Ambassador Charles T. Manatt, a 1958 Iowa State University alumnus, was
the perfect individual to christen the new Phelps-Manatt Lecture in Political
Science.
Manatt returned to campus on Thursday, Oct. 24, to give the inaugural
talk in the newly-formed speaker series, established by Thomas and Elizabeth
Phelps and Charles and Kathleen Manatt. The annual lecture will be held
during the fall of each academic year and will initially focus on significant
developments in the area of international political economy that have
occurred during the previous year. The aim will be to discuss how politics
and economics affect one another and how these issues are transnational
in scope, as well as how the issues affect and are affected by the state
of Iowa.
In his address, "Global Development, Trade Liberalization and the
American Response," told the 200 individuals in attendance in Benton
Auditorium that the U.S. has always been of two minds concerning globalization.
"On the one hand, we have led the effort to build institutions such
as the United Nations, the IMF, World Bank and collective security arrangements
such as NATO, to keep the peace, promote political and economic cooperation,
open trade and institute an international system based on norms of behavior
and the rule of law," Manatt said. "On the other hand, we are
deeply skeptical about subsuming our own interests to the international
order, going back to our refusal to join the League of Nations that we
ourselves created, and manifested today in our reluctance to join the
International Criminal Court or to subject ourselves to the Kyoto accords."
Manatt spoke of the need for Americans to learn about other cultures
via organizations such as the Peace Corps.
"We have to be engaged in these societies for them to understand
who we are, and for us to understand them," he said. "Globalization
is a reality and it's just going to get bigger and bigger."
A former chair of the California Democratic Party, Ambassador Manatt chaired
the Democratic National Committee from 1981-85, and co-chaired the 1992
Clinton/Gore presidential campaign. From 1991 through March 2001, Ambassador
Manatt was U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic. After his post ended,
Ambassador Manatt returned to the law firm's Washington, D.C. office to
found Manatt Jones Global Strategies, a subsidiary of the firm that develops
and implements strategies to expand clients' businesses and facilitate
their effective competition in global markets.
Originally from Audubon, Iowa, Ambassador Manatt and fellow Iowa State
and George Washington University School of Law graduate Thomas D. Phelps
(’59), founded the law firm now known as Manatt, Phelps, & Phillips,
LLP, in Los Angeles. The firm currently has offices in several cities
in the California and Mexico, in addition to an office in Washington,
D.C. The firm began by providing legal services to the banking community,
but has grown to offer international legal and consulting services to
the financial, energy, healthcare, entertainment, telecommunications,
technology, agriculture, restaurant, hotel, retail and manufacturing industries.
Ambassador Manatt also founded the First Los Angeles Bank and serve as
its Chairman from 1973-89.
The Manatts and Phelps have also established the Manatt-Phelps Endowed
Chair in International Political Economy in Iowa State's Department of
Political Science.
