The graduating class at Stanford University has selected Larry Diamond as the 2012 Class Day speaker. A four-decade long tradition, the class day lecture is delivered by a well-liked Stanford faculty member who addresses the graduating class together with their friends and family, one last time. The class day lecture will be held on Saturday, June 16.

In this lecture, Professor Okimoto discusses social, economic, political, and demographic challenges facing Japan. He discusses their ramifications and explores possible measures that could help ensure a prosperous future for Japan.

In this lecture, Professor Okimoto discusses the Japan American Security Alliance (JASA). He examines reasons behind its longevity and success as well as short- and long-term prospects for its sustainability

Stanford Center for International Development Twelfth Annual Huang Lian Memorial Lecture

The Real China Threat: Why Might We Need to Worry About a Stagnating China?

Reception: 4:30 - 5:00

Lecture: 5:00 - 6:00

Huang Lian was a doctoral student from the People's Republic of China. He enrolled in the Economics Department at Stanford University in the fall of 1997 after just completing a Master’s degree from the Graduate School of the People's Bank of China. Talented and diligent, Huang Lian came to the United States to seek higher professional training, and planned a career in China working on economic policy. In June 1999, he died in a tragic accident. SCID founded a lecture series as a memorial.


Scott Rozelle holds the Helen Farnsworth Endowed Professorship at Stanford University and is Senior Fellow in the Food Security and Environment Program and the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, Freeman Spogli Institute (FSI) for International Studies, the Stanford Center for International Development (SCID) and the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). He is also an adjunct professor at five universities in China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Dr. Rozelle's research focuses almost exclusively on China’s rural economy. For the past 15 year, Rozelle has been the chair of the International Advisory Board of the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). In recent years Rozelle spends most of his time co-directing the Rural Education Action Project (REAP), a research organization with collaborative ties to CAS, Peking University, Tsinghua University and other universities that runs studies to evaluate China’s new education and health programs. In recognition of this work, Professor Rozelle has received numerous honors and awards. Among them, he became a Yangtse Scholar (Changjiang Xuezhe) in Renmin University of China in 2008. In 2008 he also was awarded the Friendship Award by Premiere Wen Jiabao, the highest honor that can be bestowed on a foreigner. In 2009, Rozelle also received in 2009 the National Science & Technology Research Collaboration Award, a prize given by the State Council.

This lecture is sponsered by SCID.

Information is available on the World Affairs Council of Houston website. 

Karl Eikenberry is the Payne Distinguished Lecturer at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. Within FSI he is an affiliated faculty member with the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) and the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), and an affiliated researcher with the Europe Center. Before coming to Stanford, he served as U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan from May 2009 to July 2011, where he led the civilian side of the surge directed by President Obama to reverse Taliban momentum and help set the conditions for transition to full Afghan sovereignty.

Prior to his appointment as Chief of Mission in Kabul, Ambassador Eikenberry had a 35-year career with the U.S. Army, retiring with the rank of Lieutenant General in 2009.  His operational posts include service in the continental U.S., Hawaii, Korea, Italy, and Afghanistan, where he served as Commander of the American-led Coalition Forces from 2005-2007.

Ambassador Eikenberry also served in various political-military positions, including service as Deputy Chairman of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Military Committee in Brussels.

His military awards include the Defense Distinguished and Superior Service Medals, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Ranger Tab, Combat and Expert Infantryman badges, and master parachutist wings. He has received numerous civilian awards as well.

Amb. Eikenberry is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, holds master's degrees from Harvard University in East Asian Studies and Stanford University in Political Science, and was a National Security Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

He is a trustee of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Council of American Ambassadors. He recently received the George F. Kennan Award for Distinguished Public Service from the National Committee on American Foreign Policy. He has published numerous articles on U.S. military training, tactics, and strategy and on Chinese military history and Asia-Pacific security issues.

In this lecture, Professor Okimoto explores distinctive and unique aspects of Japan’s history. In addition, he discusses the differences in perception of Japan’s history between scholars from different countries.

In this lecture, Professor Okimoto analyzes Japan's SEID model of economic development. In addition, he explores factors behind Japan's economic success as well as its current economic problems.

In this lecture, Professor Okimoto explores distinctive aspects of Japan's political system, namely single-party rule. He examines the positive and negative aspects of Japan's political system and discusses topics such as the Yoshida Doctrine, nisei giin, and amakudari.