CO.NX Global Forum Will Discuss Transition 2009

With just days before the inauguration of the next U.S. president, the United States and the world are preparing for a new administration to take over. Many are looking to President-elect Barack Obama and his Cabinet to start working immediately on both domestic and foreign policy issues, such as the troubled economy, the Israel-Gaza conflict and terrorism.

On January 15, at 8 a.m. EST (13:00 GMT) (2 hours), political experts John Fortier and James Lindsay will be joining the CO.NX community after an open forum to answer questions on the 2009 transition and the transition process in general, as well as share their expertise on presidential succession, globalization, national security and election reform.

Dr. James M. Lindsay holds the inaugural Tom Slick Chair for International Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and is the director of the university's Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law. Before joining the university's Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, Lindsay was vice president and director of studies and held the Maurice R. Greenberg Chair at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a leading authority on the American foreign policy-making process and the domestic politics of American foreign policy.

Dr. John Fortier is the principal contributor to the American Enterprise Institute-Brookings Institution Election Reform Project and executive director of the Continuity of Government Commission. A political scientist who has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Delaware, Boston College and Harvard University, Fortier has written numerous scholarly and popular articles. He writes a column for Politico and is a frequent radio and television commentator on the presidency, Congress and elections.

This webchat will take place at http://statedept.connectsolutions.com/conx. No registration is needed. Simply choose "Enter as a Guest," type in your preferred screen name and join the discussion.

The transcript of this webchat will be available on Ask America's webchat page ( http://www.america.gov/multimedia/askamerica.html ), where information about upcoming webchats is also available.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)

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