The Committee’s first choice is David Fromkin’s A Peace to End All Peace. 20th Anniversary Edition: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and Creation of the Modern Middle East.

His original book was published in 1989, and now is in a 463-page paper edition with an Afterword by Fromkin. Both will provide a better understanding of how the Ottoman Empire was carved up after WW1 and how it has fared since then. Interestingly, young Winston Churchill was in charge of that huge break-up project.

For more ideas, please see the 2013 Conference Booklist here.

The Conference begins on Friday evening, February 17 with the Keynote Address by Bill Richardson, former Governor of New Mexico, Congressman, Secretary of Energy, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and presidential candidate in 2008. Richardson will be kicking off the discussion of the Conference theme “The U.S. in a 21^st Century World: Do we have what it takes?”

Saturday morning will begin with Pete du Pont, former Governor of Delaware, member of Congress, presidential candidate in 1988, and currently a journalist and economic consultant, addressing the issues of our faltering economy and our future. Next will be Clyde Prestowitz, founder and president of the Economic Strategy Institute looking at economic issues.

To wrap up the morning will be Amory Lovins, co-founder and chief scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute. Lovins, an expert on energy and environmental issues, will talk on “Reinventing Fire: A Business-Led Clean Energy Solution for Security and Prosperity.”

Saturday afternoon will focus on national security and diplomacy issues. Larry Wilkerson will lead off with an assessment of our current situation on military and security issues. The team of Wayne Porter and Mark Mykleby will follow with “Beyond Risk and Threat: The Need for a National Strategic Narrative.” Porter and Mykleby served as strategic advisors to Admiral Mike Mullens at the Pentagon and developed a well-known paper on the national strategic narrative.

Nicholas Burns, former Undersecretary of State and currently professor at the Kennedy School at Harvard University will focus on an International Strategy for U.S. Diplomacy. Burns will be moderating much of the Conference and has been very well received in previous years.

Sunday’s talks will address two further key areas – education and media. Robert Schwartz, Professor of Educational Policy and Administration at the Harvard Graduate School of Education will look at “U.S. Education in a Global Context.” Deborah Amos, Middle East Foreign Correspondent for National Public Radio, will address media in the modern world.

Throughout the Conference, attendees will have the opportunity to address questions to the speakers both individually and during panels with several of the speakers together. The Conference promises to be stimulating and informative. Perhaps it will even answer the question “Do we have what it takes?”

The 25th Camden Conference will be held February 17 to 19, 2012, at the Camden Opera House and satellite locations in Ellsworth (The Grand), Rockland (Strand Theatre), and Belfast (Hutchinson Center).  Please call 236-1034 to register.

The Camden Conference is a nonprofit, non-partisan educational organization whose mission is to foster informed discourse on world affairs through year-round community events, public and student engagement, and an annual weekend Conference featuring distinguished speakers focusing on a central theme related to U.S. foreign affairs.  For more information, please visit www.camdenconference.org or call (207) 236-1034.

Join us February 17-19, 2012 live from the historic Camden Opera House or from one of our satellite venues in Belfast, Ellsworth or Rockland and earn up to 8.3 CLEs.

General Registration is now open for what promises to be one of the most compelling Camden Conferences ever! The U.S. in a 21st Century World: Do we have what it takes? Those wishing to avoid the risk of losing out for one of the much-sought-after spots at the historic Camden Opera House can get a jump on the process by signing up now at www.camdenconference.org

In addition to the live event at the Camden Opera House, the 25th annual Camden Conference will also be streamed live to satellite venues at the Strand Theatre in Rockland, the University of Maine Hutchinson Center in Belfast, and The Grand in Ellsworth.

Given the importance of our country’s education programs, attendees will have the opportunity to gain insight into its successes and flaws from a leader of strategic thinking about education reform in the US. As Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Robert Schwartz teaches the next leaders in the field and for years has advised private and government sectors in developing enlightened education policy and programs. He brings forty years of seasoning in the complicated and often contentious fields of education reform, school-to-work concepts, educational standards programs and urban-school improvement efforts. His experience can help refine our thinking about the value of change in our approach to educating our children.

Captain Wayne Porter (USN) and Colonel Mark Mykleby (USMC Retired) were asked by Mike Mullen, recent Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to look far ahead for more effective ways to conduct our foreign policy and reduce overt militarization in US operations around the world. These authors of the game changing ‘ Mr. Y’ report (4/2011) “A National Strategic Narrative” argue that America relies far too much on its military as the primary tool the rest of the world sees and far too little on what really counts—investment in intellectual capital built on a much stronger base of education, health and social services right here at home. As that goes, they argue, so goes our country. Porter and Mykleby will share the insights gained in studying these issues for several years and developing this important report.

The previously announced Conference speakers include former ambassador and Governor Bill Richardson, R. Nicholas Burns of Harvard’s Kennedy School, Deborah Amos of NPR, Clyde Prestowitz of the Economic Strategy Institute, Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute, and former governor Pete du Pont.

