Featuring: Dr. Jean Bethke Elshtain, Leavey Chair in the Foundations of American Freedom, Georgetown University

Critics of American foreign policy decry anything that smacks of 'American exceptionalism'. Despite former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright's, insistence that America is the 'indispensable' nation, such claims are either condemned as rampant ethnocentrism or ignored as rhetorical overreach.

There are strong grounds for criticism of presumptions of exceptionalism. But, might condemnations of American exceptionalism also be a cover for abandoning America's international responsibilities? These and other controversial matters will be explored.

This lecture is co-sponsored by the Mortara Center for International Studies and the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs.