Baker Institute panel to feature leading players in forging a united Germany after fall of the Berlin Wall

BY FRANZ BROTZEN
Rice News staff

As the world prepares to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy will bring together leading diplomats of the six states directly involved in the events of Nov. 9, 1989, and the subsequent efforts to forge a united Germany.

Former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker III will be joined at the Oct. 30 event by former French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas, former German Federal Republic Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, former German Democratic Republic Foreign Minister Markus Meckel and Charles Powell, who served as private secretary to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Former Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze will speak via a satellite uplink.

Rice history professor and Baker Institute presidential historian Douglas Brinkley will moderate the discussion. The panel discussion will begin at 6:30 p.m. CDT.

The fall of the Berlin Wall was a watershed in European and world history. After the dramatic events of 1989, policymakers faced the unprecedented challenge of establishing the foundation for a unified, stable and prosperous Germany within a peaceful Europe. This historic panel of foreign ministers, who navigated the sometimes-treacherous path to German unification, will be followed Oct. 31 by an academic conference exploring the foreign policy, economic and political consequences.

Baker Institute
Learn more about this and other events being held at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy The conference will be held in Baker Hall’s Doré Commons.

The event will be webcast. To watch the conference live, go to http://bit.ly/1feYnL and click on the “webcast” icon.

Rice faculty, staff and students who want to attend must RSVP by e-mail (bipprsvp@rice.edu), by fax (713-348-5993) or on the Web at http://bit.ly/1feYnL.