[inaudible conversations] good afternoon everyone. I would like to welcome you to this afternoons session of the washington history seminar and for those of you who dont know the seminar is a joint project of the Woodrow Wilson Centers History and Public Policy program and the american Historical Associations National history center. My name is eric arnesen and im from George Washington university. Im the cochair on behalf of the National History center of the seminar. As is our custom i want to thank two people whose behindthescenes effort makes the seminar possible on a weekly basis. At amanda monies and pete. Its their logistical work that allows us to pull this off. I would also like to express thanks to shafer the society of Foreign Relations whose generous contributions support the seminars activities. Todays speaker is Bartholomew Sparrow who is a professor of government at the university of texas. He is the author of multiple works including from the outside in, world war ii an