Walter W. Powell is Professor of Education and affiliated Professor of Sociology at Stanford University. where he is Director of the Scandinavian Consortium on Organizational Research, and Co-PI, with Nathan Rosenberg, of the KNEXUS Program on the Knowledge Economy.

Professor Powell works in the areas of organization theory and economic sociology. Author of many books and articles, heis most widely known for his contributions to institutional analysis, including a forthcoming edited book, How Institutions Change.

Powell is currently engaged in research on the origins and development of the commercial field of the life sciences. With his collaborator Ken Koput, he has authored a series of papers on the evolving network structure of the biotechnology industry.This line of work continues his interests in networks as a form of governance of economic exchange, first developed in his 1990 article, "Neither Market Nor Hierarchy: Network Forms of Organization," which won the American Sociological Association's Max Weber Prize and has been translated into German and Italian. Powell and Koput and their research collaborators have developed a longitudinal data base that tracks the development of biotechnology worldwide from the 1980s to the present. With Jason Owen-Smith, Powell is studying the role of universities in transferring basic science into commercial development by science-based companies,and the consequences for universities of their growing involvement in commercial enterprises.

Southeast Asia has been buffeted by several shocks and momentous events over the last two years, in particular the economic recession which started in July 1997; the return of Hong Kong to China; and political instability, particularly in Indonesia.

Increasingly, large, extended urban regions compete with each other in the Region and in the global economy. Furthermore, as a result of strong driving forces, including free trade, convergence in tax structures, and the "death of distance", Southeast Asian urban regions are less protected and influenced by nation states, and are thus highly vulnerable to unpredictable consequences of strong forces associated with globalization and co-evolving domestic change.

Dr. Webster will assess events of the last few years in terms of the dramatic re-positioning that has occurred among major urban regions in Southeast Asia - identifying winners and losers. His assessment will be based on consideration of both competitiveness and resilience - the two primary objectives, perhaps non-reconcilable, of most Southeast Asian urban regions.

Dr. Webster is currently a visiting scholar at the Asia/Pacific Research Center. He has been Senior Urban Advisor to the National Planning Board, Prime Minister's Office, Thailand for the last five years. He is involved in formulation of strategies and policies related to urbanization in the context of rapid socio-economic change in Thailand. He is also full time advisor to the World Bank's Asia and Pacific Urban Unit. At the global level, he is involved in formulation of the World Bank's Global Urban Strategy, and the World Development Report 2000 which will focus on urbanization and decentralization.

Dr. Webster was formerly Director of the Urban Planning Program at the University of Calgary and Professor of Planning at the Asian Institute of Technology. He has advised a wide variety of governments, cities, corporations, and development agencies on urban policies and programming, particularly in Southeast Asia, over the last 25 years. He is the author of many academic and professional publications on urbanization and urban issues in Southeast Asia.

India is the fourth largest producer of carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion. At current growth rates, its emissions will surpass those of the US today by 2022. India's carbon emissions growth can be slowed through improving energy efficiency, a better allocation of fossil fuels, and the increased use of renewable energy or natural gas. Many or most of these options are cost-effective from a societal perspective, but require additional capital and foreign exchange, both of which are issues of concern to India. The ongoing liberalization of the Indian economy, and the greater emphasis on controlling local air pollution bodes well for improving energy efficiency, which will slow the growth of greenhouse gas emissions. Dr. Jayant Sathaye is a Senior Scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His research subjects are energy and land use change in the developing countries. Over the past decade, the research has focused on the implications of these two factors on greenhouse gas emissions, and the potential for reducing these emissions. The research is supported by several US government agencies and private foundations. Dr. Sathaye also consults with several United Nations organizations, and the World Bank.

After a brief description of the legacy of the past of the Mongolian political system, the lecture then considers the influence of the Socialist era and finally focuses on the post-Socialist era, dealing with both the successes and failures of the so-called Democratic Union which currently rules the country. A brief analysis of Western and U.S. policy will also be included. Morris Rossabi, born in Alexandria, Egypt, received his Ph.D. in Chinese and Central Asian History at Columbia University. Author of Khublai Khan: His Life and Times (Main Selection, History Book Club, May, 1988), China and Inner Asia, The Jurchens in the Yuan and Ming, Voyager from Xanadu and editor and contributor to China Among Equals. Has also contributed three chapters to Cambridge History of China and numerous other books on traditional China and Inner Asia. He also wrote chapters for the catalogs for the following museum exhibitions: "Mongolia: The Legacy of Chinggis Khan" (Asian Art Museum, San Francisco), "When Silk Was Gold" (Metropolitan Museum of Art), and "Ilkhanid Art" (Metropolitan Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art). Professor Rossabi is Board member of the Project on Central Eurasia of the Soros Foundations and is currently conducting research for a book on modern Mongolia at the Asia/Pacific Research Center of Stanford University.

The story of South Asia is that of missed opportunities. Mr. Burki will take a look at South Asia in comparison to East Asia. Mr. Shahid Javed Burki started his career as a member of the Civil Service of Pakistan. He held various positions including Director of West Pakistan Rural Works Program, Economic Advisor to the Governor and Chief Economist of West Pakistan, and Economic Consultant to the Ministry of Commerce. In 1974, Mr. Burki joined the World Bank as Senior Economist in the Policy Planning Division. He was promoted to Division Chief of the Policy Planning and Program Review Department and later became Senior Economic and Policy Advisor in the Office of the Vice President of External Relations. After becoming the Director of the International Relations Department of that vice-presidency, he was appointed Director for China and Mongolia, helping to design and implement the World Bank's lending program in China - at one point the largest Bank-financed program in the world. Mr. Burki was appointed Vice President of the Latin America and Caribbean Region and worked in this position until his retirement in August, 1999. Upon leaving the Bank, Mr. Burki was invited to head the EMP-Financial Advisors, LLC, a consulting firm located in Washington, D.C. Mr. Shahid Javed Burki was educated at Government College, Lahore; Christ Church, Oxford University (where he was a Rhodes Scholar) and Harvard University (Kennedy School and Economics Department). He holds graduate degrees in Physics and Economics.