During the lecture, Crises of Respect in International Affairs, Fletcher will explain the critical role of respect, especially within international legal order, and will identify several ways that our post-Sept. 11 politics have actually encouraged a breakdown of respect.

"The presidential campaign ended last year without any serious discussion of international law,” Fletcher, Cordozo Professor of Jurisprudence said. “It appears that the candidates and the American public no longer care about these values.”

“To explain why this has happened we must understand the critical role of respect in all legal relationships, and in particular, within the international legal order.  To respect others we must acknowledge their equality with us, and all decisions must be based on public and objective evidence,” Fletcher said.

Fletcher is a leading expert on international criminal law, the jurisprudence of war and biblical jurisprudence. He has written eight books and has published more than a hundred articles on criminal law, comparative law, torts and jurisprudence.

This lecture is free and open to the public and is sponsored by Hugh LaFollette, PhD, the USF St. Petersburg Cole Chair in Ethics. LaFollette specializes in ethics and political philosophy and coordinates a variety of workshops and lectures throughout the year.

For more information about the lecture, contact LaFollette, at 727-553-4820 or hhl@stpt.usf.edu.