affairs Council of Atlanta and former coordinator of Cuban Affairs for the U.S. Department of State. He will talk about America’s new relations with Cuba, the presence that was maintained in Cuba before July 2015 and an insight into the future of U.S.-Cuba relations. 

For more information, contact Kevin Timlin at 227-2510.