Strobe Talbott, president of the Brookings Institution and a former deputy secretary of state, will speak Sept. 24 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Strobe Talbott, president of the Brookings Institution and a former deputy secretary of state, will speak Sept. 24 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Talbott, who served during the Clinton administration, will discuss “Obama and the World,” an analysis of the international challenges the president is facing, how he’s coping with them and what it all means for the future of American security and foreign policy. The free public lecture will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Nelson Mandela Auditorium of the FedEx Global Education Center. A question-and-answer session and book signing will follow.
The center is at the corner of Pittsboro and McCauley streets. Parking may be available in the garage under the center.
Talbott, whose career spans journalism, government service and academe, is an expert on U.S. foreign policy, with specialties on Europe, Russia, South Asia and nuclear arms control. From 1993 to 2001, he served in the State Department, first as ambassador-at-large and special adviser to the secretary of state for the new independent states of the former Soviet Union. He then served as a deputy secretary of state for seven years.
He later became founding director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization and assumed the presidency of the Brookings Institution in July 2002. The institution, based in Washington, D.C., is a nonprofit organization that conducts research and makes recommendations on public policy.
Talbott entered government service after 21 years with Time magazine. As a reporter, he covered Eastern Europe, the State Department and the White House. His titles at the magazine also included Washington bureau chief, editor-at-large and foreign affairs columnist. Talbott received the Edward Weintal Prize twice for distinguished diplomatic reporting. The prize is awarded by the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University.
Talbott’s latest book, “The Great Experiment: The Story of Ancient Empires, Modern States, and the Quest for a Global Nation” (2008), combines historical and political analysis with personal reflection on efforts to forge a peaceful community of nations.
The talk is hosted by UNC’s curriculum in international and area studies, Center for Global Initiatives and political science department.
UNC Global Website: www.global.unc.edu
Office of International Affairs contact: Laura Griest, (919) 962-0318, lauragriest@unc.edu
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