G. John Ikenberry discussed the importance of engaging other nations in U.S. foreign policy and building an international community for his inaugural address as the Peter F. Krogh Chair of Geopolitics and Justice in World Affairs.
The Krogh chair, which was endowed with a $2 million gift from John A. McCrane (SFS ‘49) gained its namesake from Dr. Peter Krogh, Dean of the School of Foreign Service from 1970 to 1995, and current Distinguished Professor of International Affairs.
Ikenberry has extensive experience in his field, holding research positions at Georgetown, the State Department in Policy Planning and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, as well as teaching positions at Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania. Ikenberry has also authored or co-authored several books on international affairs.
“He is young,” Krogh said introducing Ikenberry. “He is vigorous?like a Viking. And he is a gentleman, which is what the Vikings later became.”
University President Jack J. DeGioa said Ikenberry’s teaching “will improve our resources to educate future leaders of the nation, and the world.”
Ikenberry’s inaugural speech focused on the balance of international power in the post-Cold War world, particularly the disproportionate power power the United States exercises on the rest of the world.
“When the US sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold,” Ikenberry said.
Ikenberry stressed the importance of multilateralism in U.S. foreign policy, admonishing President Bush for his unilateral approach to issues such as missile defense and international treaties. Instead of forcing our viewpoint on other nations, Ikenberry said we need to ask, “What could the U.S. do so that other countries would want to engage the U.S.?”
Ikenberry said he was optimistic about the world response to the recent terrorist attacks on American, particularly the coalition building that has brought the international community together.
“In the coming years, this will be not the US versus Islamic fundamentalists, but the civilized world versus an illegitimate, extremist world,” Ikenberry said. “Ten years from now I think we’ll talk about the response to these attacks, not the attacks themselves.”
