Award-winning investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill will speak Tuesday, March 20, at the University of Central Florida.
Scahill will give a presentation entitled “Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army” at 3 p.m. in the Pegasus Ballroom of the Student Union. The event, organized by the UCF Global Perspectives Office, is part of the 2011-2012 themes of “People Power, Politics and Global Change” and “Covering Global Crises from the Frontlines.” It is free and open to the public.
Scahill is a frequent contributor to The Nation magazine, where he reports on war contractors. His book, “Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army,” is a New York Times bestseller. Widely viewed as a leading expert on privatized warfare, Scahill has testified before Congress on the use of mercenary forces in U.S. war zones. His reporting on Blackwater has been used in numerous congressional investigations.
Scahill reported extensively from Iraq during both the Clinton and Bush administrations, and from Yugoslavia during the 1999 NATO bombing. He spent years covering the downfall of Slobodan Milosevic’s government. He also reported from Nigeria, where he and colleague Amy Goodman exposed the role of the Chevron oil corporation in the killing of protesting villagers in the oil-rich Niger Delta.
In addition to the Global Perspectives Office, sponsors and partners include the UCF Global Peace and Security Studies Program, the Sibille H. Pritchard Global Peace Fellowship Program, Lawrence J. Chastang and the Chastang Foundation, the Orlando Area Committee on Foreign Relations, CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, the UCF Nicholson School of Communication, the UCF Diplomacy Program, the UCF Middle Eastern Studies Program, the UCF Book Festival 2012 in association with the Morgridge International Reading Center, the UCF Political Science Department, the UCF International Services Center, UCF LIFE and the Global Connections Foundation.