Pardee School Hosts Council on Foreign Relations Focus Group on U.S. Economic Leadership
The Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies recently hosted a focus group for the Council on Foreign Relations’ (CFR) Reimagining American Economic Leadership (RealEcon) project. The session, organized by William W. Grimes, Professor of International Relations and Political Science at the Pardee School, brought together BU students with policy experts to discuss America’s role in the global economy.
Matt Goodman, Director of the Geoeconomics program at CFR, led the discussion at the Bay State Room, where a dozen participants, including ten students and additional staff members, engaged in dialogue about U.S. economic leadership.
“The RealEcon project is an important opportunity to bring a variety of voices from around the country, ranging from steel workers and farmers to journalists and business people to students and scholars, into the national conversation about the role of the United States in the global economy,” said Professor Grimes, who facilitated the event. “This effort is likely to be important to the next administration in formulating strategy toward trade, aid, and industrial policy.”
Grimes, whose expertise spans international relations and political science, emphasized the educational value of such encounters. “It’s always helpful for Pardee School and other BU students to encounter leading policy makers and thought leaders in person,” he noted. “In this case, they were able to have a real dialogue, and it was great to see our students have the confidence to speak out and engage ideas and trade-offs that have important policy implications.”
The Council on Foreign Relations, widely recognized as one of the most influential think tanks on international relations in the United States, launched the RealEcon initiative to gather diverse perspectives from across America in an effort to forge a new consensus on American economic leadership.
Professor William Grimes has taught at Boston University since 1996. He previously served as the Pardee School’s Dean for Academic Affairs, chair of the Department of International Relations, and the first director of the BU Center for the Study of Asia. He is the author of, amongst others, Currency and Contest in East Asia (2008) and Unmaking the Japanese Miracle (2001). Read more about Professor Grimes on his faculty profile.