One of the most vexing challenges for makers of U.S. foreign policy is restructuring NATO in the aftermath of the Cold War, and one of the officials working most closely on this problem -- along with Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and President Bill Clinton -- is Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott.
Talbott will visit Cornell on Thursday, April 24, to share his perspective on NATO in a free and public lecture at 1:30 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium of Goldwin Smith Hall. He will give the lecture, titled "A New NATO, A New Europe" to an undergraduate class on U.S. foreign relations. Limited seating will be available in the auditorium for the public and members of the press.
Before becoming deputy secretary of state in February 1994, Talbott was ambassador-at-large and special adviser to the secretary of state on the New Independent States. He has held several key positions at Time magazine, including editor-at-large, Washington bureau chief and State Department correspondent. He twice received the Edward Weintal Prize for distinguished reporting on foreign affairs and diplomacy, in 1980 and 1985.
Talbott's five books include Deadly Gambits (1984) and, with Michael R. Bechloss, At the Highest Levels: The Inside Story of the End of the Cold War (1993).
"Strobe Talbott has been a distinguished journalist, historian and now public servant," said Walter LaFeber, the Marie Underhill Noll Professor of American History. "Now number two in the Department of State, Talbott has successfully formulated the administration's policy toward Russia and is spearheading the highly controversial attempt to expand NATO into Eastern Europe despite Russian objections."
LaFeber added, "His speech will be most important, coming as it does just after the Clinton-Yeltsin summit of March and just before the historic decision this coming July to expand NATO toward the Russian borders."
Talbott's visit to Cornell is made possible by the Walter LaFeber and Joel Silbey Fund in American History. The fund's sponsor is David F. Maisel '68, who studied under LaFeber during the 1960s.