EPIIC students, IGL affiliates, students, and members of the Tufts Community were invited to join the lecture on the current state of the world with two honorable guest speakers who provided a timely analysis of a world increasingly defined by disorder. Richard Haass is in his fourteenth year as president of the Council on Foreign Relations and remains a longtime diplomat for the U.S. Department of State. James Stavridis is a retired United States Navy admiral and the current Dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. The two shared their perspectives on several critical issues related to American foreign policy objectives today and throughout history. Given the current political moment, the two discussed the Trump administration and the individuals within it. They moved between several topics including North Korea’s nuclear program, US Diplomacy around the world, ISIS, and US involvement in the Middle East.
Hass and Stavridis discussed, questioned and echoed many of each other main arguments and provided a thorough analysis of the current global order and the challenges ahead. They discussed how current times are challenging many aspects of the status quo, and in this way, governments, diplomacy and foreign policy must adapt and grow. The conversation ended on an optimistically, noting that today’s era is far less chaotic than in the past. After the speakers discussed, questions were welcomed from the audience that delved into topics ranging from US foreign policy and international relations to human rights.
For more information about the lecture, read the recent Tufts Daily article on the lecture here. A full video of the lecture is also available online here.