Political Science
Jeffrey S. Morton, Ph.D., is a Professor of Political Science at Florida Atlantic University, a Fellow at the Foreign Policy Association and recipient of the prestigious FPA Medal, which is bestowed upon leading members of the American foreign policy establishment. He has been honored with numerous university awards, including Researcher of the Year, Faculty Talon Award, Master Teacher, and University Distinguished Teacher of the Year. Professor Morton has contributed to articles that have appeared in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. He directs the Leon Charney Diplomacy Program, which has received 33 national and international awards for academic excellence and placed 1st overall at Nationals in Washington, D.C. in 2018.
American Foreign Policy
Based upon the popular Great Decisions format, Professor Morton will analyze six distinct foreign policy challenges to the United States. Each lecture will include topic background, U.S. interests and foreign policy options.
Six Lectures
- ISIS - The Islamic State in Syria & Iraq (ISIS) poses a new and grave threat to U.S. security interests. What level threat is posed by the Islamic State and how should American policy makers respond to it?
- Nigeria - Africa’s largest country in terms of population and economic size, Nigeria is an increasingly influential member of the African Union. Propelled by oil exports, Nigeria must confront domestic challenges that include diversification of its economy, a growing Muslim-Christian divide and home-grown terrorist organizations. How central is Nigeria to U.S. foreign policymaking on the African continent and in the Third World?
- NATO - An organization founded in 1949 to deter a Soviet
invasion of Western Europe has evolved over time,
changing its core principles and confronting new
challenges along the way.
- Pakistan - Occupying a critically important geostrategic space,
Pakistan remains a country that both supports and
frustrates U.S. policy makers.
- Jordan - Can the monarchy survive the multitude of
threats directed at it and the myriad of conflicts
surrounding it?
- Indonesia - The world's largest Muslim-majority state, Indonesia
continues to evolve into the 21st century.
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| Course # S6W1 — Full 6 Weeks
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| Place: | Auditorium, Lifelong Learning Complex, Jupiter Campus |
| Dates: | Wednesdays, March 25; April 8, 15, 22, 29; May 6 2015
(No Class On Thursday, April 2 2015 ) |
| Time: | 10:30 - 12 PM |
| Fee: | $51 / member; $76 / non-member |
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| Course # S6W1X — Full 6 Weeks
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| Place: | Room 151 (Annex), Lifelong Learning Complex, Jupiter Campus |
| Dates: | Wednesdays, March 25; April 8, 15, 22, 29; May 6 2015 |
| Time: | 10:30 - 12 PM |
| Fee: | $51 / member; $76 / non-member |
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The United Kingdom: Is This the End of an Empire?
Once a great, powerful and influential empire, the United Kingdom appears to be on the verge of disintegration. Narrowly avoiding the departure of Scotland in 2014, demands for greater devolution are being heard today from all of the U.K.’s communities. The May 2015 elections revealed the sharp decline of the U.K.’s two major parties—Labour and Conservative—and has ushered in a very uncertain era. Can the United Kingdom survive as a political entity? Will Scotland demand another “once in a generation” referendum on independence? Will the U.K. elect to leave the European Union? Can the U.K. survive?
In this one-time lecture, Professor Morton will review the rise and decline of the British Empire and address two central questions:
1. What is the future of the United Kingdom?
2. What does the decline of the U.K. mean for the United States?
Register Early! There is a $5 charge for registering on the day of a one-time lecture or event.
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| Course # SUW1 — One Time Event
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| Place: | Lifelong Learning Complex, Jupiter Campus |
| Dates: | Wednesday, May 20 2015 |
| Time: | 7 - 8:30 PM |
| Fee: | $25 / member; $35 / non-member |
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The United Nations
In 2015, the United Nations will celebrate its 70th anniversary. Established by the World War II victors, the UN was designed to prevent the outbreak of war, promote human rights, care for the less fortunate and establish a global trading network based on free trade. In this lecture series, professor Morton will review the establishment and evolution of the United Nations and ponder its future in a highly uncertain world.
Four Lectures
- The League of Nations - - Precursor to the United Nations. Created in the
aftermath of World War I, the League was the supreme
experiment in global governance and international
organization. Its most obvious failure, World War II,
masks its many successes.
- United Nations & its Early Years - - Even before the United States entered World War II,
Franklin D. Roosevelt was busily planning the
League’s successor. Through a series of meetings with
Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin, the Big Three
crafted an organization they believed would avoid
another global catastrophe.
- The UN & the Cold War Era - - Designed as a station house from which the major
powers would rush to put out the fires of minor power
conflicts before they spread, the United Nations quickly
succumbed to the superpower struggle for global
supremacy. With the major powers on the sidelines, the
UN was taken over by Third World states.
- The United Nations in the Post-Cold War Era - - Freed at last from the hold of the Cold War, the United
Nations succeeded in the late 1980s as its creators had
originally envisioned. The UN’s optimism, propelled
by a Nobel Peace Prize and the liberation of Kuwait,
quickly confronted epic challenges in Cambodia,
Bosnia and Somalia that brought the organization back
down to earth.
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| Course # SUM4 — First 4 Weeks
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| Place: | Auditorium, Lifelong Learning Complex, Jupiter Campus |
| Dates: | Mondays, May 18; June 1, 8, 15 2015
(No Class On Monday, May 25 2015 ) |
| Time: | 10:30 - 12 PM |
| Fee: | $34 / member; $54 / non-member |
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Register Now
