Dr Henry Kissinger, the controversial former national security adviser and secretary of state under disgraced former US president Richard Nixon, is to give the keynote address at a high-profile business conference at NUI Cork later this month.
The conference of the MBA (Masters in Business Administration) Association of Ireland conference, titled "The Competitive Positioning of Irish Companies in a Changing World Economy", will be opened by the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, on Wednesday, February 27th.
The association's director-general, Mr Denis McCarthy, said he was "delighted" Dr Kissinger had agreed to address the conference. "The discussion forum following Dr Kissinger's address will facilitate discussion on the changing external environment in which firms operate and will assist business managers in challenging the robustness of their strategies and competitive positioning."
German-born Dr Kissinger (79), billed by the MBAAI as "one of the world's leading elder statesmen", is seen as a natural successor - in the post-September 11th international business climate - to Harvard Business School guru Prof Michael Porter, who addressed the MBA conference in 2000. Prof Porter, in his address, "identified the need for Ireland to move up the value chain", said Mr McCarthy.
"The Kissinger conference will now look at how Ireland can do so by using the opportunities that are emerging in the biotechnology and information and communications technologies sectors."
Dr Kissinger taught political science at Harvard from 1957 to 1969. As Nixon's right-hand man from 1969 to 1973, he is remembered as a key shaper of US foreign policy during the Vietnam War and the Cambodia bombing campaign. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973.