The Middle East Institute is proud to host Daniel Serwer, senior research professor of Conflict Management at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and MEI scholar, for a reading and discussion of his book, Righting the Balance: How You Can Help Protect America (Potomac Books, 2013). In his latest book, Dr. Serwer examines how the United States can best reform key foreign policy instruments in order to protect itself from foreign threats, maintain vital influence abroad, and meet the foreign policy challenges of the coming decades without breaking the bank. Offering alternatives to traditional reliance on the military, Serwer will speak to the importance of civilian institutions and ordinary citizens, especially in the Middle East, in shaping U.S. foreign policy, and argue for the need for improved capabilities in these areas. Afterwards, Dr. Serwer will sign copies of his book.
Bio:
Daniel Serwer is a senior research professor of Conflict Management and senior fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, as well as a scholar at the Middle East Institute. Formerly vice president for centers of peacebuilding innovation at the United States Institute of Peace (2009-10), he led teams there working on rule of law, religion, economics, media, technology, security sector governance, and gender. He was also vice president for peace and stability operations at USIP (1998-2009), where he led its peacebuilding work in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, and the Balkans and served as executive director of the Hamilton/Baker Iraq Study Group. Serwer has worked on preventing inter-ethnic and sectarian conflict in Iraq and has facilitated dialogue between Serbs and Albanians in the Balkans.