On Wednesday, December 3 at 5:30 PM the Robert S. Strauss Center will be hosting Middle Eastern Security Challenges for Our New President: A Conversation with General John Abizaid. The talk will be held in the Avaya Auditorium in the ACES Building on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin. General Abizaid's talk is open to the public. General John P. Abizaid retired from the United States Army in May 2007, after thirty-four years of active service. At the time of his retirement he was the longest-serving commander of United States Central Command, the military command responsible for overseeing American military operations in the Middle East. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, he rose from infantry platoon leader to become, at that time, the youngest four-star general in the Army.

During a distinguished career he commanded units at every level, serving in the combat zones of Grenada, Lebanon, Kurdistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He studied at the University of Jordan in Amman,holds a master s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University, and is fluent in Arabic.

(For a map showing the location of the ACES Building go to http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/ace.html)