The 25th Camden Conference will be held February 17 to 19, 2012, at the Camden Opera House and satellite locations in Ellsworth (The Grand), Rockland (The Strand), and Belfast (Hutchinson Center). Tickets are currently on sale. For more information, go to www.CamdenConference.org or call 236-1034.

Former U. S. Senator George Mitchell spoke in Belfast yesterday as part of the distinguished lecture series presented by Senior College and the Camden Conference. If you missed it, you may watch it here.

For a written account of one of Senator Mitchell’s earlier appearances at the Camden Conference, click here.

For the full list of recommended reading, please visit our 2012 Book List Page.

As in the past 24 years, noted experts will be coming to Camden to share their critical insights on this complex array of issues. In addition to the keynote address by former ambassador and governor Bill Richardson, Camden Conference organizers are delighted to see the return of R. Nicholas Burns, professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics at Harvard’s Kennedy School, who will serve as the conference moderator and speak on diplomacy issues. Former U.S. ambassador to NATO and Greece, and State Department spokesman, Burns has received 12 honorary degrees and numerous awards and serves on the boards of many organizations, including the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Atlantic Council. He is also director of the Aspen Strategy Group, senior counselor at the Cohen Group, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Also returning to the Camden Conference (after seven years) is Deborah Amos, who covers the Middle East for NPR, reporting frequently for Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Amos has been a Nieman Fellow and a Shorenstein Fellow (both at Harvard) and has won many national and international journalism awards. Her most recent book is Eclipse of the Sunnis: Power, Exile, and Upheaval in the Middle East.

International trade guru Clyde Prestowitz served as counselor to the Secretary of Commerce in the Reagan administration before establishing the Economic Strategy Institute, which has played key roles in the public policy process, including spurring passage of NAFTA and shaping U.S. trade policies toward Japan, China, and Korea. His latest book, The Betrayal of American Prosperity, considers ways to restore our economic leadership and excellence.

Environmental innovator Amory B. Lovins, cofounder, chairman, and chief scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute, a nonprofit “think-and-do tank,” has been active in the areas of energy, resources, environment, development, and security in some 50 countries for more than 35 years. The recipient of countless awards, including the Nissan Prize (for inventing an ultralight-hybrid car), the Delphi Prize, and a MacArthur Fellowship, Lovins has received 10 honorary doctorates and written or cowritten 31 books, including Small Is Profitable, Natural Capitalism, and Winning the Oil Endgame.

Former two-term governor of Delaware Pete du Pont is chairman of the National Center for Policy Analysis, a Dallas-based think tank. He also writes the monthly “Outside the Box” column for www.opinionjournal.com, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial-page website. As governor, he signed into law two income-tax-reduction measures and worked to reform government and make Delaware a leader in the financial-services industry. In 1996, he cofounded and served as editor of IntellectualCapital.com, one of the first public-policy e-zines. In his 1988 Presidential campaign, du Pont focused on the central issues facing our country — the economy, taxes, education, retirement income, and defense.

Additional speakers will be announced as they are confirmed.

The 25th Camden Conference will be held February 17 to 19, 2012, at the Camden Opera House and satellite locations in Ellsworth (The Grand), Rockland (The Strand), and Belfast (Hutchinson Center). Tickets go on sale to the public on November 28. Early tickets available for Camden Conference members. For more information, go to www.CamdenConference.org or call 236-1034.

Former U. S. Senator George Mitchell will speak in Belfast on Tuesday, November 15, 2011 at 11:00 AM at the University of Maine’s Hutchinson Center. Belfast Senior College and the Camden Conference are co-sponsoring the senator’s first public address in coastal mid-Maine since his resignation as the U.S. Special Envoy to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in May. His talk opens the 2011-2012 Distinguished Speaker Series at Senior College, and the presentation is free and open to the public.

Born in Waterville, Senator Mitchell graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick and Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. Following his 15-year service as a U. S. Senator from Maine, he has become known in the last decade as an envoy of the United States to troubled regions. He played a critical role in securing peace in Northern Ireland, receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999. In 2000 Mitchell was chosen by President Clinton to lead a fact-finding mission to Israel and Palestine, and, in 2009 President Obama named him the U.S. Special Envoy to the Arab-Israeli peace process, a position he held for more than two years.

Senator Mitchell’s will cover the recent political turbulence in the Middle East and its effect on U.S. foreign policy. A reception will follow his talk.

Seating for 250 will be on a first-come basis in the Conference Center at the University of Maine Hutchinson Center on Route 3 in Belfast. Belfast Senior College and the Camden Conference are joining to bring Senator Mitchell to mid-coast Maine in anticipation of the 25th Annual Camden Conference: The U.S. in a 21st Century World: Do we have what it takes? February 17-19, 2012. For more information on The Camden Conference, please visit www.camdenconference.org. For more information on Senior College, please visit www.belfastseniorcollege.org.

For an account of one of Senator Mitchell’s earlier appearances at the Camden Conference, click here.