The Trump Administration and U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East with Robert S. Ford, U.S Ambassador (ret.) to Syria

After two years of President Trump’s policies in the Middle East, what grade should his administration receive? Join us as Robert S. Ford, US Ambassador (ret.) to Syria and Algeria and current scholar at the Middle East Institute, discusses where the Trump administration has made genuine progress, where it is stuck, and where it is falling backwards. Ford’s talk will include discussion of Iran, Syria, Israel/Palestine and relations with the authoritarian rulers of the region. He’ll conclude with thoughts on whether, aside from rhetoric, Trump and Obama really are so different on the Middle East. 

Tickets: $20 for WACM members; $30 for future WACM members

Many thanks to Verrill for hosting our event!

Schedule:

5:30pm: Networking reception (beer, wine, light appetizers included)

6:15pm: Presentation by Ambassador Ford

7:00pm: Q+A with the audience

7:30pm: Program close

About the speaker:

Ambassador Robert S. Ford Ford is a scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington and a fellow at the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs at Yale University where he teaches about Arab politics and diplomacy. 

Ford served thirty years in the State Department and Peace Corps, finishing his career as the U.S. Ambassador to Syria from 2011 to 2014. For his leadership of the American Embassy in Damascus he received a Presidential Honor award in 2012, and for his work on Syria he received in 2014 the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Award, the State Department's highest award. For his defense of human rights in Syria, he received from the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston the 2012 Profile in Courage award. 

Ford also served as the U.S. Ambassador to Algeria (2006-2008) where he boosted bilateral cooperation in fields such as education and rule of law. He also served three times in Iraq between 2003 and 2010, including as the Ambassador’s senior political advisor during the stand-up of the new, permanent Iraqi government 2004-2006. Later, as Deputy Ambassador in Iraq 2008-2010 he assembled a government team that devised the logistical and security plans the new Obama administration used to establish American diplomatic posts in Iraq after the withdrawal of U.S. military forces in 2010-2011.

As Deputy Ambassador in Bahrain 2001-2003 Ford led the Embassy team that helped negotiate a free trade agreement with Bahrain, the first of free trade deal with a Persian Gulf state. Ford also served in Cameroon, in Algeria 1994-1997 during the civil war there, in Egypt and Turkey and in domestic assignments at the U.S. Department of State. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco 1980-1982. He speaks fluent Arabic and French. Ford has a B.A. from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington.

Ford has appeared on CNN, NBC, PBS, MSNBC, Fox News, NPR, the BBC and on Arabic networks. He has published articles in the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Atlantic and Foreign Affairs among others. He has given guest lectures at Harvard, Tufts, UCLA, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Wesleyan, and other schools around the U.S. and Canada.