American Academy of Diplomacy hosts forum with UNC to discuss transnational policy

For some, diplomacy refers to foreign relations, treaties and other international matters. 

But the speakers at this year’s American Academy of Diplomacy’s Joseph J. Sisco Memorial Forum — “Diplomacy in a World of Transnational Crisis” — argued that diplomacy is more than that. 

The discussion was held virtually on Sept. 14 by the Office of the Vice Provost for Global Affairs and American Academy of Diplomacy. The AAD is a non-profit organization of about 300 former senior U.S. ambassadors and government officials. 

The event featured Vice Provost for Global Affairs Barbara Stephenson; Senior Vice President and Director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies J. Stephen Morrison; former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Kathleen Stephens; former U.S. Ambassador Thomas Pickering; and former U.S. Ambassador to Algeria, Bahrain and Afghanistan Ronald Neumann to share their thoughts on issues such as tensions among the U.S. and other countries and the threat of nuclear weapons.

“There are multiple crises and challenges that currently require more than one nation to solve,” Neumann said. 

Pickering agreed and cited the COVID-19 pandemic as an example. 

He said the pandemic is not confined to a few nations, but rather its reach extends across the globe, leaving no nation unscathed. 

Many panelists stressed that the U.S. must create lasting, effective solutions in collaboration with other nations. 

“To be successful, we need both good policy and effective diplomacy,” Stephenson said. 

Pickering then elaborated on Stephenson’s point to include other global problems, such as those surrounding weapons of mass destruction, as well as domestic matters like economic recovery. 

The American people play an important role in the global setting, he said — and they must invest in subsequent generations to continuously strive for prosperity.

“We need diversity,” Pickering said. “We need wisdom and knowledge. We need people willing to work hard. We need people who are willing every day to learn something new, because the challenges of diplomacy are never still.”

The panelists then discussed how U.S. relations with China have been especially “insufficient and unreliable” recently. 

Stephens said China poses a growing threat to the U.S. and its allies under the guidance of Xi Jinping.

“We have a China that has not only become more powerful, but also under the current leadership, more assertive,” Stephens said. “Very distressing not to the United States, but our friends and allies in the area.”

Morrison said the U.S. must prioritize bettering relations with the country. 

Above all, Morrison said, the U.S. must focus on international cooperation and bettering the world altogether.

“These kinds of grand threats come and go, and there is a tendency in our policy and others to be subject to a cycle of crisis followed by complacency and neglect,” she said.  

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