May Meeting: 21st Century Geopolitics

The May Chapter Meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at the Doubletree Guest Suites in Plymouth Meeting, PA. The Board of Directors will meet at 5:00 pm; all ASA members are welcome. The general meeting starts at 6:30. The guest speaker will be James McGann, Ph.D., Director of the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program and Asst. Director of the International Relations Program, both at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. McGann’s topic:  “The Second World is Coming: Are You Ready?”

James McGann, who is also a senior fellow at the Philadelphia-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, conducts research on the trends and challenges facing think tanks and policymakers around the world and provides advice and technical assistance to think tanks, governments and public and private donors on how to improve the quality and impact of policy research. He has served as a consultant and advisor to the World Bank, the United Nations, the United States Agency for International Development, the Soros, Rockefeller, MacArthur, Hewlett, and Gates foundations, the Carnegie Corporation, as well as foreign governments. A prolific author, his most recent works are his textbook, with Richard Sabatini, Global Think Tanks, Policy Networks and Governance (Routledge, 2010) and the 2011 edition of the Global Go to Think Tanks Report from his Think Tanks and Civil Society Program. He is writing The Fifth Estate The Formulation of US Domestic and Foreign Policy due out this Winter.

Dr. McGann's talk will discuss the growing geopolitical influence of the Second World, the emerging middle-income countries in transition from Third to First World status. This is a thought-provoking topic sure to appeal to a broad spectrum of appraisers, so please register early for the meeting which qualifies for one hour of ASA Continuing Education Credit.

Dinner is $35 per person for members and guests. To pay online with your major credit card or PayPal go to the ASA Philadelphia Members Page, otherwise please make checks payable to ASA Philadelphia Chapter 35. Please RSVP by Monday, May 14, to Executive Secretary Joanne Paciello by mail to 8 Terrace Rd, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462, email, phone (610-277-1366) or fax (610-277-1366).