The Intellectual Dialogue and Educational Advancement Society, a UGA student organization, and the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts are hosting a discussion on the rapidly evolving socio-political situation in the Middle East on March 24 at 3:30 p.m. in Room 171 of the Miller Learning Center.
Peter Bechtold, who served as director of the Middle East Studies Center at Portland State University from 2009-2010, will give a lecture entitled “Middle East in Transition and its Repercussions on U.S. Foreign Policy.”
Bechtold chaired Near East North Africa area studies at the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute from 1976-2005. In addition, he has conducted field research in 25 Middle East countries and is fluent in four Arabic dialects, classical Arabic, German and French. He has appeared as a Middle East expert on PBS, CNN, NPR and overseas radio.