April 27, 2001 Professor Aaron Friedberg Selected as First Kissinger Scholar

Press Contact: Craig D'Ooge (202) 707-9189
Public Contact: (202) 707-3302

The Library of Congress announced today the appointment of Aaron Friedberg of Princeton University as the first Henry Alfred Kissinger Scholar. The nine-month residential appointment, which begins in September 2001, inaugurates the Henry Alfred Kissinger Chair in Foreign Policy and International Relations at the Library of Congress. Created through the generosity of friends of the former Secretary of State to honor him and emphasize the importance of foreign affairs, the Kissinger Chair program offers outstanding thinkers and practitioners a unique opportunity to pursue advanced research in the largest and most international collection of library materials in the world.

In making the appointment, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington described Professor Friedberg as a superbly qualified scholar who has produced two incisive books on aspects of foreign relations. "The Kissinger Chair creates an opportunity for research and discussion of foreign relations in a global era. Dr. Friedberg will set a very high standard at the start of this program, which will be a catalyst for fresh analysis and a bridge between the world of ideas and the world of affairs," Dr. Billington said.

The rise of Asia and its implications for America is the topic Dr. Friedberg will explore during his tenure as Kissinger Scholar. He will examine the underlying causes and long-term consequences of the rise of Asia: the increase in relative wealth, technological competence, and potential power of the nations of eastern Eurasia and the western Pacific. Dr. Friedberg will analyze the implications of these developments for the future foreign and defense policies of the United States.

Dr. Friedberg has served on the faculty of Princeton University since 1987; he was appointed professor of politics and international affairs in 1999. He is presently Director of the Research Program in International Security and Acting Director of the Center of International Studies at Princeton. Dr. Friedberg is the author of The Weary Titan: Britain and the Experience of Relative Decline, 1895-1905, published by Princeton University Press in 1988, and In the Shadow of the Garrison State: America's Anti-Statism and Its Cold War Grand Strategy, published by Princeton University Press in 2000. He is also the author of numerous book chapters, special policy monographs, journal articles, book reviews, and other writings in such areas as American nuclear strategy, the relationship between economics and national security, the future of American power, East Asian international politics, and other topics.

Selection of the Kissinger Scholar was made this year by a selection committee that included the Hon. Lawrence S. Eagleburger; William J. McDonough, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Professor Walter A. McDougall of the University of Pennsylvania; and Dr. Fareed Zakaria, Editor of Newsweek International. Oversight of the program is provided by the Kissinger Chair Steering Committee, chaired by Dr. Billington, and includes Alan Batkin of Kissinger Associates, New York; Lloyd Cutler of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, Washington, D.C.; Nancy Kissinger; and Dr. Peter Rodman of the Nixon Center, Washington, D.C.

Applications and nominations for the 2002 Kissinger Scholar appointment will be accepted until October 1, 2001. For further information and application forms, please contact the Library's Office of Scholarly Programs, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, DC, 20540-4860. The Office may also be reached by telephone at (202) 707-3302; fax (202) 707-3595; and e-mail, at scholarly@loc.gov.

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PR 01-052
2001-04-27
ISSN 0731-3527