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They Call It Diplomacy | Sir Peter Westmacott Discusses His New Book with Michael Beschloss

Date & Time

Tuesday
Mar. 23, 2021
5:00pm – 6:00pm ET

Overview

In his new book, senior British diplomat Sir Peter Westmacott, former ambassador in Turkey, France and the United States during Barack Obama's presidency, he reflects on the role of a career diplomat in Her Majesty's Government. Peter Westmacott's forty-year career in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office straddled the last decade of the Cold War and the age of globalization, included spells in pre-revolutionary Iran and the European Commission in Brussels, and culminated in prestigious ambassadorial postings in Ankara, Paris and Washington in the post-9/11 era.

As well as offering an engaging account of life in the upper echelons of the diplomatic and political worlds, and often revealing portraits of global leaders such as Tony Blair, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Barack Obama and his then vice-president Joe Biden, They Call It Diplomacy mounts a vigorous defense of the continuing relevance of the diplomat in an age of instant communication, social media and special envoys; and details what its author sees as some of the successes of recent British diplomacy. A committed Internationalist, Westmacott offers trenchantly Europhile views on the Brexit referendum and its aftermath, and voices his concerns about Britain's ability to continue to bring its influence to bear on the wider world now that it has left the European Union.

Join us for a conversation with Sir Peter Westmacott and Michael Beschloss on They Call It Diplomacy and reflections on Sir Peter Westmacott's career in diplomacy.

 

Speakers


Hosted By

Global Europe Program

The Global Europe Program addresses vital issues affecting the European continent, US-European relations, and Europe’s ties with the rest of the world. We investigate European approaches to critical global issues: digital transformation, climate, migration, global governance. We also examine Europe’s relations with Russia and Eurasia, China and the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. Our program activities cover a wide range of topics, from the role of NATO, the European Union and the OSCE to European energy security, trade disputes, challenges to democracy, and counter-terrorism. The Global Europe Program’s staff, scholars-in-residence, and Global Fellows participate in seminars, policy study groups, and international conferences to provide analytical recommendations to policy makers and the media.  Read more

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