“Foreign Economic Policy, 1973-1976”

The Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, and
The George Mason University School of Public Policy
Present the Inaugural Conference of the
Foreign Relations of the United States Special Conference Series

“Foreign Economic Policy, 1973-1976”
March 7, 2011

As part of an array of events designed to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series, the State Department’s Office of the Historian is inaugurating the FRUS Special Conference Series to highlight recently-published FRUS volumes.

On March 7th, the Office of the Historian and the George Mason University School of Public Policy will host a half-day conference focused on the FRUS volume dealing with Foreign Economic Policy, 1973-1976 . The conference will take place at the George Mason University School of Public Policy in Arlington, Virginia. The text of Foreign Economic Policy, 1973-1976 is available online, allowing conference attendees to read it beforehand.

Foreign Economic Policy, 1973-1976 examines U.S. policy during a time of great global economic change, focusing on issues such as the end of the fixed exchange rate system envisioned at the 1944 Bretton Woods conference and the transition to flexible exchange rates; the creation of the G-7 economic summit; the passage of the Trade Act of 1974; the launch of the Tokyo Round of GATT negotiations; and North/South relations and commodity policy in a post-1973 oil embargo world. The significance of the volume and the lessons to be gleaned from this period by historians, economists, and policy analysts promise an engaging event.

The conference will feature a presentation by the volume’s editor, Dr. Kathleen Rasmussen; an academic panel of historians, foreign policy analysts, and economists; and a keynote address by Under Secretary of State for Economic, Energy, and Agricultural Affairs Robert Hormats (who is also the author of several key documents in the Foreign Economic Policy, 1973-1976 volume). Participants on the academic panel include: Will Gray, Department of History, Purdue University; Susan Aaronson, Elliot School of International Affairs, George Washington University; Dan Hamilton, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University; and Kent Hughes, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.