Two legendary UGA professors, Gary Bertsch and Loch Johnson, will draw upon decades of real-world experience and scholarly expertise in a moderated discussion placing contemporary American foreign policy and international affairs into context.
Gary K. Bertsch is University Professor Emeritus and Professor of International Affairs at the University of Georgia. He is the author and editor of 20 books and over 100 articles and chapters including Crossroads and Conflict: Security and Foreign Policy in the Caucasus and Central Asia and Dangerous Weapons, Desperate States: Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. In 1987, he established UGA’s Center for International Trade and Security. Professor Bertsch also worked closely with US Senator Sam Nunn on nuclear security issues. He retired from UGA in 2010 and formed the international consultancy TradeSecure to promote strategic trade compliance, national security, peace and prosperity. Professor Bertsch is a Life Member of the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations, and he received the University of Georgia Presidential Medal in 2015.
Loch K. Johnson is Regents Professor Emeritus of Public and International Affairs in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia. The author of over thirty books including The Third Option: Covert Action and American Foreign Policy (Oxford, 2022) and Spy Watching: Intelligence Accountability in the United States (Oxford, 2018). From 2001 to 2019, Johnson served as editor-in-chief of the international journal Intelligence and National Security. He also served in the U.S. government as the senior aide to the chairman of the Church Committee and staff director of the Subcommittee on Oversight in the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He also served as special assistant to the chairman of the Aspin-Brown Commission. Johnson was named the inaugural SEC “Professor of the Year” in 2012 and, in 2022, received the University of Georgia Presidential Medal.
This event is part of the Russell Library 50th anniversary celebration.