George Papandreou, the former prime minister of Greece and current president of Socialist International gave the annual Silver Lecture at Columbia SIPA on February 20.
As a SIPA Global Fellow for spring 2013, Papandreou is teaching a course at Columbia SIPA entitled Challenges to Democracy and Governance in Times of Global Crises: The Case of Europe and Greece. In 2010 he was recognized by Foreign Policy magazine as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers, for "making the best of Greece's worst year."
Papandreou previously held a number of government posts including undersecretary of culture, minister of education, and, from 1999 to 2004, foreign minister. He has received several honors for his work to promote peace and democracy and to fight racism efforts highlighted by his successful campaign, as foreign minister, to engineer a rapprochement between Greece and Turkey.
