It’s not unusual to see complex diplomatic questions and foreign policy perspectives reduced to bumper stickers or click-bait headlines in the US. It can be difficult to develop an informed, unbiased perspective on the options our nation’s leaders are considering and the complex web of diplomatic relationships, strategies, and consequences that hang in the balance. During the current transition of power, the Biden Administration will be under enormous pressure to act decisively and to, in some cases, demonstrate a dramatic change of course in the management of American foreign policy. But what’s actually being considered behind the curtain of inauguration speeches and first-100-day promises? 

Join Ronald Neumann, Former US Ambassador to Afghanistan (2005-2007), Bahrain, and Algeria, in an intimate two-session seminar to discuss the new and old foreign policy questions, tensions, and challenges the Biden Administration will face after the diplomatic transition of power. In the first session of the seminar, Neumann will survey the subject of diplomacy during the presidential transition of power, providing insight into how the Biden Administration will come up to speed on the issues and lead a discussion evaluating what their top priorities might be.

In the second session, Neumann will lead the group deep into the foreign policy questions the Biden Administration will face regarding the US's presence and role in Afghanistan. What makes the problems Afghanistan faces so uniquely vexing and persistent? What beliefs, motivations, or forces have kept the US engaged for so long? What options might the new presidential administration and the diplomatic team they’ve assembled consider in the coming months and years? The session will conclude with a rich, intimate discussion of potential paths forward the Biden Administration may consider. The speaker's proceeds from this event will be donated to the American Academy of Diplomacy.