Thursday, September 26, 2024 from 12 noon – 2 pm

Ambassador Mark L. Asquino (ret)

The Cold War pitted the United States against the Soviet Union in ideological and sometimes proxy military confrontations throughout Africa. Beginning with the independence of African nations starting in the late 1950’s, it continued in the decades that followed through wars for national liberation in Southern Africa. But with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the new Russian Federation largely turned away from Africa.

This has dramatically changed under Putin, and Russia is now engaged in a new Cold War with the West in Africa. In recent years, Moscow has achieved security, political and economic ascendancy in the Central African Republic, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. Its influence is also on the rise elsewhere, including in Equatorial Guinea, where I served as the U.S. ambassador.

In this talk, I will analyze how the new U.S.-Russia competition differs from the previous one with the Soviet Union. I will also briefly consider the impact China’s aggressive role in Africa is having on this East-West power dynamic.

Ambassador Mark L. Asquino is a retired, career Foreign Service Officer. His three decades plus career included postings in Latin America, Europe, Central Asia and Africa. He served as U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Equatorial Guinea (2012-15), Spain’s only former colony in sub-Saharan Africa, and he previously served in the Former Soviet Union, Europe as well as Latin America.

Prior to entering the Foreign Service, Mark was the Fulbright Lecturer in American Studies at the University of Oviedo in Asturias, Spain (1975-76). His BA and Ph.D. are from Brown University. Mark and his wife Jane live in Santa Fe, New Mexico where he is a member of the board of directors of the Global Santa Fe. Mark’s memoir, Spanish Connections: My Diplomatic Journey from Venezuela to Equatorial Guinea was published in 2023. The book is available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

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Registration: This SFWAF lunch is $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers. You may pay by check made out to SFWAF and mailed to The Santa Fe World Affairs Forum, Santa Fe, PO Box 31965, NM 87594 or with a credit card using our Paypal account.  Please indicate on your check or if using Paypal please note in “add special instructions to the seller” that your payment is for the Thursday September 26, 2024 program.  

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Location: SFCC Board Room (#223) is in the West Wing (Administration building). The college is located at 6401 Richards Avenue, Santa Fe, NM 87508. Enter through the building’s main entrance (on the left side of the building behind the flag poles). The Board Room is on the corridor to the left of the Campus Center.

Directions: From Rodeo Road turn south onto Richards Avenue. Turn into the campus main drive. Parking lots are in front of the building. From I-25 take the Cerrillos Road exit, turn east onto Governor Miles Road and then right onto Richards Avenue. Then follow directions above.

The Speaker

Ambassador Mark L. Asquino (ret)
Ambassador Mark L. Asquino (ret)US Ambassador (ret), Career Foreign Service Officer
Ambassador Mark L. Asquino is a retired, career Foreign Service Officer. His three decades plus career included postings in Latin America, Europe, Central Asia and Africa. He served as U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Equatorial Guinea (2012-15), Spain’s only former colony in sub-Saharan Africa, and he previously served in the Former Soviet Union, Europe as well as Latin America.

Prior to entering the Foreign Service, Mark was the Fulbright Lecturer in American Studies at the University of Oviedo in Asturias, Spain (1975-76). His BA and Ph.D. are from Brown University. Mark and his wife Jane live in Santa Fe, New Mexico where he is a member of the board of directors of the Global Santa Fe. Mark’s memoir, Spanish Connections: My Diplomatic Journey from Venezuela to Equatorial Guinea was published in 2023. The book is available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble.