(OLD VERSION) The Eastern Question, the Crimean War, Lessons for Today

About the lecture: The Eastern Question is a subject that involves the the East, the West, Russia, the Balkans, Turkey and the Middle East. It is a story of threat perception, religion and strategic considerations that have their origins going back to the Trojan Wars, carry up through the Crimean War and into the current tensions facing the Region, from Syria to the Ukraine, in the 21st century. About the speaker: Dr. Williams is originally from Michigan. He received degrees and diplomas from Culver Military Academy, the University of Virginia, the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, the University of Florence, Italy, and two Masters and a Doctorate in International Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, a joint Tufts and Harvard Program. He has lived in four foreign countries and has studied and worked professionally in four foreign languages: French, Greek, Italian and Turkish. Formerly a Wall St. and International Investment Banker, he is currently a licensed Realtor, operates a small consulting business, and lectures on a variety of topics, including American History, Turkey and the Middle East. He has been featured on National Public Radio related to several of his interests, has written news Commentary pieces on Turkey and the Middle east, and has published scholarly articles on Ottoman and Turkish Law. He has recently spent two semesters (2016-‘17) in Istanbul teaching a course at Koç University titled, “Turkey and America, East and West – Where the Twain Meet”. Phil is a past National Board member of the English-Speaking Union, a Past Virginia State President of the Sons of the American Revolution, and has served on the board of the American Friends of Turkey for over twenty-three years. Marilyn Williams is his wife and they have two grown children, Margaret (34) and Phillips (32).