The 2025 Borah Symposium will be held from Monday to Wednesday, Sept. 29-Oct. 1 with the theme of “Great Power Competition” and will explain how interactions between the world’s global powers, China, Russia and the United States, create dialog for both peace and conflict. Four events will be held with a keynote address on Oct. 1, from K.T. McFarland, a deputy national security advisor under President Donald Trump in 2017.
On Monday, Sept. 29, at 7 p.m., a panel discussion on “The Impacts of Trade Wars on Agricultural Commodities” will be held in the International Ballroom of the Pitman Center. The panel will be moderated by Anna King who received the Edward R. Murrow Award for her investigative reporting work on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
Panelists include: Tim McGreevy, CEO of the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council and a farmer from Moscow; Xiaoli Etienne, a current professor of agricultural economics at UI; and Brett Wilder, an assistant professor and area extension educator.
On Tuesday, Sept. 30, the weekly Renfrew Colloquium normally held in the UI library will be moved to the Vandal Ballroom inside of the Pitman Center. Emine Ari, UI adjunct instructor with a Ph.D. in International Relations and Political Science will give a speech called “Great Power Competition in the 21st Century: A View from the Middle East” at 12:30 p.m.
Tuesday evening, Ester Brimmer, current James H. Binger Senior Fellow in Global Governance for the Council on Foreign Relations, will give the Plenary Address in the International Ballroom at 7 p.m. Brimmer was the former assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs under President Barack Obama from 2009-2013.
On Oct. 1, McFarland will give the keynote address at 7 p.m. in the International Ballroom. McFarland’s political career began as a White House Aide to Henry Kissinger, Secretary of State under the Nixon-Ford Presidential Administrations. She was a speech writer for President Ronald Regan and created international policy plans such as “America First” and “Peace Through Strength” for Trump during his first term in office.
The Borah Symposium is inspired by its namesake, Sen. William Edgar Borah, who believed that education and open dialogue is important to solving international conflict and preventing wars. These events are funded by the Borah Foundation which continues the message of international communication through events like the Borah Symposium.
More information about the Borah Symposium can be found here.
Josie Adjanohoun can be reached at [email protected].