Program for March 20

This Week (March 20):  Lt. Col. Brian Steed:  "Bees and Spiders - When Cultures Clash"

Lt. Col. Brian L. Steed is a Middle East specialist, applied historian, and military theorist.  He has served in the Middle East for more than eight and a half consecutive years with positions in the Levant, Mesopotamia, and the Arabian Peninsula.  He has traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and North Africa visiting sixteen countries, including nearly every country that speaks the Arabic language.  He has advised on engagement policy to U. S. senior military leaders in Iraq and has played a critical role in shaping U. S. defense policy and programs in the United Arab Emirates. He also served as a Jordanian army officer through the U. S. Army's military personnel exchange program and as a liaison to the Israel Defense Force, giving him rare perspective from both sides of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Steed is currently an instructor in the Department of Military History of the US Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He has written four books dealing with cross-cultural influence, military theory, and military history. His latest book is titled Bees and Spiders: Applied Cultural Awareness and the Art of Cross-Cultural Influence.