Columbia University World Leaders Forum Opens This Month With Three Provocative Sessions

September 18: Nobel Laureate Stiglitz: ‘Making Globalization Work’

September 21: Papua New Guinea Prime Minister: Balancing Economic Development and Ecological Preservation

September 26: Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson: Security in the 21st Century

Additional Heads of State to Visit Columbia, Address Global Challenges

New York, New York - Sept. 12, 2006 - Heads of State from around the globe, from Latin American to Southeast Asia, as well as other high-level cultural, economic and political leaders will convene at Columbia University throughout the year to share their perspectives on a range of complex global challenges as part of the fourth annual Columbia University World Leaders Forum (WLF).

The Forum series begins this month with three thought-provoking events:

• On Sept. 18, Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz will lead a panel discussion on “Making Globalization Work.”

• On Sept. 21, Sir Michael Somare, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, will lead a session on “Balancing Economic Development and Ecological Preservation.”

• On Sept. 26, former President of Ireland Mary Robinson will join other distinguished women world leaders to discuss the issue of “Security in the 21st Century.”

The WLF – now in its fourth year – offers Columbia students, faculty and alumni an important opportunity to engage with world leaders on the critical issues of our time. Respected experts from the New York City community will be invited to join in this discussion.

The opening of the forum traditionally coincides with the fall U.N. General Assembly session in New York City.

“Our world today faces moments of extraordinary challenge,” said Lee C. Bollinger, President of Columbia University. “We are witness to both destructive conflict and critical opportunities for cooperation. The Columbia University World Leaders Forum is an important vehicle for increasing our students understanding of the complexity and diversity of the world they are inheriting and the perspectives of the leaders shaping it.”

“We take seriously the responsibility of universities to provide a safe haven for the discussion of contentious issues and the exploration of alternative ways to address them,” he added, “and we look forward to the discourse and discovery that the fourth annual year of Columbia World Leaders Forums will generate.”

Making Globalization Work: Monday, Sept. 18, 2006, 6:15 p.m. Roone Arledge Auditorium, Alfred Lerner Hall, 2920 Broadway

Features Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate in economics and University Professor at Columbia; George Soros, chairman of the Open Society Institute; Nancy Birdsall, founding president of the Center for Global Development; and Tina Rosenberg, editorial writer for The New York Times. Lee C. Bollinger, president of Columbia University, will host the event. The forum coincides with the launch of Joseph Stiglitz’s new book, “Making Globalization Work.”

“Fifteen years ago, there were high hopes for globalization: truly free trade, higher standards of living and a more stable global economy,” Stiglitz said in describing some of the issues he hopes to address at the event. “Today, globalization is associated with increasing inequality within most countries around the world, a global financial system that has led to crisis after crisis, and a complex trade regime that seems to leave as many losers as winners. What must we do to make our earlier hopes for globalization a reality?”

He added, “The World Leaders Forum provides us with a platform to discuss these problems, as well as the reforms that can enable globalization to benefit people around the world.”

An exploratory discussion concerning how nations can incorporate ecological preservation within their long-term economic development strategies. This event will feature Sir Michael Somare, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Robert G. Aisi, Ambassador of Papua New Guinea to the United Nations and Don Jay Melnick, Executive Director, The Center for Environmental Research and Conservation (CERC) and Columbia University’s Thomas Hunt Morgan Professor of Conservation Biology.

A panel of women world leaders from Iraq, Ireland, Nigeria, Canada, Pakistan, Jordan, Chile and Honduras will discuss the policy changes needed to achieve a more secure world. The panel will feature Mary Robinson, former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, former President of Ireland, and Columbia University Professor in the Professional Practice of Public Affairs; Kim Campbell, former Prime Minister and Minister of Defense from Canada, among others. Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan and President Michelle Bachelet of Chile will contribute video messages.

These leaders will discuss how policies emphasizing individual human security must be integrated with more traditional approaches to state security. Panelists will unveil their plan to cooperate across cultures, regions, religions, generations, forms of governments, and the public and private sectors to advocate for these policy changes.

The panel will be co-convened by the Women Leaders Intercultural Forum (www.wliforum.org) and Columbia University World Leaders Forum. Columbia President Lee C. Bollinger will host the event.

All WLF events will be held on Columbia University’s Morningside Heights campus, located at 116th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues in New York City. Space for accredited journalists can be reserved by contacting the representatives noted below. For additional information, specific event locations and non-media registration details, please visit http://worldleaders.columbia.edu.

About Columbia University

Founded in 1754 as King's College, Columbia University in the City of New York is one of the world's leading institutions of higher learning and research and a member of the Ivy League of U.S. colleges and universities. Columbia includes three undergraduate schools, 13 graduate and professional schools, a school of continuing education, four affiliated institutions, a world-class medical center, 22 libraries, and more than 100 research centers and institutes.

For more information regarding Columbia University's Heads of State Program, upcoming activities, and to arrange an interview with an expert from Columbia's World Leaders Forum Experts Bureau, please contact one of the individuals noted below:

KWR International, Inc. Keith W. Rabinemail: wlf@kwrintl.com phone: +1-212-532-3005

Columbia University Tanya L. Domi: td207@columbia.edu phone: +1-212-854-5573