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The one-upsmanship of conference presenters

For some of this weekend I attended an Olin conference entitled, “Tyranny: Ancient and Modern.” Most of the presenters were quite illuminating, but there was one amusing monent. It centered on what role the Bush administration played in the release of activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim from an Egyptian prison (click here for more on Ibrahim). ...

By Daniel W. Drezner, a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

May 17, 2004, 12:29 AM

For some of this weekend I attended an Olin conference entitled, "Tyranny: Ancient and Modern." Most of the presenters were quite illuminating, but there was one amusing monent. It centered on what role the Bush administration played in the release of activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim from an Egyptian prison (click here for more on Ibrahim). The question was whether U.S. economic pressure (in the form of reduced foreign aid) hastened or delayed Ibrahim's release. The following is, to the best of my ability, a recreation of the factual debate between two of the presenters who shall go unnamed:

For some of this weekend I attended an Olin conference entitled, “Tyranny: Ancient and Modern.” Most of the presenters were quite illuminating, but there was one amusing monent. It centered on what role the Bush administration played in the release of activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim from an Egyptian prison (click here for more on Ibrahim). The question was whether U.S. economic pressure (in the form of reduced foreign aid) hastened or delayed Ibrahim’s release. The following is, to the best of my ability, a recreation of the factual debate between two of the presenters who shall go unnamed:

PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL #1: I have it on good authority that U.S. pressure played a constructive role in Ibrahim’s release. PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL #2: I discussed this with Ibrahim’s wife, and I’m quite sure U.S. pressure was counterproductive. PI#1: My source is Ibrahim himself, so I’m pretty sure of my claim. PI#2: I had Ibrahim in my office this week, and I stand by my version of events. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Oh, yeah, well I have Ibrahim on the phone right now!! (general laughter).

I was half-expecting an Annie Hall-like moment for Ibrahim to suddenly walk on stage and embarrass one or the other speaker. The grand irony was that Ibrahim had been in that very room approximately thirteen months earlier. If memory serves, he did thank the U.S. government, although one would also have expected him to do this. [And, it should be noted that regardless of the effectiveness, both of the speakers applauded the administration for its efforts in this matter.]

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

Tag: Academia