Sigma Pi, the Wilkes University chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, proposes an activity for the spring of 2015: a lecture to be delivered by Andrew Polsky, Professor of Political Science, Hunter College, CUNY. He will present “Inheriting a Bad War: Richard Nixon and Barack Obama.” Our chapter will host the event on the Wilkes campus, and I will coordinate the program with my counterparts at King’s College (Wilkes-Barre), Luzerne County Community College, Marywood University (Scranton), Misericordia University (Wilkes-Barre suburb), and the University of Scranton. Wilkes will also be responsible for publicizing the program on other campuses in the area, e.g. Bloomsburg University, East Stroudsburg University, Keystone College, and the area campuses of the Pennsylvania State University in Hazelton, Wilkes-Barre, and Worthington.

The Lecture
The program will be held on Thursday, April 16 at 11:30 am. Professor Polsky has been invited, and he accepted the invitation.

Rationale and Benefits
With the spread of radical Islam in the Middle East and the military advance of ISIL, the Obama administration faced difficult decisions in responding to these threats to US security. Obama’s choices were complicated by his campaign promises in 2008 to end the US involvement in Iraq and to avoid the deployment of American forces on foreign soil as a solution to future international problems. Prof. Polsky’s lecture, “Inheriting a Bad War: Richard Nixon and Barack Obama,” which is based on his book on wartime presidential leadership, Elusive Victories, will provide our students a theoretical context from which they can better understand Obama’s situation. Prof. Polsky will examine each of the two presidents – Richard Nixon (Vietnam) and Barak Obama (Afghanistan) – and offer comparisons and observations about ISIS, Syria, and Iraq.

The University will provide the meeting room, while the chapter and the cooperating departments will do the publicity on their respective campuses. The Wilkes Political Science Department will assume responsibility for sending invitations to the area school districts.