Although the world's attention has been refocused on Russia's attack on Ukraine, there are many unanswered questions and issues concerning Afghanistan and the surrounding area. World Affairs Council of Central Illinois (WACCI) will be hosting Ambassador Ross Wilson on May 2, 2022. as he speaks about the remaining issues of the region. This free event will begin at 7 pm Central time on Zoom (https://mywacci.org/closing-chapter-in-afghanistan/)
Click here to go to WACCI's website.
Ross Wilson is an American diplomat who served five times as a US chief of mission abroad – as ambassador to Azerbaijan (2000-03) and to Turkey (2005-08) and as chargé d’affaires in Turkey (2014), Georgia (2018-19), and Afghanistan (January 2020 until the embassy’s suspension of operations on August 30, 2021). A career Foreign Service officer, Ambassador Wilson also had postings at the US embassies in Moscow (twice) and Prague and as consul general in Melbourne, Australia. Among Washington assignments, he was deputy executive secretary of the State Department; principal deputy to the ambassador-at-large and special advisor to the Secretary of State for the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union; chief US negotiator for the Free Trade Area of the Americas, and chief of staff to Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick.
From 2010 to 2014, Ambassador Wilson was director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, where he led Council work on Turkey, the former Soviet states, and regional energy and economic issues. He has held positions as a visiting lecturer in international affairs at George Washington University, Bigelow teacher-in-residence at Carleton College, chair of the Board of Directors of Global Minnesota (a World Affairs Council affiliate based in Minneapolis), chair of the Board of Governors of the Institute of Turkish Studies, and on advisory councils for the Eurasia Foundation and American Voices.
Ambassador Wilson earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota and two Masters’ Degrees from Columbia University and the US National War College. He has been recognized with the president’s Meritorious Service Award and numerous State Department awards and honors. He holds memberships in the American Academy of Diplomacy, the American Foreign Service Association, Diplomatic and Consular Officers Retired, and the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs. The descendant of Choctaw Indians, Ambassador Wilson is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Ambassador Wilson is married to Margo Squire, also an American Foreign Service officer, and lives near Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota.
The World Affairs Council of Central Illinois (WACCI) hosts recognized experts, who provide lectures on critical issues from a variety of viewpoints. It also sponsors an annual Great Decisions discussion forum, which provides the public with opportunities to actively engage each other in dialogue about the great foreign policy issues that confront our country. All of their programs are free and open to the public. Finally, WACCI partners with community groups, corporations, colleges, and universities to promote an interest in world affairs, especially among members of the next generation.
Ambassador Ross Wilson's website
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