Bush administration security challenges focus of Jackson address

Contact: Sammy McDavid

A retired senior Pentagon official responsible for United States security in the Asia-Pacific region makes a visit to the state Feb. 22 as a guest of Jackson State and Mississippi State universities.

Kurt M. Campbell will discuss foreign policy and security challenges of the Bush administration at a 9:45 a.m. public program in Room 114 of the J.H. Jackson School of Education Building at Jackson State University. His remarks will be simultaneously broadcast to teleconferencing facilities at 138B McCool Hall on the MSU campus in Starkville and the Multi-Purpose Room at MSU-Meridian.

Following the presentation, Campbell will answer questions from audiences at all three locations.

Campbell is a former assistant secretary of defense who now serves as senior vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Services.

During his time at the Pentagon, he helped develop a framework for the current U.S.-Japan security initiative. He also played a major role in the development of deeper ties with South Korea, opening a military dialogue with the Chinese People's Liberation Army and the renewal of military contact with Vietnam, among other accomplishments.

He holds a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of California, San Diego, a certificate in violin--and political philosophy--from the University of Erevan in the former Soviet Armenia and a doctorate in international relations from Oxford University's Brasenose College.

The Janos Radvanyi Chair in International Studies at MSU-Starkville, Office of the Dean at MSU-Meridian and JSU's International Programs Office are co-sponsoring Campbell's Mississippi visit.

For more information on Campbell's visit, telephone (662) 325-8406 or e-mail jr1@ra.msstate.edu.