Veteran presidential advisers Karl Rove and Robert Gibbs will square off in a foreign policy debate at Duke University's Page Auditorium at 5 p.m. Oct. 22.
The debate, presented by the Ambassador Dave and Kay Phillips Family International Lectureship, will address "What's at Stake for America's Global Role in the 2012 Election" and will be moderated by Duke professor Peter Feaver.
"This is a very special opportunity for the Duke community at a very important time for the country" said Feaver, director of the Duke Program in American Grand Strategy. "You will not find two more engaging advocates for the competing platforms that this election represents. Each brings a remarkable breadth of policy and political experience. I am very much looking forward to this conversation."
This event is well-timed, as the presidential debate on foreign policy will air just hours after the Duke event.
The event is free and open to the public, but tickets will be required for entry. Tickets will be made available Oct. 10, and can be obtained in person at the Duke Box Office in the Bryan Center or, for a $6 processing fee, at www.tickets.duke.edu. Parking will be available for $5 in the Bryan Center parking garage.
Rove served as senior adviser to President George W. Bush from 2000-07 and deputy chief of staff from 2004-07. Today Rove continues to serve as a political strategist, writes a weekly op-ed article for the Wall Street Journal and is a Fox News contributor.
Gibbs has been a senior adviser of Obama's since his 2004 U.S. Senate campaign, when Gibbs served as communications director. He has since served as the senior strategist for communications and messaging in the 2008 presidential campaign, as the Obama Administration press secretary and is currently the senior adviser to the president's 2012 re-election campaign.
Feaver, a professor of political science and public policy, is the director of the Triangle Institute for Security Studies. From 2005-07, he was special adviser for strategic planning and institutional reform on the National Security Council staff at the Bush White House.
This lecture is sponsored by the Duke Program in American Grand Strategy. with support from the Triangle Institute for Security Studies, the Duke Office of Global Strategy and Programs, the Sanford School of Public Policy, the College Republicans, the College Democrats, the Duke International Relations Association and the Hamilton Society.
For additional information, please visit sites.duke.edu/agsp or contact Jennifer Boyle at Jennifer.boyle@duke.edu.