An expert in the field of international relations, Ambassador Edward J. Perkins will examine rapidly growing global cultures in his lecture "The United States and the Emerging Second World" at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy on March 11, 2008. Perkins is currently the William Crowe Chair Emeritus Professor of International Relations in the School of International and Area Studies at The University of Oklahoma. In 1985 Perkins was appointed as ambassador to the Republic of Liberia, and in 1986 as ambassador to the Republic of South Africa, where he served until 1989. That year, he was appointed director general of the Foreign Service and director of personnel in the Department of State, where he served until 1992, when he was appointed U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and U.S. Representative in the U.N. Security Council (1992-93).