Webinar - Andrew Dickson White and the 1899 Hague Conference: Nearly A Diplomatic Disaster

Andrew Dickson White, Cornell University's co-founder and first president, also was a well-respected diplomat. He served as America's ambassador to Imperial Germany twice and was appointed US minister to Russia as well. In 1899, he was several years into his second appointment as ambassador to Imperial Germany and reluctantly accepted President McKinley's appointment to lead the United States delegation to the first Hague "Peace" Conference. Selected to chair the delegation, White had to overcome substantial internal disagreements among the delegation members that ultimately threatened the success of the Conference. He was forced to take positions that he personally found embarrassing and had to use his diplomatic skills to their fullest to avoid a complete breakdown within the delegation. In fact, several years after the Conference ended, he had to convince two of the delegation's members not to start litigation against each other as a result of perceived slights and insults arising from the Conference. This presentation examines White's little-studied role as the chair of the US delegation at the 1899 Hague Conference and his considerable efforts to maintain collegiality and prevent the Conference from ending in failure.

Alan M. Anderson received his M.B.A. (1981) and J.D. (1982) degrees from Cornell University. After graduation, he embarked on a legal career in private practice, becoming a partner and trial lawyer in multiple large international law firms specializing in intellectual property disputes. Tired of "big law," he started his own firm in 2011, where he continues to focus on commercial litigation and international arbitration. He also is a door tenant in the arbitration practice group of Littleton Chambers in London and participates in meetings of UNCITRAL working groups in New York City and Vienna, representing an NGO. Late in his legal career, he began graduate studies in history to maintain his sanity, and received his PhD in war studies from King's College London. His PhD studied the laws of warfare and naval strategy in Great Britain and the United States between 1899 and 1909. His publications to date include a monograph on Medal of Honor recipients from the Duluth, Minnesota area and The Investor-State Dispute Settlement System: Reform, Replace or Status Quo?, a book recently published by Kluwer Law International for which he was co-editor and contributor. Alan is an avid fisherman, having never met a fish he did not want to catch, and resides in Minneapolis, MN.

6:00pm EST webinar, gratis. Advance registration required. Registrants will receive the link to view the lecture in the confirmation email.