Former Ambassadors to Discuss Prospects and Challenges of East Asias Rise at UW Nov. 1

October 23, 2013
Man
Marc Wall, UW Global and Area Studies Program senior visiting scholar, and a former ambassador to Chad, is among experts who will examine U.S. aims and challenges in East Asia.

A panel of experts, including former U.S. ambassadors and Department of State officials, will examine the aims and challenges the United States faces in East Asia Friday, Nov. 1, from 10:30 a.m.-3:10 p.m. in the University of Wyoming Union Family Room.

The event, free and open to public, will pair government policy experts with UW and Northwest College faculty members in a discussion of pressing issues facing China, Japan, South Korea and the broader region. The panel of experts will discuss issues of stability and security, energy, the environment, human rights and other aspects that will shape the region’s future.

“In 2012, President Barack Obama and his administration released ‘Pivot to East Asia,’ which signified the American foreign policy’s shift of focus from the Middle East,” says Jean Garrison, UW Global and Area Studies director. “Among multiple areas of cooperation, the new regional strategy emphasized the strengthening of bilateral security alliances, expanding trade and investment, and forging a broad-based military presence.”

The symposium is a part of the UW Global and Studies Excellence Initiative that was launched in 2012. The initiative brings a senior visiting scholar to campus each year.

The panel discussion will include the following sessions -- topics and speakers are:

10:30 a.m.-noon -- “Security and Economic Landscape in East/Southeast Asia,” Tom Seitz, UW; Ambassador Raymond Burghardt, American Institute in Taiwan; Marc Knapper, U.S. Department of State; and Scott Snyder, Council on Foreign Relations.

1:40-3:10 p.m. -- “U.S. Foreign Policy and Responses to Regional Change,” Garrison; Ambassador Marc Wall, UW; Ambassador Chris Hill, University of Denver; and Steve Walker, Northwest College professor.

About the panelists:

-- Burghardt, chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan. He has served as ambassador in Vietnam; director of AIT-Taipei, American consul general in Shanghai; deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassies in Manila and Seoul; National Security Council staff as special assistant to President Reagan; and senior director of Latin American Affairs.

-- Garrison, UW political science professor. She is the past recipient of a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship, and has worked in the office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs in the U.S. State Department. Garrison was a visiting fellow with the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation in Washington, D.C. She is the author of books including “China and the Energy Equation in Asia”; “Making China Policy: From Nixon to G.W. Bush”; and also various articles/chapters focusing on U.S. foreign policy, U.S.-Chinese relations and energy security.

-- Hill, Josef Korbel School of International Studies director, University of Denver. Hill has served as U.S. Ambassador to Iraq (2009-2010), the Republic of Korea (2004-2005), Poland (2000-2004), and the Republic of Macedonia (1996-1999). As assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs in the George W. Bush administration, he served as the lead U.S. negotiator at the Six-Party Talks on the North Korea nuclear issue. Hill served as special envoy to Kosovo (1998-1999) and as special assistant to the president and senior director for Southeast European Affairs in the National Security Council.

-- Knapper, office of Japanese Affairs director, U.S. Department of State. Knapper was a political counselor in the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. He has served as deputy chief of the political section in the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, and political counselor in Hanoi. Knapper had assignments in the Office for Chinese and Mongolian Affairs in the Department of State, the U.S. Embassy in Seoul (twice), and in Tokyo as the aide to Ambassador Walter Mondale.

-- Seitz, UW International Studies assistant professor. Seitz has held appointments at Dickenson College in Carlisle, Pa., as well as universities in Indonesia, the Philippines and the Republic of Korea. He is the author of “Lessons Learned, Lessons Lost: The Evolving Role of Nation Building in U.S. Foreign Policy,” and other works in the area of nation-building, foreign policy and Southeast Asia.

-- Snyder, U.S.-Korea Policy Program, council on foreign relations senior fellow and director. Snyder's program examines South Korea's efforts to contribute on the international stage; its potential influence and contributions as a middle power in East Asia; and the peninsular, regional and global implications of North Korean instability. He is the co-editor of “North Korea in Transition: Politics, Economy, and Society,” and the editor of “Global Korea: South Korea's Contributions to International Security” and “The U.S.-South Korea Alliance: Meeting New Security Challenges.” Snyder has written numerous books and book chapters on aspects of Korean politics and foreign policy and Asian regionalism.

-- Walker, Northwest College (Powell) international studies director and associate professor. His academic work has focused on international relations and the Republic of Korea. Before entering academia, Walker was in the Air Force for nearly 10 years.

-- Wall, UW Global and Area Studies Program senior visiting scholar. He has served as U.S. Ambassador to Chad; coordinated reconstruction programs in Iraq; managed trade initiatives with Japan, China and Taiwan; and served in economic and commercial positions in Zimbabwe and Côte d'Ivoire. In Washington, D.C., he was a member of the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff, and has held various positions shaping U.S. policy toward Asia and Africa. He was director of the Economic Policy Staff in the Africa Bureau and as senior adviser to the China Economic and Security Commission.

For more information about the program and other activities of the UW Global and Area Studies Program, contact Garrison at (307) 766-6119, email garrison@uwyo.edu or visit https://www.uwyo.edu/intstudy/.

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