This free public event is a wine and cheese reception with a book signing and an opportunity to meet authors James G. Blight, janet M. Lang and David A. Welch. Organized by CIGI and University of Waterloo.
About the Book:
At the heart of this provocative book lies the fundamental question: Does it matter who is president on issues of war and peace? The Vietnam War was one of the most catastrophic and bloody in living memory, and its lessons take on resonance in light of America's current devastating involvement in Iraq. Tackling head-on the most controversial and debated "what if" in U.S. foreign policy, this unique work explores what President John F. Kennedy would have done in Vietnam if he had not been assassinated in 1963.
Drawing on a wealth of recently declassified documents, frank oral testimony of White House officials from both the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, and the analysis of top historians, this book presents compelling evidence that JFK was ready to end U.S. involvement well before the conflict escalated. With vivid immediacy, readers will feel they are in the president's war room as the debates raged that forever changed the course of American history—and continue to affect us profoundly today as the shadows of Vietnam stretch into Iraq.
About the Authors:
James G. Blight is professor of international relations at the Watson Institute at Brown University.
Janet M. Lang is associate adjunct professor of international relations at the Watson Institute at Brown University.
David A. Welch is professor of political science and director of the Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Toronto.