Lawrence Harrison talked about his book, The Central Liberal Truth: How Politics Can Change a Culture and Save It from Itself, published by Oxford University Press. He presented his ideas on using cultural forces such as religion, politics and education to help poor nations, and poor people in rich countries, make progress. After a three-year research project exploring the cultures and values of dozens of different countries, Mr. Harrison offered his opinions on how each country’s culture has helped or hurt its development. The event was moderated by Alexander Shakow. After his presentation Mr. Harrison responded to audience members' questions.

Lawrence Harrison is a research fellow at Tufts University. In the early 1980s he worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development in Latin America and the Caribbean.