Alec Baldwin Hosts Public Forum Event On Islamic Relations 12/14

The Public Theater (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Andrew D. Hamingson, Executive Director) is proud to announce the complete line-up for the fourth Public Forum event of the 2010, "Afghanistan After America, America After Afghanistan," held at New York University's Skirball Center on Tuesday, December 14 at 8 p.m. Curated by Jeremy McCarter, The Public Forum is an exciting new series of lectures, debates and conversations that showcase leading voices in the arts, politics and the media. Tickets are $25 and are on sale now.

Hosted by Alec Baldwin, the fourth Public Forum event, "Afghanistan After America, America After Afghanistan," will be held in conjunction with The Public Theater's presentation of The Great Game: Afghanistan, running at the NYU Skirball Center through December 19. As President Obama reviews U.S. policy towards Afghanistan, soldiers, scholars, journalists, and aid workers will consider what the future holds for both countries: how to rebuild Afghanistan, the way America should deal with the Islamic world, and when, why, and how our military goes to war.

In this special 90-minute event, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke will discuss U.S. policy towards Afghanistan and the Islamic World. Then Eliza Griswold, the reporter and author of the new book The Tenth Parallel: Dispatches from the Fault Line Between Christianity and Islam, will lead a discussion on how to develop Afghan society that features David Rohde, the New York Times reporter who was held captive by the Taliban; George Rupp, the President of the International Rescue Committee; and Dana Burde, an NYU professor and specialist in Afghan education. The evening will conclude with three young veterans of the war trading views about the future of the U.S. military: Matthew Hoh, a Marine Corps captain who resigned his State Department post to protest our Afghanistan policy; Todd Bowers, the Deputy Executive Director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America; and Matt Pottinger, a journalist turned U.S. Marine who is now a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. The discussion will be moderated by Jeremy McCarter, Newsweek senior writer and director of The Public Forum.
Bios

Alec Baldwin is a graduate of New York University and was presented with an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from NYU in 2010. He last appeared on stage in the 2010 Guild Hall production of Peter Shaffer's Equus, directed by Tony Walton. Other stage includes Mr. Sloane, Loot, Serious Money, Prelude to a Kiss (Obie Award), A Street Car Named Desire (Tony nomination), Macbeth, and The Twentieth Century. Baldwin has appeared in over 40 films, including Beetle Juice, Working Girl, Miami Blues, The Hunt for Red October, Glengarry Glen Ross, Ghosts of Mississippi, State and Main, The Cooler (National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor, Oscar nomination), The Aviator, The Departed, and It's Complicated, among many others. On television Baldwin currently stars with Tina Fey on NBC's "30 Rock," winner of the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. Baldwin has received four SAG Awards, three Golden Globes, the Television Critics Award and two Emmy awards as Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance on the show. His company, El Dorado Pictures, has produced several projects including NUREMBERG: INFAMY ON TRIAL for TNT television (Emmy nomination), The Confession for Showtime (WGA award for best adapted screenplay) and David Mamet's film, State and Main. Alec Baldwin is also a dedicated supporter of numerous causes related to public policy and the arts. Baldwin's book, A Promise to Ourselves (St. Martin's Press) was published in paperback in the Fall of 2009.
TODD BOWERS is the Deputy Executive Director for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. In this role, he supports and advises the Executive Director in leading the organization. Bowers served two tours in Iraq as a Civil Affairs Team Sergeant with the United States Marine Corps, and was awarded the Purple Heart and Navy Commendation medal with "V" device for Valor. In May 2009, he deployed to Afghanistan for 8 months, where he was responsible for developing governmental infrastructure and humanitarian relief efforts for the war torn region. He also served in Ayacucho, Peru in 2008, where he conducted Civil Military Operations. He continues to serve in the United States Marine Corps Reserves as a Staff Sergeant.

DANA BURDE is an Assistant Professor of International Education at New York University and an Affiliate at the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, Columbia University. Her research and teaching focus on education, political violence, and humanitarian action in countries and regions affected by conflict. In Afghanistan, she studied the impact of community-based schools on children's enrollment, attendance, and achievement, and on parents' participation in school management committees. This work is supported by grants from the Spencer Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Institute of Peace, and the Weikart Family Foundation. Burde's work as an international education consultant includes assessment and evaluation of post-conflict programs in the Balkans; civil society building in the Caucasus; refugee education in Pakistan; and research on parent and community participation in community schools in Central Asia, Central America and Mali.

ELIZA GRISWOLD, a fellow at the New America Foundation, received a 2010 Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome. Her journalism has appeared in The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and Harper's Magazine, among others. A 2007 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, she was awarded the first Robert I. Friedman Award for investigative reporting. A collection of her poems, Wideawake Field, was published by FSG in 2007. Her most recent book is The Tenth Parallel: Dispatches from the Fault Line between Christianity and Islam (FSG, 2010).

MATTHEW HOH is a Senior Fellow at the Center for International Policy and is the Director of the Afghanistan Study Group, a network of foreign and public policy experts and professionals advocating for a change in U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. A former State Department official, Hoh resigned in protest from his post in Afghanistan over U.S. strategic policy and goals in Afghanistan in September 2009. Prior to his assignment in Afghanistan, he served in Iraq. When not deployed, Hoh worked on Afghanistan and Iraq policy and operations issues at the Pentagon and State Department from 2002-2008. His writings have appeared in Defense News, The Huffington Post, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. The Council on Foreign Relations has cited Hoh's resignation letter from his post in Afghanistan as an Essential Document. In 2010, he was named the Ridenhour Prize Recipient for Truth Telling.

