Paul R. Camacho, Ph.D., associate editor of Armed Forces & Society will discuss during a presentation at Lycoming College on Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. the difficulties Somalia faces as it strives to bring economic and social stability to the country. The presentation will be held in the Mary L. Welch Honors Hall on the corner of Fourth and Basin Streets in Williamsport. The event is free and open to the public.
His presentation covers national and international efforts to establish national security and political and economic stability following decades of civil unrest, which has included shipping piracy, famine and Islamic extremist activities by Al-Shabab. In 2012, Somalia held its first presidential election since 1967 and also installed its first formal parliament in more than 20 years.
Camacho was invited by the federal government of Somalia to participate in its conference on internal security held in Mogadishu in April 2014. Subsequently, he has delivered conference papers and journal articles on the rebuilding of Somalia’s major social institutions.
Camacho is the former director of special projects and programs with the William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consquences of the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Although retired from this position in 2010, Camacho remains active as a fellow of the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society and is currently working on a book on warfare in the new millennium and force transition in the U.S. military.
In addition to his public lecture, Camacho will work with two of Lycoming’s four Affinity Community Housing groups, including Global Affairs and Social Consciousness in Entertainment (SCIE). The Affinity Community Housing program is one of several residential campus communities formed as part of a program where students and faculty explore thematic academic interests beyond formal classroom boundries.
The lecture is sponsored by the Lycoming College Fall 2016 symposium on global exchanges titled, “Global Exchanges: Moral, Economic, and Political Motives.” The symposium is a series of events including guest speakers and workshops centered around a single topic that are explored in courses across the curriculum.