Can the Midwest Regain its Economic Clout in the Age of Globalization?

International Roundtable

February 21, 2008: 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

"Globalization is a big, impersonal force that has a very personal effect on our lives. What it really means is whether we can afford to send our kids to school, pay the mortgage, retire, or run a decent society," say Dick Longworth, author of "Caught in the Middle: America's Heartland in the Age of Globalism." Whether it's the decline of manufacturing, the growing Hispanic presence in small towns, or the booming exports of Boeing, John Deere, and Caterpillar, these are all aspects of globalization in the Midwest. Dick has devoted much of his life to exploring these issues as a journalist at the UPI and the Chicago Tribune, where he was twice a Pulitizer Prize finalist. He argues that the Midwest is failing the global challenge and urges new and radical regional approaches to meet this challenge. His new book will be available for purchase in the Gleacher Center's bookstore and signing.

Where

Gleacher Center
608
450 Cityfront Plaza
Chicago, Illinois

Cost

No Charge

Registration

Register Online

Deadline: 2/21/2008

Program

6:00 PM-6:30 PM: networking

6:30 PM-8:00 PM: presentation

8:00 PM-9:00 PM: drinks at The Midway Club

Speaker Profiles

Richard Longworth (Speaker)
author and senior fellow, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs
http://www.thechicagocouncil.org

Richard Longworth is a senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and author of the new book, Caught in the Middle: America’s Heartland in the Age of Globalism, published in January by Bloomsbury. Longworth joined the Council in 2003 as executive director of its Global Chicago Center after a career in journalism, most recently as senior correspondent for the Chicago Tribune. For 20 years, Longworth was a foreign correspondent for the Tribune and United Press International and was the Tribune’s Chief European Correspondent. He has reported from 75 countries on five continents. Longworth is the author of Global Squeeze, one of the first books on globalization, and of a MacArthur Foundation report, “Global Chicago,” which led to the foundation of the Global Chicago Center. He is co-author of a book, also called Global Chicago, published by the University of Illinois Press. His new book, Caught in the Middle, describes the impact of globalization on the Midwest. He is an adjunct professor in international relations at Northwestern University and a mentor at the Harris School at the University of Chicago. Longworth, an Iowa native, graduated from Northwestern and won NU’s Alumni Merit Award in 2000. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard, won the Overseas Press Club award twice, for series on globalization and the UN, and was twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, in 1980 and 2003. He also has won every major national award for economic reporting, plus the Lowell Thomas award for a story on a camel trek through the Sahara Desert. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, has been a speaker at the Davos conferences and for five years was a mentor to StreetWise, Chicago’s newspaper for the homeless.

Questions

Karl Buschmann 

847 310 0412

Other Information

PARKING: 300 East Illinois Street (AMC Theater-River East Self Park Garage) $6.00 after 3:00pm on weekdays and all day Saturday and Sunday for a 12-hour period Garage: Self Park Facility Payment: Automated; at pay-stations by cash or credit card or upon exit pay by credit card only. To receive discounted rate: There is a card validator at the first floor security desk of the Gleacher Center. The new system for the AMC Theater- River East Self Park Garage is automated. You will only need to insert your parking card in the validator and the new price will be automatically applied. You can validate your parking ticket at any time between your arrival at and departure from the Gleacher Center. When you leave the lot you will be charged for the lower $6.00 fee.