RICHARD HOLBROOKE is the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. He served as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, where he was also a member of President Clinton's cabinet (1999-2001). As Assistant Secretary of State for Europe (1994-1996), he was the chief architect of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the war in Bosnia. He later served as President Clinton's Special Envoy to Bosnia and Kosovo and Special Envoy to Cyprus on a pro-bono basis while a private citizen. From 1993-1994, he was the U.S. Ambassador to Germany. During the Carter Administration (1977-1981), he served as the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and was in charge of U.S. relations with China at the time Sino-American relations were normalized in December of 1978. He has written numerous articles and two best-selling books: To End a War, a memoir of the Dayton negotiations, and co-author of Counsel to the President, Clark Clifford's memoir. He previously wrote a monthly column for The Washington Post. He has received over twenty honorary degrees and numerous awards, including several Nobel Peace Prize nominations. He was the Founding Chairman of the American Academy in Berlin, a center for U.S.-German cultural exchange; formerly President and CEO of the Global Business Coalition, the business alliance against HIV/AIDS; and former Chairman of the Asia Society.

MATT POTTINGER is the 2010-2011 Edward R. Murrow Press Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Pottinger covered China for The Wall Street Journal from 2001 to 2005 and for Reuters News Agency from 1998 to 2001. In September 2005, he put his writing career aside to serve five years as a U.S. Marine. He completed three combat deployments: to Iraq from April to November 2007 and to Afghanistan from November 2008 to May 2009 and from July 2009 to May 2010. While in Afghanistan in 2009, he cofounded and trained the Marine Corps' first Female Engagement Teams. On his second Afghanistan deployment, he spearheaded an investigation into problems with the U.S. intelligence effort, co-authoring with Major General Mike Flynn the critical 2010 report "Fixing Intel: A Blueprint for Making Intelligence Relevant in Afghanistan." He won the 2009 Lieutenant Colonel Michael Kuszewski Award for Marine Corps Intelligence Officer of the Year. He recently completed active duty to resume writing.

DAVID ROHDE, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes in journalism, is a reporter for The New York Times and the author of A Rope and A Prayer: A Kidnapping From Two Sides which he co-wrote with his wife Kristen Mulvihill and Endgame: The Betrayal and Fall of Srebrenica. He won his first Pulitzer Prize in 1996 for helping uncover the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia for The Christian Science Monitor and his second in 2009 as part of The New York Times' team covering Afghanistan and Pakistan.

GEORGE RUPP has been President of the International Rescue Committee since July 2002. As the IRC's Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Rupp oversees the agency's relief and rehabilitation operations in 42 countries and its refugee resettlement and assistance programs throughout the United States. In addition, he leads the IRC's advocacy efforts in Washington, Geneva, Brussels and other capitals on behalf of the world's most vulnerable people. Before joining the IRC, Dr. Rupp was president of Columbia University, and, before that, president of Rice University. He has also been the John Lord O'Brian Professor of Divinity and Dean of the Harvard Divinity School. He is the author of numerous articles and five books, including Globalization Challenged: Commitment, Conflict, and Community (2006).

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY'S Jack H. Skirball CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS is the premier venue for the presentation of cultural and performing arts events for NYU and lower Manhattan. Led by Executive Producer Jay Oliva (President Emeritus, NYU) and Director Michael Harrington, the programs of the Skirball Center reflect NYU's mission as an international center of scholarship, defined by excellence and innovation and shaped by an intellectually rich and diverse environment. A vital aspect of the Center's mission is to build young adult audiences for the future of live performance. www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu

The Public Theater (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Andrew D. Hamingson, Executive Director) was founded by Joseph Papp in 1954 and is now one of the nation's preeminent cultural institutions, producing new plays, musicals, and productions of classics at its downtown headquarters and at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The Public's mandate to create a theater for all New Yorkers continues to this day onstage and through extensive outreach and education programs. Each year, over 250,000 people attend Public Theater-related productions and events at six downtown stages, including Joe's Pub, and Shakespeare in the Park. The Public has won 42 Tony Awards, 151 Obies, 41 Drama Desk Awards and four Pulitzer Prizes. The Public has brought 54 shows to Broadway, including Sticks and Bones; That Championship Season; A Chorus Line; The Pirates of Penzance; The Tempest; Bring In 'Da Noise, Bring In 'Da Funk; On the Town; The Ride Down Mt. Morgan; Topdog/Underdog; Elaine Stritch at Liberty; Take Me Out; Caroline, or Change; Well; Passing Strange; the Tony Award-winning revival of Hair; and this fall, the rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and the 2010 Shakespeare in the Park production of The Merchant of Venice. www.publictheater.org.

TICKET INFORMATION

All tickets for The Public Forum are $25. Tickets for "Afghanistan After America, America After Afghanistan," are on sale now and are available at (212) 352-3101, www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu, or in person at NYU Skirball Center Box Office.

NYU Skirball Center is located at 566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square. For more information on The Public Forum event, please visit www.publictheater.org

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos

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