PatK

Engaging a Dangerous World Without Guns: The U.S Foreign Service Today

November 9, 2012

Nicholas Kralev, author, a journalist and a lecturer on international affairs, diplomacy and global travel

Americans are still reeling from the death by suffocation of their Ambassador to Libya in the city of Benghazi, dramatic proof that the life of a diplomat today doesn’t conform to tea party stereotypes. In this talk, Nick Kralev goes behind the scenes to tell us what life is like for those representing the U.S. in a turbulent, changing world. Having been granted privileged access to the inner sanctum of American diplomacy in Washington and to embassies and U.S. diplomats around the world over several years, he has written a book entitled America’s Other Army, the one that’s armed with words and (sometimes) money. In the course of his research Kralev visited more than 50 U.S. embassies and interviewed some 600 career diplomats—this on top of his previous, decade-long, round-the-world contacts with four Secretaries of State (Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright) as they visited over 80 countries.

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Engaging a Dangerous World Without Guns: The U.S Foreign Service TodayPatK2019-05-01T14:20:27-07:00

Fish vs. Cattle: Conflict Mitigation in South Sudan

September 24, 2012

Patrick Murphy, was the “fisheries expert” for the USAID project in South Sudan under the direction of AECOM

South Sudan gained its independence from Muslim (North) Sudan in 2011 after decades of hot and cold Civil War. The world rejoiced. The Arab North would no longer be oppressing the non-Arab, non-Muslim South. Unfortunately the regions and tribes of the newly independent country had been united mostly by their opposition to the North. The new country, unfortunately, is still riven by tribal and other sub-national rivalries, some older than the bloody conflict with the North. Other questions arose. How would the new country define itself? How could it reconcile its jealous components? How could it redirect its peoples’ energies in a manner consistent with the modern world? (more…)

Fish vs. Cattle: Conflict Mitigation in South SudanPatK2019-05-01T14:20:28-07:00

Bureaucracy Does its Thing: US Performance in Afghanistan

June 15, 2012

Todd Greentree, former political/military advisor US forces in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Angola and Afghanistan

Most Americans are relieved that the international intervention in Afghanistan is winding down more than a decade after 9/11. Can the absence of clear cut victory despite a considerable investment of blood and treasure be attributed to Afghanistan’s reputation as the “graveyard of empires?” Meanwhile, Afghans have suffered 34 years of instability and war. How do they feel about the departure of foreign troops? Are they prepared to assume their own defense? Despite differences in scale, are there clear parallels with the experience of the US in Vietnam nearly 50 years ago? What lessons have we learned from the handling of these these conflicts? Finally, will historians judge the Afghan intervention to have been a success or failure? (more…)

Bureaucracy Does its Thing: US Performance in AfghanistanPatK2019-05-01T14:20:28-07:00

Hungary Today: Examining Solutions to Intractable Problems

December 8, 2011

Deborah Cornelius, historian of East Central Europe

Why has the popularly elected government of this small nation surrounded by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia and Croatia received so much criticism? Why has Slovakia challenged a recently enacted law allowing ethnic Hungarians living in regions formerly part of Hungary to apply for Hungarian citizenship, despite the existence of similar laws in other countries? Why is Hungary’s new Constitution, its first permanent written constitution since 1949, being questioned? And just how stable and prosperous is this fascinating country in the heart of Central Europe? (more…)

Hungary Today: Examining Solutions to Intractable ProblemsPatK2019-05-01T14:20:28-07:00

Rebuilding Iraq: What worked? What Didn’t? What Next?

November 17, 2011

Richard S.D. Hawkins, led an embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team of 40 subject matter experts in the rural and conflict laden eastern and southern zones of Baghdad Province from February 2008-April 2009

Central to the U.S. effort to help Iraq rebuild were the Provincial Reconstruction Teams, civilian-led groups of experts in governance, economic development, urban planning, basic services, agriculture, elections, women’s and family issues, and other specialties, some of which were embedded with US military units. With the U.S. Government scheduled to withdraw all troops from Iraq by December 2011, the Iraq reconstruction effort has come under intense scrutiny. What was it like to live in rural Iraq trying to create jobs, help widows, rebuild water and sewer systems, and foster reconciliation among tribal enemies? Do the results justify the many millions spent? Can or should the U.S. seek continuing benefit from its investment of money, time and talent? What have we learned about trying to provide development assistance in the midst of conflict? (more…)

Rebuilding Iraq: What worked? What Didn’t? What Next?PatK2019-05-01T14:20:28-07:00

Crisis in the Eurozone: Germany and the PIGS

September 30, 2011

Christine Sauer, Professor of Economics and Director of the International Studies Institute at the University of New Mexico. A native of Germany, she received her undergraduate training at the University of Kiel

Fear of contagion from the 18-month old Greek debt crisis grips other Eurozone countries with high fiscal deficits, large public debts and/or weak banks. Financial markets are on edge. Public discontent is at an all-time high. How did we get here? Is the Eurozone doomed? What should Germany’s role be? And who are the PIGS? (more…)

Crisis in the Eurozone: Germany and the PIGSPatK2019-05-01T14:20:28-07:00