Where: Santa Fe Hilton, 100 Sandoval Street
Time: Cash Bar opens at 5:45 pm
Dinner served at 6:30 pm

Crossroads of Intervention:
Why the United States’ Experience in Central America at the End of the Cold War is a Bridge between the Vietnam War and Our Current Troubles in Iraq and Afghanistan

A brief summary from Todd Greentree about what he will say in his talk:
What do Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, El Salvador and Nicaragua have in common? They are locations of interventions by the U.S. where we ended up finding ourselves in violent and long-term irregular wars. No U.S. combat troops fought in Central America between 1977 and 1992 because Vietnam had just ended in disaster and the idea was political poison. Likewise today, there is going to be little appetite for further military adventures. Although we have largely forgotten the U.S. experience in Central America, it holds many
lessons for meeting the challenges of Iraq, Afghanistan and the broader struggle against terrorism and Islamic extremism.

Some Information about the Presenter:
Todd Greentree is currently a visiting scholar at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. His book Crossroads of Intervention: Insurgency and Counterinsurgency Lessons from Central America has just been published. (Copies for purchase will be available at the check-in desk at this event.) In addition to conducting research and writing, Todd teaches at the University of New Mexico. He was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer from 1980-2004. Todd’s overseas assignments included El Salvador, Brazil, Papua New Guinea, Nepal and Angola. His assignments in the State Department included Senior Adviser in the Secretary’s Office of Resources, Plans and Policy. From 2002-2004 Todd was a faculty member at the U.S. Naval War College. His M.A. is from Johns Hopkins SAIS and his B.A. is from the University of California Santa Cruz. He speaks Spanish, Portuguese, Nepali and Melanesian Pidgin.

Mr. Greentree suggests the following reading material:

Crossroads of Intervention, Click here to purchase book

“The American Interest,” especially Vol. III, No. 2, Nov/Dec 2007, the interview on “smart power”
Click to read and/or subscribe

Through CIR’s Student Outreach Program, interested students and teachers will attend our events for free. You can help this program by including a donation with your registration fee. Thanks for your support.

* If you sign up as a non-member, then promptly join CIR, $7.00 will be subtracted from your membership dues.

Please reserve by Monday, May 19