Author discusses new book

Tuesday night in Dicke 230, the Committee on Cultural Affairs and Special Events (CASE) sponsored a talk by Professor Marc J. O’Reilly, who was on campus promoting his book Unexceptional: America's Empire in the Persian Gulf,1941-2007.

O’Reilly, who teaches political science at Heidelberg College in Tiffin, argued that despite assertions to the contrary, the United States is an imperial power. He claimed that this may be an informal empire, in that there are no formal colonies, but that the American political, economic, and military presence around the world, particularly in the Middle East, do constitute what has been historically labeled “empire.” He began by a general discussion of empire, then moved on to chronicle the history of the American presence in the Middle East, arguing that while our influence in the Middle East recovered from its nadir following the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, the 2003 invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq has caused that influence to once again decline.

Around sixty students, faculty members, and community residents heard the presentation and asked several questions of the author, who remained after the talk to sign copies of his book. Copies of O’Reilly’s work are available at the University Bookstore.

Pictured is Professor Michael Lougholin, CASE representative, and O'Reilly