DURHAM, N.C. - As a top Pentagon official in charge of U.S. defense policy, Douglas Feith helped formulate the country's response to 9/11 and, consequently, its military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. John Bolton also helped craft and defend America's post-9/11 foreign policy as a senior State Department official in charge of arms control and international security, and later, as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Both will speak at Duke Law School this month at the invitation of the school's chapter of the Federalist Society, a student organization.

"I think this is a great opportunity for the students at Duke Law School and the broader Duke community to hear from two very important figures in recent American foreign policy," says Peter Feaver, director of Duke's Program in American Grand Strategy, co-sponsor of the events. "They each played key roles in some of the most consequential decisions of the last eight years and so they are especially interesting voices to be heard."

Bolton will address current U.S. foreign policy in his talk, "President Obama's New International Order." Well-known for his expertise in arms control and proliferation, Bolton gained a reputation for his outspoken views on reform in the United Nations and his opposition to U.S. membership in the International Criminal Court. Bolton's experience over three Republican administrations includes senior positions with the Department of Justice and the U.S. Agency for International Development. He is currently a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Feith helped formulate U.S. defense planning guidelines and military and detention policies as the under secretary of defense for policy from 2001 to 2005. He examined some of those actions in his recent book, War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism, and will discuss them at Duke in his lecture, "Setting the Record Straight: Legal and Strategic Thoughts on the War on Terrorism." Feith is currently the director of the Hudson Institute's Center for National Security Strategies.

Both events are free and open to the public. Bolton's talk is co-sponsored by the International Law Society. Feith's talk is co-sponsored by the American Constitution Society. Both events are also co-sponsored by the Program in American Grand Strategy.

For more information, contact Erica Stalnecker at ems14@duke.edu.

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Lecture: John Bolton
5:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 1
Duke Law School, Room 3041

Lecture: Douglas Feith
5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 27
Duke Law School, Room 4047