March 30, 2006

Author, NYT writer Kinzer to deliver Moskos lecture

Wrote soon-to-be published book arguing "regime change" is new term for old strategy

Stephen Kinzer — author of a soon-to-be published book arguing that “regime change” is only a new term for a strategy used in American foreign policy for more than a century — will deliver the inaugural lecture of the Charles Moskos Visiting Professorship April 10.

Kinzer, an award-winning New York Times journalist and author, will discuss his latest book, “Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq,” in a free and public lecture of the same name. His lecture will take place at 4 p.m. in Room 107 of Harris Hall. A reception and book signing will follow.

Kinzer’s new book received advance praise from Pulitzer Prize-winning American historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., and Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and writer Seymour Hersh. Kinzer begins it with a discussion of the 1893 ouster of Hawaii’s monarchy and ends it with the ouster of Saddam Hussein and turmoil in Iraq.

The Charles Moskos Visiting Professorship and Lecture honors Charles Moskos, professor emeritus of sociology and the nation’s most influential military sociologist. He has been an adviser to American presidents, congressional leaders and Pentagon officials since the 1950s. A beloved professor in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Moskos is probably best known for the controversial “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy he developed for President Clinton concerning gays in the military.

Moskos became fascinated with the military after he was drafted into the service and worked with Army combat engineers in Germany. His in-the-field interviews with rank-and-file soldiers were remarkable at a time when sociologists relied mainly on the opinions of officers.

Nominally retired, Moskos remains one of Northwestern’s most popular professors, drawing 600-plus students to his Introduction to Sociology class. His lectures are filled with observations as fresh as his latest trip to a world trouble spot. To date, he has researched combat units in Iraq, Kosovo, Bosnia, Haiti, Somalia, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam.

As foreign correspondent for The New York Times, Kinzer reported from more than 50 countries on four continents and headed bureaus in Turkey, Germany and Nicaragua. He is the author of numerous non-fiction books about the places on which he has reported, including “All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror,” “Crescent and Star: Turkey Between Two Worlds” and “Blood of Brothers: Life and War in Nicaragua.”

For further information about the lecture, call (847) 467-3005 or e-mail staciak@northwestern.edu.