Former U.S. Ambassador to Speak Oct. 30 at Ohio Wesleyan
Christopher R. Hill. (Photo by Tom Cogill)
DELAWARE, OHIO – Christopher R. Hill, former U.S. ambassador to Iraq and special envoy for North Korean nuclear policy negotiations, will share his foreign policy foresight Oct. 30 at Ohio Wesleyan University.
Hill will discuss “Trends in American Foreign Policy: What the Next Administration Will Face” when he speaks at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 30 in the Benes Rooms inside Ohio Wesleyan’s Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave., Delaware.
Currently, Hill is the dean of the Joseph Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. During his career, he has served as the U.S. ambassador to four countries: the Republic of Korea, Poland, Kosovo, and Iraq. He also headed the U.S. delegation to the Six-Party Talks on nuclear policy in North Korea. The talks began in 2003 and involve China, the United States, North and South Korea, Japan, and Russia.
In testimony before a U.S. House of Representatives committee in 2011, Hill told lawmakers the negotiations still had the potential to be diplomatically effective, but that he was “not optimistic about any early breakthroughs.”
“The Six-Party Process remains the best mechanism for dealing with the issues,” he said. “We should be prepared wherever possible for interdiction efforts to prevent North Korean proliferation. We should also continue through sanctions to maximize the pain to North Korea of maintaining this appetite for nuclear weapons.”
Hill also said the alliance between the United States and South Korea “is the capstone of a relationship that has grown and grown,” and one the United States should continue to strengthen.
“The U.S.-Korea relationship, of course, also extends well beyond the economy and visas,” he testified. “Our security dialogue is one befitting this most important relationship. The U.S. and Korea cooperate throughout the world. We have deployed together in Iraq and in Afghanistan. We have worked together on problems of piracy in the Indian Ocean, and in helping to address human suffering caused by natural disasters and poverty in the global south. There is no problem in the world that does not involve consultations between Korea and the United States.”
Hill has a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Bowdoin College in Maine and a master’s degree from the U.S. Naval War College in Rhode Island. He served with the Peace Corps in Cambodia prior to his work with the U.S. government. He speaks three languages in addition to English—Polish, Serbo-Croatian, and Macedonian.
His visit is sponsored by Ohio Wesleyan’s Department of Politics and Government and its International Studies Program.
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier small, private universities. Ohio Wesleyan offers more than 90 undergraduate majors, sequences, and courses of study, and 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. OWU combines an internationally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities that connect classroom theory with real-world practice. Located in Delaware, Ohio, OWU’s 1,850 students represent 41 states and 45 countries. The university is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” listed on the 2012 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with distinction, and included on the “best colleges” lists of U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review. Learn more at www.owu.edu.