On February 17th, Professor Johan Galtung spoke at Zachary's restaurant in Santa Cruz about recent happenings in the Middle East and North Africa as being signs of the unraveling of U.S. influence in the region, and U.S. empire in general. Galtung is widely known as the pioneering founder of the academic discipline of peace studies. He has served as a professor of peace studies and peace research at the universities of Oslo, Berlin, Belgrad, Paris and Hawaii, just to name a few, and has mediated in about 50 conflicts between states and nations since 1957.

Born 1930 in Oslo, Norway, Professor Galtung holds PhDs in mathematics and sociology. His latest book, The Fall of the US Empire–And Then What?: Successors, Regionalization or Globalization? US Fascism or US Blossoming?, is a provocative look at the U.S., its influence globally and its future. Read more and listen to audio