October 21, 2002 Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies will host a four-day symposium on the Cuban Missile Crisis at 40 from Wednesday, October 23 to Saturday, October 26. Secretary Robert S. McNamara and the premier of a new Errol Morris film about him are among the highlights of the symposium, which also features several panels by a team of scholars who participated directly in a recent Havana conference about the Crisis. That event brought together key decisionmakers from October 1962, scholars of the period, and a body of newly declassified documents to analyze those fateful thirteen days. A symposium full schedule is presented below. For more information call 863.2809 or visit www.WatsonInstitute.org.
Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies will host a four-day symposium on the Cuban Missile Crisis at 40 from Wednesday, October 23 to Saturday, October 26. Secretary Robert S. McNamara and the premier of a new Errol Morris about him are among the highlights of the symposium, which also features several panels by a team of scholars who participated directly in a recent conference in Havana about the Crisis. That event brought together key decisionmakers from October 1962, scholars of the period, and a body of newly declassified documents to analyze those fateful thirteen days in 1962. A full schedule is presented below.
A multiyear research project based at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies has suggested that the risk of nuclear war 40 years ago was even greater than the leaders—John F. Kenney, Nikita Khrushchev, and Fidel Castro—believed at the time. Their study, led by Professor of International Relations James G. Blight, is unique because it has drawn together information from all three international actors in the Crisis—the United States, Russia, and Cuba. From October 11–13, this team participated in a conference in Havana on the fortieth anniversary of the Crisis, cosponsored with the National Security Archive at George Washington University. The Archive and Watson Institute have collaborated on numerous studies from the Bay of Pigs to the U.S. war in Vietnam.
The Brown symposium focuses on several themes: the Crisis from the perspective of all three international players, the Crisis in post-Cold War consciousness, the Havana Conference of October 2002, U.S.-Cuban relations today, and the meaning of the Crisis for the next generation. Secretary Robert McNamara, diplomats, and journalists will join the team members reflect on the events that brought us the closest to nuclear disaster. Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) will join a panel on "The Future of U.S.-Cuban Relations," Friday, October 25, to share Capitol Hill perspectives on this matter.
Symposium Highlight—Film Premier A highlight of the symposium will be the premier prescreening of an Errol Morris Film, "Wilson's Ghost: Reducing the Risk of Conflict, Killing, and Catastrophe in the 21st Century," which is about Robert S. McNamara and his legacy.
For more information is available by calling 863.2809 or visiting www.WatsonInstitute.org.
Symposium Schedule
Wednesday, October 23, 2002, 3:00–5:20 p.m.
- An Open Session of IR180.52, "The Cuban Missile Crisis: U.S., Russian, and Cuban Viewpoints"
Joukowsky Forum, Watson Institute, 111 Thayer Street (seating limited)
Special Guest, Robert S. McNamara, former Secretary of Defense for the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations
James G. Blight, Professor of International Relations (Research), Watson Institute
janet M. Lang, Adjunct Associate Professor of International Relations (Research)
Thursday, October 24, 2002, 12:00–1:30 p.m.
- "The Cuban Missile Crisis in Post-Cold War Consciousness"
Joukowsky Forum, Watson Institute, 111 Thayer Street
David A. Welch, George Ignatieff Professor of International Relations and Political Science, University of Toronto
Thursday, October 24, 2002, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
- Premier Prescreening of an Errol Morris Film, followed by a discussion with the Filmmaker Errol Morris
Starr Auditorium, MacMillan Hall
"Wilson's Ghost: Reducing the Risk of Conflict, Killing, and Catastrophe in the 21st Century"—a film about Robert S. McNamara and the Cuban Missile Crisis
Mr. Morris is an, award-winning documentarian and president of the Globe Department Store Production Company
Friday, October 25, 12:00–1:30 p.m.
- "The Havana Conference on the Cuban Missile Crisis": A Roundtable
Joukowsky Forum, Watson Institute, 111 Thayer Street
The Hon. Dagoberto Rodriguez, Cuban Ambassador to the United States
Thomas S. Blanton, Director, National Security Archive, George Washington University
James G. Blight, Professor of International Relations (Research)
Peter Kornbluh, Director, Cuba Programs, National Security Archive, George Washington University
Ralph Begleiter, Rosenberg Professor of Communication Distinguished Journalist in Residence, University of Delaware, and Former CNN World Affairs Correspondent
Friday, October 25, 3:00–4:30 p.m.
- "The Future of U.S.-Cuban Relations": A Roundtable
Joukowsky Forum, Watson Institute, 111 Thayer Street
The Hon. Dagoberto Rodriguez, Cuban Ambassador to the United States
The Hon. Lincoln Chafee, United States Senator from Rhode Island
Thomas E. Skidmore, Carlos Manuel de Cépedes Professor Emeritus, Brown University
James G. Blight, Professor of International Relations (Research)
Saturday, October 26, 11:30-12:30 p.m.
- "The Meaning of the Cuban Missile Crisis for the Next Generation": A Brown Parents' Weekend Forum
Salomon Center 001, The College Green
James G. Blight, Professor of International Relations (Research), Watson Institute
janet M. Lang, Adjunct Associate Professor of International Relations (Research)
Pieter Biersteker '05, International Relations Concentrator
Marcella Bombardieri '99, Journalist, Boston Globe
Peter Kaval '02, Staff Assistant to Congressman Gary Ackerman (D-NY)