"The U.S. Presidential Election in Asia: McCain’s Endless Wars or Obama’s ‘World Beyond Our Borders’”

The lecture will be given by Dr. David Palmer, Senior Lecturer of American Studies at Flinders University in Adelaide. He is the author of Organizing the Shipyards: Union Strategy in Three Northeast Ports, 1933-1945, among numerous other book and journal publications. In his lecture, he will address the U.S. Presidential election in terms of the two candidates’ foreign policy views on Asia. He will also discuss the current US economic crisis in the context of foreign policy.

Date: Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Venue: Lakeland College Japan
5-9-16 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo,
3rd Floor of NIC International College Bldg.
Contact email address: sitefights@lcjapan.com
Web site (includes map): http://www.lcjapan.com/lectures/
Telephone: (03)-3225-0425
Language: English
Admission: free

Dr. Palmer received his BA from Oberlin College and his PhD from Brandeis University. His main research interests include :
• Comparative business and labor history (primary focus on U.S. and Japan, shipbuilding and heavy industry; secondary focus on Australia, metal mining industry).
• U.S. political history, recent decades; U.S. foreign policy, recent decades.
• Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb history, related culture, oral histories.
• U.S. shipyard worker oral histories.
• American popular culture (including music and film); American history; African American, Latino, and Asian American history and culture.
• International business – current (primary focus on U.S., Japan, Australia; secondary focus on Europe and Asia Pacific).

The following is an excerpt from the speech Dr. Palmer will present at Lakeland.

“For the first time in decades, foreign policy has become a major issue in the U.S. presidential campaign. Why is this year different? The reason is mainly because of the disastrous U.S. war in Iraq and the failed occupation over the last five years. The presidential candidates – John McCain for the Republicans and Barack Obama for the Democrats – have diametrically opposed policy positions on Iraq but also have major differences on U.S. policy throughout Asia, from the Mediterranean to the Pacific.

At one end of the political spectrum, McCain has advocated what amounts to an endless war in Iraq. By implication, he will extend this policy elsewhere if required in his pursuit of victory in the international “War on Terror.” On the other side, Obama has advocated discussions with every contact, whether they are friend or foe of the United States. His approach is one of “hope” and engagement aimed at de-escalating crises throughout the continent. Obama’s vision is based, like McCain’s, on his actual experience in Asia. American voters face a historic choice in November 2008 that is unprecedented in terms of its implications for America’s Asian policy and Asia’s view of America.”