Middle East politics expert speaks at CSB

Judith Yaphe, a specialist in Middle Eastern political analysis with a focus on Iraq, the Persian Gulf and Arab, Islamic and regional issues, visits the College of Saint Benedict Oct. 19-20.

Yaphe presents a free public lecture, “Iranian Ambitions, American Options and Iraqi Consequences,” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19 at Alumnae Hall, Haehn Campus Center, CSB.

She will also speak to classes Oct. 19-20 on the CSB campus, and visit with students particularly interested in careers in international affairs.

Yaphe is a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University at Fort McNair, Washington, D.C. She specializes in Iraq, Iran and Persian Gulf security issues, and political Islam/Islamic extremism.

Before joining INSS in 1995, Yaphe served for 20 years as a senior U.S. government analyst on Middle Eastern and Persian Gulf issues. As a senior political analyst on Iraq, she received the Medal of Commendation in 1991.

She has published two books – The Strategic Implications of a Nuclear-Armed Iran (2001) and The Middle East in 2015: The Impact of Regional Trends on U.S. Strategic Planning (2002) – and many articles on Iraq, the Persian Gulf and U.S. policy, including a study on “Shaping the Strategic Environment in the Persian Gulf.”

Yaphe has briefed senior U.S. and foreign officials, and has testified before Senate and Congressional committees on regional strategic issues. She lectures to government and academic institutions, and has appeared on various televised news programs and in the print media.

Her visit is co-sponsored by the Global Awareness Lecture Series and the Renaissance Residency Program.

In existence for more than 25 years, the Global Awareness Lecture Series at CSB/Saint John’s University has presented some 150 campus programs on international issues. The series was launched as an effort to internationalize curriculum, including a focus on the lesser developed world.

The Renaissance Residency Program is a mechanism to support existing programs by enabling a more sustained engagement for students and faculty by providing opportunities for students to meet and interact with professional and intellectual role models in the hope that horizons are raised, ideas are explored and new possibilities are considered.