Two former U.S. ambassadors, one who was all over the news during President Donald Trump's impeachment hearings, and one of Indiana's senators will speak at an on-campus foreign policy conference in early March.
Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, testified in Trump’s impeachment hearing she felt threatened by comments Trump made toward her during his July 25 phone call with the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. She will speak at the fifth annual America’s Role in the World conference at the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.
The conference will take place March 5-6 Panelists will discuss topics such as climate change, national security and foreign policy. The conference is open to the public.
A student engagement lunch will take place from 12:45 to 2:15 p.m. March 5 at the Neal-Marshall Center Grand Hall.
Conference panelists include politicians, scholars and journalists.
Yovanovitch served as an ambassador to Ukraine, the Republic of Armenia and the Kyrgyz Republic between the years 2005 and 2019. She was also the principal deputy assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs from 2012 to 2013. In this position, she was responsible for policy on European and global security issues. Yovanovitch graduated from the HLS summer language workshop in 1979, according to an IU press release.
William J. Burns, former U.S. ambassador to Jordan from 1998 to 2001, is now president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Burns will participate in a segment called “The Foreign Policy Inbox” from 4 to 5:15 p.m. March 5. The segment will consist of a conversation between Burns and Susan Glasser, a writer for the New Yorker magazine. Burns and Glasser will discuss foreign policy and possible challenges for the next presidential administration, said Janae Cummings, HLS director of communications and marketing.
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., will speak during the Richard G. Lugar Lecture segment of the conference from 9 to 9:45 a.m. March 6. A moderated discussion will follow.
Yovanovitch will end the two-day conference after being presented with the Richard G. Lugar Award from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 6 at the IU Auditorium. The inaugural award is in honor of former Indiana Sen. Richard G. Lugar, who is one of the namesakes of the HLS. She and founding dean of HLS Lee Feinstein will also give remarks and participate in an open discussion with student questions. A full list of events at the conference is available here.
