Professor Smith Speaks About Water and Conflict for Phi Beta Delta

On Thursday, October 7 in the Dicke Forum from 7:00-8:15 p.m., the Phi Beta Delta International Forum will sponsor a presentation by Dr. David R. Smith titled "Water War in Central Asia? Implications for Regional and US Foreign Policy"

Nature does not respect national borders; yet human beings seem incapable of managing their affairs without them. Nature has also not endowed every place on earth or every nation with the same type and amount of resources. Herein lie the roots of interstate conflict and cooperation over essential and scarce natural resources, such as freshwater. This talk focuses on Central Asia where both possibilities will continue to exist for a long time as these countries struggle with creating their own identities in the post-Soviet era.

Dr. David R. Smith is an Associate Professor of History at Ohio Northern University and has degrees from Kent State and the University of Chicago. His research focuses on water, conflict over water, and regional social development issues. He has traveled many times to Russia, Central Asia, Iran & North Korea. He is a Board Member of an NGO IRFD with special consultative status with the United Nations, and has received travel and research grants from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Fulbright program, IREX, and other programs.